Sunday, November 6, 2011

Norah Jayne's First Birthday


We celebrated Norah's birthday on Saturday, October 15, which was EARLY... So, in order to bring balance back to the universe, I am posting her party pictures LATE. 

And (of course) that is the ONLY reason. It isn't like I forgot about it or anything...

Norah's first birthday party was so much fun for me to plan. It was surreal though. I kept thinking, I can't believe I am planning MY child's first birthday party! 

As far as the theme and decor goes, I looked online for inspiration; the www did not disappoint. I saw this lovely strawberry themed birthday party and fell in l.o.v.e. with the idea.

I decided to go cheap and make my own decor, so I set to work. 

I wanted to try my hand at making a custom pennant banner. I bought my fabric and then went online and printed off the alphabet letters: N, O, R, A, and H to use as templates. I traced each letter onto the pink and red gingham fabric, and then, I cut them out and sewed them on to the burlap triangles. After that, I took alternating strips of the red and pink gingham and tied them onto a piece of twine. Then, using mini wooden cloths pins, I attached the burlap pennants to the twine. Ta-Da! (Sorry, Jeremy!)




I found a free strawberry template online and used it and some cute paper from the craft store to make strawberry cutouts for the banner and table decor.


I bought plain labels from Michael's and then personalized them for treat bags and drink bottle labels.




Another project I worked on was this little dress. 
It was my first experience making a dress of any kind. It's sort of like a pillow case dress except that it was not made from a pillow case and I didn't use a pattern. I did consult this tutorial for a general idea of where to start.

Oh, and I also learned how to do shirring! 
It is not as difficult as I thought it would be. Here is a great tutorial.


No dress is complete without the appropriate head gear...

So, I made this BIG red, pink, white and green strawberrylicious bow! I used this tutorial to make the ribbon strawberry that is in the center of the bow.
 

We decided to have the birthday party at Sharon Woods. We love that park and Norah and I go there often. It is just a beautiful place to spend the day.


The Menu:
Grilled Hamburgers with fixin's
Baked Beans
Chips
Strawberry Crush
Water
Annnnnd.... Strawberry PIE! ♥


My mother in law, Sherilyn, makes the BEST strawberry pie in the world. Not joking.
Sherilyn made 12 mini pies and one large pie for the party. They were scrumptious.

Funny story... neither Kirk nor I had ever used a charcoal grill, so we had a bit of trouble. (I nearly lost my eyebrows.) Thankfully Uncle Scott saved the day with his mad grilling skills! 



Norah really enjoyed her pie. She even "shared" a little with mommy (she smeared cool whip all over my face). 
She was not too fond of the balloons, however. She had a bit of a meltdown over them. So sad, but kind of funny too. ♥  


And of course there were gifts... thank you all. ♥ 
She loves EVERYTHING.


The PEOPLE that came to help us celebrate made the day extra special: Nana and Papaw Marshall, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Scott and Cole, Aunt Jennifer, Zach, Jake, and Ellie, Beth, Jon and Aviah, Liz and Ava, Emilie, Jeremy and Annabel Leach. Thank you all for coming!

Speaking of the people, I failed to get pictures of everyone.
I should have at least got one with all the kids... 
Oh poop poughkeepsie! 
However, if it were not for Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Ashley, there are many of these pictures that I wouldn't have.  
So, a hearty Thank You to Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Ashley for helping take pictures!


It was a fun day, glitches and all. 
Happy Birthday, Tootsie!
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3 comments:

Liz said...

LOVE the pennant! I want to make a Christmas one that is similar...but totally different. And I can't sew - do you think its going to go well for me??? Ha!

I thought of you so many times as we went back and forth to the hospital as Sherilyn and Andy's baby was arriving, but it seemed the kids were at the meltdown point or it was a crazy hour or whatever and I never just stopped to say hello. Hope you're doing well!

Your baby girl is growing so sweet!

Jodi said...

Oh, I would love to see pictures of it!

I bet you will do great!

Jamie said...

I loved your pictures!! Such a fun birthday party...

And great job on the dress and bow. They were both adorable!

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