Mini Bunches: 1 Year

It’s three months overdue, but finally here it is: a celebration of Mini Bunches’ first birthday!!

Don’t expect any Pinterest-worthy pictures here.  We didn’t go overboard for the party, nor was there any super cohesive theme.  The most cohesive thing would have to be the flag bunting.  Remember how I made her invitations?

Well, I tried to carry the flag theme through as best I could.  I bought a bunch of vintage sheets and made some fabric bunting (I used this free tutorial).  I wanted something really girly for Mini B, and I think this fit the bill.  Plus, it’s something that she could possibly decorate her big girl room with some day.

I made a bunch of different sizes, and put them up all over the house.

Besides that, the decorations were minimal.  Some balloons strewn all over, and some new picture additions to the house.

Those are all printed Instagrams (I used MPix to print them–great quality and they have an app, so you can upload files right from your phone), and I used a hot glue gun to stick them to the door (just a tip–be generous with the glue or else they’ll come down after a couple weeks).  I put them up in chronological order.  My plan is to completely cover the door.

And then I did a little artwork on the chalkboard pantry doors, and put up all of Mini B’s monthly pictures.

Now that we’ve covered the decorations/theme (or lack thereof), let’s get to what really matters about such occasions–the family and friends that really make it special.  Mini B lucked out on her first birthday–so many close family and friends made the trip to celebrate with her.  Just look who she got to wake up with . . .

That’s right–it’s Mr. Squishy!!!  He came out for Mini B’s big day.    So not only did she get to wake up to that smiling face, but she also was rocking some awesome birthday hair.

All of Mini B’s grandparents made the trip.  I don’t know what they liked more–playing with B or comparing who had the cutest pictures of B.

She had a great time at her party, even though the weather didn’t exactly cooperate.  Our outdoor cookout turned into an indoor feast thanks to some drizzly rain.

But we did sneak outside for a quick family photo shoot.

Mini B loved that everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.  So much so that we ended up doing it twice.

And then it was time for the moment we’d been waiting for–the SMASH cake!  I wanted to make her cake myself, so I used a low-sugar recipe for the cake (from here), and then just made regular cream cheese frosting (since she loves cream cheese).  I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t notice that ragged edge without icing–it’s in all the pictures.  Ugh.  When I made Mr. Squishy’s smash cake a few weeks ago, it came out much better.  Oh well.

We had high hopes for what might happen when the entire thing was placed in front of her.

That might have been her only taste.  After that she was more interested in feeding it to Mama and Dada.

Things progressed pretty slowly.  I felt badly for our guests.  Can you tell which ones of these are family?  I’ll give you a hint . . . ahem-iPhones-ahem.

We tried helping her along with a fork, but she just wasn’t digging how the icing felt on her hands (she was having a diva moment).

In the end I think more ended up on her chair than on her.

All in all, it was a great day.  Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to all the friends and family who couldn’t make it but sent along lots of well-wishes.  B’s favorite part, besides the singing, was seeing so many new, fun people.  And also opening their gifts, haha.

Happy Birthday Mini Bunches.  I love you.  Best year of my life.