Which way to the woods? The making of Quinn's 1st Birthday Party (part 1)

 

In my next life, I aspire to be a party planner. I mean not to boast about my talents in event planning, I simply LOVE to host parties. I get great satisfaction from putting together a nice spread of food, making decorations by hand, and trying to create an entertaining atmosphere. With all this being said, I'll be the first to admit that planning Quinn's party was almost as much for me as for him. My husband's famous words leading up to the event were, "He won't even remember this!" And my equally as famous reply, "It's not the point! I will!" I'm big on scrapbooking and keeping things for remembrance, so I tried to justify all the fuss with, "even though Quinn won''t remember his party, I will be proud to show him in his teenage years,"  (when he probably will care less) "what his special first birthday was all about." (Okay, so it probably is a little more for me.)

My inspiration for the party came from the website, Etsy, where I found a design for woodland animal masks. Now, I'm not even sure if this is allowed, but I could not bring my able-bodied self to pay $56.00 for a set of felt masks. Not to mention, my husband would have had a cow! So, I grabbed some felt from my Mom's gigantuan craft room (the contents of which could be a separate blog, all their own), hoped there was not a patent on the design I was copying, and sewed up these bad boys. They were surprisingly pretty easy to make, and set the ball rolling towards a woodland-themed 1st birthday party for little Quinn.

The next idea I "borrowed" from Pinterest. I came across a blog where pieces of wood were used to create tower on which to display cupcakes. While I didn't make a a tower, I did use pieces of a log to create some depth on the table where food and desserts were placed. My Dad, who drives for UPS, took it upon himself to pull-over on the side of, God only knows, a deserted road in a "town" with a population of 7, whose name is most-likely designated by numbers and preceded by Township, to grab for me the most perfect log (maple, I believe). That log shared the back of his package car, from Township such-and-such-a-number, with (I'm guessing) boxes of QVC, K-cups and Huggies, all the way back to my parents home in Baring Plantation. (And, no, they do not grow cotton, coffee or bananas in Baring Plantation.) Anyone who lives or has driven through Washington County, Maine will understand completely what I've described here. But anyways, back to that log. I bought moss from the craft store, used some Elmer's to adhere it randomly to the perfectly cut pieces (thanks, Dad) and.....voila!

I used the logs to display cupcakes and other food items. I'm kicking myself now, as I did not get a picture of the main food table. It looked pretty neat when all put together. We had mini caprese-on-a-stick (mozzarella, tomato, basil with balsamic), buffalo chicken and spinach & artichoke dip, party meatballs, the usual apps including cheese & crackers and veggies & dip, etc. My sister-in-law, Haley, flew out from Indiana to visit, and was a huge help! She made nearly three-dozen fresh-fruit kabobs which almost looked too good to be eaten.

 
 We made an orange-sherbert punch (a little too sweet for my liking) but still yummy. Also, used Ball canning jars (which we use as everyday drinking glasses in our house) for people to use to pour bottled drinks into. From Amazon, I ordered vintage-looking red & white biodegradable paper straws. For a "homemade-streamer" look, I bought a package of 5" fabric squares, which by chance had various woodland animals (owls, birds, etc) printed on them. I cut these in half and used red & white bakers twine to create the look of streamers throughout the house.

 

My cousin, Jessica, upon hearing my proposed party theme, suggested these adorable cookies. My brother (remember the one responsible for this blog, which is now consuming hours of my life) wanted to help, so I put him to work making, I would guess, no less than 327 of these puppies! They were made with Hershey kisses, Nutter Butter bites, a chocolate chip, and melted chocolate for "gluing.

Instead of one large birthday cake, I opted to make Quinn his own small cake and cupcakes for everyone else. His cake was a total fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project, finishing it at midnight the night before the party. I carved the owl shape, experimented with my Wilton piping tips, Googled "owl cakes" (quickly to conclude that mine was not going to be nearly as fancy as most, nor would it include fondant) and here it is!

For fear that he would not be allotted more than 7 cupcakes, my husband did an inventory of my baked confections and counted a total of 56 cakes; baked, frosted and ready to eat! I made three flavors: french vanilla with wild strawberry frosting, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and boston creme.

          

The cupcake toppers, I ordered from Etsy.com (Paper Clever). Due to time constraints and the fact that I did not already own this Cricut cartridge, I had to concede to my 100% DIY birthday and order these adorable little guys. They fit in perfectly with the theme! And, of course, no woodland animal party is complete without hedgehog cookies (made from finely ground pecans and lots of butter!)

 About two weeks before Quinn's party, I started thinking about favors. I found on Amazon a lollipop mold shaped like an owl. I decided this would be perfect for the theme. I ordered everything and sat down one night, in our dining room, canvassing the table with the supplies. My biggest dilemma yet - for the tags do I use red gingham ribbon, or green with a white-stitched edge? As I sat in our dark, quiet and chilly home, my boys asleep upstairs, I stared out the window, across the street to our neighbors house. I noticed the lamp in their living room, that seemed to remain on around the clock. Immediately I felt a sense of embarrassment. There I sat, stressing about the perfect ribbon color for a favor that, once eaten by party guests, would end up in the trash, while I knew a true, real struggle was being faced by my neighbors inside their own home. I knew my beautiful, strong, courageous neighbor, in her early-thirties was fighting to hold onto what life she had left after a several year battle with cancer. In that moment, I tried to imagine the sadness and fear her husband must be feeling, to lose a high-school sweetheart and best friend. I could not. After several minutes of deep thought, I was brought back to my current position at my table, surrounded by ribbons, card stock and stamps. As I prepared all of this foolishness for my son's 1st birthday, nearby others clung to a woman whose years on earth would be far too few. It opened my eyes, acted as a reminder to what we were celebrating. Life. Love. Strength. Family. Togetherness. I got up, pushed my chair in, shut off the light, and made my way upstairs. I was done for the night.  I had been humbled.

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To be continued...