Raising and loving and learning Henry for the past year has been, without a doubt, the most incredible experience this first time mama could have imagined. Needless to say, I approached his 1st birthday with sheer delight. Normal parental reservations about babies growing up aside, I was downright honored to plan a party in celebration of H’s first year–of all that he has brought to our world as a family, of the child he is becoming, and of many friends and loved ones who have helped us to welcome our little man into the fold over the past twelve months. It truly does take a village!

henry david, 28 april 2012.

When I started brainstorming party themes the day after Henry was born (kidding!), landing on Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar was kind of a no-brainer. H has been my “bug” from day one, and since being introduced to table food, he just keeps eating right on through everything we put in front of him. (His appetite is marvelous, and his mama, appreciative:) My love of butterflies and the deliciously sunny sunshine in Carle’s book didn’t hurt either–it was the perfect inspiration for Henry’s big day. I commissioned a friend/graphic designer to help create my vision for an invite, and once we had guests on a list, the ball was rolling:

h’s party invite, fixed to chipboard to feel like a page out of the book. corners rounded and cake hole drilled by a local print shop for the finishing touch. these turned out just as i had hoped!

From there, I threw myself into party planning mode–something I absolutely love and long for an excuse to do! On the to do list? Cake, balloons, food/drinks, favors, kids’ games, decorations, and DIYs. I should start by saying that Pinterest and Etsy are brilliant creations, and that they make the process all that much more fun. I browsed and perused to my heart’s content and came up with some originals that made me oh so happy. The cake seemed like a sensible place to begin, so I met with my friend Katie from Second Floor Bakery to dream up these lovelies:

i just had to incorporate the sunshine for henry’s smash cake, and i wanted both cakes to have a homemade, organic kind of feel, so we went with simple swirly buttercream on the outside–a dark “muddy” chocolate for the main cake and a vanilla buttercream for the birthday boy.

I loved the idea of a cake bunting, so I came up my own version to represent the caterpillar from the book. It was fun making the petite bunting out of paper after my fabric bunting shenanigans (read on:) earlier in the week.

very hungry caterpillar cake bunting and gerbera daisies. delightful!

The cakes were splendid on the outside, and equally as marvelous to bite into. I always end up with a little leftover cake from SFB because their portions are so generous, but this time, we actually ran out! No one could resist the chocolate truffle cake with the strawberry filling–and why should they? It was just too good!

For food, I decided to stick with what works and let the book dictate the menu. I didn’t want to get too terribly fancy because everything needed to be kiddo friendly, so I filled the table with all kinds of bright, ripe fruits, a big green salad (one nice green leaf:), cheese and crackers, pickles, chips and salsa, and a caterpillar-ish looking pasta salad. I ordered lemon bars from Second Floor to add a little more “sweet” to the mix, and Jason grilled (awesome) hot dogs for our guests:

on saturday, he ate through…a smorgasbord of treats.

After browsing a number of different printables for food labels for the table, I opted to get creative with a deck of VHC playing cards. I cut out little food shapes from the corresponding cards, used a mini hole punch for the “bites,” and then just hand wrote the labels on card stock table tents. I love how they turned out:

four strawberries!

For space and flow, I set up a separate area for beverages and table ware. The bay window was an ideal spot:

i searched high and low for beverage dispensers i could love (and not just live with). imagine my delight when i discovered these mason jar look-a-likes from world market, plus red, green, and yellow striped paper straws, giant polka dots for ice cubes, and polka dot/striped paper goods. bliss!

I also couldn’t resist a giant tub filled with these:

henry weinhard’s old fashioned sodas, which i neglected to grab a photo of that day. they were just too much to resist, what with the name and all. (photo cred. to Tri-Elite Mktg.)

When it came time to decorate, I couldn’t help but get a little carried away in the DIY project arena. What better excuse than your child’s 1st birthday party to learn how to make a fabric bunting (or three!):

i wanted to make a bunting i could use for the wall above henry’s crib once the party was over, so my color choices were more long term than VHC. there are three total–one for each main doorway and a third for the bay window.

love these fabrics! tutorial to follow soon…

Then I decided I had better take a stab at a party hat to match:

one!

Just a bunting and a party hat, then? As luck would have it, my incredibly talented aunt had hand-painted a heap of Eric Carle characters for an anniversary celebration at the library where she works, and after mentioning our Very Hungry Caterpillar theme a while back, a tube of beautifully artistic bugs arrived on our doorstep. We absolutely had to put the caterpillar and sunshine to use! They were the perfect addition to the party, brightening up the wall above the kids’ play area:

isn’t he something? too cute!

you are my sunshine…

some serious talent–and a seriously fun party decoration! thank you, aunt carol!!

Last but not least on the decorating front, I wanted to pay tribute to beauty of the past twelve months and how much Henry has grown. I gathered up a smattering of my favorite HD moments caught on camera, and plastered the front entryway door with a collage of our little bug:

And then there were favors…

homemade bug jars and (not so homemade) pinwheels for our wee guests. bug jar tutorial coming soon!

every kid needs a bug jar for the summer time!

I had all kinds of fun games and crafts planned for the kids if time and weather permitted, but when we woke up that morning, it looked like this outside:

rainy and 47 degrees for hd’s big day.

So we scrapped the outdoor picnic plans and put the bubbles and caterpillar buckets away for a sunny day. We had so much fun indoors, in fact, that we didn’t even take the time to make these:

a caterpillar bookmark craft for another rainy day, i think!

Hank didn’t seem to notice the weather, and our friends and family were the most gracious of guests as we all spent a few hours in close quarters to celebrate Henry with the utmost enthusiasm. Everyone wrote special messages to the birthday boy in his new copy of the Very Hungry Caterpillar–a perfect memento for a perfect day:

“please leave a note for our bug…”

And when it came time to sing “Happy Birthday” and dive into cake, the guest of honor did a marvelous job of discovering all of the chocolatey goodness to be had beneath layers of sugary frosting:

We wrapped up the afternoon with friends and grandparents and our little wonder–all freshly cleaned up and ready for a nap:

so blessed to be so surrounded…

A few weeks out from H’s birthday bash, I think we’re still in awe of God’s faithfulness to us and of all of the reminders we were given that day. Henry’s first year of life bubbled over with such joy and goodness, and we couldn’t be more blessed as his mom and dad! It was a most perfect day in many ways–an adequate celebration to express what great delight we take in raising our little bug and watching him grow!

ahhh, wonder!

our birthday JOY!

tired birthday boy and his happy mama.

For me, this time around, the love was in the details and everything they intended to celebrate. Happy 1st Birthday, once more, Henry David. you make my heart sing!

love. and a nice green leaf.

mm