Tuesday, July 17, 2012

ONE upon a time...

~Lucy's 1st Birthday~

""ONE Upon a Time..."
 A Vintage Storybook Birthday

The details... in pictures!
The Princess!

The invitation! (it pulled out from the pocket on the left)
designed/created by Lindsey from Blue Egg Events (find her on etsy.com!)
I cannot say enough about her talent. I wrote her one EXTREMELY long email with my vision/ideas/what I wanted it to look like and SHE. IS. WONDERFUL.  She understood me perfectly!

The entire invitation!
It had an enclosure card/sticker included that read:

"A book is a treasure, words and pictures unite
Read over and over to teach and delight
So instead of a gift for our little Lucy
please give a child's book- you needn't be choosy
For our little girl will cherish this forever
and she'll think of you kindly
with this to remind her."

We LOVED all the beautiful books Lucy received!!

Welcome to the Mason Castle!
Lucy's door hanger created by Baby Face Designs


*photography by J.Rod*
The smash cake!

*photography by J.Rod*
I created the crown topper and this large glittery "1" for her cake

The cups! 
Blue Egg Events did the stickers and I just added them onto the cups! Easy!


The crowns!
I had the BEST time making these-
A little lace... a little fabric stiffener... a little paint and glitter... touch of hot glue = A CROWN!

These were not as fun to make as the crowns.. TIME consuming. but worth it? Yes.
They hung from our chandelier in the dining room.
Top "flower ball" is made of pink felt circles that I pinched into flower-ish shapes.
Bottom "flower ball" is folded book pages!

*photography by J.Rod*
The dress up station for the children.
I took these pictures of Lucy last week- had them blown up at Walmart and framed in simple photo frames. I loved the way it turned out.  They are staying up for awhile :)

*photography by J.Rod*
Table centerpieces!
I wrapped book pages from an antique storybook around the bottom of the vase.
Added a green hydrangea in the center and stuck white and pink daisy flowers around it...
Then of course we had to add a crown stick- (two paper "die-cut" crowns painted gold and glued together!)

Book page flowers that I made by literally folding the book pages, cutting the top into "petal" shape and hot gluing into a circle/flower shape.  The centers were made just like I did for the "flower ball"- these were displayed on the food table (see below)

*photography by J.Rod*
One of the things I was most proud of creating... the pink cupcake stand with a tutu!
I had seen these all over pinterest and decided I had to try!  I picked up three plastic platters and two glass candlesticks from the Dollar Tree. Primed them with white oil based primer, painted over that with light pink acrylic paint, stacked them, glued them with E6000 craft glue.. and there you have it. The perfect stand!
Adding the tutu was easy, too!
Measure out the length of your base with ribbon, then just tie pieces of tulle onto the ribbon. Wrap it around, hot glue it... and tutu cupcake stand... you are ready to go!
Oh and the cupcake toppers were also created from Blue Egg Events!


*photography by J.Rod*
Another view of the food table (before the food was set out!)
I found vintage storybooks from the local antique stores and displayed them, along with the book page flowers to set off our "storybook" theme.

Our menu was:
Miss Muffet's Magic Nuggets (chik-fil-a chicken nuggets)
Bibbity Bobbity Boo Skewers (tortellini, pepper jack cheese and tomato skewers)
Once Upon a Pasta (Paula Dean's bowtie pasta)
Three Little Pig Sliders (pulled pork)
Little Red Hen's Homemade Rolls (to go with BBQ pork)
Happily Ever After Fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries)
Peter Rabbits Vegetables (hummus with carrots and celery)
A Royal Wish Punch (pink lemondade)
Jack and Jill's Pail of Water (bottled water)
Sweet Tea


*photography by J.Rod*
Lucy's month-by-month pictures displayed on the mantle
I LOVED looking at these... this is actually the only real decoration I have not taken down yet.


Here is a picture of our living room for the party. 
We moved all the furniture out and moved in these tables and chairs to make sure everyone had a seat. 
This decision was made because we live in MS! 
Its hot.. very hot.. and it could rain at any second.
So I wasn't taking a chance on putting the tables outside ! :) 

 
*photography by J.Rod*
Children's table I re-did for Lu's room and her party!
This table was mine when I was little... and it was bright primary colors, now after a good sanding and coat of paint... its a pretty pale pink!

The proud momma and grandmothers watching Lu eat her cake!



*photography by J.Rod*


Our "Thank you" Notes
(also from Blue Egg Events)


*photography by J.Rod*
The party favors! (tags by Blue Egg Events)
I purchased different storybooks for the children, they loved them!
- Let's just say its the teacher in me, ha!


I will have many more pictures to post/blog about soon!!! Including pictures of our precious baby girl from her big 1st birthday!! Jana, from Happy Times Photography by J.Rod, took the pictures for Lucy's birthday party and I'm awaiting my full disk from her!  She is absolutely... WONDERFUL... and I highly recommend her.  :) I loved having Jana there- probably my best idea, ever... I wasn't worrying with chasing Lu around snapping pictures... because I knew Jana had it covered!!
(these pictures posted above were from a "sneak peak" album she posted!! And literally I SQUEALED with excitement when I saw them! She captured every detail... perfectly! )

Lucy's 1st birthday party was a HUGE success and I am SO happy with how it all turned out.  It was so much fun and believe it or not.. I was laid back and really enjoyed every second of it. 
Tomorrow is Lucy's official birthday... I am sure I'll be crying the whole day! We (the grandmothers and I) are taking her out to lunch (she'll definitely be sporting her "I'm ONE shirt and tutu!" haha. I have no idea how a year has gone by so fast but I am so grateful for each and every second I get to spend with this adorable baby girl. She is my heart.


ONE Upon A Time! at OneTrueMedia.com

Lucy's 1st year video scrapbook!  Get your tissues ready :)
Our little baby has turned into a little girl!

Behind the Scenes

So in order to have a Princess Party at your house.. you have to make your house look like a castle.. correct? Yes.
So... Thanks to my WONDERFUL husband who was also feeling my "EEK! We have to fix... everything.." mood- We were able to go from this-
Back porch BEFORE:

Rough... ewww.. yuck. 

To this!

Back porch AFTER remodeling:

WOW- right??
  New bottom siding by my brother-in-law's company, Colby pressure washed the entire back area (concrete included) and I added the coat of paint.. ta-dah!
We moved the bar that used to be in our kitchen outside to serve as our "refreshment" area for Lu's party... and I think it has a new home now! I LOVE it outside.. so yes,  now we are in the market for a new breakfast table to go in the "bar's" old home. I'm not complaining!

And NEXT on the "fix everything" page...
I WISH I had a before picture of this room! OMG.
It used to have Colby's office desk (it really is a pretty desk but..), a BLACK corner cabinet, and I kid you not... 4 deer mounts, a duck mount, an alligator skin, and a racoon all hanging on the walls around the desk.  For TWO years... TWO. The door to this room stayed shut. I occasionally would chunk some unwanted junk from other parts of the house into this room and quickly close the door back.  A.W.F.U.L.

Our guest room used to be Lucy's nursery... but when news of baby arrived.. out went the guest bed to storage.  Yes. Colby's "office" was kept and the bed went out... WHAT?! Don't ask.
ANYWAYS- Thank the good Lord himself... Colby agreed that we needed a guest room more than he needed his "man room". WHOOSH.
And so... here is our new room!
(I painted the corner cabinet ivory, added some pretty curtains, brought back my college bed suite... and tah-dah. SO much better!)
*I'm still not loving the portrait above the bed of our lab, Reese, but... I had to let Colby have a say on... something...*




LOVING the changes that just "HAD" to take place before the party!
I also highly recommend having  a party at your house... you'd be AMAZED at the things your husband will all of the sudden WANT to fix! :) HA!

The Big Birthday Post Is Up Next!!! 
MERRY MERRY!