Jungle Safari Themed 1st Birthday {Eats}

Today I'm sharing all the details behind the food and desserts we had at the little Man's jungle safari themed first birthday.  If you haven't already done so, you can enter to win an Etsy prize pack featuring all our designers over at The Wise Baby.

The dessert bar featured a safari cake, which sat on top of a vintage suitcase, with the most adorable gold elephant candle holder, thanks to Gnome Sweet Gnome Shop.  The goodies on the dessert table included: rice krispy treats, cake pops, jello cups, ants on a log (with animal crackers), and delicious personalized safari hat cookies from Rollin’ in Dough.  The  backdrop consisted of zebra print fabric, the happy birthday banner, which hung from a bamboo frame, and animal prints from Lisa Kay Designs.  Green moss, large leaf prints, and a raffia table shirt, polished off the dessert table.

We kept things simple for food and served salad & pizzas, and it's the easiest way to feed a crowd of nearly 75 people.  In addition to the usual appetizers we had a cheese plate and a fruit tray with a double pineapple tree. In case you are wondering, I cut the top and the bottom off the the bottom pineapple and hallowed it out, and used skewers to secure the two pineapples together. At the beverage station, or the watering hole, we served jungle juice, water, juice pouches, Izzes, and of course milk.  I created custom water bottle labels, and used the same stickers on the cups.  And for added fun, I made drink flags with the little Man's favorite jungle animal sound, the roaring of a lion.

Zebra fabric: Joann Fabrics

Pizza paddles & bamboo fencing: Amazon

Raffia tree skirt & green leaves: Party City

Photos by Niraj Gandhi Photography.

Jungle Safari Themed First Birthday {Decor}

Today I'm sharing the detail behind the decor from the little Man's safari themed 1st birthday.  Don't forget to enter to win a fabulous Etsy prize pack giveaway featuring all of our Etsy designers over at The Wise Baby. 

Starting with one of my favorite details from the little Man’s first birthday were the amazing invitations created by one of my incredibly talented friends at PS Paper Couture.  She pulled together beautiful details to create a passport style invitation, including the customs stamp from our most recent trip.  And the boarding passes are amazing, check out all that detail. 

As the little guests entered their jungle safari adventure, their first stop was base camp.  Here they gathered their supplies like binoculars, safari hats, and picked up their safari passes.  The back of the safari passes had a fun safari adventure itinerary that included: a photo in the safari jeep, searching for a herd of zebra, a romp in the quicksand pit.  For slightly older safari adventurers, I created a custom activity book.  

Safari supplies for our little adventurers.  Safari hats, binoculars, & their safari passes.

I wrapped a few cardboard boxes in contact paper, and stenciled in a few stats about the little man, and included the usual shipping terms.  I also created a cargo manifest and altered it for 'live cargo' and added washi tape in the par avion pattern to finish it off.

The guest book, a copy of Disney’s Jungle Book, and favors were also featured at “base camp”.  I know guest books aren’t typical for first birthday parties, but I love the idea of the little Man reading his signed copy in years to come, and it’s another wonderful addition to his library.  The favors, stuffed animals from the Kohl’s Cares collection, were housed in a vintage crate.  I love that they doubled as favors and were a great way to give back.

The centerpieces consisted of a safari animals that I spray painted gold, and a framed picture of the little Man throughout his first year.  To add some texture and add a more safari feel, I added burlap runners to each table.

One of my favorite details from the party was the favorite things poster by Moulage Collection is one of my favorite party details.  I love how it turned out, and we received so many compliments on it.  I can’t wait to frame it for his nursery; it’s the perfect way to capture his first year.

We created several play areas for the little ones, which included a 'quicksand pit', a safari jeep photo booth, and a floating zebra herd. The  safari rides photo booth came to life with several yards of burlap, the safari jeep, and a few jungle friends from the little Man’s nursery.  The Mister built the safari jeep using a cardboard box, and after several coats of spray paint and some quick glue gunning, we had ourselves a fun photo prop.  Using an inflatable pool filled with plastic balls, we created the “quicksand pit”, which was by far the most popular play area at the party.   The “zebra herd” consisted of several inflated mylar zebra balloons, the inspiration behind the zebra herd was  this Land of Nod design photo.  With several floating zebras around the party, our little guests could spot them with their binoculars, or take them for a walk.

Inflatable pool, balls, safari hats, binoculars, zebra balloons, & mosquito netting: Amazon

Safari animals & burlap: Joann Fabrics

Photos by Niraj Gandhi Photography.

Jungle Safari Themed 1st Birthday

We are sharing the little Man's jungle safari themed first birthday on The Wise Baby today.  And you can enter to win a fabulous giveaway featuring all the Etsy designers we used.  The giveaway includes a $10 gift certificate to Lisa Kay Designs, a $10 gift certificate to PS Paper Couture, an animal candle holder from Gnome Sweet Gnome Shop, and a dozen delicious mini Easter egg cookies from Rollin' in Dough!  Enter over at http://www.thewisebaby.com/safari-themed-first-birthday/ to win.  Also for all you parents or soon-to-be parents out there, our photographer, Niraj Gandhi, is offering 55% off a newborn or family photo shoot if you mention 'The Wise Baby' and book by March 31st. 

And I'll be sharing all the details behind the little Man's first birthday this week on the blog.  But first, I give you the smash cake success as it was beautifully captured by Niraj Gandhi.  Since the little Man is a replica of Mowgli, from the Jungle Book, we found this orange diaper cover to complete his 'Mowgli' inspired look.

St Patty's Day Celebrations

Happy St. Patty's Day!  We celebrated this weekend with an Irish themed breakfast and libations at some of our favorite watering holes across the city.  Breakfast included the Mister's amazing-from-scratch pancakes with a little food coloring, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows.  Yes, I sifted through an entire box of Lucky Charms and picked out all the marshmallows, they truly are magically delicious!  And the potatoes were my own creation of 3 tablespoons of butter, a clove of garlic (grated), salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.  Toss together and bake at 375 for 25 minutes till golden brown and crispy.  Our green themed soiree included cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream frosting, you can find the recipe here, and lime jello shots.  I added rum and lychee flavored liqueur in the following ratio: 3 oz rum, 3 oz lychee liqueur, 2 oz cold water.  Hope you lovelies celebrated your Irish heritage (or lack thereof) in style.


 

{sign via}







Soiree :: Sunshine Baby Shower

Today we're sharing the details behind the 'you are my sunshine' themed baby shower.  I love the combination of yellow and grey, it's the perfect contrast to drab and dreary December.  Fortunately the weather cooperated with us and there was plenty of sunshine to go around.  Here's a look back at the inspiration behind the party.  All in all, it was the perfect way to shower the parents-to-be and Baby G with lots of love.

 We had a little of something for everyone to enjoy.  Beverages included a mimosa bar, a prego-tini punch, and beer.  As this was a couples shower we decided to add the concept of a diaper party.  The guys provide diapers and in exchange we provided the beer.  To make sure they didn't end up with a million newborn diapers we indicated sizes on each invite.  And to make things a little more interesting, we had guests leave the parents-to-be fun love notes for their late night diaper changes.  Turns out their guests are pretty hilarious and some of the messages will make for entertaining diaper changes.

The welcome table housed the favors, little boxes filled with yellow candy and treats, and the guestbook.  Each guest signed a yellow sticker, which was then laid out into a bouquet of balloons and framed for the nursery. 

The parents-to-be sat front and center while guest played games and opened gifts.  Love the way the 36" balloon looks above the chairs, like their very own sun.  The fringe tassel was an easy DIY project, you can craft one yourself, here's the tutorial.  The dessert table featured cupcakes, cookies, cheesecake bites, rock candy, and oreo pops, yum!

 The soon to be parents with two of my favorite DIY elements from the party.  The ray of sunshine photowall, which was accomplished using tissue balls and streamers as sun rays.  And the personalized beer mug, that was etched 'Dad est. 2014'; wine glass which was blinged out and featured a charm that read 'momma knows best'.