For my son Gabriel’s first birthday party we decided on a magical woodland theme complete with gnomes, fairies, and forest animals. The party was a great success the kids had so much fun! I got a ton of compliments and requests for recipes and directions on how to make some of the fun cool things we had at the party. I will keep adding to this post and I will post separately some of the recipes and directions. I wanted to get some of the pictures posted now just to give an overview of what the party was like. I have many friends and family members who have been anticipating the recipes from the party. I’ve started by posting the menu. The recipes will be linked to the menu as I post them.

The invitations were amazing. I found them on etzy. The woman who did them was awesome to work with. She customized my invitation exactly the way I wanted it and also customized return address labels and printable party circles. The name of her shop is Paper and Pigtails. It was $15 for a a pdf file of the invitation that I could then print out as many as I wanted. The circles were $10 and again she customized them to fit exacly what I wanted. The return address labels were $6 and now these are all pdf files I own forever.

 

I collected some pictures of Gabriel to have at the party. The decor was all very natural and woodsie. Because it was fall there were small pumpkin gourds. My mother created some natural centerpeices and terrariums using moss and twigs and rocks and pinecones and parts of tree stumps. I brought bowls of pinecones as well as some that were just placed on the tables. I had a few mini pine trees and small pots of mums that I bought at the grocery store that I also put out on the tables. For the tableclothes I used a sage green plastic cloth and on the tables where the guests sat there were burlap table runners.

My older son Orion insisted his brother needed green cupcakes. So naturally I thought frogs. What better flavor for a green cupcake than mint. So these are mint brownie frog cupcakes.

How could I resist I had to do toadstool cupcakes. The toadstools are vanilla cherry flavored. I used white M&M’s for the spots.

I would love to say that I made this little gnome onesie but I actually bought it on etsy. The name of the shop is called The Wishing Elephant. The gnome is pieced out of felt and attached with fabric glue. Alas the shirt did not survive the day but the gnome was resued and given a second chance as a Christmas stocking.

This was big brother Orion’s shirt for the party. This one I did make. I found a printable coloring page online of a gnome house. Orion loves houses. Using my copier at home I copied the image to the size I wanted and then just used it as a pattern to cut out my pieces of felt. This picture just shows the pieces laid out before they were attached by sewing them on.

For the party favors I found free printables online and made my own paper party favors. There were owl masks, frog masks, beaver masks, assorted animal ears, homemade coloring books that were made using my moms book binder and not shown in this picture were gnome finger puppets.

Nuts for the squirrels. On every table I put small mason jars with assorted nuts in them. I printed out labels and hot glued them onto the jars.

Orion’s Chocolate Muddy Buddies is the Chex mix called Muddy Buddies or some people know it by the name Puppy Chow. I named it after big brother Orion because it contains three of his favorite things Chex cereal, chocolate, and peanut butter. I filled mason jars with the Muddy Buddy mix and placed them on all the tables. The labels I printed out and glued on with a hot glue gun. This is the crack of all Chex mixes. Amazingly addictive. This recipe should come with a warning label.

Baby Gabe trail mix is also a Chex mix the recipe is slightly altered from the original. I called it Baby Gabe because we always have little containers of various mixes of snacks for Gabriel and we just call them all Baby Gabe trail mix.

This is the gnome house tent that I made with a whole lot of help from my mom and my stepfather. The frame is made from two hula hoops and PVC pipe. I will post a link to the website I got it from. I will also give my own detailed instructions in my own post.

Caterpillar Kebobs were a huge hit. I really look for ways to encourage a good amount of healthy snacking at home and at parties. These cute little guys really paid off. The kids love them and the tray was empty by the end of the party. I just used bamboo shishkebob skewers put the grapes on sideways and added the eyes by using mini chocolate chips and a little frosting.

There is the Birthday Boy! My mom and I made these gnome hats and jackets for the party in several different sizes. It pays to hire a professional photographer.

On the main food table I attached these small felt owls and birds. These would be easy to make yourself. I found these in Target for $1 a piece and bought all that they had in the store knowing I would find a way to use them at the party. Now they hang in our house on our porch/toyroom.

Gnome cousins! My son has twin cousins that are three weeks older than him. The idea of the three babies in gnome costumes was party of the inspiration for this party.

The kids had so much fun dressing up.

I started this tradition with my first son and carried it on with Gabriel. On the actual day of their first birthday I get a hand and a footprint impression from them. Because his birthday was before the party I was able to bring them to the party.

There was a photo booth for the party. The kids loved it. Really it became the main activity for the party. I collected discounted Halloween costume items like wigs and wings and masks along with the gnome costumes that we made. The little blue toadstool photo prop was made by a friend who offered to bring it to the party it ended up being the perfect thing.

Even the adults got in on the dress up fun!

Fairy Punch

 

More table decor made by my mother.

The birthday boy and his great grandma.

The kids loved this gnome playhouse that was made to look like a tree stump it was occupied the whole party.

The dessert table. The dessert menu included these toadstool and frog cupcakes as well as a make your own parfait station which I called Fairy Berries and Cream that included yogurt, berries, granolla and whipped cream.

I love this shot. The photographer did an amazing job.

The birthday boy and his family. That’s me on the right.

The colors of the party were mostly earth tones with a few touches in red and white to represent toadstools.

Acorn cookies. These were made to look like acorns using hersheys kisses, small sugar cookies, and mini cinnamon chips.

The woods are full of fairies!

More table decorations. You can see the burlap table runners. The trees I found at Target in the dollar section and added the acorn bells. The small birdhouses were also a $1 at the craft store and were given away after the party as party favors.

Gnome brothers.

Let them eat cake.

No party is complete without Aunt Sarah and her euchalale.

On the main food table I placed large bowls of apples and tangerines. They look pretty and make for healthy snacks.

More dress up fun!