Shayne's Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday

Shayne loves books! We read to her every night, and as soon as she sees her book, she squeals with delight. One of her favorites is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. She loves the colors and beautiful pictures so I decided it would be an adorable first birthday theme! I knew with this theme, the details would be everything, and I was up for the challenge. I ordered some adorable custom invitations from Etsy with Shayne’s picture on them and was able to print them all from home. This saved some money but was pretty time consuming. I think it was worth it though.

First we had to pick the venue, and decided on beautiful Oak Meadow Park. We reserved a perfect spot with six picnic tables near a huge grassy area. While our spot would be near the playground, I also wanted to rent a bouncy house to keep the kids entertained and close by.

The food was a tough decision. We knew it would be a hot day, so we did not want to have food that was hot also. Sandwiches, salads and fruit would be ideal for the theme and the sunshine. Originally, I wanted to do it all ourselves, but with everything going on, we decided to order the sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s Subs. This was a very good decision since they even delivered them to the party and were a huge hit. We were able to order several different kinds and they kept fresh for hours. We also had watermelon, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, salad, chips and dips, and some other finger foods.

The decorations were really fun to do! For Shayne’s highchair, I picked out some colorful fabric and ribbons from a local fabric store, and a friend of mine created the most beautiful high chair decoration!

I also had a fun making the goodie bags for the kids. I ordered a round sticker template from Etsy that said, “Thank you for coming to my party” with The Very Hungry Caterpillar on them. I was able to print as many of these as I needed since I did it from home. They looked so cute on the goodie bags as well as the lollipops.

I really wanted to do some sort of collage documenting her first year. I found some cute ideas on Pinterest, but the one that stuck out to me the most was that of a caterpillar, using its body as a place to put the photos for each month of her life. It took a lot of work but turned out really cute. I even printed up a butterfly for her most recent 1 year photo to show her growing up!

Looking at these photos taken over the course of the year really shows how much she has changed. I really loved making this collage and will keep this forever!

The absolute highlight and centerpiece of the party was the cake! I could not have imagined a more AMAZING cake. It was too beautiful to eat, well almost. It actually tasted as wonderful as it looked. I am so lucky to know this amazingly talented baker and cake decorator who made this for Shayne’s birthday. I sent her some ideas, but what she made exceeded all expectations! I was in absolute disbelief when she showed up with this masterpiece!

Calee Parise is the owner of a made to order bakery called Lark And Sparrow. She does custom orders and will even deliver! Her cakes are becoming a staple at all of our birthday parties. The effort and attention to detail she puts into her cakes is unbelievable!

When it came time for dessert, we ordered a small cupcake with sprinkles for Shayne, and left the cake for out guests.

We all sang “Happy Birthday” as the little birthday girl sat on her custom make throne. I think she really liked the attention.

When it came time to eat the cupcake, Shayne didn’t really know what to do. She stared at if for a bit, and kept looking up to see everyone’s reactions. She eventually tasted it but did not want to have any part in trying it again. Instead she squished it in her tiny hands and played with it like play-doh. She seemed fascinated by the texture.

I was surprised that she didn’t want to eat her cake, but not at all disappointed. Kolton did not like his first birthday cake either and wouldn’t eat any sweets until he was almost 3 years old. (Read about Kolton’s First Birthday HERE). Shayne is such a good eater, but apparently prefers meats, vegetables and fruits. We even got an extra cupcake for Kolton so he wouldn’t feel left out. He still doesn’t eat cake, but LOVES the sprinkles!

Shayne had so much fun at her party, playing with her toys and watching the big kids play in the bouncy house!

We had such a wonderful turnout of family and so many close friends who all came to celebrate our little caterpillar turning into a butterfly!

Shayne even got to go for a wagon ride with her best friend, Kenzie! It was so cute!

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family for making this day so special. And a very special thank you to Calee Parise for making the most beautiful cake I have ever seen!