Welcome to the Big Top: T's First Birthday Party

Talinn recently turned one.  It was a little bittersweet.  I'm happy we reached this milestone, but sad that my little baby is already one!  

We had a great big circus celebration in honor of his birthday.  I had a lot of fun planning, designing and crafting for the big day.  I took my lead from the invitation and designed everything around a red, yellow and blue theme.

Here are some of the details:

When I bought decorations, I tried to buy things that might have a longer shelf life.  I didn't mind spending more on some of the items like toys or books since I knew they would get use after the party.  The elephant decal was expensive, but we moved it to Talinn's room so now it's a permanent decoration!

I made a lot of the decor including this flag banner and I was so happy I did!  My projects turned out better than I expected! 

I also made a photo banner because we've been taking photos of Talinn with his giraffe "Jimmer" since he was one month old.  And I thought what better way to display all those photos and how he has grown!  I mounted each photo on circus paper (such a good buy!) and then printed out numbers to correspond with the months.  Each photo is attached to a long piece of Ric-Rac with a small, red clothespin.

{Adult Favors}

{Kid Favors}

We sent all the adults home with jelly beans.  The seal was a free printable from One Charming Party.  And the kids went home with a zebra tambourine stick.

We also made circus themed food: kettle corn, homemade lemonade, mushroom swiss sliders, chicken fingers, sweet potato fries and jam sandwiches cutout as lions and elephants for the kiddos.

And the banana split cupcakes we had were amazing!

And last but not least, the birthday boy!  My mom made his circus pants and his little bow-tie.

Source List:

Invitation- Hello! Lucky
Red and white circus tents- Etsy

ABC is for Circus- Amazon

Wooden elephant, seal and bear- ACME Party Box Company

Circus paper- Etsy

Red clothespins for the photo banner- Amazon

Elephant riding bike- Amazon

Elephant on top of ball decal- Etsy

Cupcake liners, napkins, blue cake stand and candy containers- Shop Sweet Lulu

Vintage circus posters- El Cheapo Posters

Lollipops- Hammond's

Elephant teapot used as a vase- World Market

Handmade tablecloth by my mom- Hawthorne Threads

Strong man- World Market (in store)

Zebra tambourine sticks- Eleganter

Inspiration:

Cupcake topper and flag banner

Tablescape

Photo banner

Jam sandwiches

Circus party

Carnival inspiration boards