Ethan's Patriotic 1st Birthday Party!

This past Saturday, we celebrated Ethan's first birthday by throwing a backyard party at our house.  And though Ethan was {sadly} fighting a fever that day, we thought the party was a total success!  The weather was gorgeous, the company was fantastic, and the food was amazing.  What more could we ask for?  It was the perfect way to reflect on Ethan's first year and celebrate with family and friends.

Get ready for picture overload!

Naturally, we had to showcase Ethan's first year in photos!  The darling tassel garland is by Everylane and the cute sailboat stickers are from Minted.  We printed the Instagram photos from Printstagram and the quality is not only great, but they're super easy to upload and order online. 

I don't think I'll ever take the garland down!  ;)

At the front door we hung some paper lanterns from Pier 1 and I borrowed this cute wreath from my mother-in-law.

Back inside, my awesome photographer, Darcy of Artyard Photography, blew up our favorite photo of Ethan from his newborn shoot.  I plan to put his 3, 6 9 and 12 month photos on either side.  I just love it.  The star garland is from Shapes on a String and the anchor labels are from Harriet Ann Creative.  I got the pails from various stores and filled them with Animal Crackers {in the box of course}, patriotic sunglasses, bubbles, the cutest paper crown from Minted and lots of candy! 

Wilson wanted in on the crown action!  ;)

I made of the cakes for the occasion.  It was my first attempt at a layer cake and though it may not have been the prettiest...it was delish!  And still pretty cute too!

Here it is complete with the pinwheels.

And the inside! 

I also ordered a couple smaller cakes and these berry cupcakes.  The anchor and cupcake holders are from Target.

And here is the backdrop!  I had so much fun putting it together.  The banner is from Minted and the pinwheels are from Party City.

Homemade focaccia bread...yum!

I even made sure to special order the Izze drinks in blue and red for the kiddos!

Also, the gummy sharks and sweedish fish!  The little straw tags are from Minted as well! 

I'm bummed because I thought I got a better picture of the bar area, complete with the #1 that I made out of Instagram photos, but I'm sure you get the idea.

You can see a better picture here!  ;)

Last, I had to go for the red, white and blue goldfish!  

And here's the birthday boy!

Overall, it was a great birthday party!  The kids had a blast playing in the pool and sandbox...and the adults enjoyed being outside and taking it all in!

If I missed any details, feel free to ask in the comments below.  A special thanks to Harriet Ann Creative, Minted, and Shapes on a String for making Ethan's day extra festive and fun.

xo natasha