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Juniper’s Blooming First Birthday Bash

I keep pinching myself, but I can’t shake the fact that it has now been one year since our baby girl made her grand entrance into the world and stole our hearts forever. That whole, “It goes by so fast!” mantra we hear like a broken record? Well, friends, it turns out to be true. {Le sigh.}

So, when Juniper’s baptism fell on Memorial Day weekend Sunday just a week before her first birthday, we knew it would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the two momentous occasions in one. And today is the day I get to give you the full run-down of her Blooming Baptism & Birthday Bash (alliteration-lovers, that one was for you).

Here we go!

A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Theme

Flower Crown & Wand

It all started with *a flower crown.

The flower crown that inspired it all! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I had my eye on the beautifully handcrafted felt flower crowns by The Gipsy and The Yarn on Etsy, and Juniper’s big celebration felt like the perfect opportunity to invest in one. Of course, when I saw the shop owner, Glory Jirau, had a listing for a crown and wand combo, that was a must.

The pink, blush, white, and gold color scheme of the crown served as the color palette inspiration for all of our party decor. And slowly, I started to see a springy floral theme emerging. A “blooming birthday bash” for our woodland fairy queen it would be!

The flower crown and wand that inspired it all! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Phoebe Fawn

As our first birthday gift to Juniper, Mark and I gave her a Phoebe Fawn doll from Hazel Village. And I couldn’t resist ordering a flower crown for Phoebe, too. #BestieTwins

The flower crown that inspired it all...and matchy-matchy Phoebe Fawn! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Invitation

Here’s a peek at our invitation, which I made pre-theme. However, the color palette was quite similar to our party palette. #HappyAccident

I love how we can send digital invitations snail-mail style with Paperless Post. When you open up the invite via email, you see a card slip out of an envelope all romantic-like.

A Blooming First Birthday & Baptism Party - I love how we can send digital cards snail-mail style with Paperless Post!

Decor Elements

High Chair Pennant Banner

For starters, I decided to add a dash of decor to Junie’s high chair. So, I picked up some wood pennant letters from Hobby Lobby (here’s a burlap version on Amazon), as well as some tassel banners that I disassembled, so I could just use the white ones. (Note: beware of purchasing the ones on Amazon you have to assemble yourself; the tassel ain’t worth the hassle! A fabric tassel banner like this one might be a better option.)

I strung them together on twine, and we secured them to her high chair with duct tape for added reinforcement. Voila!

High chair decor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Party Backdrop

I’ve always been a sucker for a DIY party backdrop. I love its ability to transform a space into an instant party and how it looks great in photos without costing an arm and a leg. I’ve used plastic tablecloths before when creating a photo booth backdrop, but I thought it was time to try out my friend Jenna’s tutorial of a braided party backdrop. It turned out so beautifully, it was well worth the two hour time investment.

DIY Braided Party Backdrop - instant fun! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Braided Party Backdrop - instant fun! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Here’s a link to Jenna’s step-by-step video tutorial.

To check out my timelapse video of how I created ours, along with my tips learned along the way, click HERE.

Milestone Photo Banner

I’ve been taking monthly milestone photos of Juniper throughout the year and sharing them on Instagram and Facebook. So, I printed a set of the photos in 4″ x 4″ size at our local Walgreens, used mini-clothespins to string them to twine, and my sweet Mama hung the banner across our living room gallery wall. It was a fun way to look back over the past year and see how Juniper grew like a weed before our eyes.

The hard work of taking the photos with a wiggly baby was already done. And printing and hanging them was a piece of cake!

Monthly Milestone Photo Banner for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Monthly Milestone Photo Banner for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Monthly Milestone Photo Banner for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Floral Monogram Letter

I’ve seen DIY floral monogram projects floating around blogland for a while. Now, I finally had the perfect opportunity to try my hand at one.

Y’all, I have zero experience in floral arranging. Yet this project was so do-able and extremely fun. I even created a timelapse video of the whole process in hopes that it might serve as motivation for you to give it a go, dear reader.

Click HERE to check out the video, easy tutorial, and my tips.

DIY Floral Monogram Letter for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Floral Monogram Letter for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Minor Decor Details

Mark put pink balloons out on the street, leading guests to our front door where we posted a welcome sign for guests.

Welcome to a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

My Dad, the former “Kid President” of the Jr. Garden Club, spent all afternoon Saturday turning some wimpy grocery flowers into delightful arrangements in mason jars. That way, our tables could boast some natural blooms.

A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

We added tissue paper confetti to the tabletops…

A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

…and faux flower garlands atop doorways using some of the leftover supplies from my floral monogram project.

A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

And we finally had good reason to update our vintage chalkboard sign (which—true confessions—hadn’t been changed since before Juniper was born…eek!).

Happy Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I also added a few more floral-themed signs around the house to mark the restroom and invite guests to use the outdoor seating. If you’d like a copy of these signs for your next blooming party celebration, I just may be able to help you out there. {Wink.} Read on!

A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Fun-tivities

Time Capsule

As I scoured the interwebs for first birthday party inspiration, one activity I saw come up time and time again was a “Time Capsule Station.” The idea is that party guests take the time to write the birthday gal a letter that will be tucked away in a “time capsule” to be opened on her 18th birthday. How fun is that?!

Of course, I latched onto this idea like a burr to your favorite pair of jeans. And the English teacher in me had to come up with a few prompts to get the party guests started:

  • My first impression of you was…
  • A favorite memory from this year was…
  • When you grow up, I predict you’ll be…
  • My prayer for you on this day is…

I created a flower-ific sign for the Time Capsule station and displayed it in a clear sign holder.

Time Capsule Station at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

For the letter paper, I cut up some blue and green scrapbook paper I had on hand in various sizes, and left them in a stack beside a pen cup of archival-safe pens for everyone to use.

Time Capsule Station at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

We just may have read the letters after everyone left and just may have shed a flood of tears into our post-party cupcakes. What an incredible gift these letters will be for Juniper to open on her 18th birthday. I have no doubt we’ll weep all over again.

For anyone who would love to use this sign for their kiddo’s birthday celebration, I’d love to share it with you, plus a few other goodies I made for Juniper’s party. The printable pack includes:

  • Time Capsule Sign (blank for name)
  • Time Capsule Sign (blank for name and age)
  • Time Capsule Sign (birthday girl: no name needed)
  • Time Capsule Sign (birthday boy: no name needed)
  • Mini-Sign Sheet (welcome, restroom, outdoor seating, favors)
  • Mini-Sign Sheet (sandwiches, croissants, beverages, thank you)
  • Blank Mini-Sign Sheet (for whatever your heart desires!)

And guess what? I am giving away this 7 page printable pack for FREE just because it will give me joy to know there are other parties like this one “blooming” around the world. Click HERE to download. And feel free to drop a comment to let me know if you used it! Or you can say “thanks” by pinning or sharing this post. (Fine print: these printables are for personal use only and are not to be used for commercial purposes.)

Favors

Are you ready for this jelly? Because I think the party favors were my favorite element of the party.

A dear friend of mine, Diana Murray, has an incredible talent for creating coloring pages. And while spying some of her custom designs on Instagram, I had a lightbulb moment: “How cool would it be to hire her to create a custom coloring page of Junie?!” The answer: mega-cool.

I figured it could serve as a party favor for our guests, expressing our gratitude to them for celebrating Juniper’s special day with us. Not to mention, coloring pages are so hot right now—for kids and adults alike.

So, Diana set to work, using a photo I had sent her of Junie in her party get-up, sitting in her high chair. Here’s how the custom coloring page turned out:

Custom Coloring Page Party Favor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Amazing, right? She even was able to add in the fairy wand and a scrumptious-looking cupcake on the high chair. Diana used her art markers to color in a special copy for us that I displayed on a tabletop wooden easel at our “Favors Station,” that will also become a keepsake for Juniper. And I printed out a stack of blank pages for guests to take home with them along with a basket full of crayon bundles to complete the gift.

Custom Coloring Page Party Favor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Custom Coloring Page Party Favor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Needless to say, the coloring pages were a hit! And not just as party favors, but as a party activity. Within minutes of arriving, my niece Clara had found a quiet corner in which to create her masterpiece…

Custom Coloring Page Party Favor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!
Those mesmerizing red eyes!

…and even my friend Ben who is a professional artist managed to create a beautiful work art with his coloring page. I mean, look what he did with a pack of seven crayons:

Custom Coloring Page Party Favor for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I can’t sing Diana’s praises enough. Her work is truly astounding. And she has a special listing for custom coloring pages like this one if you want to commission one for your next shin-dig!

Baby Book Browsing

For a walk down memory lane, I also laid out Juniper’s baby book, which I only recently started working on in preparation for the party (I work best with a deadline!). I have to say, the Lucy Darling book, “Baby’s First Year: A Simple Book of Firsts,” was a true delight to work on. And thanks to all of my milestone shares on Instagram, it was totally do-able to complete retroactively.

Baby Book on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I couldn’t resist adding a few other personal touches with baby photos of Mark and me, as well as the hospital certificate with Juniper’s birth stats and adorable tiny footprints. Be still my heart!

Baby Book on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Food

Light Lunch

Since I wanted to pour my energy into the DIY decor elements, we decided to cater a light lunch, buffet-style from our local Publix grocery store to make things simpler on the food end. We ordered four platters: veggies, fruit, croissant sandwiches, and Pub subs. Paper goods came from Hobby Lobby.

Food platters, mini sign holders, and fresh flowers on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Food platters, mini sign holders, and fresh flowers on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

"The cousins" at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!
Junie’s dapper cousins!

Mini Sign Holders

I was searching on Amazon for mini sign holders for the food and beverages when I had a slap-hand-to-forehead moment. I already had a set on hand THAT I HAD MADE!

Once upon a DIY, I made some Gold Animal Place-Card Holders that would be perfect for this. The plastic animals added childlike whimsy, and their gilded gold fit the color palette to a T. So, I closed that Amazon cart right quick!

Gold Animal Place-Card Holders tutorial at ThinkingCloset.com

Food platters, mini sign holders, and fresh flowers on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

(Psst. Don’t forget, these mini food and drink signs are included in that freebie printable pack up above. Just sayin’.)

Pink Lemonade

And here was our pink lemonade drink station. I snapped a photo the day before just in case I forgot to take one during the party. Oh, how well I know myself! You can use your imagination to fill it with some cool and refreshing raspberry lemonade.

Raspberry lemonade, mini sign holders, and fresh flowers on display at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Mini Cupcakes

I like to think we’re “cupcake people.” After all, Mark and I opted for cupcakes at our wedding reception rather than cake. And when I asked my friend and cupcake aficionado Amy for a recommendation on where to buy our sweet treats, she said without hesitation, “Sweet by Holly.” (Fun fact: they are 3x Cupcake Wars winners!) And Holly did not disappoint.

I loved their wide assortment of 50+ unique flavors, and the fact we could order “minis” to encourage party guests to try out a few different flavors.

Sweet by Holly Mini-Cupcakes at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

They even made a custom cupcake for Juniper inspired by her flower crown. How gorgeous is that?

Sweet by Holly Cupcake inspired by the Birthday Gal's Floral Crown | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I ordered two of Junie’s cupcakes so we’d have one for the party and another for our little photo shoot the next day. Mark kept saying, “I feel like I’m torturing her!” when I asked him to hold it just out of her reach. Poor gal!

Sweet by Holly Cupcake inspired by the Birthday Gal's Floral Crown | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

I think Junie would agree, though…it was well worth the wait.

DIY Mini Birthday Crown

I knew we wanted to change Juniper out of her Laura Ashley party dress and flower crown for the “cupcake smash.” So, I decided to DIY a mini birthday crown for her to wear with a “birthday girl” tee instead.

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

You’ll never guess what I made this crown out of….

…okay, I’ll tell you! A paper party cup. It was so easy, I pulled it off in 15 minutes. And yes, I have another fun timelapse video for you with that project, too. (I may have gotten a little obsessed with timelapse videos that week before the party. Sorry-not-sorry.)

Click HERE for the step-by-step tutorial.

Cupcake Smash

Here are some photos of us with Junie on the party day, moments before she got to enjoy her first real dose of sugar.

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

She didn’t quite know what to do with the cupcake at first, and I’m not sure she even realized it was food—that is, until Mark broke it into a few smaller pieces for her. Then, as soon as she got a handful into her mouth, she got a wild look in her eye and devoured the rest.

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

If this face doesn’t says “cupcake smash,” I don’t know what does!

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

The paparazzi capturing the cupcake smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!
The paparazzi!

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

It took two baths to get her totally clean, and she definitely was a bit cranky coming off her sugar high. Baby girl, I know how it goes….

DIY Mini Birthday Crown for a Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Post-Cupcake Smash! | A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!
Bathtime for birthday gal!

Meaningful Moments

We didn’t want the day to go by without pausing to mark the significance of this extra special occasion. So, we incorporated a few meaningful moments into the party:

Prayer

My grandfather and Juniper’s great-grandfather is 90-years-young and drove up from Fort Myers just for the occasion. His presence with us that weekend was one of the greatest gifts of all. And so, it was an honor to have him bless Juniper with a prayer before lunch. Nobody prays quite like my Pop Pop prays.

Pop Pop & Junie before A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Letters to Juniper

For Mark and me, letter writing is an act that is near to our hearts since we wrote letters to each other during our long-distance dating relationship before we got married. And it’s a practice we continue to do now for Juniper, writing letters to her future self about our adventures together, our hopes and dreams for her, and memories we never want to forget. #LettersToJuniper

So, Mark and I each wrote her a special letter on the occasion of her baptism and birthday, and we decided to read those aloud for our guests. Somehow I managed to hold it together…but boy, was it tough. Especially when Mark was reading aloud his beautifully written letter.

Reading aloud letters to the birthday girl at her Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

1se Video Montage

Another practice we have embraced this past year is preserving our memories through one second of video everyday. (HERE’S an entire post dedicated to this project, as well as a video montage of our first 365 days.)

So, I created a video mash-up of every second of footage we’ve captured thus far, from 31 weeks pregnant to her baptism that very day! (I was exporting the video on the car ride home, so we could share it at the party.)

And it was such a delight to watch everyone’s faces and hear their cacophonous laughter as Juniper’s first year (and two months in the womb) flashed before our eyes in a matter of minutes. So many of our party guests were featured in those seconds, too, so it’s a true montage of all our family has to be thankful for.

Video Montage at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Video Montage at a Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

To Close

Thanks for taking the time to re-live Juniper’s Blooming First Birthday Party alongside me.

Before you part, I’d love to share this closing word, especially if at any point while reading, you started to feel overwhelmed or pressured to up the ante with the next party you plan:

People won’t remember how Pinterest-perfect your party was (or wasn’t). Rather, they’ll remember how you made them feel. How you welcomed them when they entered your home. How you loved on them. And the ways you communicated how special they are to you.

This has always been my philosophy when it comes to party-planning. And it’s what I kept reminding myself when my own doubts and insecurities starting rising up in those weeks before the big day.

May we see the parties we host as opportunities to lavish love on our party guests…and a few dozen mini cupcakes, too.

The flower crown that inspired it all! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Keep blooming!

The flower crown that inspired it all! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

The flower crown that inspired it all! A Blooming First Birthday Bash, inspired by spring flowers in pink, blush, and white. DIY party ideas for a woodland floral-themed celebration, spring fling, or botanical garden party!

Where to next?

NEW: If you can’t get enough of 1st birthday party ideas, in May of 2020 we hosted a “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” party for our second-born daughter with creative ideas that riff off of some of the ideas from Juniper’s party. Click HERE or the image below to check it out.

Creative DIY Party Ideas for a "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" 1st Birthday Bash, inspired by our favorite baby lullaby. Get inspired to have a dazzling celebration for your shining star's first birthday or a baby shower during a pandemic or otherwise! via thinkingcloset.com

If you’d like to check out all the fun DIY details from Juniper’s Second Birthday…which was Ice Cream Themed, well then you are in for a treat! Click HERE or the image below to check it out.Love this Ice Cream Themed Birthday Party Inspiration! DIY party ideas from Juniper's 2nd Birthday Celebration. Inexpensive and do-able ideas you can pull of in the last minute! From backdrops to lawn decor to favors to letter-board quotes!

And for Pepper’s 2nd birthday, we had a Puppy Paw-ty that was dog-gone fun. Check out the paw-ty details by clicking HERE or the image below.

Pepper's 2nd Birthday "Puppy Paw-ty!" Creative party ideas via thinkingcloset.com - How to host a puppy-themed pawty with an adopt a puppy activity that's fun for all ages!

Next, click HERE or the image below to journey over to Juniper’s “Madeline in Paris” Themed 4th Birthday Party, inspired by the classic Madeline children’s books!

How to host a "Madeline In Paris"-themed 4th birthday party at home with creative DIY party activities, French decor, and costumes inspired by the classic Madeline children's books via ThinkingCloset.com

For another story-themed celebration, check out our “Anne of Green Gables” Inspired Birthday Party by clicking HERE or the image below.

How to host an "Anne of Green Gables" or "Anne with an E" themed birthday party with food, decor, activities, and games for the whole family! SO many creative ideas jam-packed in this post. Eek!

Last but not least, click HERE or the image below to join us for a royally fun time at Juniper’s Princesses & Knights Golden Birthday Pool Party.

Juniper's "Princesses & Knights" 5th Birthday Pool Party & Royal Golden Birthday Celebration | Royally creative ideas including a punny invitation, DIY castle backdrop, a golden birthday banner, creative activities for kids of all ages & party favors galore! via thinkingcloset.com

*Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking through, The Thinking Closet may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for helping to support this site!

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33 Comments

  1. Beautiful party. My favorite DIY project you did is the flower letter. I am actually going to try doing one as well. Where did you get the wooden planks to hang the flower letter on?

    1. Oh yay! It’s such a winner of a project…my daughter just turned 6 and we used it at her Encanto-themed party! Have fun with it. As for the plank backdrop, my husband Mark build it for me many years ago for a rustic vintage spring decor project you can see HERE. And HERE are some tips on working with pallet wood if you decide to DIY your own.

  2. Loved the whole décor Lauren!! There is a breezy touch to the entire setting!! My daughter is turning 1 this January and yours would top my inspiration list !! xoxo!! Could you please let me know from where you got the floral pieces you used to make the letter “J”

    1. Aw, thank you so much! I’m so glad you found inspiration here! I got the floral pieces at our local craft stores: Hobby Lobby and JoAnn’s. I like to shop around to see who is having sales and also use coupons to get good deals. All the best as you put together your own blooming first birthday decor for your little flower!

  3. Oh my gosh! I love this. I too am putting together my daughters baptism and first birthday party and I am also going with a floral theme! All your DIY ideas are giving me hope that I can do this without spending too much money. 🙂

    1. Oh I hope it was such a lovely affair! So happy to hear this post sparked some inspiration for you. It really doesn’t have to be spendy to be beautiful and meaningful. Happy belated birthday and baptism to your little angel!

  4. Such a beautiful party! Thanks for sharing! I am in the midst of planning a Floral 1st birthday for my little one! I love the theme all around. Would mind letting me know how you add your child’s name to your printable time capsule printable?

    1. Oh how fun that you have the same theme for your one year old! Yes, it’s such a fun one, isn’t it? Hope the party was a blast! And my apologies for the delay in replying to your question. You could add it by handwriting it or there are some programs like Preview for Mac and PicMonkey.com where you could add in the name, typed out.

  5. What a gorgeous day!! The photos you captured are absolutely beautiful, and I had to chuckle when I saw you did a separate photo shoot. I would have totally done the same thing. #bloggerlife 🙂

  6. Oh my! How I wish I was at that party! And can you just fly cross country real quick to plan Ellie’s? Coool, thanks xoxoxo

  7. This is tooooo good!!! I love all the details! The coloring page is genius!! And I am so glad you printed her monthly photos! Ahh and all your tutorials are amazing! You pulled off the perfect bash!! Junie is so loved and so precious! She rocks that flower crown! AHH I am just obsessed! Well done Lauren!!!

    1. Awwwww. McKenzie, so much fun to see you over here, my Insta-bestie! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this EPIC post (how in the world did it grow into 4 posts?! Oh right…we bloggers are cray). And for your sweet words! I’m so glad you loved the coloring page…and yes, you totally inspired me to print out those monthly milestone photos. Thanks for the nudge! You gave me all the warm fuzzies with these words of yours. Thanks, friend!

  8. What a lovely party for your cute little one year old. I am a grandma, and our daughter’s little girl had her 1st birthday on the same weekend as yours! My daughter and son-in-law also did a time capsule for Elizabeth! So much of what you did, happened at our party as well. It was great seeing yours on your blog today! Love your color scheme! And what a darling little girl you have there! That first year is a BIG ONE! Thank you so much for sharing!

    1. Oh wow! How fun to think about Junie and her future-pen-pal (wink) having their b-days on the same weekend! And with so much in common, too. Hooray for being Time Capsule buddies. I think it’s such a clever idea and will be such a meaningful gift for the kiddos to open on their 18th birthday. My husband thinks it will be hard to wait until then, but I’m such a rule-keeper, we’ll be good. Ha ha. Thanks so much for the sweet-as-pie words, Sue. You’re so right. Year 1, they go through so many massive changes. What a whirlwind. Well worth celebrating. Happy 1 year to your granddaughter Elizabeth! And some cuddles to her, too!

    1. I know, right?! Sheer craziness right here. I’m sure your little Reagan is growing like crazy, too. Give her a kiss from me! Aw, and thanks for the kind words, friend. It was a really fun day, and I’m glad to have it documented in this way because my memory is NOT as awesome as it used to be. Seriously, I think pregnancy brain ruined me for LIFE. Lol.

  9. So beautiful Lauren! I teared up seeing all the pictures! Especially love the milestone banner and never seen the coloring page concept before…so special! Thanks for sharing with us!

    1. Love that tender heart of yours, Jenna. Thanks so much for popping over here and checking it all out. I’m thankful for the gift of technology in that we get to share in each other’s parties and trips around the world (nudge nudge)…share each other’s JOYS!

    1. What an honor to have you there to bear witness to it and bless us with your sweet smile. I’ll never forget what a kick you got out of Junie during her cupcake smash. It was pretty hilarious to see the effect sugar had on her. She was so silly! XO

    1. Aw, it was my joy to get to share it. Thanks for joining us for the virtual celebration, Chelle! (Such a pretty name by the way.)

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