The Party!

I am a slow and steady kind of person. Always have been and probably always will be. I do not like to be rushed.  And even if I am rushed, it usually doesn't do much to improve my speed.

I knew that if I wanted Lucy's first birthday party to be what I wanted it to be...I'd have better get to it!

And so I did.

Back in January.

I loosely based my inspiration on things I could collect in our yard {sticks, pine cones, etc.} and 4 fat quarters of fabric that I had found.  I emailed my mom, queen/goddess/party planner extraordinaire, and sent her pictures of the fabric and what I had collected so far and then described the overall feel I wanted.

The next weekend she arrived at my house with the remaining pieces of the party puzzle.  She brought several more fabric fat quarters that fit perfectly, some beautiful pots and containers that come from years of hosting fabulous parties, and a plethora of nature bits.

And we started sewing.

From those 10-12 small pieces of fabric, we made Lucy's bird wings, the hanging bird ornaments, the fabric and ribbon banner, and the party favor hair clips and bow ties.

For 2 months I collected and gathered and created.  There was no pressure, no stress, no rushing.  I actually enjoyed preparing for this party!

Of course it didn't hurt that the weekend of the party I had my Mama AND my organized, creative, cheerful sis-in-law Amanda come and help.  They cleaned, decorated, cooked, and baked all weekend!  (I do have to include that my husband and brother did make the sausage balls.)

I tend to over-simplify, so even with all my pre-planning I would have overlooked a TON of the details if it hadn't been for those ladies helping me out.

Will I be doing a party like this every year?  Heck no!  :)  But I wanted to do this first one right.  We had a lot to celebrate.  And it turned out better than I had imagined.

 Mama made Lucy's birthday cake!

Party favors!  I used our left over fabric to make hair clips for the girls, bow ties for the boys.

 The Table.  

Table decorations designed and created by my Mama.

Lucy brought some toys from home so her friends could play.

Oh, and that ridiculously sweet dress she's wearing??  My Mama made that too!

 

As happy as I was with the decorations and all the little details that went into it, something struck me after looking through all the pictures.

My favorite part of Lucy's party was the community that surrounded her.  I became acutely aware of these people that gathered to celebrate my little girl.  Friends, neighbors, family.  People that have already been a part of her life and will continue to be.

And that is the greatest birthday present she could ask for!  Even if she doesn't even know it yet.