I started planning Meredith’s first birthday party when she was about six months old. I stressed about it for a few weeks then, thought of a theme, made an invitation list, figured out the date and time, and then I didn’t do anything else on it for months.

I wanted a mermaid theme because it’s her nickname. The first task I took care of was the invitations. I saw this on Pinterest and had my brother design something similar, then my mom and my friend Lauren helped me put them together.

As the planning evolved, the mermaid theme kind of went away. It ended up being more of an aqua/coral pink color scheme, and that was fine. I just wanted it to be cute, fun, and laid-back.

For decorations I hung crepe paper and made bunting out of scrapbook paper. I also displayed Meredith’s monthly photos by clipping them with binder clips onto a piece of string and hanging them up. I have them hung in her room now.

I decided not to do favors because the kids were all four years old and younger, but they stayed busy with the bounce house in the backyard (that my brother-in-law & sister-in-law own), teeball, and I covered the coffee table with white craft paper and put out crayons and stickers.

As for the adults? Well, there was food. Lots of it. We grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and had lots of snacks and sides. I asked for help with the food and my family definitely came through. At the last minute I decided to make the cupcakes instead of buying them. They might not have been as pretty, but they were full of love and still delicious. The toppers are made out of scrapbook paper and toothpicks.

The thing that was most important to me was some kind of guest book. I entertained lots of different ideas, but what I finally decided on was to have everyone help make her a scrapbook. It turned out amazing, and I will do another post about it tomorrow.

As for the party itself – it was perfect. All of our family was there, and the only thing that could have made it better was if a few of our best friends could have been there (they either live far away or were out of town). The weather was clear, Meredith was in a good mood the whole day, and everything came together without much stress.

I love my little one-year-old. :)