Ladybug birthday...

just about a month late...

Life has been incredibly crazy around here the past 6 weeks, but I do want to take the time now (before the holiday bustle make things even crazier!) to tell you a little about our sweet little girl's first birthday party.

From the time we found out that we were having a girl, my husband has declared her his "little lady".  He said she wouldn't be a "princess" or "angel"--he specifically called and continues to refer to her as his little lady.  And ever since she was born, she's been my bug.  So as I sat a few months back thinking of what to do for her first birthday, these two nicknames kept rolling around in my head until it hit me--ladybugs.

I didn't want to go all out and be obnoxious about her first party because she's too little to really know what's going on.  But as I've told my husband from day 1, that party was really for me.  Your babies only turn 1 once, and more specifically, your first babies only turn 1 once--so we I had to splurge a little, right?

It was mostly family and a few close friends, which was fabulous.  Two of my close friends have sons only a few months younger than Arabella, so she had some people her size to play with.  Plus, all of the cousins were here, so we were actually pretty high on the kid quota for a first birthday party.

We had the party in our backyard (which would have been 100% perfect if the only windy cold front we've gotten all Fall had not come that weekend...) and moseyed between there and the living room.  We grilled hamburgers and visited for a long time.

Here's a little photo breakdown (you ready for this overload...)

Let's start with this card from her daddy... Melts. My. Heart. 

Goodie bags for her friends to take home--red lunch bags, nametags--Top Note Sizzix Die (Stampin' Up!), ladybug stickers, painted clothespins.

I printed out ladybug coloring pages and also included crayons, mini playdoh, a balloon, a red JUMBO straw, and a ladybug M&M tube in each bag.

I printed out pictures of Bella with each of our family members and attached nametags (Stampin' Up! decorative label punch) with their "Bella nickname" on them.

I found black Solo cups at Walmart (Halloween score!) and used red washi tape and ladybug stickers to add a spot to write people's names on them as well as add a little color and pop.

I ordered these fun plates on Amazon and found the painted wooden ladybugs at Hobby Lobby.

I created large ladybugs using posterboard and cut out black dots for the kids to stick to them (the idea was for them to be blindfolded for that, but most of them didn't cooperate...it was still a cute activity for them though)

Wooden ladybugs from Walmart that I painted and then attached letters cut out with the Cricut.  You would know that all of the Walmart stores around here were out of them the month leading up to her birthday (I bought these five a month before the party and couldn't find anymore in any of our stores).  But when I went yesterday, I looked for them just for kicks, and whaddya know?  Fully restocked!  Of course... 

I painted clothespins red and then used a Q-tip to paint the black dots on them.  These hung the pictures on twine that was draped down our fence.  I used the Cricut to cut out month markers (newborn-12) and organized printed pictures for a visual growth/life timeline.

I also ordered these cute dessert plates on Amazon.  The O-N-E came from Hobby Lobby, and I used them to take pictures of her on her actual birthday (I'll post them at the bottom of the post).  The middle basket on the top holds the ladybug M&M tubes (red tubes with black vinyl dots adhered and a strip that said "Bella Bug's 1st Birthday").  I also made ladybug cookies and rice crispie treats.  The cookies are a simple rolled sugar cookie recipe (I used our drinking glasses to cut the circles) with dyed Betty Crocker icing; the dots are Hershey's drops and the eyeballs I found in the cake decorating section at Walmart (I also made enough of these for the kids to decorate their own ladybugs, but we had too much going on and forgot...so my nieces and nephew did that after everyone else left).  For the rice crispie treats:  I made them as normal, adding black food coloring at the end (before pouring onto cereal) for the heads, and strawberry Koolaid at the end (again, before pouring; be sure to dissolve completely) for the bodies.  I used a champagne flute to cut out the bodies after they had set.  I used the same champagne flute to cut out the black parts, but cut it into four pieces and then molded each one onto a body piece.  Squeezable black icing made the dots on their backs.

Finally--my six year old niece was in charge of laying out the wooden ladybugs and daisies...

My husband's cousin's wife made her cake, and it turned out so cute!

 Bella's smash cake 

Oh, hey Jax!  You're my friend...

Only family picture we got that day...gotta love the big glare...

She is quite the master opener of the presents.  It didn't take her long to figure out that process.

I could get used to this getting spoiled thing...

(How is it possible that the camera was always able to catch me making the oddest expressions...? Gracious.)

Finally.  Let me at it...

She squished, and squished, and squished.  She wouldn't eat it unless someone fed it to her; she just wanted to play with it.

Haha!

Oh, I will give you a bite!

She's just beautiful; even covered in cake and icing and mess.

Yay for best friends coming to play with us!  Love our Sassers :)

It was a lot more work than I had originally planned it to be, but it was worth it.  First birthday parties are really for the mamas anyway, let's be honest.

Here's to many more years of blessed adventure with this sweet ladybug.

love, angie