DIY Lumberjack 1st Birthday Party- Throwback!
- Morgan Trent
- Aug 20, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 20, 2019
Below is a copy and paste from an old, "creativity," blog that I used to have. My son is going on four years old now. Sooo, these photos are a bit dated. (I just cringe looking at my old photos.) But, this post had gotten a lot of traffic from Pinterest so I brought it over here to my business blog. I just couldn't say good bye to it! For more info on how to DIY a Lumber Jack Party- keep scrolling!
Reasons why I decided to do a Lumberjack 1st Birthday party:
A) My son looks adorable in plaid
B) I already had a bunch of the items I could use.
C) I really wanted pancakes.
Like many moms I started pining months in advanced because that's what a good mom does. Scrolls through her phone pinning healthy recipes she'll never make, and crafts she'll never have time to create. This allowed me to plan ahead and do a couple of different things. Have a bunch of sweet decorations, SAVE MONEY, and keep myself from stressing over last minute details.
1. Plan ahead. Since I had the theme in mind several months in advance I was able to casually buy a few things here and there instead of all on one paycheck. I live a few minutes away from Hobby Lobby and I pop in there every week, cause it's my favorite! They rotate their 50% off sales items weekly so look online and purchase the items you need when they are marked down. They seldom put their party stuff on sale but check their clearance wall. Also utilize their 40% off coupon. You can use this on one non-sales item per transaction. I'll link the coupon down below.
2. Use what you've got. Anytime I throw a party I end up with a bare house. I steal the chalkboards off my walls, the picture frames, candlesticks, etc. I used these galvanized 2-in one candlesticks/vases to decorate the mantle inside. (We hosted the party at a local B&B) I already had my fall out so I packed that up. I also raided a few Christmas totes for some items that would fit in. The evergreen and plaid ribbon came in handy!
I took some sticks from the backyard and stuck them in an old crock I had. I cut out "lumberjack" pieces of paper (a 50% off HL score) folded them in half, and hole punched them. I put these out along with a pen, and pieces of twine, so the guests could write a message to my little one. This was his "guest book tree" and I have now re purposed it as a decoration in his nursery.
3. DIY it. This is also where the planning ahead comes into play. Every time I drank a Dr. Enuf (which is like, all the time because I'm a southerner), I saved the bottle, ran it through the dish washer, and removed the label. I did the same thing with my canned goods. These were all wrapped in my discounted ribbon and twine, then packed away in a box until it was party time. Dr. Enuf bottles tucked into the buffet, just because it's cute. Also note that I printed out some black and white photos of my son and popped them into old frames I had. it added to the rustic feel and plus he's gorgeous, there should be pictures of him everywhere! Tin cans I hung above the gift table. The weather was beautiful so we opened gifts outside and watched my little one dig into his cake out there.
** Probably the most popular question I got on my blog was, "how did you make the Lumberjack pull apart cake?"
-First of all it's so kind that you guys have enough faith in me to believe I have this kind of cake decorating skills.
-The lumberjack cake and the birch tree smash cake are both from https://www.littlecakekingsport.com/ I believe you have to order cupcakes by the dozen, and this particular design required just over 2 dozen. They gave me the rest with white icing and red sprinkles. I added the little lumber jack pick axes to the remaining ones. (pictured in the last photo)
They did an incredible job! I did however, "come up with the idea," for the lumber jack cake.
- At the time that I was planning this party (summer/fall 2017) I couldn't find a lot of ideas for the birthday cake other than a log. So I showed a photo of a santa pull apart cake to the girls at Little Cake, and told them, no white poof on the hat, and a brown beard instead of a white one.
- I did not use a template but you can find several on Pinterest that give you a pretty goof idea of what to do. Just change the colors to whatever suits you!
I strung up a few of these banners indoors near the food areas. Clothes pins I already had attached pictures I already had to my DIY banner. It's a great way to commemorate all the pictures of your birthday boy/girl and fill up any spaces in your banner if you didn't make it full enough. Again paper I snatched when it was 50% off at Hobby Lobby, and the banner maker I used my 40% off coupon. If you are a crafter like me, or you help host a lot of parties and showers like me, I highly recommend you purchase it. It's very simple to use and with coupon, very affordable.
http://www.hobbylobby.com/find-savings
http://www.hobbylobby.com/Scrapbook-Paper-Crafts/Accessories-Tools/Punches/Banner-Punch-Board/p/80737086
*Last but not least, everyone loves a photo booth! In hindsight make sure your backdrop (in this case wrapping paper) is large enough, and your subjects are aligned properly in front of it. (Fail on my part.) I downloaded these super cute photo props from Etsy, printed them on card stock, and hot glued them to paint stirrers (which I Already had a TON of.) The link is below. Check out their other selections as well. They have a large variety of themes and it's less than $7 to download the file onto your computer and print them out.
4. Delegate. With so much going on I knew there was no way I could do it all, so I divided the work load. My grandma who was in from town helped me cook bacon, and pigs in a blanket that morning before the party. We kept it warm in those nifty aluminum buffet servers you can get from Walmart. I asked one of my aunts to bring her famous ham rolls. Another, hash brown casserole, and my other grandma pancakes.
5. Don't forget the fun! Now luckily this was just a 1st birthday party so I didn't have to worry alot about games or entertainment, but I did see a lot of cute ideas on pinterest. DIY Lincoln logs made out of painted pool noodles, pin the tail on the lumber jack, etc. We stuck with corn hole for the adults and bigger kids alike, plus, watching my kid eat cake is hilarious!! That provided plenty of entertainment!
*FYI don't mess with Britton's cake. Look how annoyed he is in the first photo. haha
Because I saved money, planned ahead, and divided the work I was able to enjoy my child and our friends and family on his birthday. Don't stress it! You're there to celebrate your sweet blessing, that's the most important part of all!
I wanna know was your child's first Birthday theme?
Comments