Cookies & Milk: A One Year Old's New Joys

I'm going to break the party posts up (so it's not complete overload).  Here's the party details post:

It finally came!  April 9th was the big day for Nora's 1st Birthday Party....it seemed to take forever to get here.

Way back in July I picked her birthday theme:  Milk & Cookies.  You see, it's a perfect theme for a one year old who is just learning the joys of cookies & milk.  Slowly, I started working on the party and finding some CUTE ideas online.  I chose to do pink & brown polka dots because...well, I still like them and we could re-use so much stuff from our wedding reception.  (It was pink & brown polka dot with a big candy buffet.)  We had lots of jars, ribbon, and fabric from it.  Perfect!

After lots of searching the web (& Google Images one of my BFFs) I gathered my discovered ideas together and here's what I created.  Please know most of these ideas are not mine.  Oh & I am not a photographer, nor do I have pictures of everything...sorry!  =)

Front door sign made of Cookie Crisp

I read somewhere an idea I love:  a regular children's book as the guest book.  I found this cute book about life's lessons related to cookies...perfect for this party.

Front table for Guest Book & Presents

Close up of Guest Book & Instructions

The cookie buffet.  We had over 700 cookies.  I think it was 14 different kinds.

The drinks were across on the bar.  The adults had these glasses.  The labels said: __________'s Got Milk and they wrote their name on the line.  The kids had cartons of milk (like juice boxes) in a bin under the bar.

Adult glasses & straws

Party favors were taking cookies home.  There were brown bags to put them in an sticker pictures of Nora to seal it closed.

Favors & Instructions

Nora's banner.  At one point I was tying the letters together and looked down to see "NOAR" instead of "NORA".  haha.  It took a lot of time, but was simple.  The Silhouette made the cutest chocolate chip cookies.  I used them a few different places at the party.

 One of the activities was a Photo Booth.  They are so popular & fun, we had to have one!  Our resident photographer, April, took these pictures.  I don't have them yet, but I will definitely find some to post!

Props:  I love Nora sign, white milk mustaches, giant cookies

To show Nora's year of growth, I made a timeline.  Each month has a page of pictures along with a few accomplishments for that month.  It was on the back porch where some of the activities were.

A close up of some of Nora's timeline

 Nora's cake had to be easy with all the other baking going on, so I ordered it at Target. I went to get it but they made it a two layer cream cake instead of the one layer tan cake I ordered.  We had to go back the next morning and they made one the right way.  We put mini Hershey kisses on it to resemble a giant chocolate chip cookie.

Positive side:  $9 of Target courtesy coupons=free cake

Nora's cake

Activities at the party were:  Where is Nora's Milk Mustache (pin the milk mustache on Nora), Clothespin Drop (drop the clothespins in the milk bottles), Playdough Cookies (pink playdough & cookie cutters), & the big blue inflatable ball.  The older kids also went on walks through the woods to see the pond in the backyard.

I cut foam mustaches out and they tried to put it on Nora's picture

Playdough Table

The Big, Blue, Inflatable Ball

We did have another activity, but in the rush of things it didn't get finished!  It was a Milk the Cow station with a wooden saw horse and "milk" filled gloves with holes in the fingers.  You squeeze the fingers to spray the milk into the bucket below.  Unfortunately, mowing the grass and picking up the cake (for the 2nd time) took precedence.




The birthday girl's outfit was a combined effort.  I made her onesie.  My mom turned her tutu (from her aunt Niki) into a petti-tutu by adding the brown pieces and we sewed on the polka dot bow.  She wore her pink squeaker shoes (perfect because we could always hear where she was amongst the chaos).  I made her bow and her hat (which she wouldn't wear).  After cake she changed into a birthday outfit from Grandma Heidi.  (And then preceded to change into 3 more outfits due to chocolate milk & diet coke before pjs.)

Birthday Girl in Outfit #1

Birthday Girl in Outfit #2

 I did not get pictures of everything before it was party time!  Here's a list of some of the other party "parts" not pictured or not pictured well:

• High chair banner (matching the birthday one) that said "Nora is One"
• Tissue Pom Poms (pink & hot pink) randomly around
• Signs for all the games
• The big pink one sign at the street with balloons (it's a weird road so we needed to make sure people knew where the party was)
• Balloons--Pink, White, & Pink & Brown with white polka dots

And my favorite:     (SO sad we didn't get a picture of this!)

• Signs going down the long gravel road to the party, one at a time, alternating cookies and the words "It's, Fun, Being, One".  Then, on the way out (on the backs of the same signs) they said "Who, Stole, the, Cookies, from, the, Cookie, Jar".

Resources for the supplies & great ideas:
straws
balloons
candle
kraft bags
invitations
All labels & signs were made on the Silhouette.

Dimple Prints Inspiration
Cookie Crisp Sign Idea
The Party that Started it All
There were plenty more cookies & milk parties out there...these were my favorite.


PS-Thanks to Candace for some of the pictures =)