Yua turns one - We Wear What

MinnetteMay 23, 2018

A birthday party is definitely a creative outlet for this right-sided brain of mine. I am not going to lie, I enjoy the creative part of my blog much more than the writing part! So I’ll be keeping it super short and just communicate what I wish I could voice note you all instead.

When it comes to my girls’ birthday parties, I like to do as much of it myself. It’s part of the fun! And it gives me some sort of satisfaction. I think it is a way to express my love in deeds; to show them that I care by investing time and effort instead of just swiping a card. It really isn’t to impress anyone else. I do it because

It’s fun.
I can.
I love to see how the picture in my mind becomes a reality.
It’s a wonderful opportunity to experiment and learn/develop new skills, like baking or painting!
My girls get to have great memories to reflect back on.
It’s much less expensive when you try and do as much as you can yourself.
Why not?

Perhaps you can draw some inspiration from this post to try and do something yourself! It is also a great way to involve your kids and do something crafty with them.

I liked the floral theme and drew inspiration from Peter Rabbit. The movie is set in the English country side with plenty of greenery, white picket fences and ditsy prints. I found cute rabbit serviettes in December which inspired me for Yua’s birthday theme.

Pinterest showed me some flower pot ideas, so I literally just planted flowers in a pot and wrote Flower Pot on it. Easy!

I asked a florist to quote on the ‘Y’ in fresh flowers, which was more than I expected, so I made the Y myself. It’s just foamalite which I cut and stuck together to get the letter Y, and then I fixed green oasis onto it with pins and rope. On the morning of the party I stuck fresh flowers and eucalyptus into it, and let it hang on a room divider from Mr. Price with more rope.

For party packs I found cute baskets which I thought goes well with the garden/bunny/picnic theme!

The YUA poster was again designed by my sister (the graphic designer). I love the tradition to keep track of milestones and highlights with a beautiful poster in honour of the birthday girl.

For the cake, I had to set aside evenings after the kids went to bed. About 2-3 hours for 3 nights. I’m no professional but it is like playing with clay. It is a dummy fondant cake – I just used two foamalite spheres, covered it with store bought white fondant and then decorated it. This way I can do it way ahead of time and its less stress just before the party. It is SO much fun and one really does feel very proud of a ‘cake’ that you made yourself.

I find it easier and less wastage to have cupcakes than a big cake (no-one ever eats) and so I ordered the cupcakes from Mariana Heyns. She creates magic with icing sugar and flowers. They were divine by the way, with a surprise caramel center.

Bind some eucalyptus onto a giant balloon’s string for a great effect! For the mommies and daddies I just plated a bunch of crackers, cheeses, pita’s and fruit.

A few days prior to the party, I scanned our wardrobes and found their floral dresses from Zara, which seemed perfect. It wasn’t purchased specifically for the party, but it helps to have options in your wardrobe (smiley face)! Looking at the pictures I actually can’t believe how similar my dress is to theirs (also from Zara.)