Lumberjack 1st Birthday

     This time last year we were awaiting the arrival of our little Mason or –insert girl name here-.  We decided to keep the gender a surprise this time around and boy did he keep us waiting!  I can’t believe that it has been one year since our sweet boy came into this world! He was lucky enough to join several of us in the December birthday club. Can you sense my sarcasm?  Growing up I hated having a December birthday.  It was cold and snowy so we couldn’t do any fun outdoor activities, school was winding down for the semester and friends were busy doing holiday things with their families.  As an adult, I have come to appreciate this time of year more than ever.  The beautiful snow covered trees, the warm glow of the fire and Christmas lights!  Oh and Christmas music, hot chocolate, sugar cookies, scents of peppermint and gingerbread….you get the idea.  So when I started planning Mason’s first birthday party I knew i wanted it to feel like December, flannel and all!  Once again our basement set the scene for yet another gathering.

When I plan my parties I tend to start a few months in advance and don’t like to feel rushed in creating the space.  I enjoy taking my time finding items that work or repurposing pieces I already own!  

The logs were borrowed from my sister in law and my brother in law sliced these tree trunks for me from his yard.  The s’mores on a stick were a hit with the kids!

I have had the tiered cupcake stands for years and use them at every party!  My parents gifted us the lanterns and remote controlled candles after the holidays last year.  I put little twinkle lights inside the lanterns to add a little glow.

Mason’s smash cake was from a local grocery store although I ended up frosting it myself using a piping bag and canned frosting to make it look like a log.

For the hot cocoa bar I pained the backside of a sign that my brother and sister in law made for us for Christmas a few years ago with chalk paint.  Then had my husband write on it because he has better handwriting than me.  The other side is beautifully stained and has monogrammed N on it.  I thought it would be nice to get multiple uses out of it and we can flip it back over after the party!  The hutch was a Marketplace find that someone was giving it away for free!  He told us it was a very old piece made in the early 1900’s. It was pretty rough looking before we got our hands on it.  There will be a post on how we refinished that to come.  It was the perfect piece to hold our hot cocoa bar!

I decided to buy k-cups of hot chocolate and bust our the Keurig for ease of use.  I ordered these insulated to go cups that came with lids from Amazon.  That way the kids and adults could enjoy the hot chocolate and I didn’t have to stress about any of my ceramic cups breaking or have to do any dishes!

There were a variety of toppings to add to the hot chocolate to kick it up a notch.

I had these little cellophane goodie bags and filled them with graham cereal, marshmallows and chocolate chips for a little deconstructed S’more treat.  These were also a hit with the kids!

This skinny tree was a gift from my mom back when I was in college and I just love how cute and rustic it is.  I added some plaid ribbon to it, stuck it in a basket and wrapped it in burlap.  This highchair was also a marketplace find we got when our daughter was born.   It was very loved and needed to be refinished when we received it.  We painted it a pretty blue green initially but after nearly 3 years of use it needed an update.  I ended up going with Gray by Benjamin Moore ( yes it’s just called gray).

Family photo time!  Mason wasn’t having it and Fiona just wanted her hot chocolate.

Time to sing happy birthday!  He was more interested in the log.

At first he wasn’t sure what to think…

One more try!  She was happy to have her drink in hand.

I had so much fun planning Mason’s party especially since its such a fun and festive time of year!  Thanks to all our loved ones who flanneled up to help celebrate our little man turning one!