
For my daughter’s first birthday I went all out with the pink elephant theme. It started with the invitations, which I got customized on Etsy, and then added hand-punched elephants in pink shimmery paper (mounted on 3D adhesive squares), plus tiny pink rhinestones for a little sparkle. The invitations were handed out in pink shimmery envelopes, and I actually had to go out and buy a special pen to prevent smearing of the purple ink I used to address them. And that was just the beginning…

Allie’s cake was four layers high, in pink ombre, and was topped with a homemade bunting made out of pink fabric scraps (that match the bunting decorating her bedroom).

There were also pink polka dot elephant cookies, pink macarons, pink candy popcorn, meringues, candy kisses, and pink Pocky. Everything was presented either in clear glass apothecary jars (from TJ Maxx, so much cheaper than anywhere else), or on homemade glass cake stands, made by gluing glass candleholders to glass plates with my trusty E6000 adhesive. Oh, and at the last minute I picked up a papier mache elephant and painted it pink to put on the table.

And of course, we had to do a cake smash photo shoot (which was several weeks after the party, but hey, still fun!). The background is just a big piece of pink fabric, binder-clipped to our bookshelves, and I got the wooden letters on Etsy and painted them white to use as props. Yes, I’m aware (now) that the E was upside-down…

She’s wearing a custom pink and gray tutu, and her shirt has a pink elephant on it with “I’m One!” embroidered underneath. Etsy is awesome. And yes, the smash cake is pink on the inside too. 😉
The scary thing is, this party is arguably NOT the most elaborate one I’ve thrown for her birthday…