Averie's 1st Birthday Party Prep Vol. 3: Patry Favors and Entertainment

It's finally time for the 3rd and final installment of Averie's party... Literally over a month later! Originally, I had planned to pop these out one right after the other but keeping up with one post a week is hard enough, and life doesn't just stop... not even for adorable photos! So... here we are with Party Favors for kids and adults and entertainment! I'm kinda sad to have these posts end... but there are only 10 more months until the next one. Oh man, I better get planning...

*Disclaimer: due to the different sized photos and not doing this post on my regular computer- my format is a little wonky... please forgive me!



One of my favorite things at parties is seeing the favors that people come up with! I especially love the ones that can be kept forever like a CD - I'm probably dating myself on that one- or a photo memento (who doesn't love a photo booth!?) and Pinterest has opened up a world of new ones that have given me more ideas than I can contain! I've basically got all Averie's parties themed out for the next 18 years (I'm only kinda kidding!) Anyway, my love of party favors inspired me to do one for the adults too! Since this was her 1st party the majority of our guests were going to be adults so I figured they could get in on the fun. I've seen TONS of mason jar Pins and wanted to do something slightly different that would stand the test of time. That's when I came up with these: Personalized Mason Drink Jars!!!

 

 

These definitely took me over the $5 mark so I made sure it would be worth the purchase. A set of Mason jars at Joannes is about $15 for a case of 12 but by taking my time to purchase them in advance (about 1 a month) I got to use my 50% off coupon I get each month so each case only cost me about $7!

 

 

I already had the flower stencil on hand, that's how I decided to use that shape. It was that or a heart, but I just liked how this looked better. I had the purple chalkboard paint leftover from this project, and I had the foam brush already as well, so most of this project's cost was the Mason jars themselves. I painted 2 coats of the chalkboard paint directly onto the jars using painters tape (also already owned) and it was a pretty tedious task. I had 4 dozen to paint, so I just did one case a night. By the time I got to the 12th jar, the 1st one would be ready for that 2nd coat. The nice thing about purchasing them in the case is the built in holder ;)

Photo by Michael Tebow Photography

Here is the final product! The straws are from the $1 spot at Target (so it cost me $3 total) and the ribbon I found at the Dollar Tree. I got 4 rolls, so that's another $4 but all the expenses were worth the final product! I just love how these looked! I just set out the chalkboard markers I already owned and let people go to town!

 

Photo by Michael Tebow Photography (One of my besties is modeling the magic of the drink jars!)




Photo by Michael Tebow Photography

 I didn't think to take any photos of the process of making my little chalkboard signs. They were super easy. I found them in the $1 spot at Michael's and they came in packs of 4 so I used them for pretty much everything. They were unfinished wood and I just painted them in my party colors using the acrylic paints I already have. I used them for everything from distinguishing the alcohol to the rest room. They really came in handy! I kept them all for future use too. It would be super easy to re-paint them. The gift that keeps giving!







Photo by Michael Tebow Photography











Here is a wider shot of the adult side of the table. You can see I used different boxes (including the ones I made in the last post with the crowns) to give things height. The chevron boxes actually ended up serving as inspiration for my office and craft room that we're working on right now! They will go in there and hold all kinds of crafy-bits!

Photo by Michael Tebow Photography

Next we have the kid's party favors. I got the idea off Pinterest (but I never actually pinned it so I can't seem to find my inspiration photo) The piggy banks literally have no reference to Averie or the party theme, but I had seen some with little tutu's and even though it's a bit strange to see a pig in a tutu I couldn't get the idea out of my head so off to the Dollar Store I went and I found these guys... all different colors so something had to be done about that! (For the boys I left a few blue- I didn't think they'd want a ballerina piggie bank.)



 

 

Here they are having a piggie conference before it rained spray paint.

 

 

It took about 2 cans to do all of them in every nook and cranny. Piggies have a lot of curves!

 

 

I ordered a few rolls of sparkly tulle off Amazon.com I got 4 for $2 which is WAAAY cheaper than any craft store. I found the lace at Michaels, but I can't find the receipt. I know it was only a few bucks.

 

 

I picked this lace because it was the easiest way to make a tiara for the piggies. Just 3 little loops (or whatever you call the variations in lace) created a nice tiara. A little hot glue on the edges and my piggies were looking pretty!

 

 

For the tutu I worked on the fly for each one. I cut strips of the tulle out (I just eyeballed it, I figured it would look weird if they were all uniform) and then started from the middle and worked my way out. I also eyeballed the bunches for the tutu and put hot glue behind my bunch so the tutu really stood up.

 

 

I just like this shot of all the tutu piggie bootys!

 

 

Here's the finished product! How cute is that!? Kevin thinks I should sell them but I think shipping would be a nightmare. They broke a little too easily (we found this out when Kevin moved them for me and accidentally broke half of them and I had to start over... oops!) I am happy to report that the kids we gave them too are having better luck, it's just us that are plagued with forever dropping things. Oh, I had to paint the eyes and nose after I was completely finished.

 

Photo by Michael Tebow Photography

Here's another shot of them, plus my chalkboard signs AND one of the only photos I have showing the larger photo project I mentioned in the previous post, how I framed a TON of her photos and they were scattered around the entire party space.  That's her 1st photo... hold on while I cry a moment...

 

This next project was always on my mind but since I needed my artistic hubby's help it fell to the night before the party. We literally finished it an hour before the party started! It's a photo board where you put your face in you take photos! (Like at a pumpkin patch or a carnival) I gave my husband the guideline that it had to be within the theme and for at least 2 heads and let him go to town. He drew it out a sketch (you can kind of see it on the top right taped to the board) and we got a piece of scrap wood at Home Depot. My in-laws helped me out and painted the back white for us while we finished other projects.

 

Then the hubby got to drawing and I was literally following behind him painting as he went! I already had all of these paints, they are the acrylic BASIC brand from Michaels.

 

Here's the finished product! I am so proud of it, I told my hubby we are going to make this a tradition at each of her parties- we are just going to start sooner this time! Averie's cousin even used this board for her party recently! (I would estimate the entire cost of this project was around $10 but probably less- we used scrap wood we already had to make it)

 

Although I was adamant that Averie's party theme was Tutus and Tiaras and NOT a Princess party her middle name IS Belle, so when my sister purchased this gorgeous gown for her Cosplay I couldn't resist asking her! It only cost me buying her the gloves to complete the outfit. Plus, she offered to come as another princess halfway through the party!   

 

 

Here she is as Belle with Averie's bestie.

 

And here she is as Ariel with Averie. All the little girls at the party were super excited to have not one, but two princesses make an appearance! I have to give credit to my sister who is really good at improv and handled all the random questions the girls threw at her.

 

 

This is the only photo I managed to get of the tiara shaped jump house we got as well. That's one of my friends of over 10 years ;) Note: I am not pregnant in this photo, just unfortunate hip action going on!

 

So that's it... adult party favors, kids party favors, a jump house and some princesses- a ton of fun was had! Next year I'm hoping to actually scale back... I know... I can't believe I just said that either! It was so much fun but it was also over 50 people! I'm thinking a seperate family party on her actual birthday and a small party for her friends. It will be more fun coming up for entertainment once Averie and her friends are a little odler too! One thing I know for sure, I'm making as much of it as I can again- but starting a little earlier haha!

 

A HUGE THANK YOU to my friend Michael Tebow for his amazing photos of the party! I can't believe how amazing they came out! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!