Wood Land Party, part 1 of 2.

Hello,

It's about 3:50 am in my neck of the woods, but I've got a bit of insomnia due to some congestion and an intermittent cough. Right when I'm about to fall asleep, I wouldn't be able to breathe through my nose....boo. My hubby decided to unselfishly share his germs :(. I am bummed as the kiddies just got over something a few weeks ago. I'm really hoping they won't catch it too.

Anyway, I got up to get something to drink when I suddenly had the urge to blog. I went with the feeling as I've been kinda ho-hum about this whole blogging thing. I would just post my pic and the most minimal details. I'm sure you've noticed that I've done that during most of the past year. And then I realized that the blogs I love to read are the ones who tend to share a bit about personal stuff. So I thought, why not, if I can't sleep anyway. Maybe sitting up for awhile (along with distraction) might clear up my sinuses.

I also had this desire to blog something in particular. I'm usually excited to blog about the parties that I throw. It is an ordeal in my household -- from the choosing of a theme to the research of decor/favor ideas (I've been doing this before Pinterest peeps!) to collaborating with my sister (who executes most of my thoughts). I've just been really busy and before I knew it, six months have gone by and still no post. I've been a badd blogger!

Yesterday, I found out that one of my friend's children is sick and is going through a difficult journey. I felt a kinship towards her and her child, ever since the pregnancy of Oliver. I think this may be why I gravitate towards his birthday. Life is short. I talked about it in my Instagram but my One Little Word for 2013 is Document. I better get crackin' before it's Summertime again.

So I chose a WoodLand theme for Oli's first birthday. While my kids are small and while I can still pick for them, I would like a non-brand name theme if I could help it. My sis already has a collection of cool forest figurines and I had just gotten new stamps so we were off to a good start!

And if you haven't guessed already, warning! This will be quite a long and photo-heavy post!





These are one of the favors made by my sis. It was by accident but we ended up having three different favors. :). Anyway, these are Hershey's chocolate bars with personalized wrappers. They were modeled after the invitations she made. I am sure you've grown tired of my saying this but my sissy is very talented. She's majored in graphic design and I've told her time and time again that she needs to create for the scrapbooking world. She's got so many ideas! Why, if I had her talent and creativeness, I'd probably have a side business!!

She also had taken a laser wood-cutting class and made these awesome signs:



The main favors were paper bags decorated with tags I made:





(the woodgrain stamp in black was a bit harsh so I did away with it). The stamps I used were from Some Odd Girl. I also used birdy wood veneers from Studio Calico. I added mushroom stickers and punched out leaves.

Inside the bags were crackers and fun Woodland stuff.



I got the play dough and top from one of those party stores. But the personalized flair magnets were from Etsy. Thank you MAU promos!



Did I mention wood veneers? Even before my sis saw what Studio Calico did, she came up with these -





Aren't they freaking adorable?? They're a bit thick for scrapbooking but she can totally resize these. She designed them and plugged them in the computer thing-y to cut wood!! Did I tell you my sis is AWESOME!

Anyway, here's more of the living room decor:



I was very much into woodgrain during this party so I put out our fam pics in front of our fence. And I just love the grain on this table.



These striped straws are lovely, aren't they? I got them at Michael's. It is all about details, people! :). I put stickers on mason jars - they were free from one of the Etsy sellers, but I forgot which one.



On the chairs are forest themed pillows - the log one is my fave! My sis bought that for me in Portland specifically for this party. Super soft, too!

And this alien looking thing...



are actually the cake pops I made. Got some moss from Michael's and voila...



On the dessert table:



Speaking of dessert, would you like some goblin poop??





I'm sorry, did I forget to tell you? This forest is enchanted... :). The goblin belongs to my sis and we got him and the mushroom peeps on the table in Portland too.

And now, the table center pieces:

1. Fabric I bought. I dunno how to sew so we just cut them into center strips.
2. My sis' regal and stunning figurines. (Anthropologie?)
3. Beautifully made acorns from Fairy Folk. AMAZING!
4. Wood blocks prepared so they could be used for decor or as toys! From the wonderful Monkeys On the Roof.
5. The other main animals are also from my sis. I'm not quite sure where she got them.













Whew!! Part 2 will come tomorrow. Hope you like them so far. Thanks for visiting!