Twin 1st Birthday- Unisex BOY/GIRL Owl Birthday Party

Right now I'm gearing up for my boy/girl twins' 3rd Birthday Party!  I can't believe how fast time has flown by and how big they're getting!  And as I'm working on this year's party, I'm reminiscing about parties past.  So, today I'm going to share with you my fav pics of my TWINS' 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY.  I had so much fun putting this party together, and I was beyond thrilled when it was featured on Kara's Party Ideas.  Check out the original post here!

For those of you that know me, you know all about my love (read: obession) with owls!  It was such a fun unisex theme for the party (and for me!).  I wanted the party to be whimsical and colorful, so a bright color scheme and sweet little owls were absolutely perfect.  I made all of the decorations and the invitations myself using clip art I purchased on etsy.com.  With this clip art, I made the invitations, signs, a birthday banner, etc.  The clip art "birthday papers" from etsy were the inspiration for the entire color scheme of the party!

Some of my fav little details:
- The colorful Happy Birthday Banner
- The Owl Tree wall decor behind the twins' high chairs
- The gorgeous (and delicious!) cake (which I can't take credit for!)
- The Owl Oreo Pops
- The cute and fuzzy plush owl party favors
- The gorgeous photography by Claire McCormack Photography
- My blowout... seriously, this was the first time I went to the DryBar, and it got me hooked!

This beautiful cake was from Dallas Affaires Cake Company.  This was before I had ever even considered making my own cakes, and, I must admit, I love it!  The fondant owls were just so adorable, and I love the colorful tulle on top.  And this was one of the best cakes I have ever tasted!

I started working on this Happy Birthday Banner a couple of months before the birthday party.  It was inspired by a number of banners I saw on etsy.  I love all the different colors and patterns and especially all the different fun ribbons I used to tie it all together!  I purposely made this banner so that it could be used for lots of different future themed birthday parties... and I did end up using it again for their second birthday!  All I did was cover the owls with the following year's theme, and voila!  Perfect re-usable banner!  

Another easy detail I love are the cute little vases of daisies on the mantel.  I have used these little bud vases over and over and over again... all I did was knot different color ribbon around the necks and fill them with cheap daisies.  I thought it turned out so fun and was such an inexpensive way to add fresh flowers into the mix!

One of my main focuses was the twins' high chairs.  I knew this would be the backdrop for the most important pictures of the party... the 1st Birthday Cake Smash!  So, I wanted to make it really cute and festive.  I realized that I had a blank wall space in our entry way across from the dining room where the food was going to be, so I thought that would be the perfect spot to set up... both out of the way and with lots of room for everyone to gather around!  Our high chairs were pretty plain (boring ol' neutral khaki), so I wanted to jazz them up as much as possible.  And it turned out to be so easy!  First I just folded a yard of colorful fabric over the cushion of each chair.  Then, I just printed out big letters, cut them into circles, and strung them across the front of their chairs.  For the backdrop, I purchased a cheap tree wall decal on Amazon.  Then I went back to my original clip art, and printed out two large owls.  I also found these cute rustic wooden plaques at Hobby Lobby that I "hung" from the tree.  I was so pleased with how it turned out!  It was a "make it up as I go" endeavor, and it turned out better than I could have originally imagined!  I just love the pictures of my twins "eating" their first cakes!

I also had so much fun making these birthday hats!  I just printed the "birthday papers" clip art out on card stock, and wrapped it around to form a hat.  The ribbons and pom poms were just stuck on with my trusty hot glue gun.  I knew there was zero chance my kids would actually let me put these on them, but they were just too fun to not make!  And they looked adorable sitting on their high chairs!  

So, I did actually make the smash cakes... my sister had taken a cake decorating class and given me a few tips, so in an effort to save a little money, I made these myself.  These were the first cakes I ever tried to decorate myself, and they actually turned out pretty cute!  The twins wanted NOTHING to do with them though... especially my daughter!  She just cried until we gave her a bottle of milk.  Oh well!  The pictures are priceless!

I tried to go low-key on the food since I spent so much time on the decorations, but I just couldn't pass up trying my hand at these OWL OREO POPS.  They turned out so stinkin' cute and were surprisingly easy to make!  All I did was put a popsicle stick inside the oreo, dip in chocolate, and let dry with 2 little mentos stuck on for eyes.  Then I piped the black and orange icing on them after they dried.  I painted these cute pots and put the Oreo Pops in the pots using planters styrofoam.  

These PRETZEL TWIGS are maybe the easiest cute thing you'll ever make!  Just buy pretzel logs, dip the top half in melted chocolate and cover in sprinkles.  Set on wax paper to dry.  Seriously easy and delicious!  I just tied a ribbon around mason jars and crammed them in there.  I have made these for many parties, and they are such a quick way to give your table some fancy!  

I also had a little CANDY STATION with bags and scoops for guests to pick up as much candy as they wanted.  I don't know if much candy got eaten, but it sure was precious!  These cannisters came from Michaels and are also something that I have used over and over!

Since there are always a variety of ages at a 1st birthday party, I wanted to cater to both the adults and the kiddos.  So, I set up a BIG HOOTIE BAR featuring Sangria and other adult beverages and a LITTLE HOOTIE BAR featuring kid-friendly snack items and drinks.  

One of my favorite things to do for a party is WATER BOTTLE LABELS!  These are so easy to make and give such an ordinary party-staple a fun little makeover.  Water bottle labels have become a party must-have and come with many of the printable party packages you can buy online!

I also had fun making this wreath for the front door... I really wanted to incorporate these lovable BlaBla owls that I had purchased before the twins were born!

And I just adored these sweet little handmade plush owls I found on etsy.com.  They were so soft and were the perfect party favor!  I had this old wire bird cage that turned out to be a fun creative way to display them.  I bought the little wooden crates at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them brown.  These are a great little containers to have on hand to display party favors, candy, snacks, etc at various gatherings.  Yet another item I have used again and again!

And finally, I want to show off the adorable little tutu and bloomers my daughter wore to the party... yet another etsy find (no longer available for purchase)!  They are one of my favorite things EVER, and they looked so cute with the tutu and my daughter's chubby legs.

Wow, I had so much fun putting this party together!  But more than anything, I loved celebrating this milestone with my sweet babies and all of our friends and family.  We worked so hard to bring these babies into this world... from conceiving to premature labor, hospital bedrest, a long exhausting NICU journey, and finally caring for newborn twins.  This day was such a huge blessing for us, and our hearts could not be more full with these two amazing children in our lives.  We praise God for them everyday and are so looking forward to celebrating another beautiful year with these two twinsies.  

Thank you for reminiscing with me!  I hope you'll be able to use some of these ideas for your own little party!

Happy Little Party ! ! !