I’m not quite sure how it happened so fast, but my littlest love is ONE!
If y’all know me, you know that Birthdays are my jam! My philosophy is that Birthdays are our own personal holiday, and should be treated and celebrated as such! Even though my little one year old will never remember her special day, I still celebrated it as if she would, because there is just something so special about celebrating that very first year! I go big for all Birthdays, but I go biggest for the first! Though my little Lilybelle Louise is my third baby and time and energy are slim to none these days, her first Birthday party was no exception!
Theme
I decided on our “Winter Onederland” theme last year as we waited in a ridiculously long line (I’m talking over an hour long line!) to see Santa Claus just days before Christmas. With a 4 year old, a 2 year old and 1 month old, I vowed that I would not be visiting “Mall Santa” next year! **Happy Dance** I will NOT be visiting Mall Santa this year! Or possibly ever again! More on Santa a little later 😉
It was easy for the Winter Onederland ideas to snowball – pun intended! Mixing Christmas and a Birthday Party makes for SNOW.MUCH.FUN.
Invitations
I went custom on our invites for this party.
It seemed only natural to change the words of “Jingle Bells” to “Lilybelle” 🙂 And I of course had to make it snow 😉
I created these using my brand new Cricut Maker Machine.
SIDE NOTE: I got my new Cricut Machine for half the price by redeeming my Ibotta Rewards! If you don’t have this app, you need to download it! It’s like redeeming a coupon after you go shopping. Those coupon savings accumulate and you can redeem the money in the form of gift cards to over 75 different merchants or even as cash in your Pay Pal or Venmo accounts! Hear me when I say, You Gotta Ibotta! To date, I’ve earned $364.42…how many apps can you say have given you that?! I’m willing to bet not many! If you’d like to join up, please do so under my referral code. You would be helping me earn more free money, andddd you’ll receive $10 in your account! Just click here to go to my Ibotta Referral Link and you can thank me later 😉
Decor
Party decor is where I thrive! I love, love, love to put a party together! I pride myself in making most all of my party decor, again, with the help of my Cricut Machine! Each Party has to have a personalized “Happy Birthday” Sign…
For 1st Birthday parties, I also like to create some sort of sign that allows me to show off a monthly photo, because they grow and change so much in the first year! For Lilybelle’s Winter Onederland, I went with a present theme, combining the phrase, “Best Gift Ever” with each months photo. I just adore how this sign turned out!
First Birthday parties also call for a high chair banner…
While it was a quick turnaround from Halloween to Christmas, I have so much peace knowing that all of my party decor will be staying up through the holiday season! It was especially fun crafting up my Santa Claus Photo Backdrop! I think I captured Winter Onederland quite perfectly with this snowy decor! All was purchased this season at Hobby Lobby and At Home, with the exception of the throw pillow, which was a Marshall’s find, and the Reindeer, which is a few years old now.
Entertainment
Every party needs some sort of entertainment, and what better form of entertainment than Santa Claus himself?!
First, Santa talked with the kids and answered any questions they had.
Then he read “The Night Before Christmas”, and the kids were all enamored by him! I mean these are some tiny tots and they all sat so quietly and listened!
Each child also patiently waited their turn to sit on Santa’s lap and put in their gift requests. Santa spent special time with each kid. I was so impressed with his ability to make each child feel special.
Santa Rand was the absolute sweetest! We couldn’t have been any happier with him! If you are ever wanting to book a Santa in the Nashville area, give Santa Rand a call! I have a feeling a personal visit from him is going to become an annual event at our house…you can’t beat the one-on-one interaction, nor the ability to take as many photos as you’d like! Plus there was no standing in line or having to find a parking space…like I said before, I may never visit “Mall Santa” again!
Food
My husband gets credit for our holiday dinner spread! He said we couldn’t have a Christmas themed party without Christmas dinner, and I couldn’t agree with the man more! We picked up two pre-cooked and pre-sliced hams from Costco. They were so simple and simply yummy! I prepared make-ahead potatoes that are required to sit overnight, so on party day we only had to pop them in the oven. We also served our recipe for “Rudy’s Creamed Corn”, which is so simple to prepare and serves the masses! Lastly we offered some warm rolls. Party day food has to be simple, and this spread was exactly that! I unfortunately didn’t grab a photo of it, but someone did happen to snap a photo of my little elves setting it all up 😉
Desserts
What’s Christmas without cookies? I put my mom on our “Christmas Cookie Table”, and the woman knocked it out of the park! From classic Chocolate Chip Cookies to labor intensive Baklava, my mom delivered a most impressive spread!
If you’ve ever been to a Pittsburgh wedding, then surely you’ve experienced a “Pittsburgh Cookie Table”, every traditional Pittsburgh bride has one at her reception! This here is just a sampling of what my mom came up with for my wedding cookie table! The woman should have a side gig creating cookie tables, but she said it’s a “labor of love”…we felt the love!
I set up a “Hot Cocoa Bar” to accompany the cookies. Fixins included crushed peppermint, marshmallows, shaved chocolate, and peppermint or chocolate marshmallow sticks!
Cake
I wanted a simple cake that looked like snow. I used this recipe, and was very impressed with the taste of the cake itself! My only addition was a layer of lemon filling, as I thought it would pair nicely with the coconut. I wasn’t really thinking of “yellow snow” until I was making it…oh well! It tasted good anyhow!
The icing recipe was a headache and a half! I’m not sure what I did wrong, but it never thickened up and we ended up having to make a classic buttercream to save all my efforts! Topped with the shredded coconut, you’d never know what a mess I’d originally made out of this cake!
Details
To me, it’s the little things that make a party most memorable! I’m all about the little details that set a party apart! Here are a few of my favorites from Lilybelle’s Winter Onederland Party!
Early on I had the idea to donate Lilybelle’s Birthday to charity. We are extremely blessed and want for absolutely nothing. This is the season for giving, and I want our kids to learn that from a young age. I felt like this is truly the best gift I can give to them, and I’m so thankful our friends and family helped us in it!
We decided to partner with The Ronald McDonald House of Nashville, and are so excited to bless the families staying there this holiday season with a dinner and all of these wonderful gifts donated at Lilybelle’s Birthday Party!
We will be collecting gifts until December 15th, so if you would like to donate a gift to the children at the Ronald McDonald House, let me know, and we can deliver it for you!
I wanted Lilybelle to have something special to remember her special day by! I set up this “Letters For Lilybelle” station, asking friends to write Lilybelle a letter that she will receive on her 18th Birthday! 
If you’d like to send our girl a letter, I will gladly add it to little collection! I think this will be so special when her 18th Birthday comes!
I had a crafting station set up for the kids, complete with letters for Santa that they could color and put inside our special mailbox!
Another fun little detail for the kiddos were our Snowman Juice Boxes 🙂 My kiddos loved helping me set them up and were so excited for the party to start so they could finally have one!
Parting Gift
Aside from sending our guests home with their Christmas crafts and a carton of cookies, we set up a station for them to grab some Reindeer Food, so now the kiddos will be fully ready for Santa to come on Christmas Eve!
So that’s our Winter Onederland Party! I hope you enjoyed reading all about it! From my family to yours, enjoy this holiday season!
Be Blessed + Be A Blessing,
The Bailey Bunch
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