Birthday celebration and DIY items

JOE had such a blast at her birthday party as did every guest who came. It was just an awesome time with family and friends and JOE was eating it all up. 

My vision for her birthday came together and that's cause of my awesome family and friends. 
My sisters arrived on Thursday, my parents and brother on Friday and the preparation began. JOE LOVED the attention she was getting from everyone and enjoyed being transferred from one doting relative to another. 

I know you're here to view the pictures so I won't write too much :-). Enjoy!

JOE and her daddy on Saturday morning. I love these pics of her. My brother did an excellent job with them. 

That's my one year old baby!!!

Fried plantains. YUM! Oh the food got RAVE reviews! My sisters certainly outdid themselves! 

JOE with her god-mommy (my sister). They share a special bond. I like to say her god-mommy prayed her into the world! Long story...maybe I'll blog about it someday.

The cake. It was quite DELICIOUS! They did a fantastic job! It looks almost exactly like the one I pinned from Pinterest!

Pictures of JOE from her smash cake session.

Table decorated. Yup...those are animals on the table. It was a jungle themed birthday afterall! :-)

Some of the items in the bags. I wanted items the kids could have fun with later.

The bigger bags were for the older kids. We wanted to make sure they got items they could use/play with. It was a hit!

Food labels

"Grazers table

Animal cupcakes! They were yummy!!!

Just a reminder of the cake from her smash session.

Used for her smash session and used again at the party.

Crinoline from my wedding dress used for her smash session

beanie bags I made. These were a hit with the kids. They thoroughly enjoyed the games!

Even JOE wanted to plan as well. The goal was to throw the bags into the baskets. Each basket had a number underneath it. The kids won prizes if they scored a 10 or above. 

Also part of the games. The kids had to knock down the cans. They won prizes for knocking down all the cans.

"One" cookies! Giveaways for everyone including the parents.

"Forest dwellers". We made peanut butter and jelly, jelly and then cheese sandwiches. We used elephant and lion cookie cutters to make the animals.

Ants on a log. These were a hit! I didn't know how good celery and peanut butter with raisins tasted. Quite yummy!

My dad and brother in law (JOE's uncle) talking about something :-).

The start of our forest wall.

Our "forest wall". It was another HUGE hit! J's friend painted it as a gift to JOE. He is SOOOOO talented! Folks really enjoyed taking pictures there.

Yup. We had a lot of fun. I HAD to take pictures in the yellow lion's cut out because I wanted to be Nala from the Lion King. Special...I know :-).

JOE's awesome grammy and g-dad. She really is a lucky gal!

That's the "Happy Birthday Jordan" sign I made a few weeks back. 

"Rocks" for our forest.

Animals in the forest. I got these "grass patches" for our Nigerian wedding. We used candles and rose petals on there but they were so useful as decor for this party.

The end results. I loved the way everything turned out.

We had a face painter. She did a FABULOUS job! I wanted to get my face painted but there was no time since she was also making balloons for the kids. 

Getting ready to cut the cake.

JOE and her nanny. Beautiful!

JOE and her youngest aunty! They had a great time. She dressed JOE up for her party. Even put the head band and everything on for her. She really is an awesome sister!

As you can see, I love to do things with my hands. For more unique items that I have made, visit AyoBE Boutique.

Well, that's all folks. We had a fabulous time and I am on to my next project. Planning for my sister's bridal shower :-).

 I pray JOE is able to look back at the pictures from her first birthday event and know that it was planned and celebrated with LOTS of love from friends and family!

Thanks for letting my share this event with you through the months. It was certainly a labor of love!