DIY Monday: JAE is ONE

And just like that, my sweet little baby is ONE! That year went by in lightening speed!  We had a Sugar & Spice party for her at Gymborees and for the most part, my vision came together which made everyone happy. 

I know often times, people wonder why I go all out for celebrations. Well, I have 2 reasons. 1. For the memories. Yes they won't remember now but they will see the pictures in the future and look at it with a smile and know someone cared enough to do this. 
2. I celebrate because it is a reminder of God's goodness throughout the year! It is a reminder that through the ups and downs, we are blessed to have a birthday to celebrate time!
So until the kids are older and ask for changes to their birthday celebrations, I will continue to celebrate in as big a way as we can manage :-). 

Here are pictures from our celebration yesterday. Note: Since there were kids are the celebration, I am not posting a ton of pictures to protect the young ones. Unless I get permission from their parents, I prefer not to share their pictures. 

The cake was so good and relatively inexpensive! We got it from CupCake BLVD. Check them out if you live in MD and are looking for a vendor. Their customer service was also great!

I made these yummy goodness! These things are sooooo addictive! Yummy chocolate covered pretzels. There is something about sugar and salt that just goes well together!

Then JOE helped me make chocolate cupcakes. She did so great and was so helpful. 

For the goodie bags, we used some of the items left from JOE's first birthday party. So the brown bags were from JOE's party and it was very appropo and worked for this party as well. It reads "The Party is Over. I'm Officially One. Thanks for coming. I hope you had fun!"

The bags were stuffed with coupons to Gymborees. Boxes filled with chocolate fudge animal crackers from Target, a small board with chalk to write on and Gymboree stickers. 

JAE's dress came from Marshall's. I loved it the minute I saw it and the price was definitely right. SCORE!

Since JAE's birthday fell on a Sunday, we went to the early Church service first. J's mom got both girls the cutest navy blue and white stripped dresses with sweaters. So that's what they wore to Church yesterday. 
It was so hard to take a picture of both girls. They wouldn't stay still so I just had to snap away as they moved around. 

Wearing a dress doesn't stop this little one from playing on the trampoline!

"Jenna, smile! Let's get a picture of you in your dress!" NO!!! Then promptly runs to the couch to "hide".

 Setting up for the party. 

The final set up of the Sweets table. So I wanted to get gold fabric but they didn't have any the day we went. So I decided to get gold colored table cloth. I didn't realize it was this shiny. I like the concept but was not a fan of just how shiny it was. However, I had already taped it down before I stepped back and looked at the finished product so there was no turning back. 
So for this table, with the exception of the shiny gold table cloth, I really liked the way everything turned out.  

The Spice table. I decided to do something slightly different with the shiny table cloth here. 

Some more pictures of the Sweets table. 

 And here we are. The parents :-). Me and my J. The original JJ team :-D.

Afterwards, J gave a thank you speech and we sang Happy Birthday to JAE and then she got to blow out her candle. 

JAE was too funny! After we sang Happy Birthday, she clapped for us. I guess we did a good job :-D.

Blowing out her candle. Momma and dada had to help her with that. She couldn't understand the concept.

And its a wrap! We feel truly blessed to be parents to this fun loving, awesome little girl. Thanks to all our friends and family who came, called, sent presents, gave presents and just made it a very special day for her. You are truly appreciated!

AyoBE Handmade Wear

For some beautiful  handmade items for you or a loved one, please visit my Etsy store.

I make items for babies, toddlers and a couple of adult pieces. The items I make can be an excellent gift for a friend or relative or a great addition to your home for you or your little one.

I have also added a non-Etsy link for those who would rather not create an Etsy account. You can use a credit card or PayPal.