I can't believe we are here again, a 1st Birthday for my littlest babe. I was trying to come up with a theme for his party so I asked Emery what she thought. She said "A tree party", which was perfectly fitting for Alder. There are several reasons behind his name, one of them being one of my husband's favourite verses:

Psalm 1: 3

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding it's fruit in season, whose

leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does."

I wanted to keep his party simple but still cute. Thankfully we already had this vintage window from our cabin hanging in the kitchen so I based the decorations around it. Originally I wanted to fill some mason jars with Alder branches but Alder trees are hard to find around here, so I just found several Alder botanical prints on Pinterest instead to print out. I already had the pom-pom banner from Alder's room and used that across the mirror. 

In the past I have always stressed out what kind of food I'm going to serve, especially if the party is around lunch and supper time. I just want to be able to enjoy the party and not having to worry about cooking food. Obviously ordering Panago Pizza is the answer. Everyone loves pizza, it's delicious, and so so easy! We have some people in our family who are vegan, gluten free and dairy free, and Panago has those options available which is so awesome!

When these two play together, it might just be my favourite thing ever. 

I ordered from Whipped Up, and she made these dairy free with a yummy marshmallow filling. They are also made in a gluten friendly kitchen. She was super accommodating, especially since I ordered these super last minute. 

My Mother-in-Law had these wood stumps and slices already cut from their yard so I just borrowed them. It made a perfect mini cake stand for his little smash cake. I very quickly painted a number "1" on a bigger wood slice to put it up on display. I already had the wood crate so I used it to create some height to the table display. I put out some Instax photos of Alder from the past year as a sentimental touch. It's so crazy how much they grow and change in one year.

This little guy could not love those balloons anyone more, so obsessed! We just got a bag of balloons from the Dollarstore and blew them up. I know the foil number balloons are fun but they can be a pain to order or to go pick up. Alder didn't know any better, it was super simple, cute and he loved it!

Right before the party it looked like it was going to storm but it blew over right away, so grateful we could be outside.We just put out all of our outside toys and some bubbles, (including a water table) for the kids to play with. It was simple, and the kids just played together and entertained themselves. We didn't have to plan any fancy or complicated party games or activities (they can be awesome and fun, but we were trying to keep it as simple as possible). 

Again going with my simple theme, I found a little cake at Safeway and Emery & I re-did it together. We took off some extra icing on the bottom and top, added macarons, moved a few things and added sprinkles. When in doubt, add sprinkles! I feel like as Moms we sometimes put this huge added pressure on ourselves that we have to do everything and we have to do it perfectly. I like baking but cakes aren't something that comes naturally to me, so I didn't want to add extra pressure or stress to myself by attempting to do it . We also decided to throw this party pretty last minute so this option worked best for us. You could also order a little cake from a nearby bakery. If you are in Edmonton, I would definitely check out Sugar and Spiced off Whyte Ave. They make the cutest cakes!

Oh he went right for that cake! So so cute and funny! Of course I had the kids matching in their Forest From Harper outfits, they were just perfect for the theme of the party. I love that they both can still wear these so many months later (see here). 

Alder had the best time and loved seeing everyone, and that's all that matters to me. I was so glad I choose to keep things much simpler this time. I broke down some tips for you to keep parties simple.

4 Tips for a Simple & Cute 1st Birthday Party 

1.) Use items you already own for decorations, borrow items from a friend or family member, or scour Pinterest for simple, printable items.

2.) Order food. Take off any added stress by ordering food such as pizza, sandwiches, treats, etc.

3.) If possible have the party outside with simple toys you already own, or at a park. Kids are great at playing together and using their imaginations.

4.) Buy a simple cake from a grocery store bakery and redecorate it with your own touches. Or order a cake from a Cake Shop. 

What are some of your tips for keeping Birthday Parties simple? Let me know!

<3 Kastles 

Emery absolutely LOVES making crafts. I knew we had to make a few Easter crafts. Both of these are fairly easy and use materials you most likely already have. Great and fun activities for the long Easter weekend! 

Watercolour Bunny Banner

Supplies:

Watercolour Paints

Watercolour paper or cardstock

Cotton Balls

White Glue

Yarn or String

Washi Tape or regular tape

Scissors

Steps: 

1.) Paint several sheets with the paints. Make sure to cover the whole page. Let dry.

2.) Trace out a bunny shape onto the paper. There are lots on Pinterest. I used this one. Use the bunny to trace out bunnies on the back of the water color painted papers.

3.) Glue cotton balls onto the bunny for tails. Let dry.

4.) Pick out the order of bunnies you want for your banner and how long you want it to be.

5.) Using the washi tape, tape down the string or yarn on back of the bunnies spreading them out. Make sure to press down hard to seal the tape.

6.) Hang up & enjoy!

 Washi Tape Easter Eggs

Materials:

Several Rolls of washi tape

White paper or card stock

Scissors 

Steps:

1.) Using the washi tape cover your entire sheet of paper with tape. Go nuts, making different patterns, abstract, etc. Emery could rip off the tape by herself but got tired of doing it. I just pre-ripped a bunch off and stuck them to the edge of the table.

2.) Trace out an egg shape and cut it out.

3.) On the back of the taped papers trace out several eggs and cut them out. This part is so satisfying to see all the different eggs, haha!

4.) Emery just played with the eggs. I wrote out Happy Easter on some of them. Some other ideas of what to do with them are: a banner, laminate them, or laminate them & glue magnets on the back, or use as tags for baskets or gifts.

What are your favourite Easter crafts? I would love to hear!

Happy Easter! 

<3 Kastles 

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you might know how obsessed my daughter is with Beauty & the Beast. We must have listened to that CD & read numerous versions of the book a million times by know. So it only made sense to throw her a Beauty and the Beast themed Birthday party. 

Emery was just so excited about her birthday party, it was so special to watch her take in the day. I was so happy to find this beautiful Belle inspired dress from Max & Maude. If you live in the Edmonton area, you need to go check out their boutique. It is my favourite baby/kids store, and I always go there to get Birthday presents. They carry so many of my favourite brands, including lots of awesome independent brands too!

I've been admiring doughnut walls for some time, so this was the best excuse to make one. Not to mention indulge in some delicious doughnuts. We just got a sheet of white pegboard from Home Depot and a couple of skinny wooden dowels. Make sure to check the dowels fit in the holes before hand. Our dowels were a little bit smaller than our holes. Aaron cut the pegboard in half, and cut the dowel into smaller pieces. We then hot glued the dowels into the holes on the pegboard. Make sure to plan out your spacing of the dowels beforehand. We just bought a couple of donuts to use as spacers for guessing. 

This little guy was so good at his sisters party! 

He's wearing a Von Bon Apparel shirt I got from Little White Sneakers, and I am wearing the Steffy Bell-Sleeve blouse from Anthropologie. 

The Rose Gold sign I made use a cute kit I got at HomeSense. It came with a ton of letters so you can make all sorts of words, and re-use them. I just picked a line from one of the songs in the movie.

These two just make my heart melt. 

I had to have a few healthy options to balance out the doughnuts right, haha?

A yogurt bar was easy & yummy. I just grabbed a couple tubs of yogurt, fruit, and granola from Costco. I also grabbed a pack of apple sauce squeeze packs which babies & toddlers always love.

For the party favours I found classic Disney books at the Dollar store and tied ribbon around them. Belle loves books & reading so I thought this was a fitting party favour.

Party Details:

Beauty & the Beast Felt Finger Puppets by Marys Daughter

Beauty & the Beast Felt Face Masks by Marys Daughter

Doughnuts from Doughnut Party

Rose Gold "Tale as Old as Time" sign from HomeSense

DIY Pegboard Donut Wall 

Classic Disney Books Party Favour from Dollarama

Yay Napkins by MeriMeri from HomeSense

Vintage Books 

Vintage Teapot and Teacup

When I saw these floral woodland animal headbands from Land of Lennon, I knew they would make the cutest & easiest costumes for Halloween. I also knew they would be the perfect addition to Emery's dress up clothes. Emery loves playing dress up and make believe, and these little headbands are so easy for her to put on. They would also make perfect stocking stuffers for Christmas. Make sure to tell Santa! 

To create these little costumes, I mostly used things that were already in the house with the exception of the animal tails. For the Raccoon and Fox tails, I went and got some felt from Michaels. I just drew out the tail shape with a pencil (I looked on Pinterest for an idea of shape), and then cut them out. I sewed on the white part of the fox tail first, then sewed the two pieces together. I stuffed them with stuffing from an old pillow, and sewed the end closed. I just used a few pins to attach them to Emery's clothes, but I'm going to sew an elastic to them so she can wear them around her waist. 

For Emery's Outfit I used:

June & January Mustard Dress

Vintage Orange Sweater

DIY Felt Fox Tail

I think you could use any brown/orange/yellow coloured clothes that you might already have in your closet. I used my make-up to make a little fox face. The hardest part was getting a three year old to sit still, especially when doing her nose, haha!

On Emery:

Old Navy Pjs (worn backwards)

Stuffing for Tail

This one was probably the easiest out of the three. I just looked at Pinterest for make-up ideas, again using my own make-up. I luckily already had pjs that worked for the costume. If you wanted to add a little more, you could probably cut out white circles and add them to the pjs for spots. 

This Floral Pumpkin was a #DIY I did a few years ago, you can find it here.

These Land of Lennon headbands are just so beautiful. I love all the details, and the colours. She also has these amazing Unicorn headbands, as well as lots of other awesome goodies!

Haha can you tell Emery wasn't getting tired near the end of taking these photos? The moodiest raccoon you ever did see. 

For the raccoon tail, I used the same technique as the fox tail. I sewed on the grey stripes before sewing the tail together.

On Emery:

Thrifted Columbia Fleece One Piece

DIY Felt Raccoon Tail

What are your kids dressing up as for Halloween? Do you have a bin of fun dress up clothes? I'd love to hear!

Happy almost Halloween!

-Kassandra