We are off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of
Oz. Anna turned one and mom decided to
use her favorite movie of all time as the theme for her party. I figured I
might as well choose while I can.
Invitation:
The first item to complete was the invitation. I
took some inspiration for the font from an invite I found via Pinterest (Inspiration via Pinterest/Etsy), but
designed and created all the other graphics myself using Photoshop Elements. I
was very happy at the way it turned out, even though it took me probably longer
than it should have to complete.
Invitation
Return Address Label
Thank You Card
Dress:
The next item to complete was the birthday
dress. I definitely wanted Anna to have
a Dorothy dress, but wasn’t sure that I wanted it to be an exact match. So after searching Pinterest and Etsy, I
still didn’t find what I wanted and went shopping for a pattern and designed my
own. Knowing how well (or not so well)
that Anna keeps shoes on, I wanted to make sure the dress had some red
sparkle. I found ruby slippers, to go
with the outfit but since Anna is walking everywhere the slipper style didn’t
last on her feet long. I found my blue
gingham fabric and red sparkle buttons at Hobby Lobby. Then, I found a cute plain white T with
pucker sleeves at Wal-Mart to wear underneath as well as the Red sequin accent
fabric. I love how the dress turned out.
Now she can wear it for the 4th of July too, if I want. I also created a hair accessory flower using
the gingham fabric and a sparkly button center.
Birthday Bib:
After
going through all the work to sew Anna’s dress I didn’t want her to ruin it
with her cake eating. I then decided I would strip her down for the Cake eating
but give her a special bib to wear. I
used a current bib as a guide to create a pattern. I traced the bib and then
gave myself extra room for seam allowance.
I cut 2 pieces of fabric. I drew
and cutout patterns for a number “1” and two heeled shoes. I then ironed WonderUnder to the gingham and
sequin fabric before using my patterns to cutout the appliques for the front of
the bib. I ironed the cutout fabric into
place and then zigzag stitched to finish the edges. I then baste-stitched red ribbon and gathered
it to form a ruffle to sew around the edge of the bib. Finally, I sewed on hook-and-loop tape to
fasten the bib.
Decorations:
While I could have gone nuts with decorations I
was on a budget since I was currently loving my time as a stay-at-home
mom. Here is how I brightly decorated
Anna’s party.
The cake table was a red table cloth with a yellow runner
displaying Anna’s first year of pictures by month.
Cake Table Centerpiece: The table centerpiece display was created
using vases that were inspired by the famous movie characters with
poppies and her pictures by month. I found my vases at Dollar Tree and designed and painted
each of them to resemble a movie character. I filled with floral foam to hold inexpensive
silk poppy flowers that I found at Old Time Pottery. I designed and printed Anna’s pictures by
month to create a flower photo. I then printed 2, cutout and glued two of them
together onto bamboo skewers to add to each vase.
Bunting: Anna and I headed out to Home
Depot and looked through the Glidden paint samples and found a rainbow of
colors to use to display a Happy Birthday Banner. I used the larger solid paint color samples,
one for each letter. I then used a Cricut to cut out letters saying ‘Happy Birthday
Anna,” in white. Next I glued the white letters
onto the paint samples. To complete the
banner, I used a package of double fold bias tape to hold it all together. Each paint sample letter was placed in-between
the bias tape fold, spaced evenly and then sewn into place. {see tutorial for additional photos and details}
Entry: On the front door, I used a blue berry wreath and accented it with red poppies and a gingham fabric bow. I then tied rainbow colored balloons outside
and used brightly colored pinwheels (from Dollar Tree) in the front pots that
flank the front door.
On the dining table I continued the
use of the red table cloth & yellow runner along with a variety of other
Wizard of Oz collectibles that I already had from my collection to add to the
theme.
I ordered personalized plates from Hallmark.com
Cake: My cake decorating
skills are just a step above novice and so anything too elaborate was out of
the question. I loved the ideas on Pinterest for ‘Rainbow’ or ‘tie dye’
cakes. I created a two layer 9x13 pink,
blue, green & yellow cake. I then
decorated the top of the cake to resemble the yellow brick road. My favorite part was creating a rice krisipy
treat shoe to top the cake. I molded the
rice krispy treats into the shape of a highheel shoe, frosted it with red
frosting and added lots of sugar crystals to create some sparkle.
Sweets: I baked cutout high heel sugar cookies, decorated
with red frosting and sugar crystals, and a large bowl of jelly beans in a
rainbow of colors. I was fortunate that Anna’s birthday was near Easter so the
accessibility of finding brightly colored, tasty, jelly beans was easy. My favorite are the Jolly Rancher flavored
ones.
