Party Planning Mode!!

Even though Macy's first birthday is over four months away, I have already started planning.  I love planning parties.  Planning my wedding was one of my most enjoyable experiences.  I just hate paying for parties.  Unlike my wedding, my parents won't be footing the bill (or for any of my parties in the future).  And unfortunately for Macy, her mother decided to quit her job so she could stay home with her so her parents are broke.  Which means I will have many DIY projects in my future.  Just so you know, I loathe DIY projects.  I would just rather pay someone for what I need.  But since we are down to one income, I don't have that luxury.  Even on a shoestring budget and many DIY projects, I am still looking forward to planning her first birthday.  


I have not decided on a theme yet.  I am torn between ladybugs or monkeys.  What I am sure of is the colors, which will be lime green, fuchsia and bubble gum pink.  I know you are wondering how I can pull off this color scheme with a ladybug theme, but I thought black and red was kinda "blah" for a 1 year old's birthday.  I found a picture of a cake that is more or less serving as my inspiration for the ladybug theme.....

Isn't this cake freakin' awesome?!  Yeah, I am sure the price tag is hefty as well.  But I have a plan.......my friend Mindy who lives in Tampa started making cakes as a hobby.  Well, it turns out Mindy really has a knack for this stuff and has recently opened up her own caking making business.  While it's not feasible for her to make Macy's cake, she has agreed to make the fondant decorations and ship them to me so I can add them to a cake I buy here locally in Texas.  


And if I decided to go with the monkey theme, I was thinking something like this would be cute for the cake topper......

For decorations, I have decided to make some tissue paper pomanders to hang from the ceiling.  This is A LOT more time consuming that I thought it would be.  Really, I would like to pay a florist for pomanders made of real flowers but I am oh-so broke and that's not an option.  Surprisingly, the pomanders have turned out better than I expected.  I plan on making 3 lime, 3 fuchsia, and 3 bubble gum pink.  Good thing I have four months until the party because I think I will need all that time to complete this project.  So far I have completed one green pomander and it took me about a 4 hours to complete.  But I have plenty of time and no money so it's my only option......

Not bad, right?  The color is a tad off in this pic so the pomander is not really dayglo green.  Now, I just have 8 more pomander to make......or 32 hours.  

Of course, no party would be complete with out the birthday girl decked out in her best birthday outfit.  I am planning on getting Miss Macy a tutu.  I think this will be the only birthday that it will be acceptable for her to wear one.  So what the hell, why not??!  Check out how cute this tutu is......

Of course, she would need to wear leggings underneath since her birthday is in December.  

Speaking of December, I hate that her birthday is right smack dab in the middle of the holiday season.  December 8th.  Ugh.  Poor girl.  So since both my family and Jason's family will be out for Thanksgiving, I think we are going to have her birthday party that Saturday after Thanksgiving.......11 days early.  Ehh, she won't know the difference but I really want her Grandparents to be able to partake in her birthday festivities.  

It's hard to believe that I am planning my baby's first birthday  ::tear::