Winter Onederland Party!

Ok - a little bit of catching up is needed...

We did a LOT in the month of December (um - FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY?! and a 12-month doctor check-up... and a first plane ride (15th-ish for Button!) to Texas for Christmas!)

So I'll just go chronologically - we had Ms. Mack's birthday party on the 10th - with an actual birthday on the 21st (and a trip looming to Texas!) we decided to move the party up a few weeks to steer a bit clear of the holidays... (hey - maybe next year we'll have it on Halloween. LOL)

Here I was, thinking I wouldn't go as crazy for #2's 1st birthday party (remember the months of planning and crafting for Button?? Check out his birthday awesome-ness here!)

I still have f*cking RED AND WHITE FABRIC ALL OVER MY BASEMENT!

Anyways- I didn't make as much stuff for Ms. Mack's party - I totally just went the Amazon route - but I definitely went a little bit as crazy... just a hyper-speed crazy, ordering box after box - shipped in just 2 days! - from Amazon. (MAN they have everything there...)

I found an awesome marquee light at Michaels (of course) and hello - Christmas decorations were just PERFECT for a Winter Onederland party! Anytime I stepped foot into a Joann Fabrics or $1 Store, I'd load up on more stuff! plastic snowflakes to hang, candy cane boxes, mini fir trees, sparkle deer figurines, little polar bears...
and the best part is - no lingering unusable decorations - I can use all this over and over each year for Christmas time!

One of the few things I did make were - printables!
I love making signs like this in photoshop (especially when I see Etsy stores selling these digital downloads for $$$ - WHAT?!)
And it really pulls things together at the party!

The SnowBalls sign wasn't used because I forgot/didn't get around to buying powdered munchkins from Dunkin.... but if that's all that was missing/forgotten, I did a good job!!

(The Snowflake Design was your trusty-old coffee filters and child-safe plastic scissors, and of course - AmazonTreasure snowflake stamps!)

Another small-ticket "item" I made were the stickers for the hershey kisses (again - Etsy tried to sell me "Custom Digital" files for like, $8! I made them in photoshop in about 5 minutes, bought the sheet of circle stickers (OH AMAZON HOW I LOVE YOU!) for maybe $3... wam-bam. maybe I should be selling this stuff on Etsy!)
((I'm a sucker for the small touches like that... did anyone really notice those? shrugs - but even if a few grabbed them to snack on and saw the little stickers and thought, oh how cute! - ALL WORTH IT!
Also. look at the cute pictures I got for posterity!!!!))

 My BFF Dee came to the hall with me Friday night to decorate (I brought the beer!)

We blew up balloons, hung silver crepe, fluffed pink pompoms to hang, spread confetti and glitter on each table...

and before I knew it, it was almost MIDNIGHT!!


I made a mental list of things that needed to be done the next day (pick up cake, finalize dessert table, get food accessories and table set out) and we headed home...

And when I pulled up to my house, there was this massive deer just chilling on my front lawn, snacking away!

I couldn't wait to show Button the pictures the next morning!!

The day of the party, it was blustery, cold & clear...
(And I just now remembered - Button had been so sick with a cough/cold, we had considered getting a daycare teacher to come babysit, wondering if we would be those parents who brought a sick kid to a kid's party, regardless of the fact that it was his sister's first birthday party... but.
we drugged him up (calm down - just some children's muccinex) and crossed our fingers (and reminded him to COUGH INTO YOUR SLEEVE!))

Last minute (Thursday night) I got her monthly pictures printed to display (multi-purposing the X MONTHS stickers from SIL!)

fBFF made chocolate covered oreos (and pretzel rods) and "gave" it to me "as part of [Ms. Mack's] gift!"
-_-
Because charging me $15 would have been f*cking ridiculous.  ((OH OH - guess who just asked me to take pictures at her son's christening in February... should I make it "part of his gift" ?!?!?))

ANYWAYS

 The local grocery store made the cakes (and the candy cane cupcakes) and they did a great job (as always. remember Button's circus creation?)

The IL's showed up at the hall a bit early - some of them helped finish up the decorating (and some just played with Button in the corner - AHEM - MIL!)

We got Ms. Mack dressed, but she needed a nap so bad... so...

Then it was party time - things went perfect...
(Ms. Mack eventually warmed up...)

The kids dug into the "snowflake' coffee filters (and stamps), and they raced and chased each other around the hall (same hall as Button's Superhero 2nd birthday party!).
((They mostly ate all of the BYO-Snowman accoutrements... ))

Ms.Mack even had a quite successful smash-session!

(It totally helped that she was parked right in front of the heat vent, so she stayed comfortably warm in her ruffle buns!)
And I mean - she ate every piece of that cupcake! Girl knows what's good!

The party was a hit - complete with a mini-flurry of snowflakes (someone said, "oh my gosh it's snowing outside!" (not sure why they'd sound so shocked... it was December. in New Jersey... lol) and it was - perfect big fat flakes, right at dusk...)

(Everyone LOVED the hot cocoa bar, totally destroyed it! (in a good way!))

BTDubs - those mugs? I had leftover from our wedding favors (from 6 years ago!)

which were mug+saucer sets with chocolate dipped biscotti...

leftovers for the win!

Such a great day for a Winter Onederland!