Long time no see friends! I’m so sorry for not posting for such a long time, but honestly, I have found myself so wrapped up (in the best way possible) in motherhood that I haven’t really felt the desire to create blog content…unless it is something that is really inspiring me or that is going to give value to you. With that being said, I do have a few ideas circling through my head that I’m hoping to get up within the next few weeks. I am slowly but surely starting to feel that creative “spark” again and now just have to hunker down and put all the ideas in my head into fruition. it’s easier said than done when there’s a child involved but I *think* we are all finally in a place where I can start easing back into work again. However, I make NO promises for a consistent blog schedule and I refuse to put that pressure on myself.
ANYWAY, enough about me. Edwin’s first birthday party is what you came here for right!? Oh my gosh you guys. I could not be happier with how our little guys birthday party turned out. I had been planning this in my head and slowly ordering, making inspiration boards and crafting since the new year but still wasn’t 100% sure if this Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday theme was going to be sharable or not. This is mainly because I had originally planned to do a more modern take on a first birthday party that I knew would be blog/Instagram worthy and I wasn’t sure the Very Hungry Caterpillar (lets call it VHC for short) was going to cut it. But boy was I wrong! I feel like this party turned out way better than I expected and I am so happy that I went with a theme that was something Edwin actually loves (side note: Edwin also loves dogs and if I had of thought of it sooner, I would have done a really cool dog themed party lol). I’m usually become stressed out when it comes to party planning because I am typically a leave everything to the minute person but since becoming a mom, I have learned to allocate and plan better which helped so much for this party. Because I had been slowly putting things together for months and decorating here and there a couple of weeks beforehand, my stress levels were way reduced. My family also came over the day before Edwin’s party and helped immensely with the balloon wall, cake/cookie pick up, cleaning and cooking (thank you fam!!!).
This is a very photo heavy post but there were so many great options that I couldn’t choose what to share, hah! Keep reading to see all of the details from Edwin’s VHC first birthday party and hopefully you’ll find some inspiration for your littles here!
I picked out Edwin’s overalls about a month before his birthday party. I knew I wanted him to wear something cute yet casual and these green overalls I found at Zara fit the bill perfectly. Jamie came home with the yellow Converse sneakers a few days before his party and I knew that they would look adorable with his outfit. My outfit ended up matching Edwin’s perfectly as I couldn’t help myself after I spotted this jumpsuit at the gap. We both wore white t-shirts and green jumpsuits and I loved matching him. I picked Jamie up this sweater also from The Gap because the colours played well with our theme. I think the looks came together great! I had ordered Edwin a yellow knit crown from Etsy a month before the party to wear but it arrived just yesterday. I was a little disappointed but I’m glad the party hats I made worked out and Edwin had his own special multicoloured one. 
The food we made included a chickpea salad with tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and feta, two big charcuterie boards with difference cheeses, meats, etc, a homemade fruit and veggie platter, homemade pita chips, chicken salad sandwiches and a variety of crackers dips and spreads.
I found printable from The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and printed them double sided to fit into these IKEA frames that were $1.50 each. I lined the frames down the centre of the food table.
Edwins cool new balance bike from his nana. He was very excited to see it when he woke up from his nap. He also loved the big red bow!
I decorated the built in in our dining room with all things Very Hungry Caterpillar and colourful. I picked up a few VHC books at Chapters, the faux fruit from IKEA, faux plant from the dollar store and everything else like the crate and toys Edwin already had. The Edwin puzzle was a gift from his aunt and uncle that arrived a few days before his birthday. It ended up fitting the colour scheme so perfectly I had to include it!
My matching bubs and I.
I found the Happy Birthday from The Very Hungry Caterpillar book at Chapters and had a little sign made up so that everyone rememberd to write him a little birthday note inside. I read through all of the notes and got teary eyed thinking of him reading through it when he’s older. He is SO loved.
I found this Very Hungry Caterpillar digital download on Etsy for $8 and had it printed at Staples. I always love these signs at first birthday parties and had to have one made up. It amazes me how much Edwin has grown in a year and all that he can do!
Edwin was supposed to have a pickler triangle and mini rock climbing board set up on this faux grass play station, but again, it just arrived yesterday (oh well!). Because I knew it wasn’t going to show up in time thanks to tracking, I had Jamie run to IKEA to pick up this really inexpensive tunnel for him to play with. He loves it SOOOO much.
OMG you guys the cake blew my mind. It is by none other than Gateaux Rose who designed both our wedding cake and the cupcakes from my baby shower last year. She is amazing and I cannot recommend her enough. On top of her cake decorating skills being pure magic, she also manages to make the most flavourful and moist cakes. Jamie and I may or may not have eaten half of the bottom layer these past few days. The flavours we ordered were chocolate espresso and raspberry white chocolate…all I can say is YUM.
Blowing out Edwin’s FIRST birthday cake. I’m crying, I cant believe he is 1!
Aside from the cake, I also opted to do custom Very Hungry Caterpillar watercolour cookies by Liddy Mae. This is the first time I’ve worked with Liddy Mae cookies and to say my expectations were met and exceeded is an understatement. Liddy was a pleasure to work with and my jaw dropped when I saw what beautiful job she had done. Each cookie was individually wrapped so they were the perfect little takeaway for our guests.
All of The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed decor I found online at Party city including the balloon, the decals, VHC banner (that I forgot to take a photo of), photo props, plates, napkins, cups and more!
I rented the boxwood bush from MacFarlands and my sister made the little number signs by printing them out, cutting the circles and hot glue gunning them to clothes pins. We then hung a photo for every month of Edwin on the bush. The rattan floor seats are an IKEA find.
I found the grass table runner at Party city and also covered my buffet with a table skirt.
My sister made the cutest childhood throwback dessert of worms and dirt that were very fitting for this party.
My little family.
We made the balloon wall with a mixture of 12, 9 and 5 inch balloons in green, blue and white. I’d say to make this size wall you’ll need 2x packs of each. It takes a bit of time to make the wall but they are really easy to do and so much more affordable to DIY. I think this was around $20 to make and would have cost hundreds of dollars if I’d of outsourced it.
I made the party hats using a party hat template I found on Pinterest, white cards tock and a mix of pom-poms I found at Wal-Mart and Michales. I used a glue gun to secure everything. They took a lot of time but I really loved the end result. I colour coded all of the hats except for Edwin’s which was multi coloured.
Another shot of the decorated built-in. I bought a Very Hungry Caterpillar garland but just took the cut outs off the string and stuck them around the built in and around other areas of the party. It worked out much better and went further by doing that. I also used the string from the garland to tie around the big VHC balloon because it was such a cute string I didn’t want it to go to waste.
Edwin enjoying his first slice of cake…however, he enjoyed his chicken salad sandwich way more. He’s a character that one.
I used the photo props as cheese markers as I thought it looked super cute!
The best and proudest dada.
The big green “Edwin” leaf was a custom piece from my friend Rebecca. She did such an amazing job on it. the “1” was made using bristol board and pom-poms that were simply glue gunned on.
