Our Winnie the Pooh Party

Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood!

As promised, here are some of the details from Ben's first birthday party.

We were blessed to have family and a few friends over to celebrate the day.

My mom and step father were in town which is always exciting and a big deal since they come to us from California. My aunt came up from Atlanta. Many of Chris' relatives came from around the area.

It was great.

I've already shared a picture of Ben's special birthday outfit in my giveaway post, but I'll share more, because who can get enough of this???

My best friend and his godmother, Sarah bought the jeans and suspenders from H&M.

I had no idea that they even sold baby clothes, but I'm glad now that they do.

I got a button down shirt to match and made a little neck tie from the skinny end of a regular tie.

My handsome men.

Before I go any further, I guess I should state:

this being Ben's first party (and him being only one and all),

it was really a party for grown ups.

Most of the food and drink were things that he doesn't eat/drink yet,

but he didn't seem to mind at all.

To be honest, he's such a ham, I'm convinced that he thinks everyday is a party starring him.

So this was more of a party for adults that was about a baby. :)

We didn't do games or favors or anything like that, and he obviously needed some assistance with the unwrapping of gifts and blowing out of candles.

The invitations I just put together on my computer and printed them off on some pre-cut paper from a wedding invitation kit that I found on clearance.

For more pictures and details on those, go here.

For the decor, much of it I already had on hand, but even if I didn't, it's all inexpensive.

The clouds are made of poster board and fishing line... about $2 all in all.

The banner is colored paper (on clearance) from Joann's and jute rope (like you would use for a clothesline). The letters are printed on regular paper from a Word document and then pasted to the pennants. The total for this came to about $3. No harm, no foul.

For the tablescape, I used burlap as a tablecloth.

I found pine cones at the craft store after Christmas on clearance for 50 cents. They were, however, the cinnamon-scented ones, so I actually left them down in my basement for a long time to let the odor eek out a little. That stuff gives me a headache.

I used the same colored paper from the banner and jute rope to make the food labels and then just used the pine cones as my card holders.

For the food and drink, I tried to make as much of it "Winnie the Pooh" related as possible.

Our menu items consisted of:

-Piglets in a Blanket (maybe morbid, but oh so tasty)

-Tigger Tails (also morbid?)

- Owl Cupcakes

-Rabbit's Garden

-Hundred Acre Wood Acorns

-'Hunny' Cake

-'Hunny' Roasted Nuts

- 'Hunny' Apple Brie Bites

-Hoagies... haha. Not themed. Oh well. :)

The 'Hunny' Cake was definitely the star.

We used a beehive pan from Williams Sonoma. My aunt has made this cake so many times, she should be considered a professional. She stuck white store bought frosting in the microwave for a bit and it was the perfect consistency to pour over the top. She also brought the sugar bees for decoration which she ordered online.

The Tigger Tails were easy as well. Although the chocolate did seize up on us a bit, we worked it out and they turned out pretty nicely.

They're just pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate which we dyed orange with food coloring. Once those set a bit, we drizzled melted semi-sweet chocolate over the top.

Fun to make. More fun to eat.

My "Hundred Acre Wood Acorns" were Hershey's Kisses, Nutter Butter Bites, and mini chocolate chips, all "glued" together with melted chocolate.

And "Rabbit's Garden" was your token veggie tray with hummus and dip.

The owl cakes may be my personal favorite. I morphed two owl cupcake ideas that I found online to make these. Doesn't a cashew make the perfect beak?

The eyebrows are chocolate-flavored licorice.

The eyes are obviously Oreos with a chocolate chip for the pupil.

Warning: I tried to cut a cost corner and buy the off brand cookie, but the creme center was too soft, and I could not get them apart while leaving a nice white circle. I know, talk about a 'first world problem.'

So if you're ever making something with Oreo halves... get the real thing. Then, stick them in fridge for about 10 minutes. No more. No less. And don't use the freezer.

Can you tell this took some trial and error? :)

Luckily it was worth it. So cute.

  

For drinks, I just served tea in my bee hive drink dispenser (found on Amazon),

cups were mason jars which I always have for canning

and yellow paper straws that I bought for a steal off Etsy.

The water bottle labels I also made on my computer using regular paper and then just taped them on.

So that's it!

We really had such a great time with our friends and family,

and we're already looking forward to next year. :)

Thanks, friends!

and remember...

 "A day without a friend is like a pot without even a drop of honey inside." -Winnie