adventures with ava elise: Cirque du Bebe

We have been making pennant banners and tissue paper pom-poms for weeks but it's hard to believe a whole year has flown by since we met our little angel for the very first time.

The theme of the party was Cirque du Bébé. We tried to keep it soft with a light pink and yellow color palette with splashes of lime green.

Below are a few of the party highlights:


The Foyer: pennant banner, framed invitation, tea cup flower pot full of mums.

The Dessert Table: apothecary jars, vases, and martini glasses filled with sweet treats, plus cupcakes, caramel apples, and cake pops (which unfortunately are not visible in this pic).

I hung alternating pink and white streamers from the chandelier over the dining room table to give it a circus tent vibe.

I printed the candy labels using the "Romantiques" font (available for download here), cut out using scrolled-edge scissors, then taped to the same backing design used for the invitations.

Beverages: strawberry lemonade with fresh strawberries, lemon slices, and mint leaves; wine glasses and mason jars on this tray with these gray stripey straws.

Lunch: buffet of corn dogs, soft pretzels, and popcorn. (Plus several apps such as veggie sticks with dip, spinach dip and sourdough, crackers and brie and gouda cheeses, and other finger foods.) I wrapped the ketchup and mustard in color-coordinating handkerchiefs.

The photo booth was a big hit with cutouts painted on cardboard by Ava's talented grandma and props such as wax lips, mustaches on sticks, Mardis Gras masks, glasses, and clown noses. More pics to come later this week.

Ava, the Daring Young Girl on the Flying Trapeze, right, in her Danskin leotard from Target, and her adorable bud Violet (who you may remember from here), left, in the brown zebra striped dress from Baby Gap.