going bananas!

We celebrated our son's 1st birthday this last weekend with a monkey-themed party, which turned into more like a banana bonanza! I had a lot of fun preparing for his special day and trying to think of just the right touches to make his day extra special...not like he would notice, but it's fun for me to do! My favorite part of decorating for a party is primarily the food table and having fun food that goes with the theme. I also enjoy putting together just the right party favor for our guests as a "thanks for coming"! I learned my lesson from my daughter's ladybug-themed birthday party in April and made sure to take a lot of pictures of the table decorations and favors this time around. (I'm still feeling bummed that I only got a picture of the cupcakes.) I didn't do much other decorating since I'm trying to get better at "making it simple" and saving a few bucks in the process (shhh... don't tell our son that he didn't get a birthday present from his parents on his 1st birthday!) I even avoided the last minute rush to the party store for a matching tablecloth and balloons. I ended up saying to myself, it's not worth it (and for me, that's a great feat!) It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we got to do a lot outside. And, despite Austin feeling a little crummy and acting a little crabby, it was still a great get together with some close friends and family to help celebrate our little monkey's 1st birthday.

this was on the front door for people to see as they entered the party
(Austin is going to be a monkey for Halloween)

homemade birthday banner
(not the best of pictures, but it fell down before I could take another one...
and I wasn't about to hang it back up just for a picture!)

I love decorating cupcakes to go with the party theme!

a unique perspective of the food table

party food included: banana chips, banana split Oreos (I know!),
homemade monkey mix (aka Chex Mix), homemade monkey munch (aka YUMMY!),
chocolate covered frozen banana bits, along with banana runts and banana Laffy Taffy

I feel sorry for the guests who did not care for bananas, but I just had to do it!

party favor for toddlers included a monkey face plate and snack cup, monkey tattoos, monkey finger puppet, monkey pencils, banana Laffy Taffy, and monkey lollipop
party favors for babies included a monkey face plate and snack cup (with Gerber banana puffs), monkey finger puppet, and Gerber banana shaped-flavored cookies
I also sent each family home with some homemade banana bread

Now that the party is over, I'm getting back to rifling through the piles of paper that are beginning to consume me! Plus, I have so many other fun things I would like to share. My creative juices don't ever stop, but I feel like there's never enough time!