A Secret Garden Birthday Party
If you’ve been following along on Instagram or Facebook, you know our little Violet just turned 1!
The last year has been the fastest one of our lives, packed full of learning new skill sets and making new memories all with our beautiful baby on board!
Since Violet couldn’t pick her own 1st birthday theme yet, we picked a Secret Garden Birthday Party theme for her! We scoured Pinterest for ideas and came up with a few of our own! Here are some pretty pictures to remember this beautiful day!
Décor
I knew I wanted flowers – flowers everywhere!! But it was important not to break the budget! We made a few small cut flower arrangements in Ball Jars and I am especially proud of the living room window which may stay adorned for a long time!
I loved the idea of sending our friends and family home with a little piece of Violet’s Secret Garden. Our party favors included potted ranunculus, gerbera daisies, grape hyacinths and tête à tête daffodils.
Every kid birthday party needs helium balloons! If you are throwing a party for kids, just double the amount of balloons you think you need! They really liven up a room and there isn’t a kid around that doesn’t love carrying a balloon around the house. The crepe paper streamers are inexpensive and really went a long way! We surprised Violet with a streamers in her door way and a few of her other favorite places on her birthday morning and she loves being flown through them like an airplane. Big thank yous go out to my mom and Aunt Lisa for adding the final touches to all the thresholds around the house!
Food
In keeping with the Secret Garden theme, I opted for foods that might have come from the garden: veggie dip, spanakopita, ghost chili cornbread, tomato jam, pepper jelly and a cheese plate. Ok I know that last one is a bit of a stretch to tie back to the garden, but hey, it’s March! Friends and family also contributed to our spread adding deviled eggs and Irish soda bread (thanks Aunt Lisa!), fruit salad and spinach dip (Thanks Jackie!) and Stromboli (thanks Erica!)
Smash Cake
My Mom made cupcakes for dessert and adorned them with gummy butterflies and worms, and she has the cutest recipe for making acorns out of Oreos, Hershey Kisses and chocolate chips. The grand finale was this beautiful Smash Cake crafted by our local bakery, Factory Girl Bakes. This was Violet’s first experience with cake. She was very dainty in the beginning, licking a little bit of chocolate off her fingers here and there and feeding her daddy and grandma. It wasn’t long before she had had enough and she decided that it was time to pound that cake into oblivion. She grabbed and threw, and smashed that cake until there were no crumbs left! And a big thank you to everyone that contributed in cleaning up the highchair, floor and walls as we gave Violet a quick shower and changed her into birthday outfit #2!
Gifts
Violet was showered with so many thoughtful gifts! I was surprised and delighted when many of our guests continued the party theme in their gift giving! Violet received garden themed clothing, a birdhouse to paint, a water table, a Lego Duplo Farm and SO many garden themed books! Who knew that there were so many children’s books centered around gardening! If you are looking to inspire a little one to get out and love nature, here are just a few from Violet’s bookshelf:
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins
Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
The Little Gardener by Jab Gerardi
The Night Gardener by Teri and Eric Fan
The Puddle Garden by Jared and Laura Rosenbaum
And don’t forget The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett-now available in a picture board book by Jennifer Adams!
Thank you to all that shared and celebrated with our little Violet on this very special day! Love Tiffany, John & Violet
Pretty Bird Farm 