{My Parties} Brett's Jungle Safari 1st Birthday Party!

This morning, I designed a sweet little Jungle Safari 1st birthday party for Mr. Brett. Brett is the cousin of Grant (Jungle Book Birthday), but we went an entirely different direction with this party. The palette was much softer and baby-like with light blues, animal prints, raffia, baskets, and touches of green, yellow, and orange. 

 You may remember my inspiration board for this event, here.

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The inspiration for this party started with some ideas that party-mommy Jennifer sent me from Etsy. She loved the idea of a pastel jungle safari, so we we went with that!
I found this absolutely precious light blue leopard print fabric on the backdrop at Hobby Lobby and that was really my jumping off point for the entire concept. The little grass mats are also from Hobby Lobby--get there now--they are out for Easter!

Pin It  Because I am a total freak for the details, I try to make every little piece of the puzzle special. So, for the forks and napkins, I wrapped them in leopard print crepe paper and tied them with raffia. This blue "tablecloth" is actually a curtain from Target.

 On the menu, I suggested lots of "jungle" foods, like Little Debbie Zebra cakes. To up the cute-factor, we served them on skewers.

 My husband is a banana pudding junkie, and he actually made some mini banana puddings for family that we had in for Christmas. So, I took his idea and ran with it. I wrapped the handles of the spoons in the same crepe paper as the other utensils to tie them in with the theme, and also to give them a little extra cute detail!
I found these great crates at Hobby Lobby and I think they will be really useful for a variety of different events, but they reminded me of shipping crate that you might find a jungle animal in, so I flipped them over, and used cute animal print scrapbook paper to make them more "jungle."

 Gorilla Grape skewers were another fun, healthy item that we served with these cute little baskets. I originally did these for my Very Hungry Caterpillar party and I've gotten such a kick out of seeing all the other parties that have used that same concept for their caterpillar parties!

 I designed all the paper goods for this party, using some paint.net magic and a super cute font called "Jungle Juice."

 This is a GREAT recipe for kids' parties. It is called "Baboon Butter" and it's peanut butter, chocolate chips, and bananas, served with graham cracker sticks. I know plenty of adults who would love this recipe too!

 Hungry Hippo Dip was hummus with fresh veggies. Those cute banana leaf plates are from Hobby Lobby.

 I custom-made this cupcake stand using cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, and ribbon. The little wooden animals are from Hobby Lobby as well.  (They seriously know my name in there).
I used a cupcake wrap template that I downloaded and then cut my own wraps from wrapping paper.

 These fondant toppers knocked my socks off! Party-Mommy got them from Etsy Seller--CookieCovers. Even her packaging was impressive. Each topper was wrapped individually!

 I just think they are PRECIOUS!

 To add some extra "umph" to the backdrop, I made my own pomanders, using a styrofoam balls and some crepe paper.

 The beverage station had Jungle Juice, and also the cute little favors.

 The jungle juice was gingerale and pineapple juice--perfect for this theme!

 I got the idea for these favors here. I thought she has such a clever idea! They are filled with animal crackers. I found these cute, tiny little animals at Target.

 Brett's smash cake was from Schnucks, along with the cupcakes.

 I also handmade this birthday hat for him, using felt and pompoms.

 What a sweet family!  Huge thanks to Jennifer and Lloyd for letting me help with such a special day!

 Happy very 1st Birthday Brett! I hope you had an awesome time!
 Isn't he just so squeezable?!?!?

Vendors:

Fondant Cupcake Toppers: Etsy Seller, Cookie Covers

Fabric, Leaf Plates, Crepe Paper, Baskets, Crates, and Grass Squares: Hobby Lobby

Pastel Safari plates, napkins, and animal garland: MeriMeri

Clear Favor Boxes: BeauCoup

Small Stuffed Animals: Target

All Paper Goods and Printed Items, and Custom Birthday Hat: Handmade

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