Planning Lil Tea Cup’s first birthday was a labour of love. The theme itself ended up being a nod to my dearly departed Grandmother, who always let me have my dessert before dinner. When fellow Hellobee blogger Mrs. Sketchbook mentioned that an ice cream party was a great budget friendly way of having a kid’s party, I immediately thought “life is short, eat dessert first!” and there was the theme.

I wanted something for her first birthday party that was fun, colourful and kid friendly. I know she will not remember her first birthday, but I wanted it to feel like a kids’ party rather than an adult party with a little kid covered in cake in the middle. It was because of this that I went with a very fun and bright colour palette, and went a little crazy on the balloons and fun decorations.

The party was a few weekends ago and I am so happy with how everything went. I used to think it was silly to throw a big first birthday bash since your little one wouldn’t remember it anyway. But after seeing Lil Tea Cup’s face light up when all her friends and family were there and the delight alone at the balloons, I have to say I am so glad I did it!

DIY invitation made from a wedding invitation kit from Gardner Studios  |  birthday hat from Dainty Couture  | birthday wardrobe: onesie made by Baby Bands and More, dress by Frills N Fluff

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I planned the setup well in advance, and thankfully it went off without a hitch. I wanted to have areas for different things: food, beverages, adult space and space for the little ones. I decided to hold the party in our front yard because there are lots of trees for shade. The food was kept inside the house to help avoid the bugs.


Some views of the set up including streamer tree chandeliers, balloons and  lanterns.


beverage table midway through the party & the memory table  |  cake cutting set and poem  |   Lil Tea Cup’s memory books for people to look through


Lil Tea Cup’s diy chalkboard stats and diy watercolour guest book.

Table decor included mini chalkboards with ice cream sayings, sunflowers and hot pink carnations in my favourite blue masons and printed out Instagram photos. The tables also had bottles of bubbles on them, but by the time these were taken they were already being used!


DIY paper details: Flags for the flowers, monthly photo banners and straw flags. Straws from Shop Sweet Lulu


This was the gift and favour table with my diy giant number 1 and Lil Tea Cup’s monthly photos. The basket is full of favours including water toys and bubbles in berry basket for the children attending the party. The diy gift tags were tied on with yellow and white divine twine.




This sign was actually from my wedding shower. I love things that you can reuse and have little special meaningful touches because of it.

These little ice cream cones were a true labour of love. Made of styrofoam balls, tissue paper, craft paper and a few stick-on rhinestones, I was very happy with how they turned out in the end. You can see where I hung them in the next photo.


ice cream cups from Shop Sweet Lulu

We had four different kinds of ice cream with tons of topping options, and  ice cream floats with four different flavours of pop to chose from.


Plastic sundae cups from Shop Sweet Lulu. Birthday candles from a local party store.

Cupcake sundaes were handmade by yours truly and filled with cotton candy to finish the sugar fest! I ended up making a cake in the end, and even made a mini one for Lil’ Tea Cup as you will see in the next photos. Plastic sundae cups from Shop Sweet Lulu. Birthday candles from a local party store.


A family shot with my very happy cake covered kid!

She decided to wave to the cameras!

Next up : The budget and where I saved and where I spent.