Lilliana's "One of a Kind" Boho Rainbow First Birthday Party (Pandemic Style!)

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Somehow, my sweet baby girl is already one. (Read her birth story here). What a weird year it has been in the world! One thing that I know for sure is that this little girl has been our sun spot through it all. Getting to know her has been evidence of God’s faithfulness and promise through our darkest times. So when I was thinking about her first birthday “theme,” all I could think was that we had to do rainbows!

Because COVID-19 is still a concern, I knew we couldn’t do the over the top parties like I usually do (See Addie’s Donut first birthday and Tea for Two parties). We don’t have any family local to us here in North Carolina, but my parents were planning to come for a visit to celebrate. They were the only ones that could be here this particular weekend, and in the interest of safety we opted to keep it to just us. But my mama heart was so sad that my baby wouldn’t be getting the big shindig that she deserved. I decided that crowd or not, we were going to be a little extra! And that is just what I did.

I wanted all of our family that could not make it to feel included in her day. They all had sent gifts, so I thought why not do a Zoom party so they could join the fun?! I used Watercolor Paper and Pens to create simple invites. I made little yarn and wood bead tassels for filler and included a set of my custom sugar cookies in each box (these boxes are the BEST for shipping fragile baked goods!). Such a cute but simple way to do a virtual party!

For decor, I didn’t need a ton because we were just decorating a little corner set up that we could aim the camera at, but I still wanted it to be cute. I made more yarn and wood bead tassels and make a little wall hanging.

You all know my love for baking, and I am always a little over the top when it comes to my kids. Since we were keeping things small, I decided that the sweets would be the centerpiece of the decor!

I hung this beautiful macrame wall hanging as the backdrop for the party set up. The rope plant basket was a Walmart find! (Grab one here) I already had the little boxwood plant, but you could get the same look with this! The little plant stand was a Target Dollar Spot find and the fern was a Walmart find (grab it here). The bead garland was made in minutes using this kit. Bonus points? My almost-3-year-old helped string them and it was a fine motor skill activity for her. Mom win!

I have been dying to try piping macrame on a cake, and my baby girl’s birthday was just the excuse I needed! It was really time consuming, but worth it for the look. I use buttercream exclusively and this is all done by hand.

The rainbow topper is this one from Amazon. I honestly bought it to hang up, but decided it would be perfect on the cake since that was the centerpiece for the party. The Happy Birthday topper and the One both came from Target.

What’s a first birthday without a loaded smash cake?! The ruffles and cloud on this provided plenty of opportunity for mess!

I created her custom sugar cookies using my No-Spread cookie dough and royal icing recipes. I used an Egg cookie cutter (with the bottom cut) for the rainbows. The banner is a cute Etsy find (grab it here) from Addie’s first birthday. I use it all the time! The 1 is an Ann Clark favorite! And the plaque comes from this set on Amazon. Just in case you want to make your own batch!

The high chair banner was another DIY! I bought ribbons from Michaels and tied them around a piece of twine. I used the same watercolor paper for the flags. I used my Cricut to cut the flags and the “o” and “e.” (If you are even a little bit of a crafty mama, you need a Cricut! I save so much money making things myself vs buying off of Etsy). The rainbow “n” was done using watercolor brush pens! It takes a little practice but is definitely not crazy hard!

That Fiddle leaf fig is my pride and joy, by the way! I have been able to keep that little guy alive almost a year now! What’s even more fun?? He came from Amazon! Yep! You can buy live plants and have them shipped right to your house. What a time to be alive! This is the exact one we have and I am very happy with it! Here is the plant basket, too! It was the perfect addition to our boho party!

Baby girl just ate up the attention and loved seeing her aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents on Zoom! We hooked the laptop up to the TV so that she could see everyone’s faces better.

And oh my gosh how SWEET is this little blush “one” outfit?! It was so soft and fit her perfectly! Her necklace is the Rose and Amber teething necklace from Baltic Essentials. Not only is it beautiful, but I cannot sing its praises enough! I was always a skeptic on the teething necklaces, but it has helped her tremendously and I am officially believer! Baltic Essentials is a great, trustworthy brand with very well made pieces.