An Early Celebration

Hudson is turning ONE at the end of this month. I can't even begin to describe the way our lives have changed since that scary Friday last year.

We took a trip home to visit family last week and decided to get in a little early celebration at my parent's home. 

Coveys love a birthday....and we will celebrate as long as someone else is willing to celebrate. 

It was fun to come up with decorations that were centered around Hudson. He loves cartoons and different characters in books, but I realize I only have a few years where he doesn't give an opinion on his party decor!  

I made a banner that could be used for other events. The fabric is "Chalkcloth," making it reusable. I lined the back of each pennant with felt and used bias tape for the binding. I'm not a seamstress - and so, I can honestly call this project "SIMPLE."

Using his calendar pictures, I made a simple collage that could also serve as a backdrop. 

I already had the colored banners on hand, thanks to an awesome Target markdown a few years ago. I only wished I had picked up a few more. 

For favors, we gave each guest a chocolate number one. I had never tried making molded chocolate, but these candy melts (found at Walmart) and this mold turned the favors into a simple task.  Instead of sucker sticks, I used bamboo skewers. They were cheaper and taller than the paper sucker sticks. 

My aunt made him a little smash cake. 

We had cupcakes for the rest of us. 

Surprisingly, Hudson was just fine wearing a party hat. 

He loved greeting all his guests. 

His legs were looking especially long that day...

Just kidding. That's my grandpa's legs. 

We did a grilled cheese bar for lunch. 

He was even ok with how the cake looked.

The icing tasted fun. 

He just wasn't a fan of getting messy. 

We quickly moved on to gifts. 

We were so thankful for the opportunity to celebrate Hudson's first year with my family. 

And since his actual birthday isn't until November 30th, you can be sure that we aren't finished celebrating! 

Hudson's all for it - as long as we spoon feed him the cake next time!