Great Gatsby First Birthday Party for Baby J

 

First birthday parties are so memorable for us new moms, and I wanted Baby J’s to be fabulous. What could possibly be more elegant and glamorous than a 1920s, Great Gatsby themed party!?!

This party had a lot of DIYs–the backdrop, the photo booth, the Ferrero Rocher tower, the cake smash photo backdrop, the ostrich feather bouquet, the baked goods, and the crystal tree. Can you get over that Crystal tree? Believe it or not, my Mom and I made it for my wedding 4.5 years ago and I’ve kept it in the basement ever since! Baby J’s first birthday party was the perfect occasion to bring it back out.

I kept the treats for this party really basic. Just arrowroot cookies, Goldfish crackers, sparkling juice, vanilla wafer cookies, Oreos, Birthday Cake Rice Crispy Squares, and Pistachio Cupcakes. Plus a sugar-free banana Smash Cake with maple syrup cream cheese icing for my birthday girl!  I made this cake before and have a link to the recipe in the comment section here, and the icing was just a package of cream cheese mixed with a quarter cup of apple sauce and maple syrup to taste.  The guest list was tiny (just two babies and their beautiful Mammas) so there was no need to have a huge spread.

I made the backdrop using a roll of black plastic table cloth (scroll to the bottom for a full list of where I bought all the supplies) thumb-tacked to the wall. The golden confetti circles were made out of gold wrapping paper by tracing a circle with two sizes of bowls then folding them. They were hot glued randomly onto the table cloth.

I made the smash cake photo backdrop by thumb-tacking a single sheet of black bulletin board paper to the wall and floor. The turquoise tassel bunting was just made made out of yarn.

I ordered these gorgeous mint green turquoise ostrich feathers without realizing they didn’t have long stems, so to make the bouquet I simply stuck them into a block of florist foam wedged into the mouth of a vase.

The Ferrero Rocher tower was really easy to make but required a lot of chocolates! Thankfully I grabbed some at the grocery store from last year’s Christmas stock, on sale for 75% off (don’t worry, they weren’t expired yet!). I will make a full tutorial post for this and will post the link here, so check  back soon (update: click here for the tutorial)!

The photo booth was super simple. I found beautiful turquoise damask wrapping paper and just FrogTaped it to the wall–lining up the pattern perfectly, of course. I bought cute little props like a pearl necklace and fedora and sunglasses from the dollar store at Halloween (perfect timing!). I actually have a selfie stick that comes with a remote control and can be set up as a tripod, so that’s how we took the photo booth pictures.

I had 1920s jazz music playing in the background, and both me and Baby J dressed up in our fanciest flapper dresses and headbands. Of course I did more than a couple photo shoots of my sweet baby, but by the time we made it to the photo booth she was fast asleep. What an angel!  (If you’re wondering why I don’t have any photos of her beautiful face, you can read why here.)

This first birthday party was so much fun and turned out so beautiful. It was exactly what I had envisioned for little Baby J before she was even born (I had put her romper and headband on our baby registry knowing they would be perfect for her first birthday party! Talk about long term planning, eh?!).

We also did a second birthday party for her at her Great Granny’s house (that one was pink Flamingo themed–not even a drop of turquoise so I don’t have any pictures to share). It was so amazing getting to celebrate Baby J’s first year! I don’t have any plans for her second birthday party yet, but my Pinterest board is already starting to grow…

ps: isn’t it funny how we call her Baby J, and the man himself is Jay Gatsby!?

Black Table Cloth Roll: Partycity.ca

Gold Wrapping Paper: Partycity.ca

Crystal Tree: DIY

Blue-Green 10-12″ Ostrich Feathers (I bought 50): eBay

Ferrero Rocher Tower: DIY (link to the tutorial here)

Black Bulletin Board Paper: Michaels

Robin’s Egg Damask Wrapping Paper: Partycity.ca

Turquoise Tassel Bunting: DIY

Mint Nagorie Feather Baby Headband: no longer available from the Lil’ Chic Boutique on Etsy but this one sold from by Lexi Couture on Etsy looks very similar!

Petti Lace Mint Baby Romper: I’m not sure if it is still available from The Simply Chic Baby on Etsy, but this aqua one sold by Bottoms N Bows on Etsy looks very similar!

Tiffany and Co. Inspired Great Gatsby Headband: eBay

Navy Blue 1920s Art Deco Flapper Dress: Gatsbylady on Etsy

Camera: Olympus O-MD E-M10 Mark II with 14-42mm IIR lens