It's a Circus in here!

We're going to do a little throwback Thursday here to show you my circus themed birthday party!

I love to party plan. I get joy seeing people eating and having fun just as much as I do myself. I also love crafting. So why not put those joys into a party for Cooper!

Cooper was born a week before Christmas and as my mother can tell you, it sucks having a birthday during the Christmas season. People can't make it and everything is decorated for Christmas. So I vowed to make his birthday separate from anything related to the big man in red. 

Coming up to his birthday, I had two things stand out to me for his them. Dumbo was out of the "vault" and dumbo fabric at the store. So, I decided we had to do a circus theme for his first birthday! Who doesn't love a circus. Hot dogs, popcorn, lions, elephants and laughter. That sounds like the perfect birthday theme.

The hardest part of the planning was that I had just started back at work from my maternity leave, which is a year here in Canada, when his birthday was happening. So time to do decorations was limited. We also had our townhouse on the market to sell, so location was not in our favour. Luckily, my parents have a great big house that could support us for our small "Big Top".

We started off with our invitations. I easily made them with Canva. It's a mostly free design site that I've come to love even though it is quite limited to it's use. How cute is that little porker?

The dollar store made for some easy cheap decor. I picked up some raffle tickets, streamers, balloons, party hats and all the colourful plates, cutlery and glasses. I don't understand why they sell plates and cups anywhere else. If it's going to be thrown away ten minutes later, why spend a lot! I used the raffle tickets for table decor as well as for the party favours. I ordered some Dumbo, Little Golden Books from Amazon, that I simply bundled with a couple raffle tickets and colourful ribbon. I also had one book that I had people write a little note to him. Hopefully, it's not destroyed before he's grown and can actually read the scribbles that were left for him.

If I could have a favourite item for the day it would be his cake. The cake was made by a local woman who loved baking in her spare time. Unfortunately, 'Oh, for Goodness Cake' is no longer in business. It's quite a shame because she made amazing, I can't even stress that enough.... AMAZING cakes. I had sent her pictures of what I had in mind and she blew me away. We picked up another cake a couple days later for Coopers cake smash. Boy was that delish. The leftovers were supposed to stay in the freezer but I think they were gone within the week.

Photos by Deanna Nilson Photography

The other favourite item, that is now in Coopers bedroom, is the marquee. I had seen marquees in stores for a ridiculous amount of money by the time you added up all the letters of his name. So with some time wasted away on Pinterest and a couple hours of crafting later. A sign was created. 

Marquee in progress

I think I spend days searching for the perfect font. I printed them out onto 2 pieces of paper to get them to the big size I needed and then cut the letters out of sturdy cardboard. I  cut out even strips of cardstock and using a glue gun, I built up the sides. I had a lot of extra glue coming out of the joints to get it to hold but it actually worked well in my favour. My husband helped cut the holes for the globe lights to go through (which I purchased at Target USA for super cheap! I guess one plus to needing lights at Christmas time). I then spray painted all the letters individually. I didn't realize until I was spray painting that the cardstock was shiny on one side. So it took a couple coats to stick nicely.

Once the letters were spray painted all the extra glue looked like solder joints! How perfect. It definitely added to my old marquee look. We reattached the lights and grouped the letters in 2 groups, gluing them together for easy transport. It couldn't have turned out better. It was definitely a big hit. And two years later, it looks amazing in his bedroom with the frame my husband made for it.

Toppers made by Stamping with Loll

My mother in law is a very talented and professional card maker. So, Loll, graciously made the moustaches for the straws (which I can't find a picture of) and the cupcake toppers with her silhouette Cameo for the cupcakes I made. We have used both the straws and the toppers again since this party. They're just too cute!

Cooper and I were even able to dress up for the party.Nothing huge but I pulled out my mini top hat. I bought it as a joke many years ago for my birthday. What a better way to say it's your birthday than with a top hat! It made for a perfect ringmaster hat. Cooper wore a "1" body suit with bow-tie that I quickly stitched up for the event. 

Our only family photo of the day

I wish I wasn't so busy on the day to take proper pictures of everything. I didn't get the full food effect but I can tell you it was all amazing. It was a great way to spend Cooper's first birthday.

-The Cooped up Mom