Back in January, I just knew we were going to have a Classic Winnie the Pooh-themed first birthday party for Caroline. It just fit. First of all, we had been listening to the Winnie the Pooh stories on Audible for the last few months and they are fantastic. They are dramatized readings and are fabulously done. The voices! The characters! Just so good–Mike and I both adore listening to these stories. We typically listen in Caroline’s nursery as she has her bottle or plays with her toys.

Secondly, I knew that most of the party accessories I purchased could (theoretically) be used for a future boy baby, if I was so inclined. Pooh love is universal!

Thirdly, I loved the idea of having a real theme. We could use this theme for not only the decorations, but also the invites, party favors, games, music, and food. As well as a few other little touches we worked in. And the options for making it sweet and classic were limitless–thank you Etsy!

Fourth, you do know we happen to own a giant stuffed bear, right? Well after cramming him into a too tight t-shirt and writing “Pooh” on the front, Baloo was transformed…and I don’t think he’s going back anytime soon!

And lastly, I was just excited to do this party. It was a LOT of work, and planning, and designing, and buying–so it had to be something I was excited about, so I wouldn’t run out of steam halfway through. I think if anything, the party gained momentum as the planning got underway!

It ended up being perfect–it was pretty, it was FUN, and everyone–especially the birthday girl–had a ball.

My sweet cousin Lee had the nicest idea–to gift us, as Caroline’s birthday present, a photographer to come for the party. This was  wonderful because the sweet photographer Ellie (of EllieAnnPhotography) captured some great family shots AND I never had to pick up my phone during the party and could just have fun. And fun was certainly had 🙂

Right before friends came over, we got a few shots of the birthday girl!

And her parents 🙂

And of course with her partner in crime cousin:

He insisted on wearing his formal attire clothes because “it’s a party and you wear nice clothes to parties.”

Mike’s brother even flew up from Atlanta for the day, so we got a nice group shot (My dad was here but he was smartly resting up during this photo shoot before the party festivities began) of everyone celebrating this little lady.

We decorated with the Pooh theme and even names the snacks appropriately–we featured veggies from Rabbit’s garden, Kangaroo pouches (chicken salad pita sandwiches), Huffa-lumps (meatballs), sticks from Eeyore’s house (pretzels), Tigger tails (cheetos), Hundred acre woods haycorns (cookies), Pooh’s Hunny Mix (blend of honeycomb cereal, Teddy grahams, and Cheerios), and ‘the Floating Bears’ which were figs stuffed with cheese that Preston assembled. BY HIMSELF after Matt showed him how to make ONE. I was so impressed. He is the very best listener.  I mean, look at these fancy hors d’oeuvres! (not the cheetos):

My mom showed me how to make her famous buttercream frosting for the cupcakes. The secret is the lemon extract! Who knew? We had a blast decorating these together one night once Sugar Bear was in bed. My mom had only ever used a hand mixer for this, so when she turned on my KitchenAid mixer (to a higher power than necessary), the powdered sugar went EVERYWHERE all over the kitchen. And I do mean everywhere. Her face was priceless. She looked like Lucy from an I Love Lucy episode and we just started cracking up laughing.  Is there anything better than having your mom come visit?!?

It all came together in the end:

And here is the invitation and party favors table.

For party favors, I did not want to give everyone tiny honey pots which seemed to be the norm for a Pooh party (what are you supposed to do with a tiny honey pot?!? Especially if you came to my party via airplane?? Talk about a gift of a burden…“thank you soo much for coming! Here is a tiny pot of sticky for you to pack in your suitcase and take in an un-pressurized cabin on your return flight! Hope it doesnt end up all over your underwear!”)

I am also not going to be that mom who gives out plastic clutter toys as favors. Um, no. So instead we oped for giving all of our guests tiny  flashlights, with the idea that they cold be used for reading good books under covers 🙂 Something I did every night as a kid, and most nights even now, as an adult, if Mike falls asleep before me.

Here’s the Sugar bear photo garland, which Mike selected the pictures for…it was so simple task, my friends…

Continuing the theme to honor this British children’s book, we also asked ladies to wear fascinators, because isn’t everyone just classier with a fascinator?

Here’s Kay Kay, who of course MADE her fascinator!

Even Mike’s mom got into the spirit!

And of course the Birthday Girl herself. Note–this hat lasted only until she saw herself in the mirror and then she was like I AM DONE WITH YOU. But it was cute while it lasted 🙂

After thanking everyone for coming and getting started on some drinks, we herded the littles downstairs for some Pooh-themed games. The first was helping Eeyore find his tail (my mom did this eeyore…isn’t it amazing? I cannot bring myself to take him down so he now has a permanent home on our basement wall).

Next we played “Pass the Parcel” and “Freeze Bounce” which were both hits with this mainly 4 and under crowd.

After all that excitement, we headed upstairs to watch the slideshow my cousin Heather had made, watch Caroline eat her smash cake (which was a show in and of itself), and to have dessert with the party guests.

Her cousin was right there for support! At first she wasn’t too sure about all of this…this kid hadn’t ever tried sugar before!

She quickly warned up tot he idea…

She ate that cake for about 45 minutes! And even licked the plate clean 🙂

Happy first birthday, Sugar Bear!

We love you so much! ~Mommy and Daddy