As I told you last week, I chose a bird theme for Alfie’s first birthday party/naming ceremony. Â I uncovered a beautiful Happy Birthday banner, $13 (plus $3 p&p)Â at Earmark Invitations, which provided inspiration.
I then began a search for paper bird garlands. I was sorely tempted by the doves at Paloma’s Paper Birds but, as it was a children’s party, I opted for rainbow-hued parrots I spotted on eBay, which were much cheaper and therefore went a lot further – more is definitely more when it comes to kids’ parties.
Ikea proved a surprisingly useful source – I served all the food on Bärbar trays, a steal at £4.99 each, and made tablecloths from Cecilia bird print cotton, £1.99 per metre.
Next came the party bags. I bought basic coloured paper bags from Baker Ross (a brilliant craft resource) and even more basic luggage labels from the local post office, which I jazzed up with my Cox & Cox To/From stamp, £6, on one side and a bird motif courtesy of Nora Jane’s fabulous stamp shop. The bags contained all sorts of goodies including on-theme gliders, 30p each, and whistles, 60p each, all from Tickseed.
To keep the bags free from inquisitive fingers during the party, I strung a washing line on on the wall and clipped the bags to it using a combination of blackbird pegs, £7.50 for ten, and bright bird clips, £5.99 for 16, which proved very effective and much commented on. I had wanted these gorgeous pegs but couldn’t really justify the expense. I’m sure I’ll find an excuse to buy them soon though.
On the food front, as well as my mum’s owl cake, I made lots of gingerbread biscuits shaped as seagulls using this cool cutter, which were wildly popular with the kids. Desserts were labelled with bird-printed tags and decorated with little white birds, £1.50 for two,  from Panduro Hobby. The finishing touch was a big pile of bird colouring sheets from Charley Harper’s Deluxe Coloring Book, £4.95, which is handily perforated.
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