Bean’s “Cute as a Button” 1st Birthday

I can’t believe that I am now the mother of a toddler. Yes the year did go by fast, but when I think back to that 1st day in the hospital with her it feels like a century ago.

We celebrated Bean’s big 1st birthday with cupcakes, ice cream, and family at our place. Being the crazy crafter that I am, I made all of the decorations, Bean’s button heart t-shirt, cupcake stand, and her cake/cupcakes. Scratch that, I made everything except the table runner that my grandmother custom made for Bean’s party.

What I learned:

1. Instead of beating the cupcake batter on medium for 2 minutes, beat for 1 minute on low and 1 minute on high for cupcakes that puff up at the top.

2. Do NOT use cream cheese frosting, unless you WANT the gum paste buttons that you painstakingly made to slide off.

3. Make less decorations than you think you need (I ended up throwing a lot away).

4. Wear gloves when working with food coloring and gum paste (duh).

Party ambience

I will eventually be posting tutorials of how I made the stand and her button heart t-shirt.

Bean’s first taste of SUGAR!

When it came time for the smash cake, Bean didn’t know what to do. I’m usually stopping her from putting her hands in her food, now I was encouraging it. I actually had to physically smush her hands in the cake for her. Once she got the hang of it, she didn’t want to be done (as you can tell by the last photo).

She is such a lucky little girl to have so many people that love her and spoil her. She got some really cute clothes and some really fun toys and books.

Some of my favorite photos from the afternoon (thanks to my future brother in law who played photographer!):

Making faces with her Ti-Ti

Random candid shot

Such a silly face, she must have been complaining.

Getting into her present opening skills

My daughter is so vain, whenever she sees herself in a mirror she just HAS to give herself a kiss.

Her new favorite toy, thanks Nana & Papa!

The most accurate depiction of Bean- always moving, usually bouncing, and never still.

Looks like I better start planning her 2nd birthday… 😉