Whimsical Toadstool First Birthday Party

One day I was scrolling Instagram and came across the most adorable felt ball toadstool garland by Peaberry Studio. I was so inspired that I asked my sister-in-law if I could throw my nephew his first birthday party with this unique theme! Since I make high chair banners for my Etsy shop, Rusty Chic Décor, I am always thinking of creative ways to celebrate. I based the parties color scheme on the felt ball garland. Lots of earth tones including mustard yellow, burnt orange, tan, cream and a fun mint (which added a whimsical vibe for a little boy!) A first birthday has to have a high chair banner for the cake smash photos! I hand painted a toadstool as the o in one and chose to add yarn tassels for a boho modern vibe.

The party took place at my in-laws because they have the most darling rustic gazebo with woods as the backdrop! I dressed up the gazebo by hanging a balloon garland by Oh How Charming, tassel garland by Rusty Chic Décor and the felt ball garland. On the steps I added a ceramic mushroom fairy garden and flower arrangements. I love to think outside the box when creating party décor. I found patriotic garden gnomes at the Dollar Tree and painted them with acrylic paint to match our color scheme. They were on stakes and poked into the side gardens.

Under the gazebo I set the kids table with a tree trunk vase filled with lots of wild flowers, flowers from Trader Joes and ferns. I used ferns as a table runner and sprinkled a few moss rocks. The table had a mix of darling toad stools and antique wood children’s chairs. For the place setting I used fairy toadstool plates, leaf napkins and cutlery from Celebrate We Will TN. Each kid also had a personalized milk bottle cup with a wood tag that I hand painted. Each tag was tied on the cup with a variety of colorful yarn and jute twine. Even the milk cup lids and straws matched the color scheme! For a party favor the kids took home their milk bottle cups and wood tags.

The food table was decorated with balloons by Oh How Charming, tassel wood bead garland by Rusty Chic Decor, orange and mustard yellow gauze runners, ferns, moss rocks and flowers. I love to incorporate details that don’t necessarily scream party, but add to the overall theme. I found a beautiful watercolor mushroom printable and styled it with a mini garden gnome and floral arrangement. My mother-in-law prepared all the forest themed food. Baby bell cheese lady bugs, butterfly crackers, owl vegetable platter, toadstool cupcakes, acorn chocolates, and hedgehog donut holes. To make the cupcakes look like a toadstool she used red frosting and poked white chocolate chips into the top. We styled them on round wood tree servers. Additional details for the table included a fairy garden and DIY flower arrangement in a tree trunk vase. The beautiful forest backdrop created the most magical vibe for the party as we indulged in all the delicious food.

After enjoying dinner the children participated in a forest themed scavenger hunt where they used tree bark pencils.

• What People Ate

  Baby bell cheese lady bugs, butterfly crackers, owl vegetable platter, toadstool cupcakes, acorn chocolates, and hedgehog donut holes pulled chicken and pasta salad

• What People Drank

  milk, juice, water

• Desserts

  cupcakes

• Party Favors

  milk cup and wood tag

• Activities / Games

  scavenger hunt