Grayson's "Little Man" Party

Gray turned one this past weekend and we had quite the party to celebrate. It's rather crazy to admit this but I started thinking about his birthday when he was only eight months old. I wanted the theme to be perfect and I didn't want to do something that had been done hundreds of times. I found the idea for a little man party on Hostess with the Mostess (HWTM) and did my best to recreate it. I wanted there to be mustaches, ties, and bow ties everywhere. I tried to take a ton of pictures so that I could share them here.

The party was held in my parents backyard. They have a pool and its been so warm here that I wanted people to have the option to swim if they wanted to. I hung a sign on the front door inviting people to come right in and join the party. I had pictures of Grayson from his first year on some of the tables and by the food. I made pom poms that I hung from under the patio umbrella. I also made a little banner of ties. I cut the ties out of scrapbook paper and strung them using twine. The birthday boy wore a "little man" onesie to go with the theme.

The little man party on HWTM had a photo-booth with props that guests were encouraged to use as a way to create memories from the party. I loved the idea but knew we wouldn't have an actual photo-booth. Instead, I set up a little corner with a banner and props. There were ties, glasses, hats, mustaches, and signs that said "Mister Grayson is turning one" and "I love Grayson." Whenever someone walked over to see what was in the corner, I took a picture of them and a prop of their choice. Once their picture was taken, I asked them to write Grayson a little note in a scrapbook. I am going to print the pictures and then put them next to each note. I wanted to have something for Grayson to look back at when he is older. In addition to the swimming and "photo-booth," the kiddos played baseball and squirt guns. 

Lets talk food, shall we?  I love planning parties and the food happens to be one of my favorite things to plan. I am so lucky that my mom and mother in law both helped with the food. I wanted to keep it easy so that I would be able to mingle and take pictures. We had cheese, crackers and goldfish for the babies. There was also chip dip and Fritos with Aztec dip. For dinner, we served turkey and gravy sandwiches, sloppy joes, pasta salad, a lettuce salad and watermelon. For dessert, I wanted Grayson to have a smash cake, so Tommy's aunt was kind enough to make him a GIANT cupcake.  She also made chocolate chip bars and I made smores cups for sharing. We served pink lemonade and margaritas in mason jars that I wrapped ribbon around. I also made little treat bags with chocolate covered rice krispies. 

Rather than have guests bring gifts for Grayson, I asked for people to bring a book to donate to Children's hospital. I was overwhelmed with how generous people were. I am looking forward to bringing all of the books to the hospital.  Even though I asked for no gifts, he did still get a few,which was so sweet. His favorite thing to do was play with the gift bags and bows. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather. I think people really enjoyed the make shift photo-booth and props. Everything turned out perfect and Grayson did so awesome! We are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives.