"donut grow up" {ada's first birthday party}

one balloon for one year of life :)

In theory, I love planning parties. I say "in theory," because I don't get to throw big parties all the time -- they take time, money, and guests, which I don't always have! The last extravagant party I had was a tea party I threw for my best girlfriends, and that was 2.5 years ago!

So even though it's only Ada's first birthday and she definitely won't remember, I wanted to throw a big party because it's something I like to do, and it's for someone who I really love! :)

In searching Pinterest for ideas, I came upon "Donut Grow Up" -- I love donuts and time really does go too fast with a baby, so it was a perfect theme! I started planning about 6 weeks ahead of time, and I had so much fun creating and crafting for my girl's big day.

We decided to invite family -- both immediate and extended -- to Ada's party, along with a few of my best friends -- friends that are close enough that I tell Ada to call them Auntie. I took some inspiration from this Etsy shop to design the invitation:

Then of course, the big day couldn't go as planned -- Ada woke up sick on her birthday (😭 ) so even though she ALWAYS takes a good first nap, she only took a 30 minute nap. This had me freaking out a bit because that meant her second nap would fall during the party! Luckily, she was sick and tired enough that I just put her down for another catnap around 12:30 and she did get another 30 minute (or so) nap to sustain her through the party.

We were still setting up a few things as people started arriving, but everything turned out pretty well.

In preparation for the party, I went to four different donut places to try to find the best ones -- Provo Bakery, Daylight Donuts, Krispy Kreme, and Cowboy Donuts. Cowboy Donuts was the clear winner in every area! They were the freshest, tastiest, and prettiest, and they also had the most variety. If you're in Utah County, you definitely need to go try them.

Once we finished setting up, all of both Russ's and my immediate family members had arrived, so we started out the party with the "crawl for life" activity first introduced to the Holmes family by Shayne and Stephanie. We set out four items (that Ada had never seen before) to represent four different categories: a book to represent knowledge, a toy to represent fun, a piggy bank to represent money/success, and a sippy cup to represent food. The idea is that whatever she crawls toward will be what she seeks out most in life . . . or something like that :)

When we first put Ada down on the ground, she seemed kind of frozen. I think she was just a bit overwhelmed by all the people after being woken from her nap. But when we encouraged her to start crawling, she went for the book :) Guess my girl is going to be a scholar or something! ;)

As we finished the crawl, the last family with kids arrived to the party, so it was the perfect time to start the games :)

The first game was to crack open a piñata! I adapted this tutorial to make a donut piñata. We went from youngest to oldest to take a whack at the piñata. Mostly just the kids took a turn, but a few adults did as well (Amy, Michael, Dad, Brandon, and me . . . maybe a few others).

Next we did the donut-on-a-string game. Again, mostly just kids participated, but Michael (the kid at heart!) joined in as well.

After the games, it was time for donuts, pics in the photo booth, and socializing :)

Once everyone had eaten a donut or two, we did the cake smash. In the days leading up to the party, I let Ada try everything that went into the cake -- fondant, frosting, and cake. I wanted her to be a little familiar with the tastes because I wanted a fun cake smash! She did not disappoint. She started off timidly -- like she didn't know what to do with the big pink thing in front of her. But once she'd had a few tastes, she really got into it! Russ said that sometimes when she was biting the whole cake, she was actually licking the frosting 😂  She definitely seemed to enjoy eating and playing in the cake :)

Once we got her cleaned up, she opened presents. She got clothes, a doll stroller (to go with the doll she got for the crawl), books, bibs, a quiet book, pjs, and more. I found myself getting pretty excited about every gift even though they were for her! It was like it was my birthday 😂

After gifts, people continued to socialize and take pics in the photo booth for a while. I was really happy with how everything turned out! The events fit the length of the party pretty perfectly, everything looked pretty much how I planned it to look, and I loved celebrating my girl and having so many loved ones around to join in the celebration. It was great :)

Ada was pretty worn out by the end, so my non-cuddler was even cuddling Auntie Ashlee! :)

All in all, the party was just the perfect celebration of our little girl's first year of life.

We love you, Ada Girl!








Source list:
Donuts - Cowboy Donuts
Photo Booth Props - Paper Built Shop
Donut backdrop (tablecloth) - Zurchers
ONE balloons - Zurchers
Latex balloons - Zurchers and Partyland
Cake platters - borrowed from various friends
Donut Garland - Mandy's Party Printables and Oh Happy Day
Donut Worry Be Happy sign - Aly Dosdall
High tables - Susan's Party Rentals

Cake topper, shirt designs, photo-covered 1, piñata, 0-12 month banner, giant donut photo booth prop, polaroid frame photo booth prop, cake, and fondant donut cake topper were all made by me with some help from my brother Brandon (donut design for shirts), Erin Barnes (cutting out and putting together shirts and cake topper), and Lisa Smith (fondant).