You may remember back in September when things got kind of quiet on the blog… and I mentioned my daughter’s 1st birthday was coming up. Our sweet little Sadie turned one, right in the middle of our move to Florida. I debated for months whether or not we could swing a birthday party amidst all of the chaos. But a child only has one 1st birthday! And that is definitely something to celebrate!
Sadie absolutely loves everything soft, furry and fluffy. So I decided to embrace this and build a theme around her very favorite stuffed animal. Her little lamb. The colors were whites, creams, light caramel and chocolate brown with lots of fluffy, furry, wooly textures. That meant anything and everything lamb related like wool, yarn, felt and fleece with a touch of burlap thrown in. I wanted it to look and feel cuddly soft with lots of different textures for her to touch. Just like her little lamb. Together with good friends, we celebrated this special day with a modern update of an old classic…. Sadie Had a Little Lamb!
I designed the little lamb invitation to look polished but playful. The lamb’s swirly coat was actually inspired by a wool rug from Crate and Barrel. The back of the invite featured a repeating ‘wool locks’ pattern with the text “Sadie Had a Little Lamb”.
I went a bit over the top with the party décor, crafting in every spare moment during the months prior. Oodles of yarn was used in the making of this party! Yarn balls decorated everything from the dessert table to the present table. Small yarn pom poms hung from the ceiling in both the food area and the living room while larger yarn pom ‘flowers’ rested in little white vases. Sadie’s presents were wrapped with furry fleece ribbon and tied with a yarn pom. Yarn wrapped letters spelling ‘Sadie’ marked the present table. And yes, a little bit of yarn even wrapped the cakes. Yarn, yarn, everywhere!
The little lamb theme took over the dessert table. All of the sweets were in the neutral color scheme and appropriate for a Fall. Paper cones adorned with little lamb tags and displayed with a white picket fence were filled with white cheddar popcorn. Fluffy white cotton candy was served up in mini martini glasses as were cinnamon pinwheel cookies (an old Sellman family recipe). Of course, I designed the cakes. One for the centerpiece of the table and a small little smash cake for the birthday girl. Additional desserts included caramel apples, powdered sugar and cinnamon donut holes and caramel apple cake shooters (recipe HERE).
We enjoyed food hot off the grill, courtesy of my husband. He felt like such a dad that day! We had tables and chairs set up outside so the kids could run (or crawl) and play. While the kiddos enjoyed their sugar high, the grown ups enjoyed some adult beverages. Even the wine bottles got into the Little Lamb spirit, all dressed up in their matching wool sweater ‘sleeves’.
Adorable custom sugar cookies with puffy sheep and mix-n-match patterns were created by Sandy at Firefly Confections. These cute little guys were gone quick! They were SO good!
The birthday girl had her very own smash cake to dig into. Talk about my favorite cake moment ever! My sweet little Sadie having her first taste of cake… her hands and face were covered in icing but she loved it! Sara at Bugaboo Bliss made the most adorable custom bib and matching headband using all of the fabrics and colors from the party. By the end, it was covered in cake too!
Even though I’m a sweets girl, my favorite part of the dessert table was the little lamb canvas backdrop. Diana of djDecor created this lamb painting for the party and I absolutely fell in love with it! I was so sad to take it down after the party that I decided to change Sadie’s bedroom to a little lamb theme.
By far the cutest felt detail had to be the sheep pillows that Sadie’s grandmother made, which matched the sheep décor so perfectly. Thanks for helping, Grammy! Garland made from small felt circles hung from the ceilings and also wrapped Sadie’s high chair.
With the help of a patient husband, Sadie’s grandmother, several talented friends and lots of coffee… somehow we managed to pull this off! And I have to say that it’s my favorite party ever. Not because of the decorations, or the theme, or the cake. But because it celebrated the first year of my sweet Sadie’s life. She is such a blessing and I could not be more grateful to have her in my life. I only hope that she will tolerate having a crazy cake lady for a mother!
Thank you, thank you to the lovely ladies who helped me bring this party to life! It was such a special day for our family. I hope all of you like Sadie’s Little Lamb 1st Birthday Party as much as we did!
VENDORS & CREDITS:
Party Styling & Decor: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Invitation & Paper Goods: Half Baked on Etsy
Decorated Sugar Cookies: Firefly Confections
Painted Canvas: djDecor
Custom Bib & Headband: Bugaboo Bliss
Lamb Pillows: Sadie’s Grandmother {following this pattern}
Cake: Carrie Sellman of Half Baked
Precious!
Wow!! What an amazing party. Every little detail is simply perfect. What a lucky little girl. <3
I love the theme. My youngest daughter was the same. Her best friend was her toy lamb. It went everywhere! She is 27 now and she still carries it with her when she travels! Kept her sane while she was in the Navy and aboard ship.
I love the invites that you designed!
Stupdiculous!
I LOVE this! Every gorgeous and thoughtful detail is amazing. Delicate and sweet, everything came out absolutely perfect! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
This is just so pretty! Simple, elegant and just adorable. Love it!!
WOW, this is insanely beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! The details are phenomenal!!!!!
I love the party! I was wondering how you did her name with the letters. Did you wrap the wood letters in yarn? How did you get it to stick to it? Just with hot glue??
LOVE THIS!
Even though my next birthday will be my 24th, Sadie Had a Little Lamb could always work. Beautiful, and I’m sure she loved it!
Thank you all for the kind comments!
Hannah – The letters are super simple to make, but slightly time consuming. Easy enough to do while watching TV though! I just wrapped wooden letters in yarn. You could secure the beginning string with hot glue on the back of the letter. But I just held it in place for the first several wraps. Once you get going, it will stay in place. Then just wrap, wrap, wrap! Do several layers until all areas of the letter are covered in yarn. Be methodical in your wrapping if you want it neat and tidy. Or just wrap sporadically for a more playful look. : )
Wow! You are amazing! Love it. I know that you put allot of time into this. You didn’t miss one detail. Just WOW!
Thanks for sharing
Tiffanie
I love this! You did a wonderful job! It has to be the cutest party I have seen with all of my party searches 🙂
I am in love with this theme!!! So adorable.
If you don’t mind me asking what is the name of the program you use to make the invitation design etc…?? My son will be 1 in May and I want to DIY for his theme. Can you share that with me please?!? Thank you! Your work in beautiful;)
Tarsia – Thank you! I created all of the graphics myself. You will be able to purchase printable PDF versions of the invitation and matching accessories in my Etsy store soon. Hopefully by the end of the month. Here is a link.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/thecakeblog
Thanks!
How did I miss this party! Oh my Carrie! It’s so very lovely! {Happy Belated Birthday Sadie!}
Such a cute idea and you thought of every detail. Speaking of details… what kind of cookies were in the apothecary jar and what did you use the mini marshmallows in? So cute!!
What a lucky girl! Just amazing.
Traci – one apothecary jar was filled with donut holes. Just store bought. A mix of powered sugar and cinnamon. {ie an inexpensive treat and filler}.
The other apothecary jar was filled with soft, after-dinner mints.
This is seriously one of the cutest, most original parties I’ve seen!
SO Adorable and absolutely cute! I was wondering where you got the white cupcake liners?! They are so different!
Kien – thank you! The cupcake liners are Wilton Ruffled Baking Cups. You can find them HERE. Happy Baking!
How do you make that most precious, adorable lamb that is on the cake? I don’t bake, but I need that lamb!!!
Carrie,
This is amazing! My daughter’s name is Sadie and she will be turning 1 in November. I found this on pinterest and just might do the same for my Sadie’s first Birthday! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Shannon
This entire party was stunning! No detail was spared! Can I ask if you backed the burlap before placing it around the top tier of the cake?
hi there….my daughter turns 1 in Oct and this is the perfect theme I’d love to have for her. would love your help if possible?? where can I find the invitations and the sheep tags? This is so lovely…..