So we set up the food and drinks on the porch.  Henry’s Party: Part 1 posted here.

  Cupcakes, brunch food..yummy lemonade..Jones soda and Dad’s root beer…Jones is so good!

Enough! I could go on and on about the porch (like about this fun JBS birthday bingo card banner with book pages)…but I won’t;; ha! Let’s go outside!

OK let me just admit, the game area was a total flop..vintage-y ring toss and rubber horseshoes (kid safe)..total flop..who wants to play those games when you can play on the new treehouse fort! (Thanks Dad!) My husband was so right about this one BUT the chalk cloth (yes it is CHALK cloth) made a cute and easy sign! I bought the chalk cloth at fabric.com and you season it just like regular chalk paint.

And below, tables and centerpieces..in front of our shed! kraft paper coverings..

The centerpieces were paint cans. I was going to chalk spray paint terra cotta pots but too rainy so i just did the paint cans with Jenni Bowlin scalloped crepe paper edging and her paper for pennants, the small version of the birthday bingo cards, and notice cute chipboard buttons.so vintagey! I love her stuff! I just used 99 cent monkey grass from the garden center…if I had put in chalk painted pots I was going to write “GROW” on some and “Henry is One” on others..but this worked out fine and was much simpler! I would have used little galvanized buckets but Home Depot (THE place to get galvanized buckets of variouse sizes..or Lowes) but they did not have so I bought what they did have…little paint cans! Little buckets of crayons would have been fine too!

And lots of sweet friends and family…

{Debbie, Lynsey & Ruthie and Henry with Grandmother}

The picture above is so funny to me…I wasn’t going to have Henry open gifts…he was getting sleepy but the little girls were so funny curious about “present time” so I had them bring them over and help him and he actually enjoyed it!

I have a zillion photos I could share but will stop droning on..thank you for all of your kind comments…we had no cake time with the baby or even a photo of our family of four..but it was still such a great day..thanks to everyone who helped prepare and celebrate!

Thanks for listening to my mommy ramble about my party!

Wow! Parties are work..but fun!  Please remember it is not all cupcakes and balloons around here everyday BUT on Saturday we had a blast celebrating Henry and the joy he brings to our family….We don’t do this every year but we had a big party for Drew’s first birthday so we did the same for little brother! So grab a cup of coffee, this may get long!

First off, some of the food and treats! We had cupcakes instead of a big cake and that was perfect.  The crayons went on the kraft covered tables outside. The adorable papers on the banner and cupcake wrappers are from Jenni Bowlin Studio…I used several of her things for the party, more on that later..I love her stuff! Thanks to our friend Lori for the help with the banner!

Blowing up balloons before the party…I just bought one of those $19 bottles of helium in a box at Target…..it was just enough to tie around the tables outside…I can’t believe for Drew”s party I actually rented a big bottle from the local welding supply place! The fabric scraps (I mean tablecloths;;)  are from Premier fabrics. I did not even hem them.

Our house is small but this screen porch is large and so great for parties….I set up the brunch food (mostly from Sam’s if you are wondering how I had time to decorate, well I only made one casserole myself, the rest of the food was ordered, fruit or made by a friend!)…My sweet father-in-law supplied the fresh watermelon and my friend Jill made a ton of sausage balls…thanks Jill!

We had candy and cupcakes on the kids dessert table and on the “adult table” we had carrot, red velvet and chocolate cupcakes from a local bakery AND gourmet chocolate chip cookies (HEB’s Central Market) in bags…the grown up party favors!.. Recognize the stickers from Jones Design Company?!

You can see the kid dessert table below in the background..it was located too out of the way though, I was shocked they did not raid it as much as I anticipated..their moms were probably glad!

Below…bags of chalk for favors and balsam wood vintage airplanes from here. I love the blue plumbago that we ran out of time to plant so we stuck in a pot! We’ll have to get that in the ground soon.  The star pillow is borrowed from Drew’s room!

All of this, and the birthday boy just wanted a cracker! We love you Henry!  Happy Birthday!

[More party fun tomorrow!]

Soon we will celebrate baby Henry’s FIRST birthday!  It will be really casual, family and friends in our backyard, not a total kid party.  We are having early in the day with brunch food because well its so darn hot! So we will have muffins, kolaches, and LOTS of cold watermelon.  And no huge birthday cake, just cupcakes.

Weeks ago,yes I am serious, I layed out what I had (an old banner of Drew’s, fabric scraps, etc..) to see what I had and what I needed….I began hoarding napkins from Target before they were snatched up in the Fourth of July frenzy….oh how I love those red polka dot napkins!

I must say, I was very happy when I discovered I was pregnant with Henry and due in July (aside from the scary thought of being largely pregnant in the Texas heat).  I hate the heat but I love the Fourth of July and the thought of a little Star Spangled baby boy made me very happy and still does… So lots of flags..I’ve even been tea staining them…yes, I am serious. And loving the “American summer” theme which involves a little circus/carnival, a little retro/vintage, silhouettes, and a little July 4th rolled in one…its the mish mash theme/non-theme. Of course I totally made that up!

And then the invitation of course. More on that to come.