French Theme Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated our sweet baby girl’s first birthday! I cannot believe how quickly time is moving. As many of you know I love crafting and decorating so I was excited to pick a french & shabby chic theme for Izzy’s birthday. I wanted to do this on a budget so I decided to use things around our house, make our own decorations, and find bargains at Goodwill! Here are the details from her day:

First the invitation. I choose a pretty pink chalkboard design from TinyPrints. Always remember to check retailmenot.com for coupon codes!

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After I found the invitation of course I looked on Pinterest for ideas! I loved the idea of using old milk bottles for drinks. So for almost 2 months I collected any glass bottle we drank from and peeled the label off. I found goo gone worked best for the sticky labels and nail polish remover helped get the stamped ink date off the bottle. I loved that we used all different sizes and shapes. I also purchased chalkboard labels for people to write their names on the glass bottles.

We love using chalkboards so we thought it was fitting to create a large chalkboard sign saying “Izzy Turns One.” As you may know I use the name Izzy for our daughter on our blog, this is her pseudo name. So unfortunately I had to blur her real name in this picture. But I can tell you how I made the design. We purchased a large piece of MDF and painted it with chalkboard paint. Then I created the print on the computer using french themed fonts (Condensed French and Mona Lisa). Using carbon paper we traced the design onto the chalkboard and then filled in the design with chalk. I loved how it turned out!

I also created the “One” flags on her highchair to add a little extra something! It was super easy because I used the flags from her nursery decorations and just added doilies with monogram letters.

I looked around our house for some Paris and french themed items I already had. My grandmother had some old frames so I printed out french themed clipart I found on The Graphics Fairy. I also found some amazing deals at Hobby Lobby. The vases in the picture below were on clearance for $3.50. The party was held outside in a wood pavilion so to jazzy up the place we brought shabby chic placements from home.

I also found an Eiffel Tower Wall Decal at Hobby Lobby on sale so we used it on a piece of painted wood with wall flower stickers and ma cherie (my darling in french) written in chalk. Hanging next to the sign we used string and pink clothespins from my baby shower to hang pictures of Izzy from months 1-11.

Finally here are some more sweet pictures from the wonderful day. We are so grateful that our family and friends could celebrate this special day with us!