Jack Smash cake — Jack turns 1!

First birthday celebration for Jack consisted of bright colors, delicious treats and lot’s of *Jack!*

I didn’t want to commit to a theme for Jack’s birthday that didn’t make sense for him. He loved to run and play, but no specific toys or characters were his absolute favorite, so I decided to make the theme: Jack!

I had collected photos throughout the first year (there were quite a few to choose from) and had them printed through Shutterfly. P.S. - did you know if you download the Shutterfly app you can print unlimited 4”x6” or 4”x4” photos? I uploaded all black and white “Jack” heads and then just paid the shipping! I cut them out and then cut out little party hats from scrapbook paper. This was my pre-Cricut era, so make no mistake this was a labor of love!

Jack’s first birthday invitation was the first birthday invitation I did for Ellywise. I mean, I’ve always designed friends/families parties, weddings etc, but this was the jumpstart to my current love for stationery! I started by sketching out Jack’s invitation with pencil and paper - I knew I wanted a lot of color and not necessarily only ‘boy’ colors. I remembered when I was pregnant with him that our Memphis Zoo’s hippo was pregnant with a baby (awww baby hippo!!!!). I remembered because I was like I FEEL YOU, GIRL. So, I guess I kind of associate Winnie the baby hippo’s birthday with Jack’s birthday!

For the party decor, his birthday matched up with the start of my balloon garland OBSESSION. Seriously, obsessed. I did color matching, extensive research and made about double the size I needed (not surprised - I always go way overboard on such things). I loved the balloon garland so much I made it the makeshift backdrop for his (very hot) smash cake session.

Smash Cake Session:

Highchair: Borrowed from my Mother-In-Law (it’s the chair my husband and sister-in-law also used)
Cake: Made by my Mom!
Outfit: Ok, I actually had totally forgotten that he should have clothes, so I just pulled a decently fun/neutral onesie from his closet that happened to be from Old Navy

Balloon Garland:

Balloons ordered from Party Haus on Etsy
Fishing Line
Large Needle
Handheld balloon pump from Walmart
3M sticker hooks for hanging

I will start by reiterating I went waaaay overboard with the balloon quantity. I made sure to buy at least three different size balloons so you have those really nice sections of small clusters. Those little buggers are exactly why you need a handheld pump. The one I got was super cheap and didn’t do much, but I could NOT blow up those little ones! The handheld pump was a lifesaver!!

I started by blowing up all the balloons and then strung all the big ones in random order on the fishing line. I then went back and strung the little ones together in groups of two’s or three’s and left a long tail. I used the long tail to wrap around the balloon garland and tied it in a tight knot to secure. So easy!