Miss M’s Indian Birthday Party

 

I still get surprised when I see my baby girl running around. And I am left wondering on where the last year went by?  My heart feels heavy and happy at the same time when I see her grow up so fast. I was in denial that she was going to turn one in July, for so long, that I did not even start thinking about her birthday until June. This led to her dad getting worried if I was even planning on celebrating her 1^st birthday at all.

 

So, I accepted the fact that I cannot stop her from reaching the first big milestone of 1, buckled up and started preparing for it. We had agreed on the Indian theme long time back. 

 

First were the Invites:

I wanted to use something other than the elephant, as that was all I could see on the ideas on Indian theme on internet. India is not just about Elephants. So, went with the peacock, and why not, after all it’s the National Bird of India. The background image is of Hindu shlokas in Sanskrit.

Even though there was nothing babyish about the card, I did want to add some touch which would give a birthday feel. So, added balloon liners to the envelope.

 

 

Table Layout

 

As the place that we had booked, gave us only an hour for decorations, I had to decide on something simple and big with more impact, instead on numerous small decorations. I got orange and pink paper lanterns, and some bulbs to go inside it. Never ended up using the bulbs, as it never got that dark(read no time). Also, we had time to put up only half of the lanterns I bought. My brother in law was at it the minute we entered, and he did his best to put up as many as possible.  

 

 

 

 

We decided to get the food catered from outside, but at some crazy moment, I made the decision to bake the cake, or shall I say cakes for the party. A week before the party, I thought I was baking and icing non stop. 8 cakes… no kidding. For those who do not believe me: 2 smash cakes, 2 cakes for party, 1 cake for cake pops, 1 for the actual birthday, and 1 for my darling sister(but we ended up saving it for the party).

 

Here is the chocolate cake for her actual birthday.

 

 

Smash Cake No 1

 

 

Smash Cake No 2: for the party

 

Going with the theme of the party, made pink and orange cake. Added some Henna style designs with golden icing. By the time I started to get my hand set on it, I ran out of golden icing.  Set the cake on my favourite wood rustic cake stand.

 

This Bundt cake is what I had baked for my sister’s birthday, which is one day after Miss M’s. But we thought we might not have enough for the party, and saved it. As it was bundt cake, there were not many options on decorating it. Iced it in cream cheese icing. Added a silk flower and a banner. Made this banner from beautiful printables from Kalyani Designs.

 

 

Red Velvet Cake Pops: I made these cake pops using the recipe here and decorated with Henna designs on it(alteast that’s what I tried).

 

 

For the cake pops stand, I bought wood slabs from Michaels, and drilled holes in it.

 

 

Marshmallows: Coated some marshmallows with orange and pink candy melts. No pictures of it though.

 

First Birthday Stats

 

For the background of the cake table, I clubbed together some of Maya’s pics over the last year, and printed in in polaroid. Actually these are not true polaroid. I had to use Picasa’s Collage feature to create a picture with white background of true digital size of  4 *5.3. Then placed the pic in the center of this collage. That was the only way I could make it work.

 

I used two frames that I found in the basement of our 100 year old house. Covered the picture it had with brown kraft wrapping paper, and hung the photographs on hemp strings. In between the 2 frames, added a birthday banner. I had also made pink fabric ruffled frills to go along with the banner, but it never made it, as we had limited time to put stuff on.

 

 

 Maya's felt birthday hat

 

 

For the table cloths, I used burlap with a wide width, with runners on it. Made runners from the crushed velvet fabric and block printed on it. More on the runners here.

 

  

I wanted to paint the mason jars in the colors of the party, but there was absolutely no time to do so. Instead I colored the water that went in the jars. I think it worked equally good. In addition to that, I decorated the jars with Swarovski in paisley designs.

 Block Print Goodie bags

 I bought ready made bags and block printed on it in golden, orange and pink.

 

 

Favors:  I bought these magnets from Chumbak with an Indian Hand. For kids, there were Ganesha and mouse charms along with some candy.

 For girls, there were bangles and bindis.

 

 

Moochi(Moustache counter). I cut these moustache out of felt, and glued a small portion of band aid at the back.

 

 

 

 

Food Labels

 

Indian Dinner

 

I loved making these food labels with some detail for each food item on it.

Sweet Boxes

 

Which Indian party would be complete without mouth watering Indian sweets. I packed some (laddoo and kaju rolls) in kraft boxes, and embellished these with hand crafted paper roses. Each guest left with one of this.

 

 Smash Cake Time

  

 



 Cake cutting

 

 

There was Pinata in the end, which kept kids busy, while we wrapped up the party.

Here's wishing my darling daughter a very Happy Birthday and a heartfelt thanks for filling our lives with laughter and love always.
 

Other Details 

 

Printable peacocks from Graphic Express

Silk Peony flower on bundt cake from simplyserra

Felt Birthday Hat from Mosey shop

Printables from Kalyani Designs

Kraft Boxes from The Package House