We couldn’t have asked for a better day for Logan’s first birthday! The sun was shining, and best of all his family and friends were there for the festivities. It’s funny the different paths life will take you — when we lived in Connecticut (Phoenix wasn’t even a thought in our minds at this point), I remember telling Myles that we’d have to figure out some indoor things/places to always celebrate Logan’s birthday because he’s a winter baby. However, now that we live in the city of sunshine we don’t have to worry about the cold or staying inside. And I took full advantage of our new backyard and the gorgeous weather to throw a farm-themed party — complete with a petting zoo of mama and baby goats and sheep, bunnies, and chicks.
The zoo was a hit with all the kids, ranging from 2-months to 8-years-old, and the adults too! We used a company called A Child’s Joy, which offers a portable petting zoo for rental by the hour. The pricing was reasonable, starting at $150 for the first hour and $120 for each additional hour. They arrived with plenty of time to set up before the start of the party, and at the end of the two hours, they cleaned up and seamlessly moved all the animals out while we were singing “Happy Birthday” to Logan.
Once I had secured the entertainment, I started thinking about décor and food —all farm-themed of course. Amazon was great because that’s where I snagged these fantastic (not to mention cheap!) linen tablecloths. I figured we’d have a lot more parties where we could reuse these, rather than keep paying to rent them. We went with a red checkered ($13.50/per) for the food and dessert tables and then a dust-red($18/per) for the guest tables. The rest of the decorations: the paper poms and tassels (tip for the poms/tassels: there’s a lot of folding and paper-fluffing involved so start a few days ahead, rather than leave for the last minute), burlap banners and chalkboard signs came from my go-to-site for all things crafts and party-inspired, Save On Crafts. I’m obsessed with it, as they’ve got just about everything you need for your event at a great, discounted price. The flowers I used for the centerpieces came from the supermarket! I found the wax flowers at our local Safeway and the sunflowers from Trader Joes. You really don’t need to spend a ton on flowers to create an eye-catching centerpiece. I used mason jars and glass water pitchers to hold my flowers and it really pulled together the theme nicely.
For the food, we served finger bites with a farm spin. Think pigs in a blanket, Old Macdonald mac and cheese bites, Grandy’s fried chicken, jalapeño corn bread, hay stacks (aka Rice Krispies treats) and Moo Patties (mini beef patties). And of course, I had to make a smash cake for Logan! To say he enjoyed the vanilla cake, with vanilla butter cream frosting would be an understatement, ha.
The day went off without a hitch, and getting to see Logan playing with his friends, feeding the animals, and diving into his cake are some truly priceless memories.
– Ravelle
Leave a Reply