We celebrated Eleanor’s first birthday last Sunday. There were plenty of paper daisies (I knew I’d find a use for them some day!), a happy birthday banner, pink baloons, and floral garland across the windows.
The weather even cooperated for us.
Oh look, an elephant! Too cute, right?
That vase is actually a teapot, but it’s adorable when filled with flowers.
Eleanor was a gracious host, thoughtfully opting to skip her nap so as not to miss a moment of her party.
She was in a good mood the whole time though, despite being tired toward the end.
I ordered a cake for the party, but I asked for it to be left completely plain with just pale pink frosting. I wanted it to be a blank canvas, but the bakery apparently thought that I meant “smash a bunch of crumbs all around the edge, and pipe some frosting shapes as a border around the whole cake”. Oh well. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it anyway; I just knew I wanted to decorate it myself.
I made Eleanor’s silhouette out of chocolate for the cake. I melted chocolate chips in a sandwich bag, snipped the end, then laid parchment paper over a template that I had printed out to size. I did the best I could, piping the outline first and then filling it in, and I placed it in the fridge afterward to harden. I also wrote “Happy Birthday Eleanor” in white, lightly scratching the letters in the frosting with a toothpick first as a guide. The cake was not perfect, but it was fine. The guest of honor seemed to like it quite a bit.
what a great birthday decor! you did beautifully!! and Eleanor looked like a princess =D Happy birthday Eleanor!!!!
It looks like a wonderful party!
Cute party! Where is Eleanor’s dress from?
love it… so cute! i’m starring this article… i love the silhouette cake!
Aww what a beautiful little party!
I loooove her Liberty of London dress!
And your new chairs on the patio look fantastic!
Where did you get her high chair? It is so very chic!
What a good mom you are for creating such a special day for your little one :)
Thanks! The high chair is by Graco – we got it at my baby shower from Brandon’s sisters.
Happy Birthday! And what a sweet party. Everything looked just right.
jbhat
Absolutely beautiful! Love the outdoor patio furniture…it looks fabulous. Your photos are stunning and the decorations looked so fierce. Great job! Eleanor is one lucky little lady!
Such a pretty party! What a lucky and blessed little girl!
Lol, this was very sweet and I think it’s so funny that the cake people took it upon themselves to fancy it up. The chocolate silo? Bril! Happy Birthday dear Eleanor what a lucky baby you are!
Adorable. The cake is incredible (even if it didn’t turn out how you originally intended), the party looked so cute and special, and I want Eleanor’s dress in my size… :]
Everything looks so pretty and I love the idea of a chocolate silhouette!!
The chairs you went with outside look great, so does your yard!
Love that party! Everything looks so magical and perfect and I love the garlands!
What a magical party! The outdoor table setting looked beautiful. I can only imagine what will happen when she gets older and her parties become more elaborate!
That is my favorite liberty of london dress! She is gorgeous. I don’t know you at all but feel happy for you and your family, after watching Eleanor’s first year through your blog. I found making it lovely when researching ideas for my daughters nursery and I have received so much enjoyment and inspiration over the past year. Thank you and congratulations on Eleanor’s first birthday.
Freakin’ adorable. I love the shot of her rubbing her eyes, haha.
Love the whole party! Esp. the elephant teapot/vase! :)
What a great idea to do a chocolate version of the silhouette on the invitations. The paper decorations are darling.
No. No way. It is JUST not possible that a year has already passed! She is such a little beauty and it looks like she had a very special celebration! Happy Birthday, Eleanor!
although you think the cake is “okay” it looks awesome!
this looks really fun and pretty..and you and eleanor look sooo pretty!
way to go! 1 down sooo many more to go! they get better and better! :)
VERY CUTE!! Happy 1st birthday to your beautiful little girl!! I LOVE all of the decorations!! Not b-day party related- may I ask where you got the beautiful silver “eat & drink” sign? :)
The letters were a gift from my mother-in-law, and she got them in a store in Des Moines Iowa.
Happy birthday to Eleanor! That’s funny, I only found those paper daisies right before my daughter’s first birthday party after I had invested in loads of paper pompoms. Too bad, because her party had a flower theme. This year, however…
Anyway, nice Liberty dress on Eleanor. And I’m impressed that she wore her party hat, Aurora kept ripping hers off before I could even get it straight. And the cake turned out very pretty, even if they didn’t do what you asked.
Yay!!! Happy birthday Eleanor! And I hope you had a lovely Mothers Day Nicole. Much love from Texas ~ Terrah
Oh so cute :)
It is a lovely party. Happy Birthday Eleanor.
I fancy the garlands, you handmade them?
Oh wow! It looks like it was so much for for everyone, including Eleanor :)
I have that elephant teapot in black. Actually mine has permanently transformed into a vase now that my roommate broke the lid
lovely.. :) Happy Birthday Eleanor… you have a great MOMMY !!!
The party looks adorable– and that silhouette is a fantastic idea.
Oh, Happy Birthday Eleonor and congratulations for you Nicole ! I can’t imagine that it’s been already a year Eleonor’s birth: i started reading your blog, you were pregnant and ready for your baby. Time goes too fast !
I love your pictures, they are so lovely ! Thank you for sharing with us this happy day !
Bisous from France :)
Happy 1st Birthday Eleanor! Thanks to your mummy, you’ll be able to remember it for years to come… clever mum!
I loved your way of personalising the cake Nicole, even if you didn’t think it was perfect. Also, love the paper decorations- might have to ship some down under for a friend’s upcoming 40th…hmm… off to order lovely things now…
What an adorable birthday girl!! Happy 1st birthday, Eleanor! Everything looks delightful, Nicole – and now I really want one of those elephant teapots :)
It was only $12 at Cost Plus!
so lovely! ADORE the pic of her rubbing her eyes, they are so cute when they do that. thank you again for posting the links for the starbursts and garlands – we are holding our daughter’s 4th bday party in our house (has previously been at Nana’s) and I want to do it up!! sorry if you have addressed this before: is it easy to hang up the starbursts? did you use fishing wire?
congrats on what looks like a wonderful celebration.
Fishing line and tape. And safety pins in the living room.
many thanks!!
Oh so sweet…I am 32 and I think I’d be over the top happy with all those beautiful decorations for my own party, ah ha…espeacially the elephant:D
I LOVE the cake and just posted a shot of it here: http://simplysilhouettes.blogspot.com/2010/05/birthday-silhouette.html Happy Birthday, Eleanor!
Love her LOL dress!
Happy Birthday Eleanor!
What a sweet dining room. She’ll look back at her 1st year pics as an adult and think her mom had style!
Lovely party!!! Love the pink zig-zag rug in the tv area? Where is it fro?
It’s by Madeline Weinrib.
Happy birthday! What a lovely party. I LOVE your yard — so beautiful. Where did you find that fantastic (wicker?) egg chair?
The egg chair was from Pottery Barn, but they no longer carry it.
Hi! I like the clothes (especially dresses) you wear! I just recently graduated from college and got a job and need a fashion crash course! For the past few years I have lived in jeans, hoodies and converse/vans! Can you recommend some places for me to shop? I work in design, so corporate attire is neither necessary nor desired! I just don’t know how to look fashionable, a little edgy, a little feminine, and appropriate! Any help would be awesome! If you prefer, you can answer to my email address. Thanks in advance!
Eleanor is a beauty! Looks like a great party, too.
Happy birthday!! She is happy!! what an amazing hat she has!!
She’s so beautiful!! Love the tissue paper decorations too. Btw- Have you lost weight??
Hi,
I was wondering if you knew where I could find decorations on how to make the paper daisies. I would like to try & make them before buying them. I also wanted to let you know I think the silhouette idea for a 1st birthday cake was wonderful. You did a fantastic job. If you had not posted anything about the cake & the bakery screw up we’d have known no difference. It all tied in wonderfully. Thanks for sharing.
What an incredible set up! Absolutely inspiring. And to think my kids’ first birthday parties were mostly about the sangria. (For us – not them. Promise.)
Happy birthday to your beautiful girl. You’re lucky to have each other.
that cake turned out ridiculously cute and i love the idea of ordering the cake plain and then decorating it–genius! i always make the whole thing from scratch for my boys’ birthdays and it can be a bit much with all of the other preparations that go into making the parties happen. and i LOVE her dress–liberty for target, no? dying to get my niece one for her birthday…keeping my fingers crossed they still have them. happy belated birthday to your little angel. she’s a doll.
So cute and I have to say your house is lovely too. Where is the bird wallpaper from?
OK… that chocolate silhouette is AMAZING.
This is all too cute.
So simple and pretty♥
Beautiful and whimsical!
I love your eat and drink sign. Where can I get letters like that?
I love the pom pom decorations you used! And I love the silhouette cake you made too!
But I especially love the elephant tea pot, turned vase you have. I actually went out and bought one just like it after seeing yours!!
I love your photos! Where is the picture on your wall from? The one of the dark haired girl holding the egg, above your daughter’s high chair?
I got the same hat for Barbie @ her Bday! Adorable cake! I like the way you think in all details…