splish, splash

today was eden's birthday bash!!!

it was just as i'd imagined for her first birthday party...

fun, lots of people and LOW STRESS.

we had a bubble bath theme (what's stressful about that?!**)

since its her FAVORITE!

...and always has been!

**other than "out of the box thinker" me decided to pick a theme that i had nothing to work with...no cookie cutter, pre-packaged ideas... we're workin' from scratch here.

she got lots of fun toys, books, and clothes

including her first pair of rainbows!

here's a few of my favorite pictures from today

(courtesy of my gracious cousin who took pictures for me today! she's the best!)

eden and one of her (3) great-grandaddies (my paternal grandfather) blowing kisses

e with one of her (2) great grannies...

my dad, cousin emily, e, and granny

the cake!!!! it was perfect and delish! (with cupcakes to boot!)

i wasn't sure that eden would like the messy cake idea...

...but i was wrong. very very wrong.

she ate it off the table... then smeared it all over everything else. :)

squeals of excitement to celebrate her first cupcake!

e with my dad

YUM!

both of the great-grannies! we are so blessed to have them!!!

and eden thought our cornhole game was HILARIOUS!!

everytime the bean bag hit the board she erupted with her notoriously contagious laughter...

one of the highlights of the party!

eden with her "aunt" rebekah

and sweet great granny tarboro made eden a bird house!!

we can't wait to put it with her white bench by the tree!!

eden with kiekie!

love this pic of my sweet girl!

and we were even able to get a few family shots at the end of the party...

this one is my favorite!

please click to enlarge the picture below and check out eden's face... bahahah

and here's a few shots of some of the party details i was most proud of

the favors!!!

they were (mostly) bubble themed baskets!

a rubber ducky with a party hat (my personal favorite.)

play doh

bath sponge

bubble gum

bubble bath

bubbles

bath "capsules" (that turn into sponges in the tub)

sunglasses (what? you don't wear your shades in the tub? you're missin' out.)

and sidewalk chalk!

and my other thrifty creation... the centerpieces!

a goldfish bowl with styrofoam balls and plastic christmas ornaments (hello, clearance!)

with rubber duckies inside

and balloons coming out of the top (not pictured)

i really didn't spend a fortune on the party (not like some do...)

but i was so pleased how it turned out!!

i budgeted to "concentrate my spending" on the favors and the cake!

everything else i was pretty thrifty and was able to shop around and wait for clearance

(since i thought of the idea and started planning around christmas! haha)

...and outside of the favors and the cake, the most expensive thing was the balloons--

79 cents/each to blow up at food lion. no biggie!

one particular clearance JEWEL was the plates... they were actually for a baby shower

(the "stuff" that went with it had turtles and fish and something else on it...

but the plates just had ducks!)

these were $1/pack.

[fist pumping]

and they were PERFECT.

my mom made her signature ham rolls, we had granny's signature chex mix

goldfish, chips, and cake with ice cream!

i even bought a bubble machine

(instead of borrowing--since i'm sure we'll be using that in the future!)

and WOW... that thing put out some bubbles!!!

thanks to the wind, i even managed to find a few bubbles floating around in the house!

(making several turns from outside in the driveway, through garage, through laundry room, through kitchen/dining area, into living room!!! hahaha)

i will post all pictures to our shutterfly account tomorrow...

for now? i'm going to check my eyelids for cracks.