Cella Turns 1
Our sweet little goose has turned 1! And even though she will remember none of it, we had a fabulous birthday party for her anyway. From 1 month old I had been taking pictures of Cella on a monthly basis in her pink chair with colorful flags hanging on the wall behind her (click here to see those), so my sister Dina gave me the great idea of doing a flag themed birthday party. I purchased a huge variety of scrap-booking paper from Hobby Lobby and went to work cutting out the flags. I also bought some pre-made burlap flags. Once cut out, I hole-punched them and strung the flags throughout the house using twine. To add a little recap of her monthly progress, I also made frames out of the scrap-booking paper, framed her monthly photos (1-11), and hung them using twine. 
It’s not a proper party if party hats are not involved. I like the look of these shiny old school hats. I used some scrap paper from the flags to make a TAKE-A-HAT sign. To give the decor that extra girly touch, I made several floral arrangements in some tin containers. I stuck to girly spring colors for the flowers. I kinda wanted them to look like they were picked in a field of wild flowers.
Just up from her afternoon nap, our sweet little goose is ready to enjoy her birthday party. I dressed her in this yellow polka dot dress from Next Direct. Since I didn’t think it was quite warm enough for the sleeveless dress alone, I put this cream heather long sleeve top from Zara on over her dress. The ensemble clearly called for a hot pink shiny birthday hat!
I found a cake design I liked on Pintrest and took a picture of it to Publix. The original design used fondant, but I had it made with buttercream icing. The inside of the cake was chocolate with raspberry filling. Instead of buying fondant flowers, I was able to get my hands on some peonies several days before the birthday party. To get the peonies to fully bloom by the day I needed them I cut them pretty short (~2-3″) and put them in a cup of water on the kitchen counter. They were fully bloomed 2 days later. Publix did a great job with the cake, it tasted and look great. The small top layer of the cake was what we used as the smash cake. 
For party favors I went with these white chocolate #1 lollipops I found on Etsy made by rosebudchocolates shop. To display the lollipops I covered a couple of Styrofoam blocks with some moss, placed them in a basket, and poked the lollipops through the moss and into the Styrofoam.
My sister Dina made these framed burlap letters that we displayed on the dessert table. How cute are those!? They will go great into Cella’s new room once baby #2 comes along in several months!
Ah, the Fau King Greats…how can I not mention those. These were Jerry’s contribution to the party menu. Months before the birthday party Jerry told me about this dessert idea he had that combined all the worst ingredients (in my opinion) you could think of: large marshmallows, Nutella, and maraschino cherries. I said I would NOT be making those. So he made them! Needless to say, these were a huge hit. Every single one of them was eaten before the party was half way through, and several kids asked me for more. 
I focused on the healthier food options. My menu included pumpernickel toasts with an egg spread, spinach squares, cabbage salad, veggie pizza, goat cheese rolled in pink peppercorns and fresh thyme with crackers, broiled potatoes with a Greek yogurt topping (not pictured), and a chicken sausage casserole (also not pictured) (I made the casserole without the potato as the original recipe calls for because I already had broiled potatoes separately, and I used chicken sausage instead of spicy turkey sausage this time.). Thank God for my sister Kristina’s help with the food! There is no way I would have it all done in time without her help!
To keep the older children entertained I came up with the Creative Corner idea. The nice weather allowed us to set up the Creative Corner outside on the balcony. For the Creative Corner I cut large white construction paper into smaller pieces of paper and hole-punched a pretty lace pattern on the side of the paper. I had watercolor paints, paint brushes, crayons, markers, glue, and a bunch of scrap paper from the flags for the kids. My sister Dina took the scrap paper from the flags and cut out little flowers, fish, and other shapes the kids were able to glue to their artwork. 
Some of the kiddos busily working away in the creative corner. After they finished their artwork, we had them hang it to dry using clothes pins on some twine that was strung against a window.
Goose hanging out with her Nonna. Cella is a very selective smiler, her birthday party was obviously not a day meant for smiling. 
Cella with her aunts Kristina and Dina, whose help with the birthday party was critical.
Sweet kisses for the birthday girl.
After singing happy birthday to the goose it took some effort to get her to smash the cake. I finally got her to try some of the icing and once she realized it was something ridiculously sweet and that she was actually allowed to continue eating it she went for it! 
Cella often shares her food. She gave daddy a taste of her birthday cake.
Cella needed a clean outfit after enjoying her cake so I dressed her in this adorable romper from jujubunnyshop. She enjoyed all her wonderful presents and ended the day smiling, giggling, and in a great mood! Thanks to everyone who was able to come and celebrate with us!
Perullo Press 