Hudson's First Birthday!

Yesterday was my littlest love's first birthday! He had an awesome day. We had a small celebration for him with just our closest family and lots of birthday fun ensued! He devoured a cupcake and a scoop of ice cream and opened a ton of presents, which he knew exactly how to open. I did everything on a budget so I wanted to share a few of my tips with you!

Tip #1 that I learned from favorite teacher in college, "beg. borrow, and steal!"

My family and I were part of the Light the Night Walk, which is a fundraiser for blood cancers. The night of the walk was a week before Hudson's birthday and (as usual) the Mettilles were hanging out long after everyone else left. Lucky for me, the vendors started handing out the leftover food and I scooped up a box of cupcakes and froze them until Wednesday! I bought a cheap pack of cupcake toppers and wrappers and tada, birthday cupcakes!

Tip #2, everything can be re-purposed!

I made it my mission not to buy any wrapping paper. This is quite a feat for me since I am a huge sucker for good packaging. But, I researched cheap wrapping options and prepared ahead of time. I saved all the brown packing paper from any packages I had received, collected used tissue paper, stole a ball of twine from my mom (beg, borrow, and steal!), and pulled the sparkly, fuzzy string off an old, dollar store Christmas ornament. I just wrapped the presents in the packing paper, cut the tissue paper into strips and layered it under the twine and string bows to add a pop of color. I didn't pay a dime for this wrapping and it has all the right elements; color, texture, and shine!

I avoided using a ton of paper wrapping the puppet theater box by putting it together the night before and tying a huge bow on it with cellophane. I just happened to have a roll of cellophane laying around the house, but you could use anything really. Might I suggest bubble wrap? That would be totally awesome and the kid might like it more than the present!

Shirt, OneStopPlus.com, Sweater, (similar, but originally from Target) Ebay, Skirt, Old Navy, Belt, (similar) Target, Boots, (similar) Payless

I am a huge fan of what I call, "holiday fancies." Which, are what you wear on special occasions, such as, birthdays or holidays. I think it is important to convey the significance of an event through your clothes. Your appearance effects your attitude and your attitude effects your day. If you are wearing your cozies at Thanksgiving, it's gonna feel like any other crummy day. So, if it's a fancy day wear your fancy clothes!

 I L-O-V-E my chambray shirt. I wasn't a believer right away, but, after I saw how versatile they were, I knew I needed one in my closet. I layered it under a sweater vest and belted it with my faaaaaavorite belt (seriously, this belt goes with everything, and I love the vintage feel of it). I am not sure if I am thrilled with the fruity pebble necklace though. It's an antique and I love the colors so it should be a big win but it's short and chunky and so is my neck. So, when I am wearing it it looks like it's choking me. Boo. But, I liked the way it just peeked out from under the shirt. Plus, it was a special occasion so, I needed a little sparkle!

It eventually got to hot in the house though, so, I took off the sweater. Still cute.

Here's the birthday boy modeling his holiday fancies! I adore this fair isle sweater from Gap. I bought it on sale, and it was still a bit of a splurge, but the fabric is so soft!