I wanted to have a somewhat ‘green’ birthday party for Iain. ‘Somewhat green’ means that I was willing to do a lot to make it a green birthday but couldn’t resist some not so environmentally friendly options (e.g. helim balloons). Overall, though, I figure I made it at least 50% of the way.
Handmade loot bags (all made using hand-me-down fabric and ribbon so the little lovelies didn’t cost me or the earth!):
Chaulk taken out of a highly packaged container (to be ‘re-purposed' (thanks for the term, Elizabeth!) for my quilting pens) and split into sets of three, tied with jute.
Other loot bag contents? Baby Mum Mums, a package of sunflower seeds (for growing them; not for the little ones to choke on), and a wrapped, home-made Rice Krispie square for the attending Mommy or Daddy.Heavily decorated and synthetic (that’s what I call cakes not made from scratch like I usually make) first birthday cake (like my design?) using those decorating techniques from the winter of 2007:
Barbeque essentials such as homemade hamburgers (containing nummy ingredients such as bulger and cinnamon…), blue cheese potatoe salad and apple slaw:
Note the paper plates and napkins (both of which can be composted in this fair province) and regular stainless steel cutlery (can’t stand the plastic ones and the environment doesn’t like them either). Here's one area where things fell apart though - I could not find my extra set of cutlery that we usually use for parties so I ended up using plastic ones left over from Iain's shower last summer. All of the cookies on this table were made by my mother when she was here so that she, too, could help out with Iain's party.
Gotta love that woman!
One of the non eco-friendly items I couldn't resist were helium balloons:
I was not impressed with them (two were 'dead' before I even made it home and their staying power was less than impressive, not to mention the choking hazard they could have caused...) and will not be doing balloons again. It seemed like such a good idea at the time...
The birthday boy looking so painfully serious that my heart could just break!
And, yes, DH took the day off. It's not every day your little boy turns one!
If you have any other green party ideas for me, I'd love to hear about them!
5 comments:
Happy Birthday, baby! I mean, big boy!
At least you don't live in the U.S. A birthday on the 4th of July could be quite a burden for a kid.
Cute! If you get the 'high-loft' helium the shiny balloons will last for weeks. The latex ones will last for most of a day. I know they're bad for the environment but it doesn't feel festive without, em.
What a great party! :) Belated Happy Birthday to your little man. :)
Fun times!! I had ballons for Clarabel's bday this year and I wasn't that impressed with them either and I was really nervous about the little ones getting their hands on them.
I am a big fan of usuable items in loot bags, chalk is a great idea. I have done cd's before and homemade chocolates.
Great idea for handmade bags and rice krispie sqaures!
A friend of mine picked up antique tea cups at a flea market for $1 each and gave them as loot bags for a tea party birthday. Maybe not the best idea for a boy but very reuse, reduce and recycle.
Being 1 can be very serious business mom! : )
What a fun celebration and I could really go for a piece of that cake. It makes me laugh to think back on how careful we are about introducing foods and monitoring every bite for that first year, and then these little guys get a big beautiful first blast of sugar when their birthday suddenly hits. I still look back and smile at a picture of my little gal covered in pink and yellow cupcake icing (ok perhaps, a few cupcakes)! I can't believe that in just 3 short months we'll be celebrating another first birthday for number 2 - time passes far too quickly.
Great 'repurposing' ideas (it's addictive once your mind wanders there). I'm also a big fan of the fabric flags/banner over at Soule Mama (also saw it recently in her book, Creative Families). Unfortunately I don't have nearly the stash of fabic that she does since my sewing days are still new.
It's so good to have you back home to bloggerville.
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