Can you believe it… my baby is ONE! We celebrated at home with a family party and a simple theme inspired by Hudson’s favorite book series: “Little Blue Truck”! You can find all of the books on Amazon here if you haven’t heard of them!

I promised you guys a post of links to our decorations, details on food and Hudson’s homemade birthday cake (made my me!), and pictures in a permanent place to look back on if you’re in need of baby birthday party inspiration some day!

If there’s something I didn’t link to or you’re having trouble finding, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to find it for ya!

tablecloth | wooden crates | dump truck | farm animals | blue pickup truck | chalkboard sign | balloons from Party City | flowers from Trader Joe’s

We set up this little entryway table right inside our front door so guests had an easy spot to drop gifts, and so we could make a little display! We set out the treats we had made here too, so they doubled as decorations and dessert!

cupcakes & cookies by M&M Sweets | dump truck
blue pickup truck | cupcakes & cookies by M&M Sweets

We told them our theme and let them do their thing, whatever they thought would look good! They did an AMAZING job! Highly recommend if you’re in the South Bay Area (they are out of Hollister, CA)

highchair | “one” banner | hanging twine + clothespins | prints

I set up this little spot in the dining room where we could sing Hudson “Happy Birthday” and he could eat his cake!

The prints are his monthly photos I took over the first year – so glad I did that, even though there were months I was a little late haha. It was so cool to see his growth month-by-month, and made for great decor!

compostable paper bowls

Our party started at 1:00 PM and I wrote “COME HUNGRY!” on the invite… so you can bet we had ALL the food!

We went with a chili bar and lots of toppings & snacks to go with. It was perfect for the December weather, and really easy to prep ahead and then have ready to serve whenever straight from the slow cookers! I set them to “keep warm” so guests could eat when they were ready.

I made a paleo style chili and also a version with pinto beans.

BEEF CHILI 3 WAYS: Instant Pot, Stovetop, Slow Cooker

small chalkboard signs used to label GF and also paleo version of chili (no beans)

I also made regular & gluten free cornbread to go with, to make it extra hearty!

For the regular cornbread, I used an organic bag mix from Sprouts. For the paleo version, I used a recipe from my website:

CORNBREAD MUFFINS (PALEO, GLUTEN FREE)

I baked all of the cornbread into muffins the night before, then warmed in the oven for about 30 minutes at 200º the day of before putting out to eat. I kept them in ceramic dishes lined with a cloth napkin to keep them warm!

For snacks, we went with organic tortilla chips, salsa, and guac (all from Costco!) which also went great with the chili bowls.

For chili bar toppings, I didn’t get a picture – but I set out the following:

  • diced red onion
  • sliced green onions
  • sour cream
  • shredded grassfed cheese
  • hot sauce
  • ranch

So yummy, and everyone could customize their own bowl!

square appetizer plates | toothpicks | marble lazy Susan

I can’t say no to a good charcuterie spread, so we went with salami & cheese (Costco), Simple Mills crackers, dried cherries, roasted almonds & pecans, and our favorite-ever olives from the Whole Foods olive bar.

wooden photo block | drink buckets

We went simple on drinks and put out lots of waters! We had some beer, sparkling water, and wine on hand. But it was the afternoon, so most people stuck to water!

I also printed extras of lots of our favorite pictures from Hudson’s first year to display. They worked great on these wooden display blocks!

chalkboard sign from Hobby Lobby

The Birthday Cake!

cake stand | farm animals | “one” cake topper | greenery from Trader Joe’s

Making Hudson’s birthday cake from scratch felt 100x more special than I imagined. It was made completely from love, and wasn’t perfect. But it actually tasted amazing, the ingredients were great (organic, gluten/grain free), and it was just such a great tradition I’m so excited to carry on each year.

I wrote out the recipes for the cake & frosting, and detailed exactly how I made it in this post here:

SWEET POTATO SPICE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 candle | “one” banner | highchair

Loved this little “1” candle from Amazon, and loved how sweet he was while we sang him “Happy Birthday”! He took it all in, no tears, and only did a little shy face! We sang without the candle and then put that on & lit it for just a minute afterward so he wasn’t too tempted by the flame, haha.

custom Little Blue Truck prop

A sweet friend of mine has her own (amazing) Etsy shop, and she sent us these perfect Little Blue Truck props that she made herself! One was solid like this, and the other had a cutout for the windshield for picture taking! These were so perfect, and added so much – really brought it all to life!

If you’re looking for anything like this to really bring out the theme of your party, contact Melissa! She will make anything you need, all custom, and ships all over! She shipped us ours from SoCal! Her Etsy shop name is “A PROPer Party”

Our happy 1 year old, in his very own real life Little Blue Truck! This was a gift from his grandparents, I’ll link to it HERE!

I hope you enjoyed this post, and hope it helped if you were looking for anything! Leave any questions in the comments below!

Filed   baby, lifestyle