Polka Dot Birthday Party

Something I’ve looked forward to my whole life is throwing birthday parties for my kids. My daughter just turned one year old, and I hosted a polka dot themed party for her! I wanted to keep the decor simple and whimsical with lots of handmade touches (as usual).

I created several felt polka dot garlands using a rainbow assortment of felt scraps. I traced a craft paint bottle onto some card stock and cut it out to use as a template for the garland. I cut out a ton of circles (a great brainless activity while catching up on my favorite TV shows), and fed them through my sewing machine one after the other, just like I did with my felt leaf garland. I used transparent polyester thread for the garland so the thread blended in with the varied hues of felt.

Another homemade decor item that I’m proud of is this banner of photos of Blair with party hats made from polka dotted scrapbook paper, washi tape from The Plaid Barn, and oversized sequins. I saw this idea on Pinterest, and knew I had to do it! I hung this display on the bird clothesline in my dining room (you can see other displays I’ve set up here and here).

Speaking of the dining room, here is how I set up the food table. We served some basic kid-friendly snacks like veggies and dip, rainbow fruit skewers, and cheddar pinwheels. We had Funfetti cupcakes for dessert, dotted with sprinkles of course!

For the centerpiece, I filled my favorite polka dot teapot with fresh flowers from my Dad’s garden, and set it upon a cake stand which I purchased at a garage sale a few years ago. I love using my cake stands for parties as well as my seasonal decor for Halloween and Christmas.

I made little labels for each snack with folded card stock and decorated them with polka dot washi tape and cupcake stickers.

For a fun activity for the babies, I turned our playard into a ball pit! I found a set of 100 of these balls for under $20 on Amazon and couldn’t resist. I also picked up a few polka dotted balloons and set my colorful dotted picnic blanket on the rug where the babies were playing.

Of course, no party would be complete without party favors! I wanted to make a wearable favor which tied into the polka dot theme (in case someone didn’t have anything dotted to wear). I made a bunch of bows from red and white polka dotted felt, and attached alligator clips to the back so the little boys could wear them as bow ties and the little girls could wear them as hair bows!

Last but not least, I found Blair the perfect party dress at a local consignment shop for a mere $4! It couldn’t have fit into the party theme any better, and it will hopefully fit her through next spring. I will share my own polka dotted party outfit with you soon!