Little Pumpkin 1st Birthday Party

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.

I absolutely LOVE planning parties! This is something I have learned about myself in the past few years. I think I must have been so busy going to parties, that I didn’t realize how much fun it is to host one! So let’s talk about my Little Pumpkin 1st Birthday Party!

I’m going to share several of the girls’ birthday parties, but thought I would start with Laney’s 1st because it is the first party I hosted entirely gluten free. Two short months after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease I decided to have a party, I must be crazy! It was definitely challenging, but turned out super cute overall.

We held the party in late September in West Virginia at my mother-in-law’s childhood home. How perfect to have our ‘Lil pumpkin toddling around in the crisp autumn air to complete her birthday theme! The weather was wonderful. It was sunny and warm during the day, with a slight chill to the air by early evening.

Birthday Girl Outfit

I utilized Etsy like a boss for this party! So fair warning, besides creating the food and the baby (lol!), Etsy shop owners deserve the real credit! To start, Leslie at Little Princess Bottom designed Laney’s outfit. I found matching gold shoes on Amazon for a steal too. I mean, seriously, how freaking adorable is this outfit!?

Invitations

The invitations were custom made by an Etsy shop called Simple and Posh. The owner, Tracy, is a doll and is so talented! I could not have dreamed of a more perfect invitation! They arrived fully put together with a nice heavy weight kraft paper and matching envelope. Tracy is extremely easy to work with and the final product is beyond amazing.

Birthday Milestone Poster

I also purchased the Chalkboard Milestone Poster via CLS Prints on Etsy. The poster is sent electronically so you have to get it printed. I found a shop to print it for me, then attached it to a piece of foam board from the dollar tree so it would stand up on it’s own. Chelsea from CLS Prints is super sweet and does beautiful work. She provides a variety of products I encourage you all to check out. She’s been doing updates to her Etsy shop, if she’s still on short break, just shoot her an email. Follow the link above to find her shop and contact info.

Menu

Now that all the cuteness is out there, let’s talk food! I’ll admit I was a nervous wreck trying to figure out a menu. At this point in my diagnosis I could barely feed myself, let alone plan an entirely gluten free party! But true to form, I commited to something a little insane, threw myself into making it happen, and somehow managed to pull it off. Woohoo, go me!

For the menu I had several appetizers: veggies & dip, fruit, popcorn, tortilla chips, and a cheeseball rolled in crushed GF pretzels served with gluten free crackers. The main feature of our menu was a “Make Your Own” Frito Pie bar. I made homemade gluten free chili in the crock pot and provided all the fixin’s to go on top: shredded cheddar, sour cream, onions, and (of course) fritos! We kept the beverages simple by serving only bottled water and hot apple cider.

For dessert, I made gluten free cupcakes in two flavors: chocolate with german chocolate icing and vanilla with vanilla icing. I added food coloring to some of the vanilla icing to make it orange. Some of the cupcakes were topped with cute little pumpkin candies. I also made GF double chocolate brownies!

Smashcake

Laney’s smashcake is a little pumpkin made with vanilla cake and orange colored vanilla icing with a green stem. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of it, at first, but then she started getting the hang of digging in the cake! Of course, big sister stepped in and showed her how a pro does it!

To make the cake, I baked the batter in tortilla pans. After it cooled, I placed one on top the other and carved off the excess edges, creating the pumpkin shape. By spreading a layer of icing between the two cakes, I was able to keep it together. Once the base of the cake was formed, I used leftover cake to create the stem then iced the body of the pumpkin cake with orange icing and the stem with green. I used food coloring mixed into vanilla icing to create both colors. The final iced cake was then sprayed with gold edible color spray to give it a fun shimmer!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Favors

My mom found these super cute ceramic pumpkins at the dollar tree. Obviously, we got them for a steal! Gotta love it when you can find awesome, functional party favors for $1 a piece. The couple of kiddos present were too small to know about party favors, and the rest of the guests were adults, so I was able to get away with it! Lol!

So there it is, the first party I hosted entirely gluten free! It was a blast to plan and I think it turned out great! Most importantly, everyone had a wonderful time celebrating Laney’s 1st birthday and spending time together. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

XOXO,

Meredith