Samantha Smith
- Feb 17, 2023
- 2 min read

A Beary First Birthday

As a second time mom, I really worried about how I was going to make sure my second baby boy felt all the love my first felt - especially given how overboard I went with Colt's first birthday. Although I wanted to bring the same energy and effort, I did not want to go completely overboard, so I landed on the sweet minimalist theme of teddy bears.

The teddy bear theme could not have been more perfect for my baby Ashton - who is just the most cuddly and smiley guy around. He's the sweetest truly. So I leaned into the brown and beige tones and truly went minimal for this birthday party.

I bought quite a few teddy bears that I used as props (and also featured in our first birthday photoshoot, blog to come soon!) and then some accent pieces to truly make our home feel festive. A custom teddy bear + pennant garland from Etsy added some background to my dessert display and main feature. I grabbed a paper mache letter 'A' and number '1' from Hobby Lobby that I painted white and then added bears to further tie in the theme. I found the cutest beige gingham print dessert plates that were also perfect for the display.

I came across the adorable neutral highchair banner for the epic cake smash. My absolute favorite local baker - Chelsea of Copperhouse Bakery in Manassas, VA - made the most delicious hot chocolate flavored cake and smash cake for our February baby. She even designed and made the sweet fondant party teddy bear cake topper - truly obsessed! Chelsea is always down to make my vision come to life and she truly delivered - her s'mores cookies were also a big hit.

I topped Ashton's smash cake with a custom birthday crown I found on Etsy that he wore while he ate cake - lol! I also ordered a '1' custom candle (since Colt had one for his first birthday too) from the cutest Etsy shop. We also found the cutest bear themed products by My Mind's Eye adventure collection - such as balloons, snack cups, and party hats. The party hats were adorable and the snack cups were perfect for displaying and passing out my Teddy Graham snack mix! We also got a selection of honey bear bottles for the littles to drink out of - they loved them.

In our family room space, I made a burlap banner from an Amazon kit to say "Ashton turns one," which was the perfect color for our theme - again going for minimalist. We did not do a whole balloon garland, but a 3-4ft little garland of blue, brown, beige, and white balloons that we also positioned in the family room.

Although we still set the mood and created a festive vibe for our little bear, I kept things easier for our busy family while still holding true to my party planning heart.

Now, what theme should we do for Colt's third birthday in June?! Share ideas in the comments below.

xoxo

Samantha