Cheap and Cheerful First Birthday Arvo Tea.

In celebration of our new little one-year-old, we had a wee afternoon tea with some family and friends.

We wanted to keep the budget, and the fuss, down on this one (seeing as this birthday is one where Mol didn't really know what was going on..) and just spend some time with people we love.

I decorated with bunting (already had it), hanging lanterns ($2 shop), beautiful flowers (Ruby Dunes) and lots and lots of pompoms ($2 shop). I kept the food simple, too. We had the must-have kiwi party foods (red sausages, kiwi dip with crackers/carrot/celery and animal biscuits), mini spring rolls, spinach and feta rolls and little lemon curd tarts.

Generally, at our parties, people bring things along and we end up with LOTS of food. We opted for an afternoon tea, and told people they really didn't need to bring anything - and it was the perfect amount of snacks. It wasn't a big meal, afterall! Must remind myself of this next time.

We mentioned in the invites that Mollie really didn't need much in the way of gifts. She truly is a third child - toys coming out her ears and still she would rather play with a plastic ladle/empty margarine container/the rocks in the garden. Such an easily pleased child.
Mol did receive a few presents, though, and they were lovely. I especially loved the wooden Mary-Lou doll and the boys were stoked that Nana bought her some 'girl Lego' for later!

The cake was a bit of a flop. There's always something that doesn't go to plan, huh?
I had planned a two layer chocolate and vanilla cake, with white icing and the string of bunting from the baby shower. What we ended up with was just one thin layer of choc cake, with chocolate icing. The bunting was there though.. and it tasted good. That's the main thing.

It was so nice not to put on a big stressful production - it made our day far more pleasant and Mollie was the first of our kids who actually managed a sleep on her party day, because there was not a huge amount of tension in the air. Really must remind myself of this. Cheap and cheerful parties might be slightly less 'pin-worthy' but they really are a lot more fun (and tiny people really aren't paying attention to whether the plastic cups match the table cloth...)