Jackson's Winter ONEderland

Love using Punchbowl for all my invite needs. 

We celebrated Jacky's birthday with family on Saturday at his Winter ONEderland.  I can't take credit for the theme idea, as it is all over Pinterest and Etsy, but I didn't copy any of the ideas in pulling it together.  I kept it really simple and extremely economical (which is a big deal for me- I spend way too much on parties).  A trip to the craft store a couple weeks after Christmas and burrowing Christmas decor from my mom and MIL kept the cost low for me this time around.

I decided to keep everything white and woodsy after finding the white snow birds, snowball garland, and snow at the craft store.  For Jackson's cake display I found this great large piece of wood in my backyard and used my wood burning tool to write Happy 1st Birthday Jacky.  Love how it turned out.  And with my MIL bringing the cakes all I did was buy some donut holes for the snow balls and popped some white cheddar kettle corn for the treats.  Super simple.

For dinner I made two crock pot soups I found on interest.  Broccoli cheddar and chicken tortilla.  I was nervous because I hadn't made either before, but luckily they turned out yummy.

This year we decided to make a donation to Operation Smile in lieu of a present for Jacky (see invite above).  They are a great organization who travels around the world fixing cleft lips and cleft palettes for children who would otherwise never be able to have this corrective surgery.  We donated the cost of an entire surgery and it warms my heart to know that somewhere out there another little one now has a beautiful smile like my sweet Jackson.  I like to think of him as a chubby one-year-old boy like Jacky.  We asked friends and family to donate in lieu of a present too.  And we are so blessed that not only did they make a generous donation, but they also still brought sweet presents for Jackson.  Present opening was a family affair as big brother, Ben and cousin, Dylan opened all of Jackson's presents for him.  It was a little hectic as they both tore into the presents.  Luckily I did catch everything in the chaos and who brought what.  Jackson just hung out in the background playing with boxes and wrapping paper.

Atop Jackson's smash cake sat a very stubborn sparkler, which caused us some trouble to light, but once we had it lit, Jackson's eyes lit up.  He was all smiles again while his family sang to him the now familiar song.  Unfortunately he suddenly reached out and touched the sparkler.  He didn't cry but got a super cute pouty face.  After a moment of cooling his hand down in some water, he was 100%.  Sweets aren't really his forte.  He prefers savory and bitter over sweet and sour.  So after just a couple licks of frosting, he was done with his cake.  So no cute cake covered baby at our party.  Maybe next year?

Overall just a super melo and relaxed celebration with family.

The party was over by seven and after a little playtime with his new toys Jackson let us know that he was ready for bed.  My party's over and I can cry if I want to!