A Sock Monkey Birthday Party

At long last, photos from Jack's Sock Monkey Birthday party! I wish I'd taken more pictures of all of the details - with all of the running around and rearranging due to inclement weather, I didn't take one single picture.



The photos you see below are compliments of one of Jack's godmother's - who thankfully took all of these with her awesome camera. So the planned backdrop of a beautiful outdoor party didn't come to fruition - the hanging pots filled with red geraniums, petunias, and gerbera daisies - the outdoor tents decorated with tissue paper pom poms, chinese lanterns, and birthday banners - the tables set with vases of red gerbera daisies... but that's okay.



We still had a great time, and what's most important, Jack had a wonderful day - surrounded by those who love him most.



A side note - all of the Sock Monkey decorations you see in this party I created myself - using clip art and templates I purchased from Parties By Hardy. I knew I wanted a sock monkey party for Jack - given that is his nursery theme - and quickly realized I'd be making most everything by hand as there's just not a lot of sock monkey stuff out there. Thankfully, Parties By Hardy came to the rescue - and I think I was able to bring together a really fun themed party.

So without further ado.....



The "One Year Birthday Banner" -originally planned to be hung across the dinner buffet tent so guests could admire Jack's growth over the last year while filling their plates - repositioned to the living room wall. This actually turned out so cute and so sweet and the colors exactly match Jack's sock monkey nursery - that I think I'm going to hang it there - so I don't have to tuck it away just yet.

The "Sweet Shoppe" - note the lollipop tree. LOVE that.

Another view of the "Sweet Shoppe." This was originally planned to be positioned under a tree next to the creek in our yard - repositioned to the living room.

Tissue paper pom poms - originally planned to hang from the tent over the drink buffet - repositioned to the dining room chandelier.

The Cake Table. The hats I made from the template I purchased off of etsy are stacked in the basket.

Jack's First Birthday Cake. Vicki from Vintage Bakery outdid herself yet again. I sent her a hand sketch of the cake I wanted - and she created this masterpiece. (That was YUMMY as well as adorable.)

Jack's First Birthday Hat. (I didn't make this - rather ordered from Children's Cottage. I couldn't have been happier with the quality.)

The full cake. Note the beautiful cake stand - Mom and Dennis gifted me with this years ago - it has become a treasured piece to pull out for each birthday we celebrate.

Jack's itty bitty smash cake.

Sock monkey sugar cookies - lovingly baked and decorated the day before the party. The brown color of the base icing didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped - but all in all - I think they resemble sock monkeys.

One of the birthday banners I made with the template from etsy - and chinese lanterns (you can see them both inside and outside our bay kitchen window. The banner and one set of lanterns was originally planned to hang from the arbor leading to the back of the yard - while the other was planned to hang from the deck.

The drink buffet - silver punch bowl filled with juice boxes and capri suns, pitchers of sweet tea and lemonade, our very own Sock Monkey Sangria -and.....

... birthday boy bottled water.

One of the activities we planned for the kids was a craft corner where they could make a sock monkey puppet. Once we cleared out the screened porch - we were able to set up the craft table out of the rain....

The results of little fingers creating crafts. The craft paper covering the table also worked out great as a canvas for coloring.

Me and my little love. I wish I'd taken a picture of him in his birthday outfit - also from Childrens Cottage. You can't see it in any of the photos (because it was always covered by his bib - poor baby was/is teething) but it's a brown gingham jon jon - with his name embroidered in red capital letters - complete with little sock monkeys hanging off them!

The BIG activity of the afternoon - was the bounce house. All kids loved it - from big to little - and I'll definately plan for one of these again! I'm so thankful that the weather finally cleared up enough for the kids to enjoy it!

Me, the birthday boy, and a smattering of a few of the kiddies at the party.

James didn't love the bounce house at all.....

Little Jack-man with Ms. Rebecca - his primary care giver at school - and more importantly, one of his adopted grandmas (she calls all of our kids her personal 'grands.') Isn't that sweet!

And bubbles! We had those little battery-powered bubble wands for each of the kids to play with - then take home as a favor. Jack had the most fun with the bubbles, I think!

A Happy Birthday Boy!

The dinner buffet - originally planned to be under our big party tent - repositioned to the side of the dining room. I'm so thankful our dining room is big enough to handle all of this!

We catered in Hudson's BBQ, complete with pulled pork bbq, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, chicken tenders, rolls, and three different kinds of bbq sauce. I added in chips and a pile of strawberries - fresh from Cottle Strawberry Farm.

Getting ready for the big moment......

This picture is just so Jack. Happy. Smiley. Grinning. Full of a joyful spirit.

Getting ready for birthday cake - this is the one picture we managed to get of Jack in his birthday hat. He clearly wanted no part of it.

Singing Happy Birthday to the sweetest One-Year-Old we know.... notice Deonne pinning his hands down? Yeah - we learned that lesson the hard way at James' first birthday - where he grabbed the candle, flame and all....

Blowing out the candle!

Jack didn't know what to do with his cake. We tried to get him to taste it - he was hesitant to even touch it. James, however, couldn't resist keeping his little fingers off - that would be his hand reaching up to swipe some of that yummy red frosting.....

....and the aftermath.....

A fun Sock Monkey Birthday Party for one and all!

Thanks Juli for taking these beautiful pictures - you really captured the fun of the day - and we'll cherish these forever.

Thanks to all who helped us celebrate - your presence made our day complete.