Some craft Paducah moms create birthday celebrations that go way beyond cake and candles.
There is something very special about a baby’s first birthday – a rite of passage as much for the parents as for the child. For years, the standard procedure was to have a few family and friends over to see the little one eat that first piece of cake and open presents. While a simple celebration is still perfect for a majority of families, a growing number of Paducah moms are reinventing and reinvigorating the first birthday party. Long gone are the small gatherings with chocolate cake and a bunch of balloons. Instead, these crafty moms are throwing parties that would make Martha Stewart proud – complete with innovative themes, adorable invitations, party favors, and over-the-top decor.
Happy Vintage Birthday Amos Holland!
Party themes are not the only place moms are getting to flex their party-planning muscles. Mother-of-two (and Associate Editor) Sarah Stewart Holland wanted birthday party guests at both her son’s first birthdays to have fun with gift-giving. “Buying for a one-year-old isn’t that exciting. Age-appropriate toys are pretty limited so I like to give people options,” she says.
For her son Griffin’s first birthday, family and friends were invited to bring his or her favorite toy from childhood without concern for age groups. “I loved that Griffin received all these wonderful vintage toys from Tinker Toys to Lincoln Logs,” Sarah’s husband Nicholas Holland remembers. When it was time to celebrate little brother Amos’s first year, Sarah invited guests to contribute to a time capsule, which will be opened on Amos’s 18th birthday.
“Everyone loved it! He got letters from great-grandparents in other states, antique coins, books, and several magazines from 2012—including a PADUCAH LIFE of course,” Sarah adds.
Happy Blue Boy Birthday Thomas Dorsey!
Elizabeth Dorsey had plenty of practice throwing over-the-top festivities for her first son but she didn’t want second son Thomas to feel left out. For Thomas’s first birthday, Elizabeth threw a “Sweets for My Sweet Boy” party. One little birthday cake simply wouldn’t do so instead Elizabeth created a whimsical over-the-top dessert table for her little guy.
“Thomas has the most beautiful blue eyes so I just decided to take the same color blue and run with it,” she explained. She had every type of blue sweet treat imaginable on the dessert table from blue cake pops to blue rock candy. However, the centerpiece was the blue cotton candy topiary. “I loved it so much I wanted to keep it forever!” Elizabeth laughs.
Happy Paducah Birthday Russell Hancock!
When Mary Hunter Hancock had her son Russell, she had only been in Paducah for a couple of years. “I loved the idea of a cardboard box party and I decided to make our cardboard boxes Paducah-themed!” Mary Hunter recalls. After spending hours collecting and painting cardboard boxes, Mary Hunter filled her backyard with a little miniature Paducah complete with all the town landmarks from Broadway United Methodist to Clark Elementary.
“Everyone loved it and it was so fun to see Russell crawling in and out of ‘Myrick’s grocery store’ or going to ‘Ramey’s barber shop’,” laughs Mary Hunter.
