Baby O Turns One: Part Two

Our little peanut is ONE! A whole year old. It’s insane how fast time goes. Here is a little follow up to our first post about her lovely birthday party! Hopefully, we inspire you to think outside the typical birthday party box. 

So, in case you didn’t know. Her party theme was hot dogs and donuts. When I told my coworkers, friends, okay and strangers in Target, they either thought it was “funny” or that I was weird as heck. Little did they know that it would actually be cute as heck. 

We bought two different variety of hot dogs for the hot dog bar. The typical go-to, Nathan’s and also some fancier Private Selection beef brisket dogs to take it up a notch. Our toppings included a Cincinnati style steak chili, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, crushed up potato chips, diced jalapenos, diced white onions, relish and homemade coleslaw! We also invested in some $2 condiment bottles from Kroger to put the ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce in to serve with the dogs. Seriously, those are the way to go

We also invested in some $2 condiment bottles from Kroger to put the ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauce in to serve with the dogs. Seriously, those are the way to go, buy them for everything. Trust me. 

Just one of the yummy concoctions that I whipped up at the little shindig. Have you guys ever had the Picnic Table at Dirty Frank’s?  It’s my go-to and this is my nod to that scrumptious little dish. Oh, hello Eat Play Cbus, also known as my sister and Baby O’s aunt. This one was a little more basic, but still quick marvelous. An additional perk of those awesome condiment bottles is that it create the perfect little swirl on the hot dog which makes for a beautiful picture. And really, that’s obviously so important. 

These are just two of my most favorite people who recently got married and it’s about time they make an appearance on The Beard and The Baker. I think the best part of Baby O’s birthday was when she WALKED across the room to her Uncle Ben here! I mean that girl clearly just needs an audience. 
This is my simple party decoration tip that I stole from my sister. Go to the dollar store and buy frames in whatever size or color you need to make cheap and cute signs for your event. I bought about 8 of them and then made signs on Powerpoint for each of the stations at her party. It cost less than $10 and is so simple and you don’t have to worry about getting all those chalk signs perfect. I had to go along with her theme of hot dogs and donuts and I found these adorable little gift boxes at Meijer! They housed my favorite thank you gift of all times. 

HOW CUTE ARE THESE?! I literally can’t get over them. I want Emily (The Bexley Baker) to make cookies for literally every single event I have. Her husband even made a hot dog cookie cutter from his 3-D machine! I mean, that’s so cool and amazing. 

Well, here’s another picture because they are SO CUTE. I will also say that sometimes cookies like this don’t taste good but these are also absolutely delicious. My sister got some cookies made for our recent trip to Outer Banks and I ate like 4 of them in one sitting. Since I had to share these, I only got to eat two this time. Bummer. Guess I’ll just have to have another party soon and call up The Bexley Baker. 

If you saw our first post about Baby O’s birthday, then you would have seen our simple little decorations featuring American Greetings ribbon. Literally, I just super glued pictures from her first year to pieces of ribbon and placed them around the house. This was a wonderful idea because it showed how much fun the last year has been. I tried to print at least one picture with everyone who attended the party and then I let people take them home with them too. Thank you Shutterfly for the free pictures when you order from their app! 

So we had actual donuts to eat from Peace, Love, and Little Donuts. But, we had to have a cake! I used a simple yellow cake recipe from The Kitchn and The Beard decorated it with a simple glaze that we dyed pink and topped with basic sprinkles. Before you glaze it, remove the middle with a biscuit cutter and voila, you’ve got a donut cake! Then, you have the perfect “smash cake” with the middle part of the “donut!” However, Baby O doesn’t really believe in smashing her food. We’ve taught her “little bites” since she was about 7 months old so she’s pretty delicate when it comes to grabbing food. Also, as my sister said “this child has had been donuts than any one year old,” so she isn’t really new to desserts. But, it was still pretty cute watching her dig into her first birthday cake. 

There you have it friends, Baby O’s first birthday party! Oh, and it wouldn’t be complete without matching shirts for Mom & Dad. I’m thinking that’s going to have to be a family tradition.