The party finally arrived.....

I've done a few posts on the preparations leading up to Richard's 1st birthday party..... and on Sunday, May 13th, the Circus extravaganza finally arrived! We celebrated in my hometown of Racine, WI where most of our family resides. I was able to get a private room at a locally owned pizza place. While this was great, I still had to worry about the logistics of my decorations, treats (was I going to make them in MI or WI?), trying to fit it all in our already full car, etc.....

Everything worked out, as it always does in the end. Here is a shot of the treat table and tent for the gifts. I brough the paper mache giraffe and elephant that reside in Richard's room for the table. I made pennant banners out of the notecards and printed giftbags that I previously talked about getting in Michael's dollar bin.

Cute little cupcake stand housing chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with sprinkles and vintage clown toppers.

The printed gift bags from Michael's had a smell to them and I was worried about the food I put in them absorbing that. Plus, you wouldn't have been able to see the Circus themed treats I was carefully selecting. So, I put the goodies in clear bags and then cut strips of the printed bags to staple on as decorative toppers. I added tickets too. For the cotton candy pictured here, I first tried taking the cotton candy out of the container to put in the bag but it seemed to retain it's compacted shape too much even though I tried to squish it. So I just kept it in the containers.

Animal crackers - a must! I didn't realize how hard it is to find these now. Many stores just carry the large, resealable bags. And at yet another store, I saw the little boxes but the graphics had been redesigned by Lilly Pulitzer. While I do love her fashion designs, I just wanted the traditional boxes.

Bags of peanuts. Did you now there was such a thing as raw peanuts? I didn't, and apparently that is what I bought when I made these up. So unfortunately, they tasted terrible and were a waste. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.

Bags of popcorn!

Guests had fun with the masks on sticks (also from Michael's). I had some hats, clown noses, and mustaches for fun as well. I made centerpieces for each round table with those plastic popcorn containers - I put a star balloon on a stick in each one with some colored tissue. I had strips of tickets laid around the centers as well. Also forgot to get a pic of the little wind up clowns on tricycles that I had gotten from the dollar store as favors - they were an exciting find!

The guest of honor as a Ringmaster! I squeezed him into his faux tuxedo from the holidays and bought a cute red jacket from Etsy. I made his pacificer by sticking a mustache on a clear one. And I got the hat at a local costume store.

"Happy Birthday to you......"

Enjoying his cupcake!

At the end of the party, we were all exhausted. But it was a hit! All 26 guests had a great time. Richard could barely keep his eyes open to have his last bottle before bed. We let him sleep in his tux, smelling of frosting and fun!