This Little Patriot Turns 1: Independance Birthday Party

Please. Just pinch me. This is not real life.

My brain literally cannot grasp the concept of motherhood, and now my baby is one.

Everyone tells you, "This is just a season" or "It will all happen so fast." but you don't realize the truth in all those cliche sayings until you find yourself planning their first birthday party.

OKAY, OKAY. I'm gonna save all the sappyness for the birth story that is soon to come, so for now, here all some of the best details from Elo's first Birthday party:

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, which means I will earn a percentage from your click or purchase. This is at no extra cost to you, and allows me to create better content moving forward. CLICK HERE to read my affiliate disclosure and HERE for the privacy policy.

Lots of the decor was bought from Target in their AMAZING dollar section!

This pinwheel backdrop was picked up at Michael's with a 40% off coupon. They have awesome coupons ALL. THE. TIME.

This is a bucket found in Walmart clearance the DAY after the 4th!

WHAT WE ATE:

-Patriotic Potato Salad

This was probably my fave. I am not a huge fan of your classic potato salad with mayo, egg + mustard-y weirdness. Barf. This is a delicious, simple recipe my mom has been whipping up for years, and it is AMAZING

All you need is: Potatoes (preferably smaller variety. We used red, white + blue/purple petite)

AND Two Hot Mamas Creamy Cilantro Dip

Cut, pat dry, season and grill the potatoes, mix them up with this magical dip, and voila! Goodness. Gracious.

-Blue Corn Chips and Queso Blanco

We bought the Blue Corn Chips on sale and saved with cash-back from Ibotta. Check them out here and start with $10 when you sign up!

Queso Blanco is fancy for White Velveeta and a can of Rotel. Real easy, folks.

-Seasoned Chicken Bites with Dipping Sauces

We picked up two bags of frozen chicken breasts, cut and seasoned them, grilled and served them with a choice of two dipping sauces:

-Sweet Baby Ray's (helloooo, always a crowd fave)

and my NEW FAVORITE THING TO EVER EXIST:

-Private Selection's Cayenne + Garlic infused Honey

Oh. My. Gosh. Becky.

So good.

Get it Here. You need it.

-Build-Your-Own Angel Food Cakes

We bought Redi Whip

--There was cash back with Ibotta! For real, you need this app. It will be your new BFF.

Fresh fruit was on sale because, summer.

TIP: buy the fruit LAST. You'll want to be sure that it's not all gross and mushy by the day of your party. Just sayin'.

Sooo, if you think you'll save money by buying a boxed mix of Angel Food Cake, you're not wrong...but if you think it will be easy, THINK AGAIN.

LOOOORD, help us all.

Just buy the little cakes pre-made. Just do it.

If you wanna try cake-roulette, be my guest.

Click Here to Buy the mix

---

Elo's patriotic party WOULD NOT be complete without these awesome Stars & Stripes diapers from The Honest Company! We love all their products, but we especially love their diapers. These babies are plant-based, hypoallergenic, free of dyes + perfumes, but also come in an assortment of ADORABLE prints.

CLICK HERE AND USE CODE

"DIAPERLOVE"

TO SAVE $30 ON THE DIAPERS + WIPES BUNDLE!

Here are a few LIFE-SAVING Party Tips

that we figured out along the way.

1. Wait For The Sale

If you're having a party that's themed around a major holiday, chances are you're planning to have it around that time. Take my advice: WAIT FOR THOSE ITEMS TO GO ON SALE.

Elo's party was scheduled TWO days after the 4th, so you best believe I was scrounging around stores for those Patriotic clearance items. All her decor was either from the dollar section at Target or snagged from Walmart clearance 11:00 pm the night before her party.

2. Explore Your City's Offerings

When looking for a place to book, check out your city's parks and rec department FIRST. I have lived in the same place for most of my life and had no idea all the options I had. In the end, we went with a city building fit for 30 people that came with

-a small kitchen

-air conditioning

air conditioning

-tables & chairs

It cost us $100 to rent from 1-pm-11pm, and we recieved $50 of that BACK after returning it undamaged!

3. Customize Free Birthday Invites

Enter my latest FAVORITE tool EVER. Would you believe I created Elo's invite ENTIRELY on my cellphone?!

I used an app called Canva! You can create ALL kinds of neat digital art for posters, invites, flyers, social media covers, posts etc. Canva is also available for use on their website via computer.

It's pretty amazing.

4. Make Sure You're Getting the BEST Deal

If you're shopping for party supplies online, here's yet ANOTHER new tool that will save you some change.. I've been loving it recently.

Honey is a TOTALLY FREE web browser extension that does all the work of finding the best discount codes and coupons while you shop online. Honey also gives you the opportunity to earn cash-back as well!

CLICK HERE TO INSTALL HONEY

When does your little babe turn one? How will you be celebrating? Let me know down below!