I can’t believe it – my littlest baby’s first birthday has already come and gone! She is the most precious little thing to ever crawl on this earth and I got so caught up in what to do for her first birthday party. Yes, I know she won’t remember it, but I still wanted it to be perfect. I totally got carried away looking at ideas on Pinterest and started stressing myself out with all the boards of DIY decor I had pinned for myself to make (hello, I’m a working mom and ain’t nobody got time for that!). She has an October birthday and I ultimately decided I could make things easier for myself by embracing the season… I mean, there is pumpkin EVERYTHING everything right now!
The idea I ultimately landed on was a pumpkin patch party, because truly, what is more cute than a little baby at the pumpkin patch for the first time?! Searching around for venues here in the Northwest, I landed on the Farm at Swan’s Trail pretty easily. They are located in Snohomish, WA, which is predominately farm land and a mecca for these seasonal pumpkin farms. The Farm at Swan’s Trail is one of the largest with attractions from a corn maze, to hay rides, a petting farm, food stands, a cider mill, a restaurant, playgrounds, and even cute little performances by some of the farm animals! They so conveniently have a barn they do rentals out of, and the rental even included entrance to the activities for 10 kids plus their own pumpkin to bring home with them. It was the cutest!
So our venue was selected, now on to the decorations! Part of the reason I landed on this idea is because the venue takes care of more than half of this for me. The room we reserved in the barn itself was rustic and really the perfect setting for a fall party. They had picnic tables inside along with some old tables that looked so on-theme and I just loved the setup. There was a pavilion out front for kids to run around and burn off all their cake energy, which was fantastic! The work I had to do was minimal.
For serving snacks, I decided to use baskets instead of bowls, either lining them with a paper napkin so crumbs didn’t fall through, or simply placing the chips and dip together in the basket with the top of the bag folded down for that rustic look. For plates/napkins/silverware I wanted to go as eco-friendly as possible- I found some recycled cups that actually fit the rustic theme well, and loved the compostable bamboo forks/knives/spoons. The brown color was actually perfect! If you are shopping compostable products just keep in mind to go with bamboo, but nothing palm. The forest fires currently burning in the Amazon are man-made by palm farmers burning down rain forest to plant palm trees, and that surely isn’t something you want to support!
The last part of my decor was thanks to a super cute local home bakery, Rosettes and Ruffles! I totally believe that food counts as decor, especially when it is as cute and themed as this. She made me two dozen birthday cupcakes with the #1, and different color pumpkins as toppers, then a set of matching cookies. Lastly she did a pumpkin smash cake for my sweets, and it was the sweetest! I brought a jug I have at home that I love to use for decorating and filled it with apple cider, and used a rinsed out can to hold utensils.
P.S.- Are you curious about any of the products I used in this post? Below are affiliate links to them so you can shop them too! I do make a (very small) commission if you purchase from my links, so your support is always appreciated. Plus, I don’t talk about products unless I totally LOVE them!
So cute. I love the basket idea with food. Happy birthday to your little doll, she is beautiful.
Aw thank you so much! We had fun with it