For the love of Etsy

So we had Simeon's first birthday party yesterday. We had a blast and I didn't have a emotional meltdown. It was almost like a wedding, I did so much preparation and planning and then it came and went in a flash. Now some momma's spend lots of time on what their kids are going to wear or some other detail. I focused on establishing family traditions. I love traditions, maybe because I don't like change and traditions are comforting. I also like using the same, quality items over because it is less wasteful. To each their own, but that's my style.

I found some awesome ladies on Etsy to make some special party decorations for me. First off I remember some birthdays when I got to wear a hat and I loved it. So I had Song at GirlGirlBoy make the crown up at the top. Yes if you follow the link you may die at the prices. But I went cheap on other things. And I don't have any free spending money for the next year, just joking:) Several of my guests informed me that Simeon will not want to wear this awesome bday crown for all his birthdays through 9. That's ok, maybe we'll have a sweet little girl who will. I have made a real effort to buy gender neutral party decorations so they can be reused by a future Root girl.


I found a great bday banner made by yellow label kids before I ever had Simeon and knew that I wanted it for our family tradition. They had a matching tablecloth, but by the time I had Simeon they quit making the set and I couldn't find the tablecloth!

So I found this great family on Etsy to custom make me a birthday quilt table topper. They even let me pick my own fabrics. Their price was so reasonable and it is fun, bright, and festive. I washed it this morning and it still looks great. The only hitch was I planned it for our table at home, but we ended up using the clubhouse at Daniel's parents neighborhood and the table there was bigger. If I had planned a bit better I would have had a longer tablecloth to go under it. It was nice anyway though.