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Grayson is ‘One Happy Camper’

Grayson is ‘One Happy Camper’

Meet Olivia and her freshly turned one year old, Grayson. The family just celebrated Grayson’s first birthday with an adorable camping themed party over the weekend. From the decorations, food and snacks, milestone posters and of course a cake smash, this birthday was on point. Read on to find out how Olivia planned the party, see all the cute pictures and hopefully get inspired! 
 
First off, the camping theme was so cute and so well thought out! I loved all the details, from the trail mix bar to the cupcakes with the s'more looking toppings, the bear shaped cookies and even the decorations from the tent to the table displays. It was all just so perfect! What made you go with the camping theme and any tips you can share that helped you plan the party? 

Grayson has always been such a happy baby. He is always smiling and laughing so we started calling him a happy camper! I even made a ‘Happy Camper’ design bodysuit for my small business, Gray Rose | Modern Baby that was inspired by him. Once I started thinking about first birthday party themes I knew that I wanted a unique theme that was personal to him. The usual go-to theme for a boy’s first birthday is ‘Wild One’ but I went with ‘One Happy Camper’ because of how unheard of it is, as well as pertaining to Grayson’s personality traits, and it was fun to 
decorate and is great for children! 
 


I love planning events and decorating. I usually start planning for an event at least a few months in advance. I first came up with the theme and based the party’s location and decor off of that! For the ‘One Happy Camper’ theme, we rented out an outdoor shelter from a local park. It perfectly fit the camping theme! After I found the location, I then started designing the invitations! I only designed them myself because I couldn’t find the ‘one’ that I loved and could just order from a website. I came up with a color palette and logo for the party that I would be able to use on the invitations, cake, cookies, and signage such as the Welcome, Trail Mix Bar, Can Cooler, Milestone Sign and more. I designed all of the signs and printed off a few myself to put in picture frames. The Welcome and Milestone signs were hand painted by a local artist! The tables all had black and white buffalo plaid table covers, a campfire centerpiece, and mason jars filled with baby’s breath. I also added in some special pieces like a play tent and a kids table with some personalized camping coloring pages, camping themed memory discs, and camping themed toys!

Of course, we have to talk about the cake smash! What is the key for a successful cake smash from the cake to backdrop to the photos? 

Yes, let’s talk about the cake smash! The cake smash is a must do at a child’s first birthday party! It is so much fun to see what they do with it and is such a great memory that you’ll remember forever! Grayson actually smashed his and was laughing the entire time! I wasn’t at all surprised that he ate the majority of the cake as well! As for the backdrop, I love the look of balloon arches so I knew I wanted to have a wooden arch with the balloons draped over it and a banner to be used for photos! I ordered a matching high chair banner and of course the ‘Riley’ bib from Stadela Baby! My best advice for the cake smash to be successful is to ask your bakery to make a special sized cake for it! My bakery made a two inch tall yellow cake with minimal frosting (to prevent them from throwing up from too much cake and frosting). I ordered a separate decorated cake for our guests to enjoy too! For photos, have lots of natural lighting and have one person take photos and another recording a video to look back on!  



I know you mentioned it before but you have an Etsy shop, called Gray Rose | Modern Baby, where you sell cute handmade and custom graphic onesies for little ones. Will you also be including printable templates and signs for first birthdays? 

I am definitely thinking about selling the prints that I made for the party on my Etsy Shop, Gray Rose | Modern Baby because there has been a high amount of interest! I might also see what other types of party themes that you all would like and I could make some for those too! 


For more about Olivia and Grayson follow her on instagram @occurringwitholivia and shop her Etsy shop Gray Rose | Modern Baby. All photos courtesy of Olivia Anderson.