The party details

Cutter’s birthday party was a baseball theme which was woven together perfectly with the party package I found from Parties by Hardie on etsy (sidenote: what did people do before etsy?!).

His outfit was made by his grandmother and it captured the essence of the party perfectly. I am so thankful for her sewing expertise and will cherish this outfit. Steve and I joined in the spirit of the game and sported a softball tee and Mariners jersey.



Back; Personalized with his name and '1'



Front, personalized mitt with Longenecker

It was exactly how I had envisioned it and thanks to my sister’s help, the decorations were spot on. We hung two pennant banners; one in the living room and one in the dining room. We hung a birthday banner in the shape of baseballs in the dining room. We used the cupcake toppers and hung some of the leftover tags from the light fixtures. I used the larger tags as decorations on the punch bowl and some mason jars filled with peanuts and sunflower seeds. There were smaller pennant banners that could have been used for cupcake toppers but I used them as three separate banners to hang on the hutch, in the bathroom, and on the window. There were a few signs included that we hung up outside which I neglected to get a picture of. I pretty much just bought tons of white cardstock and printed to my heart’s content.


I lined the invitation envelopes with paper printed from the baseball printable pdf and slid one ticket (invitation) in each envelope. The invitations were what sold me on the party theme and I regrettably do not have a picture to include. It was completely customized and incredibly personal. They looked exactly like a bona fide ticket and in fact my sister in-law confused it for one when she received it. Realistic, indeed. I was smitten.
You can catch a glimpse of it in the picture below.

Tags hung from the light fixture

I found baseball frames at Target in their dollar bin and added some pictures of Cutter throughout the year and used them as decoration.

We served a baseball fare of soft pretzels, hot dogs, popcorn, Cracker Jack, and sunflower seeds among other party favorites. 

I bought a dozen balloons from Party City and hung some on the mailbox, some on the front of the house, and the rest inside as decoration.

The dining room set-up

Baseball birthday banner

I scattered mason jars around the house filled with peanuts and sunflower seeds. They were quite utilitarian as I used them as both decoration and snack.

Cutter had his very own smash cake from none other than Clay’s Creative Corner Bakery while the guests snacked on home-made  vanilla cupcakes. I set the sugar cookies out, but did so begrudgingly. Purposely there are no pictures of those.

Cutter sent his guests home with their choice of a box of Cracker Jack or a bag of sunflower seeds.

Another decorative accent

I created a video of the past year and used that as background music in the living room.

The plush goofy is from high school - I had given it to Steve as a gift and now we are using it to decorate for our son's birthday party! I never would have thought...

Even the famed cookie cutters were highlighted on the side of the dessert table.

Desserts; Cupcakes dressed with toppers and a glass of peppermint sticks

I wanted the party to have some semblance of elegance so I decorated with some red roses and used a lace tablecloth.

We bought two baseballs and had the guests autograph them as a keepsake.

The favor tags attached to their counterpart

Small pennant banner hung in the living room

The baseball name tents were another great way to tie the theme together.

A fantastic first birthday party indeed. I would even say we hit it out of the park. I couldn't resist.