Golden Book First birthday

I thought of doing a Golden Book birthday party and then had a really hard time coming up with how to pull it off!  I found a few examples on Pinterest and a few baby showers done in this theme, and they were all so darling!  Here is my version of a Golden Book party.

This is her invitation, and here is the back as a blank pdf file so you can make your own if you'd like.

For the fireplace, I made a banner out of the Poky Puppy book.  I printed the invitation 8.5 x 11 and put it in a golden frame.  I got a wooden letter and painted it gold and placed it on a stack of golden books.  The flowers are also on a stack of golden books.  The wreath was made from pages of poky puppy, shy kitten, and saggy baggy elephant.  I cut the cat out of the Shy Kitten cover and glued it to the center.

This is the banner of her monthly pictures.  Each picture was printed square (4x4) and glued to the golden book inside cover image.  I used this image and cropped it down to 4.75 square.  

As an activity for the kids, I thought they'd enjoy making their own little golden books.  Each child had a book with their name as the writer and illustrator.  I had a stack of stickers for them to use and had markers and crayons set out for them to use.  Here is a blank version of the book covers.  I printed them on cardstock and cut printer paper for the pages.  I used 4 sheets folded in half to make 8 pages for their books.  The finished books were about 3.5" by 5". 

The kids all enjoyed making them!

This was the table set up, prior to setting the food out.  I used vintage books in the background and printed off tiny book covers for the cupcake toppers (pdf link shared).  I made the pinwheels from copies of shy kitten, poky puppy, and the saggy baggy elephant (these were made first and the wreath was made from the leftovers).  

This cake was really fun!  I bought a Poky Puppy ornament and it was the perfect size to use on top of the cake.  I copied the last page of Poky Puppy and scaled it down to 67% and printed it on cardstock.  I cut out the sign and glued it to a popsicle stick, then used a fine point icing tip to make the grass.  

The high chair banner was created using an image of the back of a golden book and adjusting the color on photoshop.

I wanted our little girl to have a vintage outfit and found this sweet little pink corduroy dress.  I hand embroidered the shy kitten into the dress and added a little bow to it.  I LOVE how it turned out!

I gave the pinwheels to the guests as party favors.  The golden books they created also went home with them, and I added a little golden goody bag as well.  I chose to put hershey's with almonds in them because they have a very similar wrapper design to the binding of a golden book.  The Thank You tags are available on etsy (not my shop).  

  

The party was so sweet and exactly how I had hoped it would be.  The adults appreciated the nostalgia and the children had fun with the decor.  

If you decide to have a Golden Book party, I hope some of my ideas will help your party come to life!