Thursday 21 August 2014

Bert Turns One: Peppa Pig Stylie! *REVIEW*


How can my tiny boy be turning one? 

How? 

Where has that year GONE? 



Today we began the long weekend of celebrations by hosting a themed birthday tea at home for Bert and some of his little friends. 

The kind people over at Party Pieces supplied us with a fantastic selection of party goodies to help Bert celebrate his birthday in style...Peppa Pig style, actually. 

Peppa Pig is Bert's very favourite show - he smiles and wiggles with excitement every time it comes on, and I have to say out of all the drivel that can be found on children's TV these days, I actually quite enjoy a spot of Peppa Pig myself! So Peppa was definitely the perfect central theme for this special birthday bash!

I can't wait to share the photos with you all - and hopefully inspire you to host fun themed parties of your own. From a small soiree to a huge bash, Party Pieces have pretty much anything you might need for your perfect party.

THE DECORATIONS:

To decorate the party room (dining room) and the buffet table I used:

A Peppa Pig Ultimate Party Kit (8 Guests) currently priced at £12.99 which included Peppa Pig themed plates, cups, table cloth and bunting. I also used some Peppa Pig Party Latex Balloons (10 pk) currently priced at £1.99, a fantastic Personalised Blue Polka Party Banner currently priced at £11.99 and a Supershape Blue Number 1 Foil Party Balloon currently priced at £5.99. I think you'll agree that the party room looked really fun and inviting - it really wasn't hard to do at all, and I was really impressed with the quality of all of the items from Party Pieces. 

My favourite item from Party Pieces was definitely the personalised blue polka dot banner, which really took me by surprise. I fully expected this to be a plasticky (cheap!) looking banner, that would only be suitable for one or two uses, but this is such a high quality banner made from a strong vinyl and includes eyelets for easy hanging. Fab! 

I'll let the images speak for themselves...





For Party favours I used an awesome Peppa Pig Filled Party Bag Kit (8) currently priced at £12.99 which made life so much easier - I'd never used a party bag kit before, but it certainly saved lots of time, as the bags and contents were all included in the bundle, all you had to do was assemble - perfect! 



I decided to make party favours for the adults too (as they always miss out on the fun at kid's parties) and so I filled old jam jars/baby food jars with sweets for the grown ups to enjoy munching on! Who doesn't love a free jar of sweets, hey? 


I used labels which I had made on eBay to stick on the jars to decorate! 

For the sweet jars I used Giant Fried Eggs 1kg currently priced at £5.99 and Jelly Beans 1kg currently priced at £4.99. When the sweets arrived I was so excited by the sheer amount of sweets in a kilo….and I must own up: I have been eating them for weeks...every time I walked past the bags they were calling me! The giant fried eggs are the best sweets I've ever tasted! 


I used my awesome 'make your own banner' from Bimbily to write "Peppa, Bert, George" as extra decoration

To decorate Bert's high chair I used the Fisher Price 1st Birthday Circus High Chair Decoration Kit currently priced at £8.99, which added a little bit of colour to his sitting space, and acted as a perfect mat to catch his spills as he ate! 



Finally, I had some Royal Blue Polka Party Hats (8) currently priced at £1.59 for the little ones to wear. Bert cried a LOT when I put his on…oh dear...but his lovely friend Josh seemed to love wearing one! Good lad! 



THE SPREAD:

So, of course, I decided to try and design the buffet to fit the theme as much as possible - so I got my thinking cap on, scoured Pinterest, picked friends' brains, and came up with these culinary delights - some of which fit the Peppa Pig theme, some are just there because they are yummy! 

-George's Dinosaur Sandwiches
-George's Dinosaur Turkey Nuggets
-Hotdog Spiders
-Muddy Puddle cupcakes
-Percy Pigs (a distant cousin of Peppa, you know!)
-Watermelon Pops
-A bowlful of blueberries
-Scones, clotted cream and jam (for the grown ups)

...as well as a selection of crisps, dips, and breadsticks.

To drink the kids had Fruit Shoots, and the adults enjoyed tea/coffee and pink lemonade with fresh lemon slices. 

Yum, yum, yum! 





BERT'S OUTFIT:

Today Bert wore these fantastic Quentin Blake 'Lickswishy Sweets' dungarees - made by the very talented Bree over at A Pocketful of Alice on Facebook. I can't impress enough what amazing quality these beautiful dungarees are - they are fully lined, and the fabric and finish is just wonderful. 


Lickswishy Sweets fabric design by Quentin Blake

Bert looked an absolute picture in them!



I loved that they were handmade for him, and not bought from the high street - it felt so much more personal to be able to choose a fabric that was special to us (Bert's nursery is FULL of Quentin Blake's designs) for him to wear for this special weekend of celebrations.

In fact, I love the dungarees so much that they are currently in the washing machine, so that he can wear them again for our family celebrations on Sunday!

Bree charges £28 for the handmade dungarees, plus postage and packing. For a special occasion I think Bree's handmade clothes are the perfect choice - how lovely to know your little one will be wearing a bespoke outfit that no-one else is likely to have.


The perfect outfit for playing in the garden with friends - thanks Bree! 

We have had the best day - full of lots of fun and smiles. It never bores me to see my beautiful son playing with his friends, and soaking up the world around him. He makes me so proud every single day. 

A huge thanks goes to my fab friends who joined us today, and my lovely mother in law who helped out loads. You're all stars! 

I'll leave you with my favourite pictures from the day, which I hope sum up how wonderful it has been:

Bert with his lovely Nanny Ruth! 

Two little mischief makers!! 

Bert tucking into his watermelon pop

Unfazed by the muddy puddle cupcakes and candle then Bert?

Fun times playing in the garden with his friends!

Gorgeous gorgeous: one of Bert's beautiful little friends! 

Bert and his Mumma (me!) - a rare photo of the two of us together!

Happy, happy memories made today! 

Tomorrow, is Bert's actual first birthday (Friday 22nd Aug 2014) - and his Daddy and I are taking him to the seaside for the day. It'll be Bert's first ever trip to the seaside, and we are all very excited! 

Over the weekend we have lots of family coming to stay, and are holding a mass picnic at our local country park on Sunday to round off the celebrations. 

How did you mark your little one's first birthday?

Bye for now.

Mrs B

xxx

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Disclaimer: I was sent a bundle of party supplies from Party Pieces for the purpose of this review, as well as receiving a half price discount from A Pocketful of Alice for Bert's dungarees. All opinions, words and images are my own.