We call Tessa our Bug/Buggy/Buggy Bugs/Tessy Bug. She’s been that way since the day she was born. And just like I called Charlie “Charlie Bunny” when she was little and then did a rabbit and woodland animal first birthday for her, I had to do a bug theme for Tess. But bugs? Not exactly cute. So I went the ladybug route. And as we got closer to her first birthday, the way her hair was growing out made her look like a little pixie gnome. So I started calling her that and a ladybug pixie gnome mushroom birthday was born.

This was COVID era, so it was just grandparents and aunts on both sides. And everyone knows the first birthday is for the mama (and dada) way more than the babe. So this party was really for us, to celebrate our sweet girl and mark this important milestone. A girl’s gotta have her first cake.

But instead of kiddo snack bowls filled with goldfish and crackers, we made Brie croissant cups (I’ll post them sometime because I kind of made them my own), bacon wrapped dates filled with goat cheese, French onion and apple grilled cheese, pear and goat cheese crostini, flower shortbread cookies and rose pistachio verdants because we fancy like that. The cookies and verdants are from baker Loria’s Stern in L.A. that I found on Instagram and they were both HEAVENLY. And also completely gorgeous. And I have to say the grilled cheese was to.die.for. Blake made them along with the bacon wrapped dates- neither were terrible hard and both delicious and stunning. They went fast.

I also did funfetti cupcakes to match her funfetti smash cake because funfetti is our family birthday tradition. It has been since I was a little girl.

Charlie cried when we sung her Happy Birthday (it was the same people, just immediate family) at her first party and wouldn’t touch her cake. Poor thing did not understand why everyone was staring at her. But Tessy just ate it up- the attention and the cake.

I hung faux flowers from the ceiling to make it seem like a garden (it’s kind of my signature, we had hanging flowers at our wedding and Charlie’s first birthday) and filled the table with little mushrooms and ladybugs on top of gorgeous handmade flower paper. I was raised to do favors at parties so I made favors- I can’t help it! And I always design and hand make my own invitations for both of them (design on canva and print at The UPS store). This ish is way too fun for me, I swear. And if I learned anything from being a stylist, the beauty is always in the details. That’s where you get to really make a party your own.

Green faux flowers and garland- Amazon
Paper mushroom lanterns- Amazon
Mini ladybugs- Amazon
Mushroom cake toppers- Amazon
Faux pink flowers- Michael’s
Dried pink flowers- dried from Whole Foods
Flower paper- Paper Source
Paper cups, plates and mushroom napkins- Paper Source/Meri Meri
Wooden mushrooms- Anthropologie (they were part of Tessy’s present)
Ceramic shoe house- Target
Felt bunny- Etsy
Shortbread flower cookies and rose pistachio verdants- Loria’s Cookies in Los Angeles (she ships)
Mushroom tags for favors- Zazzle
Mushroom drawing for invitations- Etsy
Mushroom sticker for invitations- an artist on 123RF