Henry’s Woodland Themed 1st Birthday Party

A few weeks ago we celebrated Henry’s first birthday. I seriously can’t believe I’m a Mom to a one-year-old! Although we weren’t able to have our ideal first birthday party due to the pandemic, we made the best of it and had our immediate family over to our house to celebrate.

I went with a woodland theme for his first birthday party to match his woodland theme nursery. What can I say, I like a good theme! I debated between dressing Henry in an outfit that fit the theme or one of those “1” tees or onesies, but the decision was made for me when I found the cutest fox romper at Target.

Here’s a photo dump and some details on the decorations, cakes, and dessert table if you’re interested in throwing a woodland themed first birthday party yourself.

As you can see above, the highlight of the party was Henry getting his first taste of cake with his fox smash cake. He’s never had anything this sweet (besides a few licks of ice cream) or had an edible item this large put in front of him to smash, so it was fun to see his reaction. Naturally, he was a bit hesitant and didn’t know what to do with it. But after a minute he realized how much fun it was to smash and eat.

Woodland Cake & Fox Smash Cake

I had the hardest time finding a cake that was within my budget. Where we live everything is crazy expensive, including fondant cakes (apparently). I gave up on my dream fondant cake and opted for a local baker who specializes in buttercream cakes. She was recommended to me in some of the local parenting Facebook groups.

For the smash cake, we did an adorable orange fox face cake with vanilla cake and buttercream. For the regular cake (for us adults), we did a carrot cake with buttercream frosting. The carrot cake was so delicious — even those who aren’t self-described “cake people” said they loved it. Thank you to Liz at Project Pastry Love for these! Check her out on Instagram.

Woodland Themed Desserts

For a party favor (even though the party was small and was just family), I did a woodland-themed dessert table with goodie bags. I ended up making mountains (Rice Krispy treats made with Cocoa Pebbles), bear poop (Whoppers), birch logs (chocolate-covered and drizzled pretzels), and acorns (Hershey kisses, mini Nilla wafers, and chocolate chips). I made small signs for each in Photoshop and stacked the desserts on these cardboard tree stump stands.

I’m putting a post together soon that goes into detail on how to make each of these desserts, so be on the lookout for that if you’re interested.

Woodland Birthday Party Decorations

I kept the decor fairly simple since I wasn’t decorating a hall or restaurant but instead one floor of our home. I ordered a bunch of “Wild One” party supplies that were all part of a set, including a Wild One Woodland Banner , Wild One Woodland Plastic Tablecloth and Wild One Plates and Napkins. Then as a centerpiece I used one of the cardboard tree stump stands I mentioned earlier and scattered around some faux pinecones I had leftover from Christmas decor.

Like every first birthday ever known, I made a banner with each of his monthly photos using these mini clothespins and ordering square prints from Shutterfly.

I also ordered a few items for the cakes, including this Large Orange Number Candle and these Fox and Racoon Cake Toppers.