Merci I am beyond amazed, pretty much every day that I pushed out a tiny human more than 365 days ago IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC. This is our first child and there were so many unknowns that went along with carrying her and then delivering, but that is for another post! Today I wanted to share a little bit of how we made a simple hybrid birthday celebration for her first year around the sun.
For our socially distant hybrid birthday celebration we did the following:
+At Home Photo-shoot
+Drive-By Birthday with Photo-Op
+Virtual Birthday Sing-Along
HOW TO HAVE A HOME PHOTOSHOOT
Of course, first we had an at-home photo-shoot! If you know me (you don’t, we just met- hiiiii! ::waves excitedly:: ), I love to capture our everyday moments. I wanted two different looks- one for regular pictures and the other for her cake smash pictures. This way you also have options to use for your invitations or Thank-you cards later. To make a photo backdrop at home I used a tablecloth from our wedding and white tablecloths from the dollar store! REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE. lol (I think I made this pledge back in 5th grade…). Anywhoo, you just hang the table cloth on a wall- I actually just draped my tablecloth over my TV console. Make sure wherever you decide to take the pictures that you have ample natural lighting. It doesn’t have to be fancy at all. The more simplistic, the better actually.
SIMPLE HOMEMADE BIRTHDAY CAKE
For her cake smash cake at home, I just baked a simple box cake. I split the cake batter into two 6” round cake pans so that I could have layers. I made it more rustic by lathering it up with frosting and then taking some off. My Cricut came in handy to make a cake topper and then I added some flowers and we’re done. She was going to Hulk smash it in a few minutes so I didn’t spend too much time on it. Trust me, YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!
I started with the same beginning steps for her actual birthday cake but I added a tasty “carrot cake” hummus in the middle layer, some macaroons on top, a candle and viola!
DRIVE-BY BIRTHDAY WITH PHOTO-OP
We decided to have a drive-by meet and greet for those of our close loved ones who were local and haven’t met our little TatorTot yet- because she literally hasn’t really met anyone yet outside of the random people we meet while shopping. Raise your hand if you have a Quarantine Baby! Having a drive-by birthday as a part of the celebration is like feeding two birds with one seed.
I wanted to make a backdrop just to make the front yard more festive and in doing so the experience becomes more interactive. If you would like to make your own simple backdrop, I will link the steps here.
VIRTUAL BIRTHDAY SING-ALONG
The other portion of her birthday celebration included a Zoom birthday sing-along! I am so sad that there was so much going on at once that I didn’t get to film the festivities or take proper pictures, but nonetheless, it was perfect to have our loved ones join in on the fun virtually and it still seemed intimate. We made a simple digital flyer with all of the necessary information such as the Zoom Meeting ID, the pass-code, and the time. It is also helpful to add the link just in case! Here is an example of the flyer and set-up we used:
Flyer
Set Up
I know it has been a little over a year now since this pandemic started but don’t lose hope. We are almost out of this! Celebrate safely Ya’ll!
XOXO,
Merci