We’re big fans of Lisa of Good on Paper Design and when she sent over her little one’s first birthday we knew it would be creative and thoughtful.  And of course, it is!  Lisa put together a “carnival/circus” themed 1st birthday party complete with a DIY photo booth, a music class, and tons of donut holes.

Its no surprise that Lisa, a very talented paper goods designer, would come up with one of the super cute invites – all with a custom liner, address labels and a fantastic color palette of pale blue and golden yellow (with pops of red!).There are so many great details in this party.  To keep costs down, Lisa hand made a lot of the goodies, including the party favor bags, photo booth and props, tissue paper bunting, mustache cookies, and red velvet cupcakes/cake.  We love the festive pale blue and kraft tissue paper bunting that Lisa created and strung up as a backdrop.  She also spray painted the tiered cupcake stand (from here) and added a scalloped edge made from gold metallic cardstock.

Lots of darling packaging (created by Lisa) and great carnival/comfort food fare. Super cute food signs by Lisa – and catering by Straw in San Francisco (who specializes in carnival fare!).

Lisa shared that the photo booth was one of the highlights of the party – which included a hand made barbell and ring master stand, mustaches, an old chair, and clown noses, making it super fun for both adults and kids. Lisa’s husband built a simple wooden frame and draped black and white striped fabric from Ikea to create a backdrop. Guests took photos using a Fuji Instax mini camera, adhered them to a photo album, and wrote or drew something for Lucas to see when he’s older.  Such great ideas and what a wonderful keepsake.

How darling are these favor bags that Lisa stamped using a hand carved rubber block? Each bag included a music egg shaker, a mustache cookie, and a fortune teller miracle fish.   Lisa also covered each of the guest tables with kraft paper and on each table included crayons for little guests to draw.  Love!

Thanks, Lisa, for sharing!  We adore this party and we’re pretty sure Lucas must have too!