Charlotte's Web Birthday Party

Hey party people!
This past weekend my neighbor, Kim, threw her daughter a Charlotte’s Web birthday party for her 1 year old birthday. Her daughter’s name is Charlotte, so the theme fit perfectly!
Since Charlotte’s Web took place on a farm, my neighbor Kim went with farm-themed decor and food. It turned out wonderfully!

Let me tell you the story about Kim, Jeremy & Charlotte (our neighbors).

A year and a half ago, our sweet neighbor Jim told us he’d be moving to California to be with his daughter. Mike & I were so sad. Jim was a retired doctor and had become a sweet friend & the best neighbor you could ask for. We even had him over for Christmas dinner (since his family was out of town). He kept us up to date on the neighborhood happenings and we knew he’d always keep a good watch on our house.

Mike & I were nervous about who would move into his house. I mean how many times are you blessed with an awesome neighbor like Jim? We hoped & prayed that the neighbors would be, at least, nice.

I am ashamed to this day at how often my face was plastered to our front window after the “sold” sign went up in Jim’s yard. I was so curious & nervous to see who would be moving in.

Mike thought I was downright crazy when I saw Jeremy & Kim’s car in the driveway because I went to the kitchen, whipped up some muffins and ran/walked over to meet them. Okay, now that I type that…it really does sound crazy.

Whew…when I saw Kim & Jeremy…I got excited. They were a young married couple, around our age. Kim was beautiful & was busy organizing the house even though she was very pregnant…about to give birth very soon and Jeremy seemed like a guys guy (just like Mike).

That was a year ago and our worry was eased & our expectations surpassed by the incredible neighbors we have.

Jeremy & Mike get along great. Kim is my walking buddy & has become such a dear friend.

And then there’s their daughter Charlotte. She is so precious & it has been fun to see her grow over the past year.

I get to get my “baby fix” to tide me over for awhile and I get to learn a lot from Kim about being a great mom.

Isn’t it cool when you get fearful that life will turn out a certain way but it ends up being better than you expected?

You can imagine how fun it was to hear all the plans & ideas for Charlotte’s first birthday. Especially after getting to know Jeremy, Kim & Charlotte over this past year.

And everything was perfect & amazing. I mean…check out the horseshoe area?! Jeremy made that!

I love how Kim  really used the farm-theme throughout the decor…infusing some Fall touches as well.

The barn doors are from an online party store called Shindigz but they really pop with the cornstalks!

We joked the entire time…”You can never have too much corn.”

Charlotte did such a great job the entire party. She was so happy!

This popcorn bar was a hit…especially for hungry kids (and adults) that needed a little pre-lunch snack.

I am still in awe over the “Charlotte” chalkboard. Megan Prosser of Perfectly Prosser made it & I just can’t get enough of it. Check out some of the other chalkboard art she’s done. She said she was going to open up an Etsy shop soon so I’ll let you know when she does. I, for one, can’t wait. 🙂

The great thing about having a Charlotte’s Web party with farm decor is that the usual Fall decorations mesh really well.

The original party plan was to set everything up in the back yard, which is beautiful, but the weather changed those plans.

Kim moved the main eating area to the carport & it worked perfectly.

Kim was able to get this cute little smash cake at our local grocery store. Although, we discovered something about Charlotte…

The girl prefers a fork.

She did not like getting all that icing all over her.

But she cheered up when it came to the presents. I wish I had gotten video of her facial expressions. They were priceless.

Thanks to Jeremy & Kim for letting me capture this beautiful party! We’re so glad you’re our neighbors!!

p.s. This is YOUR official invite to the party… join in on the Parties for Pennies Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, & Bloglovin!