Party hats and darling dolls

It’s just hit me, tomorrow is July and it’s less than two weeks until my baby gal turns one. Better get organising, as first born has been talking about the party we will throw for her for weeks now. In his mind this involves all his friends and all his sister’s baby friends, playing games such as putting the babies in the middle and the older kids dancing round them! Sounds highly unlikely to me, not least because the way things have gone this year I have hardly made it to any play groups and my daughter’s social life is not quite as far-reaching as my son’s was.

Baby gal’s baby friends are probably limited to two! So I think the plan is to have a small gathering, weather permitting in the garden, with lots of bubbles, cake, and party hats… if I’m brave enough to try to wrestle one onto the birthday girl. I reckon I’m going to try and make some, inspired by this kind of look from Caravan Shoppe. I just stumbled across this site and it’s fantastic, so many cool things to be inspired by, and best of all you can print out these hats for free! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

Anyway that’s the hats sorted, now what about the pressies? I want to buy something really special for my daughter’s first birthday, so I’ve been looking around for inspiration and come up with a few ideas.

When I was small, I had a favourite doll called Audrey who went absolutely everywhere with me. She had her hair pulled, tweaked and cut off until it was completely bald at the back and sticking straight up on the top. One of the family, Audrey even made an appearance at our wedding when my dad brought her out during his speech. Experience tells me you can’t pick your child’s favourite toy, but if I could pick an Audrey for my baby girl I would pick one of these.

From Cambridge-based Lula Handmade, these rag dolls are created from upcycled vintage fabric and have a wonderfully vintage feel to them. I love that they can be customised too, it makes them that little bit more unique. Looking through the colour options now reminds me of when I was little, lining up toys in the shop with my mum, deciding which one had the cutest face! Am I the only one who did that?!

I also love this Red Riding Hood handmade doll, from Wild Things Funky Little Dresses. They also make gorgeous outfits for kids aged 0-6, definitely worth a look.

What are your best present ideas for a one-year-old? Apart from the boxes and wrapping paper they come in… I would love to know. X

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