Nathan’s Vintage Babar Birthday Party!

This past year has brought much happiness with Owen in our lives. And one of the things I’m most grateful for is the amazing group of fellow new mothers that I’ve become friends with since Owen’s arrival. We started out as a playgroup but have become so much more, supporting each other as we’ve shared the joys and frustrations of motherhood and experiencing the growth of our children from tiny, sleepy newborns to fast-moving tots with big personalities.

Time goes by so quickly! Almost all of our little ones are a year old now. And it has been such fun taking part in all of the birthday celebrations, seeing all of our boys and girls smashing up their first cakes.

A couple months ago, Mitzi, a playgroup mommy, asked me to help her with her son’s first birthday party. I, of course, was super excited to do some party planning and crafting and also honored to be a part of Nathan’s celebration. I was even more enthusiastic when she told me the theme was “vintage Babar” – what a cute idea! I love children’s books and I love anything with a vintage style, so I had no trouble getting inspired for Nathan’s party. Plus, Mitzi’s energy and excitement for her son’s birthday was absolutely contagious.

In case you’re not familiar with Babar, he’s the elephant king character in the famous French children’s book series. The books feature beautiful illustrations and a lovely black script font. I tried to incorporate these elements into the party invitations and decorations. Plus, Babar often travels in his stories, so a touch of traveling was part of the design too – hot air balloons, cars, suitcases, etc.

The big day finally came to fruition this past weekend. Here are some photos from the Babar-ty! Happy First Birthday, Nathan!

The invitations set the stage for the party theme, with red stripes, polka dots, and Babar-inspired fonts. I lined the bright red envelopes with color copies of pages from Babar books.
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babar birthday invite

The welcome table included lots of cute pics of Nathan, vintage Babar books (of course), and an awesome sign created by another mother in our playgroup, Ali. A little stuffed Babar sat next to a sign that I designed asking everyone to write a message for Nathan in the guest book.
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babar books

The tables looked perfect with gray, yellow, red and white colors. I handmade golden yellow paper crowns that Mitzi filled with Cheerios. Owen loved this snack!


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I also crafted pinwheels that Mitzi used to decorate the tables.

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Every detail was perfect for the Babar-ty, including the food signs.
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The drinks were even decorated with labels that I designed. I loved the striped straws that Mitzi found too.


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And every birthday party needs banners, of course! I created a happy birthday sign, cutting out the script by hand. I also put together an adorable banner of monthly photos of Nathan with his Babar stuffed animal – he’s changed so much over the past 12 months!
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babar script birthday sign
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The dessert table looked fantastic. Mitzi did a great job with all the details – Nathan is a lucky little guy! I crafted the toppers for the cupcakes and I was happy with how perfectly everything came together.


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It looks like Nathan’s cake tasted as good as it looked!

A vintage high chair decorated with an “I am one” banner that I crafted out of paper and ribbon was the perfect seat for Nathan, the little king of elephants, to enjoy his first cake.
i am one babar sign
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The favors were Babar books adorably wrapped in craft paper and baker’s twine. The old suitcase tied in the Babar travel theme.
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Thanks to Nathan and his family for letting me be a part of his day! Looking forward to our boys sharing many birthdays together in the years to come.
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ice cream sig

13 Responses to Nathan’s Vintage Babar Birthday Party!

  1. Hi! Just wondering what is the font name of the bold letters BABAR used in the book? I noticed you used it for Nathan’s name too. Thanks!

    • I actually couldn’t find a similar font, so I created the letters for Nathan’s name in Adobe InDesign. If you can find a Babar font, please let me know! 🙂

  2. I love everything you did here. How did you do the cupcake toppers of Babar? … I’m planning to do this theme for my son’s first birthday also but can’t find anything online and I’m not so creative but I’m trading though…

    • Thanks so much!!! 🙂 I designed them – I actually made them double-sided, so one side has the Happy Birthday text and the other side has the Babar illustrations. I scanned illustrations from Babar books and used those images for the cupcake toppers. I made each cupcake topper a 2.5 inch circle, so when I printed them I just used a 2.5 inch round circle punch to cut them out (but they could be cut out by hand with a scissors). I printed on heavy white card stock and then attached them to lollipop sticks with glue after punching out the toppers, using two for each topper to create the front and back sides. I have the design, which I can list in my Etsy shop for a custom order if you’d like – just let me know! You can always contact me through the contact page on my blog site or through my Etsy shop.

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