Favorite Finds & Ten on the 12th- PARTY Edition

I usually save my Favorite Finds posts for the end of the month, and I usually post my Ten on the 10th posts on the 10th, but I had too many fun things to share from Ryan's party to wait 'til the 31st and couldn't pull myself together to post this on the 10th. ;)

So today I am sharing my:

...and I happen to have ten of them. :)

(But P.S. I'll still have my regular Favorite Finds post with Elizabeth on the 31st of this month so stay tuned because E will be hosting a fun giveaway along with her faves from the month!)

We went with a golf theme for Ryan's first birthday and honestly arrived at that decision because my mom found this super cute golf outfit when we were shopping a Hallmark sale together 3-4 months ago. Standing right there in the Hallmark I got all excited at my sudden stroke of creativity (I can count on one hand how often these moments have occurred in my life) as I said out loud, "What if we did a 'Hole in ONE' party for Ryan's first birthday?!" 

Come to find out a million other people already thought of this genius idea of mine, but let's be thankful they did, because I got just about every idea for the party from those creative people. Thank you Pinterest.

(side note, the other side to this outfit is the one he wore for his flight on our first family trip... gotta love a great deal and then a two-for-one outfit on top of it) 

So Ryan's Bailey Boys outfit is my favorite find number one- thanks mom!

Favorite find number two is this great seller on Etsy called areUin where I bought  a package of basically every crafty thing we would need or want for Ryan's party.

The owner, Jen, was super quick to respond to my emails and even personalized some of the items for me.

This frame is now sitting on a dresser in his room :)

Since crafting is not my forte, but I love to cook and bake, I knew I wanted to make Ryan's birthday cake and cupcakes for the party.

The cupcakes got a little droopy in the heat, but I have all sorts of favorite finds to share regrading these two baked goods:

Favorite find number three is this cake pan that I bought off of Amazon.

The cake came out perfectly! I am feeling super tempted to replace all of my bakeware with this Fat Daddio's brand after how well this cake turned out.

Favorite find number four are these bright-colored cupcake wrappers- 300 for $6 is way cheaper than the grocery store!

Favorite find number five- Carrot Cake Recipe

I chose to make carrot cake for Ryan's birthday cake and for the cupcakes using this recipe (for some reason the recipe in the book is slightly different- I used 2tsp baking powder and 3/4 oil) from one of my favorite cook books- The Better Homes and Gardens NEW Cook Book

Favorite find number six- 

Annie's Eats cream cheese frosting recipe

She says the single recipe will generously ice 24 cupcakes, but I would disagree- make at least a double batch to be safe. I iced the cake and then added food coloring for the decorative part of the cake and to ice the cupcakes. Which brings me to my next two favorite finds:

Favorite find number seven-

 gel food coloring

Call me crazy, but I did research on food coloring and found this brand that I ordered off of Amazon to have the best reviews for color and ingredients and the outcome did not disappoint!

Favorite find number eight-

Love2bake Cupcake Decorating Tips

This kit came with these four tips, 50 disposable icing bags, and one reusable icing bag. The instructions for using the tips and the tips and bags themselves worked great! I felt quite fancy and professional making my cake and cupcakes for the party. A small and worth-it investment for sure if you like to bake!

Favorite find number nine-

Golf Ball Rings and Cupcake Toppers

What a simple and fun little topper for a golf-themed party, right?! And way cheaper than other cupcake toppers I was looking at. $5.99 for 24 works for me, and the little rings can be party of the party favors if you want them to be.

And speaking of party favors, that brings me to my last favorite find:

Favorite find number ten

Party Favor- Golf Sugar Cookies from pfconfections

These cookies came in a pack with 24 golf ball cookies and 12 flag cookies with flavor options in vanilla or almond. They also offer a gluten free option. The best part was that I ordered them on a Thursday and they arrived at my door the following MONDAY!

We then packaged then in little clear bags with blue crinkle paper and used the favor thank you tags from the areUin shop.

So that is IT! My top ten favorite finds from Ryan's first birthday party. If you missed Monday's post with the rest of the pictures from his party, you can find that post here.