If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen quite a few posts about Ruby's first birthday. It's been so lovely celebrating this special time, and while she won't remember it, and doesn't really know what's going on, I still wanted to throw a lovely party for her with our family and friends. She will be able to look back on the photos one day, and see the efforts me and her dad put in! haha!

Her dad took care of the food side while I of course got stuck into the decorating part of the day. I decided to have a bit of a circus theme, but in a subtle way if that makes sense! I love the 'Toot Sweet' range by Meri Meri, so I ordered a few bits and bobs from there, and then scoured the interweb for other things to add. I purchased some paper plates, straws and bunting from Berylune.

The little cardboard circus came from Tiger and was a last minute purchase which I think just completed the table, and for just £3! The long candle was also from Tiger.

I bought the gold '1' balloon from the party shop, Partica, in Kingston and my mum and I made a LOT of paper chains!

As for little Ruby herself, I wanted to her to have a special birthday outfit but without making her look like a clown - literally! :) So this is how she looked on the day... a classy circus baby!

I got the skirt in Mothercare - it is from the Baby K range by Myleene Klass. I had to order the black vest on Amazon - it is surprisingly hard to find a black baby vest! The hairband was from H&M Kids, and my mum and I made the bow tie! I got the fabric from M is for Make, and we put a little wadding inside to give it some structure. We covered some elastic in the pink fabric to go round her neck. It was fastened with velcro, so unsurprisingly she pulled it off half way through the party!

We had such a lovely day, although I think Ruby found it a tad overwhelming! Bless her! Today is her actual birthday, but we will have a quieter day with her grandparents. Happy birthday my precious little gemstone xxx