I had a birthday. And a party.

My birthday has come and gone and two weeks ago (two days before my actual birthday), we threw a small party in my honor. It was planned fairly last minute and it turned out to be so much fun.

I made my own cake (I wanted to.) I bought purple funfetti frosting and the cake was a hit. I pulled out a cake plate I bought on One Kings Lane (I had a great referral credit, and paid very little for the cake plate. I was excited to finally have a chance to use it!) And then I was on the hunt to find something to decorate a bit. I used twine to decorate the jars we used for utensils. I thought the paper cups would be fun for the candy corn/peanuts mixture. (They worked out great, once my husband realized they weren’t made for wine. Seriously.) Oh, and see that photo in the bottom left? That’s an ice cream cake my friend Carol brought. It was SO GOOD. I’m wondering if she might share the recipe with me one day.

One of the best things about my party was the glow in the dark ring toss. I found this game for $3 in the One Spot at Target. I actually bought another ring toss set last week, just to have for a rainy day (or late night party.) This game glowed for HOURS. I pulled it out of the package and set it up around 8:15. It was still glowing after midnight.

On the Thursday before my party, I found out that one of my best friends (since middle school) was actually in town from Pennsylvania. On Saturday, I learned that she would be able to come by the party!

I’ve been friends with these two since 7th grade. That’s a really long time!

The whole evening was really great. It wasn’t over the top and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I was able to be a little DIY without driving myself crazy. And it was small enough that I was actually able to enjoy conversations with most of our guests! I definitely need to keep this in mind for future parties!

Do you have birthday parties for yourself (or your spouse?) Or do you just stick with celebrations for the kids? (We’re obviously big on birthdays at our house.)

(And just for reference, I bought the twine and the paper cups in a variety of colors from Pick Your Plum. This definitely isn’t a sponsored post, but if you’re looking for decorative items to have on hand, I highly recommend that site!)