Hungry Caterpillar Party

I see a lot of wildly overdone children's parties on the internet. Photos abound of parties that either cost an absolute fortune or were probably the result of both parents having complete nervous breakdowns from having spent seven weeks making and preparing. Everything looks amazing, but in the end the party is over in 2 hours and all that's left is a mom sobbing in a corner because nobody really cared that it took her 8 hours to bake and ice the multi-tier princess castle cake.

That's why I was super-impressed by the 1st birthday party our friend Carolyn held for her son Jude. Carolyn is a designer, and the party was absolutely beautiful, but actually cleverly simple. She focused on a few important elements and did them perfectly. The decor looked stunning, the eats were tasty, and Carolyn - though definitely a tired mom - was not comatose or hysterical.