To celebrate Mr. Darcy’s first birthday, I decided to be the Hostess with the Mostess. I am usually not very extravagant (except when it comes to my liberal use of glitter), but I do love to spoil my friends and my dogs, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to throw a great shindig that everyone could enjoy.
Mr. Darcy looked dapper in his birthday bandana (which he very quickly chewed off before the party even started).
For this party, I decided to ignore the fact that both Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley are boys and instead just jammed the party full of my favorite things. Old typewriters, shabby chic florals, and shades of pink all made appearances at this party in varying degrees.
For the centerpieces, I propped up hand-lettered Pride and Prejudice quotes in old typewriters. I also scattered a few of my favorite Jane Austen books and novels as party decor.
That old typewriter from the centerpiece wasn’t originally pink. It was originally a very yellowed eggshell white. I taped off sections of the typewriter and spray painted them pink to add a fun vibe to this typewriter that I got for free from a junk pile at work. The quote pages are available for download at the end of this post.
I also made a delicious No-Bake Cheesecake with a Rice Krispie Treat crust! I’ve decided that it will be my signature dessert dish from now on because it was a big hit at the party.
Here’s my popular cheesecake (shaped like a dog bone) and my beautiful shabby chic apron to match the party!
To decorate the dessert table, I used a bright pink tablecloth (courtesy of my mother) and added a handmade pennant banner made from a collection of shabby chic fabrics. I propped the different dishes up on various levels of books, created with Jane Austen’s novels.
The treat table wasn’t just for humans, though! I had a china tiered serving tray filled with sweet potato chews that I dried myself in the oven. I also made some Sweet Potato, Applesauce, and Cheese puppy muffins, which are a new favorite for both of my dogs!
It was an amazing party! We ate some delicious food, played several rounds of Bananagrams, and had a wonderful time watching Mr. Darcy stuff his face with puppy muffins.
