Vintage Strawberry Shortcake 1st Birthday Party
Since my little ones 2nd birthday is coming up soon I thought now would be the time to finally share her 1st birthday party with you! The theme I chose was Vintage Strawberry Shortcake. As many of you who personally know me, know that I have been obsessed with SSC since I was a little girl. Growing up, I did not collect the dolls or have my bedroom decked out in Strawberry Shortcake but I think that’s what made me love her more. As an adult, I dreamed of the day when the good Lord would bless me with a little girl, so that I could revisit my strawberry shortcake obsession through her!
I started by collecting Vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls, which I used to decorate her bedroom (oh yeah you better believe her room IS decked out in Vintage Strawberry Shortcake!). I searched high and low for ideas for this party. However, most of the Strawberry Shortcake parties out there were of the modern kind and being the vintage lover that I am, the modern one just didn’t cut it for me. I couldn’t find any Vintage Strawberry Shortcake printables or invitations let alone decorations. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and pretty much crafted anything and everything that resembled Vintage Strawberry Shortcake.
From my baby girls dress to the dessert table labels, I absolutely adored crafting all the handmade details that went into this party. I decided to keep the color scheme with the traditional Strawberry Shortcake colors of red, pink, white, and green throughout the party. The first thing I started working on was my daughters birthday dress and accessories. I was so lucky to have found vintage strawberry shortcake fabric from the 80’s on Etsy, so it inspired me to make her birthday dress resemble Strawberry Shortcakes dress, cute little apron and all. I designed and handmade her birthday party cone hat and headband out of this vintage strawberry fabric as well. I found the cutest little green and white striped tights at Baby Gap and crocheted little booties on Etsy.
{image taken with my Iphone}
The invitations I designed, set the theme perfectly. I found a vintage strawberry shortcake birthday card, scanned it at high resolution and made her invitations out of that. My hubby, owner of Polydot Print Specialists, printed and die cut the invitations to match the original birthday card shape. I think they came out berry adorable!
Our berry special guests were greeted by a pretty sign welcoming them the the World of Strawberry Shortcake! My print specialist hubby designed and printed this for me and my lovely bff let me borrow her cute vintage white oval frame.
I set up a table displaying various pictures of my little Abigail’s 1st birthday photo shoot session (also strawberry shortcake inspired!) at Balboa Park in San Diego. I draped a vintage strawberry shortcake bed linen over the table and adorned it with honeycomb decorations.
I also hung these honeycomb decorations throughout my house, super vintage right?
The dessert table was my favorite (and yummiest) part of the party! I wanted desserts that represented each of Strawberry Shortcakes friends. So I channeled the inner baker in me and with the help of my little sis Jessica we whipped up a variety of yummy sweets. We made a Strawberry Shortcake layer cake, mini Lemon Meringue tarts, mini Angel Food cakes, mini Blueberry Muffins, Cherry Cuddler cobblers, Banana Twirl rainbow layer cake, Lime Chiffon chocolate dipped cream puffs, and individual Strawberry Shortcakes in handmade cupcake stands. The main cake was topped with a vintage ceramic strawberry shortcake figurine that I found on Etsy. Other desserts included yummy strawberry cake pops, a smash cake made with a vintage strawberry shortcake cake mold and iced sugar cookies. I displayed these sweets using a variety of milk glass cake stands, cake plates, glass domes, and tiers from our Minted and Vintage collections.
{Strawberry Shaped Cake Pops by Dnichy’s Cakes & Cookies}
{Strawberry Shortcake Iced Sugar Cookies by Giggling Goodies}
{Vintage White Tray from Rent a Tea Party}
I made the backdrop out of party streamers that I sewed down the middle to create a ruffled look then used a vintage strawberry shortcake quilt as my center. Staying with the whole vintage style, I thought the honeycomb pink medallions, white puffs, and red strawberries added an authentic vintage touch! I used my little girls bedroom dresser for the dessert table and assorted vintage side tables.
For the kids tables, I covered them with super vintage strawberry shortcake paper table covers from the 80’s! I didn’t want them to get ruined so I covered them with a plastic tablecloth (hey even covering your tables and furniture with plastic is vintage, my grandma used to do that!).
{Lace dessert stand from Rent a Tea Party}
The place settings on the kids tables consisted of super cute melamine strawberry shaped plates I found at Rite Aid, placed on top of a pretty paper doily. I found the perfect pink with white dot napkins at Party City and just made my own Strawberry Shortcake napkin rings. I found red and pink with white polkadot cups at Shop Sweet Lulu and adorned them with green and white striped paper straws with handmade strawberry print flags.
Each child got a handmade party hat that was handmade by my super creatively talented best friend Dannielle. She made them out of strawberry themed scrapbook papers we found at Michaels, she handmade the medallions and strawberries and placed them over a small doily. I loved the use of lacey doilies throughout the party because they represented Strawberry Shortcakes white apron! The white and green fringe on the hats was made out of crepe paper party streamers that I just stacked, sewed down the middle, and snipped.
For the adult guest tables, I made runners out of a newer fabric that had the vintage strawberry shortcake on it. I stumbled across this fabric at Walmart and purchased the whole bolt because I knew I had to use it for this party!
I purchased super cute pink plates with pink dots (which reminded me of Strawberry Shortcakes hat!) from Shop Sweet Lulu. Each little place setting was topped off with a strawberry box that was handcrafted by my bestie Dannielle Balcazar using this tutorial.
For the centerpieces, I was able to get my hands on vintage honeycomb strawberry shortcake centerpieces from the 80’s from Frans House of Dolls & Toys, so I stuck those in vintage milk glass vases along with flowers that my best friends talented mommy (Mrs. Lily) handmade using ribbon that coordinated the theme perfectly. The arrangements went along side vintage strawberry shortcake dolls (from my little ones collection) and on top of a stack of books. Since each table needed a stack of three books I knew I didn’t want to spend a fortune on vintage books, so I just went to my trusty Dollar Tree and purchased a bunch of books for $1 each. I covered the books by scanning the vintage strawberry shortcake fabric and the red and white polka dot fabric (I used for my babies dress) and printed them on thick paper at my hubby’s shop, Polydot Print Specialists. The green and white striped book cover is actually gift wrap that I found at Party City.
So there you have it! I hope you found my Little Abigail’s Vintage Strawberry Shortcake 1st birthday party as nostalgic and as berry sweet as it was for me! But most importantly I hope it has inspired the inner crafter/decorator/sweets stylist in you. Please let me know if you are thinking of having a vintage strawberry shortcake party for your little shortcake, I would LOVE to see how yours turns out!
P.S. If you are local to Southern California and would like to use some of the elements I used in this party, give me a ring! I have everything I used including strawberry shaped plates, table runners, cake stands, milk glass vases, dolls, etc. and they are all available for rent!
{my little Shortcake & I}
vendor love & resources || Photography: Carolina Tourgeman Photography || Cake stand & vintage rentals: Minted and Vintage | Invitations & welcome sign: Polydot Print Specialists | Disposable party ware: Shop Sweet Lulu | Handmade strawberries & party hats: Dannielle Balcazar | Handmade fabric flowers: Dainty Tutus & Bows | Strawberry cake pops, fondant strawberries, smash cake: D’nichy’s Cakes and Cookies | Iced sugar cookies: Giggling Goodies | Vintage strawberry shortcake décor: Frans House of Dolls and Toys |Honeycomb strawberries: Seasonal Display | White tray & dessert stand: Rent A Tea Party
LOVE,
32 responses to “Vintage Strawberry Shortcake 1st Birthday Party”
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I am literally blown away by this. I am a huge fan of the sweet strawberry shortcake dolls….vintage. I am also a collecter. Serious talent and creativity with this beautiful party…. OMG. Thank you for sharing. I cannot stop looking at it!!!! Amy
Amy.
Aww thank you Amy for your sweet words! I looked forward to that day since the day I found out I was having a girl! I am so happy it was captured in pictures so that I can share it with everyone, hopefully it inspires others to incorporate vintage ssc into their parties! I still collect for my daughter who is turning 2 soon and keeping my fingers crossed that she will love ssc as much as I do when she is older!
What a wonderful job you did! These memories will be beautiful forever for you and for your daughter one day. I also gave my daughter a vintage Strawberry Shortcake party for her 3rd and it was one of my favorites to create. Thank you for sharing your little ones “berry” special day!
Rebecca
You are incredible!!
Thank you Joyce! You are incredible too 🙂 I would love to work with you again soon!
This is *beyond* awesome. I would be thrilled to have that party for ME! You did a stupendous job. Truly.
I know right? I would have loved a vintage strawberry shortcake party for myself as well! Thank you very much for your lovely compliments Ramona!
Beautiful, I have to make those strawberry cakes pops this weekend.
Thank you, I hope they come out great Vanessa!
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I’m glad you found it and bookmarked it! If you have any questions, please ask, enjoy!
OMG!!! This is simply Adorable! AWESOME JOB MOMMY!!!!
You have totally inspired me to do a Shortcake theme for my little girl!
Shortcake use to be my favorie cartoon when I was a child and you have bought back such wondeful memories! Congrats on your creativity!
Thank you Norma, you are very sweet! I am happy that this party has inspired you to do your own, I absolutely LOVE the vintage strawberry shortcake over the modern one. It always brings back such wonderful memories for me as well!
Hello!
I was just planning my son’s 2nd b’day and couldn’t help, but start dreaming of my daughter’s, who is only 8 wks old,first. I told my best friend and go to girl that I sceretly hope she loves ssc. Then, I told her I wanted a vintage party. Low and behold…your party was a mix of the two! I love all the elements of your party and wish you were in the area…I would rent them, but we are in Maine 🙁 So, for the next yr I will be DIYing it up. Would you answer questions on how you did her dress? Did you have a pattern? Also, how did you get the images for the tags on the dessert table? Thanks sooo much! Will show you some pics ehrn it is all done 🙂
Hi!!
Vintage Strawberry Shortcake is my favorite too, the theme of my 1st was strawberry shortcake and that was 31 years ago. And now that I’m planning my little girls 1st bday searching for themes for the party has not been easy since nothing seem unique. Until in my search I decide to look for strawberry shortcake ideas and saw your little girl bday. And I love the theme!! It was beautiful and chic!! I love every detail of it. You’re explanation on how you made everything gives me great ideas!! Thanks 😀
I am also planning on using this theme for my daughter’s 1st birthday in July. I had a few shortcake birthday cakes myself as a kid, with the edible decorations. I live in Illinois, and I’m in love with your party, but don’t have the connections u did!! I’m dying to have a party similiar to this one but not enough funds. Any suggestions? Congrats, and thank you! Please reply to the email given.
Theresa
Such a cute party!!!! Can I ask you where you got the strawberry honeycomb decorations??
Thanks so much 🙂
Hi,
Love what you did for your little girl’s party. I’m planning my daughters’ and it’s been a challenge to find classic strawberry shortacake items. How did you create your own invitations? I would like to do that as I’m trying to save some money that way.
Thank you!
How did you make the dress? I would really like to know?
Hi-
You did a wonderful job, I noticed you mentioned your husband did all the printing on the invintations, he has his own company, was wondering if I could pay you for the same invintations, on it to say Bella Marie, would also like the little cards with the various strawberry and her friends you have in many of the pictures. Please let me know.
Thanks
Hello Leslie,
Thank you for your compliment! Unfortunately, my husband can not print to sell the invitations to customers due to copyright/trademark infringements 🙁 So sorry…
THERE ARE TRUELY GIFTED PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET EARTH !
SIMPLY STUNNING !
THANKS FOR SHARING
Hi I will be having a vintage strawberry shortcake party for my 4 year and I’m intered in checking out adorable things you had for your little one. Im located in Lakewood CA…please let me know if your stuff is still availabe and when I can see it…thank you!
Omg! Beautiful. My baby is turning 1 in Nov and before she was born I wanted to do a Strawberry shortcake theme. Your party looked classy and I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate the other characters. Great ideas. I love your invitations. Would you mind if I do something similar?
Thank u for sharing ur talent! I am trying to do this for my 2 yr this summer! Do u sell the dresses? I loved every detail…so well planned and so full of love to ur cutie pie. Please lead me to figure out how to make the rainbow layer cake? bless u
Oh u might want to take ur address off the invite.
I don’t want to be a downer on your beautiful web site.. But I wanted to let you know that Fran (franshouseofdollsandtoys.com) was my mother.. She passed away four months ago. but I wanted to let you know how proud she was that you mentioned her web site in your beautiful Posting. She was so proud that she was any part of this beautiful party for your daughter.. and I wanted to thank you for giving her that joy.. She was so proud of all her items. And I think thanks to you she quickly sold out of most of the “party ” items.. but we still have alot of Strawberry Shortcake items left. Thank you again for the mention of her site.. Denise (fran’s daughter)
you are so talented; everything looks beautiful. I have a question for you. For the welcome sign, did your husband use an image he found on the web? if so how did he get such a good resolution on the picture or is the image just as he found it?
Thank you
I love strawberry shortcake vintage where did you find the printed tablecloth I want to make my daughters 2nd birthday this summer and I can’t find the original doll
I loved every detail of you daugthers birthday party, you did a wonderful job, thanks for sharing. I am vrry interested in knowing where did you buy the big strawberry doll. Please contact me at 323-300-3000867
What a great party! I am going to do this for my daughter’s 1st birthday theme. I have searched all over for that ceramic birthday cake topper. I can’t find it anywhere!!!
Hello! I’m absolutely adore this party you put together for you little “Shortcake”! I too am putting together a “Original” Strawberry Shortcake party for my little one’s first birthday. I know due to copyright you are unable to sell and/or reprint the fantastic invites you made for customers. So I was just wondering what font you used on the invites. I’ve can’t seem to find one I like as much as the one you used. Again, super cute and fantastic job!!
Loove what you did. Text me 201-955-8671 im throwing a strawberry shortcake party 1yrs old, for oct…