Franco Turns 1!

It isn't everyday your one-and-only nephew turns 1!  For Franco's farm-tastic party, I made barn buntings!  Well, I did it with a bit of help from Lex, and a really helpful stranger.

And here's the finished workshop drying over at the Craft MNL workshop.

So I made this design with the original intention of having it laser cut onto light blue and red pieces of paper.  My sister-in-law is an interior designer, and so she had his color-themed party all set up.  Thing is, I ran into a bit of trouble with having the paper either lasercut or plotter-ed.  So I went to the next best thing--screen printing!

The screen printing spread on the left, and Jeric, a really nice stranger who happened to be there (and who also happened to have 15 years of commercial screen printing experience on his belt).

I did the drill: prepared my design, and sent it over to Andrei and Sheina of Hocus (with my profuse apologies for having a last-minute screen burning request).  They had the screen ready in no time though, and so Lex bought some red textile paint, I cut up some extra canvas I had, and we were ready to roll.

As I prepped the table and laid out the stuff, a stranger who had been spray painting outside happened to settle on our half-door.  Feeling a bit self-conscious (as I'm hardly a pro at screen printing), I started up a bit of conversation.  Turns out the stranger's name was Jeric, and he had been helping out at his family's screen printing business for quite a long time already.  And being the helpful person that he is, he gave Lex and I some pointers that turned out some pretty nice prints.

At the farm at Hahndorf.  Franco's buntings are strung up on the side.

So fast-forward to Franco's party.  :-)  It started out to be a cold and rainy day, but it soon got brighter and sunnier.

The goodie bags Shar prepared, and the toy balloons Eleanor brought (that were awesomely shaped by some of Franco's guests).

Mum prepared her special pancit (cellophane noodle dish), and poses with Clarisse on the left.  A view of the open field facing the shed at the Hahndorf Farm.

Hahndorf is about a 20-minute drive from my brother's area in Adelaide.  It's a German settlement with a main avenue lined with quaint shops.  I loved the fact that Franco's party was at a farm!  The kids had an awesome time with the animal show, and getting up close to our furry (and woolly and feathery) friends!

The birthday boy in a semi-serious moment on the left.  And on the right, Franco poses with Daddy and the tiny pony!

Geez.  The thought of my older brother having a little boy who just turned one is kind of...nostalgic.  He's such a happy baby too (my nephew, not my brother), so Mart and Shar are doing a fantastic job of raising such an adorable little boy.  :-)

"Happy 1st Birthday Franco" spelled out on the most amazing tasting lemon tarts I've ever, ever had.  And a snapshot of inside the barn, in the area where the chickens run around.

Birthday cupcakes on the left, and on the right--our woolly friends huddle to stay warm.  The lambs are such cuties!

Mum swipes a lemon tart from the tray, not knowing they spelled out Franco's birthday greeting (those lemon tarts were that good).  And Franco leans in to his cupcake candle as Mart and Shar blow out the flame.

Franco's guests spend time with our feathered friends on the left, Eleanor and Tom after marathon barbecuing on the right.

It was an awesome way of turning 1.  And I'm really happy that the family was nearly complete, and in attendance for it.  Later that evening, we Skyped with Dad and Lex in Manila.

Dad saying hello, and Franco telling Lolo "I'm 1!".

Handmade goodies can make an occasion quite lovely, but it's the love that weaves the occasion into one that imprints itself onto your ♥.