Every birthday counts, especially the first.
And for the past 365 days, I could not find the perfect words for how grateful I am to God for giving me this little one that has lit up one corner of my gloomy life daily and illuminated my whole world for the whole year round. And this day has finally come (her birthday was December 24), and my daughter has officially turned one. Just like any mother who is about to celebrate their baby's first birthday, I am just as excited as they are.
But unlike any other typical birthday party (there was not even a party that happened in the first place), like this one that we previously attended, we celebrated it in the most simple yet special way I could ever think of.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with spending money on stuff for a baby's birthday to be extra special because it is a memorable milestone in everyone's life that we only get to experience once. As they say, you can always make money, but not memory. But for me, instead of spending money on a customized birthday tarpaulin, I thought of why not do it on my own with a touch of the love of course, by painting it instead.
And why not? Of course, it would be hypocritical of me to say that I wanted to save money and not waste even a single drop of my penny by paying it for tarpaulin. But I also don't want her special day to pass without shading it a colorful memory worth remembering.
And so I colored it, literally.
And yes, this way, I could not just customize it by painting on my own, but it's also my way of showing how I wanted to give back to her, with my personal touch, the brilliant colors she has painted on the dull canvas of my world since the first day of my magical glimpse of her. With this unused sack of flour from Mama's closet, acrylic paint, and a brush, I was able to create a masterpiece of my love's token for the brightest star that came into my night, my daughter.
Now let me show you how this simple sack of flour has been added with a touch of colors of the warm love I so wanted to paint for her.
Step 1:
I prepared all the materials needed from what is available at our home. Thankfully, I still have acrylic paints and a single brush available here because almost all of my art materials are left in the city.
Step 2:
I started the layout using a pencil as my guide. It was just a simple lettering of "happy birthday" which would whisper to her little ear the soft voice of how much she means to me.
Step 3
I used different colors for each word because I thought if I will make it more colorful, the happier it would look.
Step 4:
This time, I added her name, as it is exclusive to her of course.
Step 5:
And then what else could make it look more festive and colorful? So I added painting the balloons, flowers, and stars. So far I was happy with how it came out and then I call it done.
And so we celebrated her first birthday! There may be no big party with games and clowns, and all that stuff, but it's the happiness that was reflected in her eyes that make her special day big.
