The first prop we want to talk about are the helium Balloons. This versatile prop goes a long way in any photoshoot and is relatively cost effective, as long as you dont try and get too many balloons. Mizelle’s mother Yolanda organised about ten balloons in this case , which costs less than 150 rand. She also sourced the basket as an extra here, as she wanted it to look like Mizelle was in her own personal hot air balloon.

This part of the DIY photoshoot props is a really simple thing to do and really looks great in the photos. Mizelle purchased three boxes the same size , you can find them at postnet for example, and wrapped them in pink wrapping paper. You can of course just as easily do this in Blue for a boy. Then she got three wooden letters from a craft store. A great place to find these close by is My China.

She opted to paint them with a poster paint and make them pink, but you can also leave them a natural wood colour. Then all you need to do is glue them to the box and they make these pretty blocks as you see in the photos.

Yolanda brought along some material flowers and little metal buckets to finish off her look, and then improvised with some of Mizelles fluffy toys that she already had available. The best thing about DIY 1st birthday photoshoot props is you probably have a lot of items you can use in the photoshoot already. Favourite toys, bubbles, building blocks and stuffed toys and fluffy blankets all go a long way to creating the kind of atmosphere you are looking for in your photos.