For Baby’s first birthday, I wanted to throw him a really fun party. My sister’s parties are always amazing, especially my niece’s recent Frozen extravaganza. So right away, I knew I needed to lower the bar in my head because I am not super crafty.
I still had to start somewhere, so I typed “first birthday party” into Pinterest. That was a mistake. Scrolling down, I started to feel really overwhelmed. I (eventually) closed the page and went back to square one. I sat down with my husband to talk about what we wanted.
We hoped that the party would be a memorable way to celebrate Baby turning one. We wanted to be surrounded by family and friends, and for them to all have a good time. To achieve this, we needed food. Feeding people is really the key part of any good time, and it doesn’t even need to be anything fancy. We scheduled the party for 10:30 a.m. because that’s when Baby is most alert and happy. Deciding to serve brunch was the obvious next step.
Brunch was perfect because it was simple and very toddler friendly. With lots of help from Baby’s grandmas and great grandma, we served bagels with lox, cream cheese, and other toppings, apple kugel, fruit, and an egg casserole. For the little ones, we had pouch purees, applesauce, and mum-mums, plus sippy cups available at the drink counter (next to champagne glasses for mimosas ~ orange juice for all!). On the sweets table we had cake, puppy chow, Annie’s gluten free vanilla and chocolate bunnies, and plain and frosted animal crackers.
My husband’s favorite part was the mini cereal boxes (his own Pinterest find). I loved that guests could use the boxes as a bowl, something my husband had never heard of before. I was shocked. I had a hidden stash of bowls just in case others also questioned the box-bowl method. Apparently the stash was too secret or all of the other food was too tempting, because most of the boxes were still around after the party.
The overall theme was “Pajama Party,” because the year had revolved around Baby’s sleep. A few weeks in advance we sent out paper invitations. We never sent out birth announcements, so it was nice to send these out to far away family and friends just for fun. We ordered them from Shutterfly and were really happy with how they looked and how fast they were delivered. Of course, they included a note for everyone to come in their PJ’s to help celebrate!
Reading books has always been part of our nap and bedtime routines, so instead of giving out goody bags, I sent each kiddo home with a few new books. I went to our library’s used book stores and cleaned out their children’s sections. The books were only $0.25-$2.00 each, and I was able to find a variety of stories for the different ages of kids coming to the party.
In addition to the pajama party theme, we used a bright color scheme. We covered folding tables with bright plastic tablecloths and taped them up so busy toddler hands couldn’t pull anything off. We put out index cards out for guests to write a note for Baby to read when he turns 18. We put all of the notes and Baby’s birthday cards into a “Time Capsule” envelope to save for the next 17 years.
My favorite decoration was the ribbon on Baby’s high chair. I measured how long I wanted the ribbon to be, cut one piece, and then used that piece as a pattern to cut the rest. Once all the pieces were cut, I used a lighter to singe the ends of each piece so they wouldn’t unravel. I layed out all of the pieces and used a glue gun to attach them to the top ribbon. Finally, I used removable double sided poster tape to attach it all to the high chair.
Combining some examples from Pinterest, I made a poster highlighting some of Baby’s milestones and favorite things at 12 months old. I found a fun happy face bulletin board trim in the Dollar Spot at Target to frame the poster. My handwriting is far from perfect, but I loved playing with the different colors and making it myself.
For the kids, we set up a ball pit in a plastic baby pool. The balls ended up everywhere, but I loved the color that they added to the room. We also set up Baby’s ExerSaucer, opened up like an S so that a few kids could play with it at a time. Add in food and lots of people, and it seemed like the kids were entertained the entire time.
In my final rush to clean up before everyone arrived, my mom helped me save some time with an amazing piece of advice: Vacuum after the party. She said the floors are only going to get dirty at the party, so clean them after everyone leaves. No one will notice if the floors aren’t sparkling, and there’s really no need to clean them twice. Her tip turned out to be especially true for us. It rained the day of the party and a good amount of mud was tracked in. Thank you, Mom!
It was so wonderful to be surrounded by friends and family to celebrate Baby’s birthday. The party itself went by so fast, but I hope that everyone who came had a blast. The effort we put into it was totally worth it. I’m happy we threw a party that was perfect for our family!
How did you celebrate your baby’s first birthday?
Don’t sell yourself short! The party was amazing and VERY creative! I was impressed. ~your big sister ; )
Thanks Birthday Queen!
This is adorable! I love decorating for parties!
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I love what you did for your little guy’s first birthday party! It looked amazing. The Baby Poster is awesome!
Your hubby hadn’t heard of the whole make the box into a cereal bowl thing?! It’s a camper’s delight!
My oldest daughter had a small, simple party with mostly family. We went basic with the decor… flowers instead of balloons, a homemade cake. I also made a fabric Happy Birthday table cloth (each of my girls have their own) and every year we write birthday messages on it with fabric pens.
My youngest I went a little crazy on (I shared a lot on my blog about her party). I went with a retro theme and I made Little Golden Books bunting and hung monthly “anniversary” photos of my baby girl. I loved how it turned out.
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
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Awww, those all sound so sweet! I love the birthday table cloth idea. What a wonderful keepsake to preserve and share memories and sweet birthday wishes. I may copy this one next year…
I love Little Golden Books because they remind me of when I was a child. I definitely need to hunt down the birthday post!
i love reading about all your creative ideas! what a great time everyone must have had. your decorations were amazing…
see you and baby VERY soon!
xox
What an amazing and creative birthday party! I love the pj’s and brunch and the books!
Happy, Happy (belated) birthday to your special little guy, it looks like he quite enjoyed himself at his party and that makes me happy.
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Thank you for your sweet birthday wishes! We had a really fun time
I just signed up for Influenster today… heading over to check out your post!
Happy Birthday Baby!
You did a great job Mom. I can’t remember my kids first birthday party and had to go back (to my blog) to find out. Giving books as lootbags is a great idea as kids always have enough candies and toys. Can never have enough books.
Besos, Sarah
Blogger at Journeys of The Zoo
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