Our son’s first birthday was this past week, so of course we threw him a party. And by him, I mean us. While I’d love to think he would specifically remember the pretty decor and the first taste of cake, he won’t. But we enjoyed it, and he will have a lot of cute pictures to check out later in life. So it was worth it.
With his natural curiosity, and his vintage airplane room, the idea for the party theme came easy – an explorer theme.
- Favors: I ordered binoculars and safari hats from Amazon.
- Decor: Initially I wanted to have all blues and greens for the decor, but JoAnn’s had these great customizable banners on sale, so I snatched them up and went with all colors. The tablecloths and napkins were from the Dollar Tree, and decor came from JoAnn’s, Tuesday Morning and Five Below (plus items from home). I took a sheet of chalkboard-covered pasteboard and stuck each monthly picture of our son on it to see his progression from month 1 to month 12. I also made a chalkboard-style poster all about his milestones and favorites.
- Food: We opted to have the party at the local ice cream shop we love. The cupcakes came from an amazing local bakery, the fruit and snacks were from Costco.
It was pretty basic. Everyone ordered ice cream, we all watched him grimace, and then dig in to his own bowl of birthday cake ice cream AND THEN a cupcake, because we’re insane. It was so funny watching him pick at the cupcake at first, and then stick a little finger in it, and then drop his face straight into it. Eventually each finger, some hair, and most of his face were covered in frosting. Then we opened presents and called it a day.
This is so cute! You are such a creative mom.
Aw thank you! Party planning might just be my love language 😉
Looks like such a fun party. Even if he doesn’t remember it, it will be great for you to have the memories and pictures.
Thanks so much! Very true.
This is so cute! I especially love the little explorer hats 🙂
Thank you! Aren’t they cute?? They were a hit 😉
Cute idea!!!! I have been looking for something for my 2 year olds party! This is great~
Thank you! This was super fun! And pretty easy to play around with.
What a cute birthday!! I love the cupcakes!
Thank you so much! They were delicious…and we still have some left 😉
Adorable! Planning birthday parties is a lot of fun for us mom’s too 🙂
It can definitely be more fun for us than for them – as was the case in this one! 🙂
This is so adorable. My daughter turns one in two days. I wish we had decided to do a party. But alas we lives 3,000 miles from the closet relative so we just did a fun smash cake photo session instead. This party looks like so much fun! I am so wishing for next year to hurry up so I can plan a great party like this one.
Thank you so much! Aww, congratulations! That means we were going through the same things at about the same time 😉 Smash cake photos are SO cute!! Hopefully you’ll get to throw a big bash next year.
This is so adorable!
Thank you! 🙂
This is so fun! I love the colors, and I even more love the idea to have it at an ice cream place – no pressure for dealing with things at your own house, and ice cream is always going to be a win (that’s why I did a pie-themed 1st bday – can’t go wrong if you just offer people a bunch of sugar, ha!). Love that aerial shot of the cupcake – sounds like he had fun 🙂
And I totally agree the party is kind of for you – we used the 1st birthday party as a fun excuse to have a BBQ with all of our friends (there were very few kids there even), but it was also fun to gather all the people who had supported us or been around in that first year. That’s what we’ll remember!
Thanks so much! It was going to be blue and green – but then I found the decorations on sale, and it just kind of became everything 😉 It was so nice not to have it in the house. Oh my gosh, pie-themed!! We might have to do that next year. So good! Love the idea of having friends who supported you in the past year, too. We kept ours mostly family, but I think I’d like to have a separate party just for us, for surviving 😉
Awww, I remember this like it was yesterday with my kids. First birthdays are so much fun. I needed a photo of baby eating the cupcake though!
They totally are! He was so cute about the cupcake. He wouldn’t touch it at first…then poked at it…then grabbed…then just flat stuck his face in it. Priceless.