One year came and went with the birth of our first baby. Our son has been the biggest delight of our lives. We thought we had everything until we added this little nugget to the family. Even though he’s nearly 1.5 years old now I’m just getting around posting about his first birthday party. So here we go!
Let me first start off by saying that first birthday parties should really be for the parents. I mean, we raised a happy child for 365 days! We’re the ones to be celebrated. Am I right parents?!
Anyways, so we decided on a “Wild One” theme. I knew I did not want a jungle or Where The Wild Things Are vibe so I kind of just diy’d things and hoped they would all come together. I guess if there was a vibe it was sort of an adventure theme.
Food: Because of the adventure vibe we had a bake potato bar. My husband side of the family is Filipino so his family members brought a bunch of Filipino food as well. I know, doesn’t exactly go with the theme but food makes people happy so who’s gonna complain?
Dessert: My aunt in-law does an amazing job at cookies so she provided the cutest cookies. Not only are they cute but they taste amazing. Weird analogy but they’re like Doritos. You can never just eat one.
Smash Cake: I opted out of buying a fancy cake and I just made a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. I figured he was just going to smash it so what’s the point in spending a lot of money. I did try to spruce it up by making my own cake topper which for the amateur crafter I am I think came out pretty good.
My parents purchased the adult cake. They chose a chocolate ganache cake with powdered chocolate and chocolate shavings as it best represents a log. My parents also provided the redwood log rounds that the desserts sat on. They live on 30 acres in the redwood mountains. I felt like they really made the whole table come together.
Activities: there was a swimming pool for kids to enjoy, card games for those who just wanted to sit and relax, then someone had the great idea of starting beer pong (good job husband) at a first birthday party but people wanted to play so why not. We didn’t offer too much entertainment since mostly everyone just wanted to sit and chat.
DIY Items: all diy’d items were made with my Silhouette Cameo 3. I created arrows, feathers, and teepees for cupcake toppers. I hot glued them to toothpicks and stuck them in store bought cupcakes. Added a little extra to some Safeway cupcakes.
Besides cookies and a cake topper I was determined to have a balloon arch. Again, wasn’t willing to spend a fortune so I made one myself. I purchased this balloon tape from amazon and these green balloons (I couldn’t find darker balloons on amazon for some reason). It made the balloon arch so easy! The hardest part was blowing up the balloons. I recommend not using a hand pump as there were over 100 balloons. My arms were sore the next day. I used command hooks to hold the balloons in place on the wall. For a budget it came out decent.
For the presents area I made 1-12 monthly banner and attached the monthly photo via a clothes pin and some double sided tape. I had my Silhouette draw out the numbers and I had my husband fill them in with a black marker.
For the birth stats and welcome sign my sister made them since I was extremely overwhelmed with trying to finalize everything. So props to Auntie coming in with the final touches!
I was inspired to make at least one table look Pinterest worthy. The room we rented was so large that I realized I was only able to decorate one area/table. I feel pretty accomplished for having done all this while dealing with a one year old.
Congratulations to all the parents who are celebrating their little ones first birthday! Enjoy the moments for what they are because one day we’re going to miss them when they’re this little.