Sunday, June 12, 2011

Party Planning

You guys, I have a confession.

I am really excited about planning Jayden's first birthday party.

I know it's early.

But, I can't help myself!!

I may or may not already be working on his party invitations.

So....I thought I would ask all of you...

What is the coolest thing you've ever seen at a birthday party? It doesn't have to be something grand (let's face it, I don't have the money for grand.) Just something you thought was a nice touch.

The kind of thing that made you think- Oooh, I want to use that someday.

Or do you have a great party planning website?
(I have taken a little look at pinterest and will probably be fully sucked into it soon.)

I do have an idea for how I want to use his monthy pictures. (Or at least I know that I do want to use them.)

But other than that, I don't know. I can't even decide on a theme!

I don't want to go overboard, but I do want it to be something special. I already know we're having at at my parents' house. I looked into what it would cost to do it at the zoo...yikes...maybe when he's older. But, I am excited about having it at my parents' house and this way we can do all the cooking.

I am considering making his cake. I always imagined I would, but these days it's hard to fit in the time to cook even a simple meal. I have not done any real cake decorating in over 9 months. I was thinking of maybe trying to do cake pops for the first time to go along with the cake.

So, as you can see, I need help. Any ideas you have would be great!! I know so many of my twitter and bloggy friends are way more creative than me!

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Update: I officially have first birthday party fever. I have been having so much fun following all of your links and getting ideas! Thank you so much!!! Keep your ideas coming!

14 comments:

  1. He totally need his own cake to smash!

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  2. OMG Lisa, it is never to soon to plan a kiddo's birthday party. I start thinking of ideas like 4 months out. If you're choosing a theme, like the Zoo then really embrace it. If you have a big stuffed animal put a camera next to it, even put it in a cage and get a picture with each guest and the animal, because 1 year olds? Not the best at posing for 1000 pics!? Then you could have food that looks like what animals would eat, like pretzel sticks as hay for the elephant (with a pic of an elephant next to the bowl). And some leafy greens or salad next to the hippo. I'm totally planning your party in my head right now! I LOVE me a good party theme!

    I'm sure it will all be wonderful!

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  3. I really liked what Jess, over at The Macs, did for her son Levi's first b-day. Here is her post with all the details. Can't believe he's closing in on a year! Wow!

    http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/2011/01/one-year-old-in-flash-party-details.html

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  4. I started planning my daughter's first birthday party three months ahead of time, and we had a huge party (hay ride, bonfire, pony, barbecue...the works). Seriously, though, it was a blast. I love big first birthday parties. Good luck planning Jayden's! I'm sure it will turn out perfectly :)

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  5. We were so disorganized we didn't even have a proper 1st birthday so this year we're having a 2 yer b-day at the end of July at a local park/pool AFTER nap time ... around 4. We'll have bavarian smokies for the adults, hotdogs for the kiddos, fruit, veg, beer. wine, pop and cupcakes. Cake pops sound wonderful but I am a terrrrrrrrible baker. The park is great for all ages and there are picnic tables all over. Anyway, I'm not a lot of help. You really just need an awesome photo of Jay with chocolate icing ALL OVER HIS BODY :)!

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  6. I'm excited for you too! I can't believe he's already coming up on a year! I hope you get some great ideas, so that I will know what to do in January :)

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  7. My friends have started a tradition at first birthday parties. They buy a set of plain wooden blocks and some sharpies, and each party guest writes a blessing or a hope or prayer on the block for the child. As part of the party people o around and read their block. Then your little one will have a fun set of blocks to play wiht forever and as he gets bigger her will e able to see how loved he is at this moment and to know what people hoped for him. If we ever get our miracle baby - I want to do this. Your little one is such a cutie pie x

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  8. I have no experience planning kids' birthday parties, but I've come across a blog dedicated to it. http://www.partylikeakid.com

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  9. Ummm, you are totally not alone! I have been thinking of Dylan's 1st birthday for months now, and he's not even 8 months old LOL. I've already decided on a Cat in The Hat theme, and already bought favors. I love the idea from the poster above about the blocks, I am definitely going to do that!

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  10. Oh I love parties!!

    You can check my blog and see my nephews 1st birthday that I planned. It was Mickey Mouse but the set up could easily be changed to any theme. Most of it was easy stuff from Walmart and craft projects I made using my Cricut Cutter.

    http://www.sillynessabounds.blogspot.com/

    My friend also did a cute "Mr. Birthday" party

    http://thebrackblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/birthday-party.html

    I also second Jess's party for Levi over at "The Macs"

    Some favorite party blogs of mine

    http://alittleloveliness.blogspot.com/

    http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/

    http://pisforparty.blogspot.com/

    http://littlesooti.blogspot.com/

    http://katelandersevents.blogspot.com/

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  11. Have him in nothing but a diaper when he gets the cake. Otherwise, you will regret it... Actually, you won't regret anything. It will be lovely.

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  12. OMG i am totally excited about georges first birthday too! we already have everything mentally planned, all that is left now is the CAKE! i too am going to make the cake, not sure what yet we were thinking maybe of her favorite toy...
    cant wait to hear more about what you will be dong xox

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  13. I always said that I would never make a big deal out of my kid's first birthday party. They won't remember it, right? Hahaha. Yeah. It's going to be a big deal! I already know I am going to make this cake. It is SO SO awesome.

    http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/rainbow-cake/comment-page-7/#cr

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  14. Thanks for the nice comment! I had a lot of fun with Kyler's party. I thought of the Mr. Men theme and just ran with it. And I too started thinking about things way in advance. I only wish I had done more of the preparations that far in advance. We were showing/selling our house at the time of his actual birthday and had just wrapped up tax season (I'm a tax accountant). Good luck and let me know if you need any ideas or help!

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