First Birthday Themes

[Biscuits & Gravy]

I need inspiration. Have you seen anything/done anything really adorable? I want to keep it simple, but I feel like a birthday party needs a theme of some kind and nothing is jumping out at me. Everything I see seems so typical.

[MommaKitten21]

We did a pirate party for my son's first birthday It was super cute, and it was nice because there was really no way to fall into all the "commercial" stuff

[Paytonsmommy]

I'm not much on themes persay, but we did a pink and brown (polka dots) color scheme as that was her nursery colors...birth announcements, etc. Then, I decorate with all her milestone pics throughout the year(newborn, 3, 6, 9 months, etc.)....birth announcement....plaster footprints...etc. Sort of to focus on the changes throughout the momentous 1st year. Also, her birthday is New Years Eve so we still had up one of our small 4-ft Christmas trees so I decorated it w/pink and brown ribbons, etc. and made paper ornaments with a picture of her each from each of her 1st 12 months.

I guess I always think the party should reflect the child and since at a year they don't necessarily have a "thing" they're into, I went with focusing on her growth over the year.

Is there something your child is really into or loves (a certain book for example). If so, maybe you could center the theme around that. Good luck!

[deditus]

We did ladybug's for dd's first b-day, since her b-day is in the middle of summer. I used a photo card with a lady bug on it for the invite and red and black streams/napkins/etc.

[LaurenAnanas]

One of DD's first nicknames was Fussbot, so we're doing a robot theme. We're not going all out or anything (10 close relatives, only cupcakes and ice cream), but the invitations had robots on them and I got her a cute little robot t-shirt to wear.

The decorations will consist of 3 dozen helium balloons in colors that match her robot shirt. She LOVES balloons!

[elleystar]

When my DS was only 8 mo he just fell in love with an old Max and Ruby book my parents passed along, that I used to read to MY little brothers. We've since gotten him more of the books and they're still a favorite. Anyway, if I had seen this a long time ago, I would have definitely done it for his first birthday!
http://rosemarywells.com/?page_id=800
Ever since I found it I've been really annoyed that I have to wait until April for his next birthday to roll around. We'll definitely be doing a Max and Ruby theme! Love those little cupcake toppers. I'll have to do his healthy banana cake he got at 1 and bake it in muffin liners this next time!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

I agree that the theme should match what they are interested in. So in DS's case should we do an electrical outlet, staircase, and toilet paper theme?

My oldest son's nickname is Monkey, and we did a monkey theme for his first. Keller's nickname is "Rascal". He has an outfit with a raccoon that says "Little Rascal". Maybe I could do a raccoon theme...

[mbm]

DD had a really small party, and it was so hard to find themed stuff at the party stores right before Halloween. So we improvised.

I made vanilla cupcakes decorated to look like panda bears, using vanilla frosting and bits of chocolate Halloween candy to make the face and ears. They came out pretty cute, even if we did have to strip off the candy and most of the frosting for the little ones. These are way cuter than mine, but you get the idea:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ul8VgHojN7...s1600-h/13.jpg

We had pink, black and white crepe paper streamers, "happy first birthday" balloons and some generic party hats. DD had this special hat, sent from grandma:

http://www.rosemarycompany.com/4995.html

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Those panda cupcakes are adorable!! Hmmm...I could maybe adapt those into raccoons. Dontcha think?? What kind of candy did you use? We have to do dairy free, but that is easy enough. I was going to have a cake made, but those actually might be doable.

[BaMo]

We did a rubber duck theme, DS loved taking baths and his rubber ducks. Plus I liked that it was still a babyish type themes.

[SparklingGemini]

DD's first birthday was a star theme. I even made her a dress with coordinating colors and appliqued stars onto it.

Her 2nd birthday was butterflies. Her choice!

[shanniesue2]

We did an "unbirthday party" theme... kind of a crazy tea party... collected crazy and mismatched teacups and teapots... served tea sandwiches... cupcakes instead of a sheet cake... everyone wore a crazy hat... we had an alice in wonderland floor puzzle going and the plan was to have the video going as well, but we couldn't get the DVD player to work with the TV (we were at church, not home)...we asked everyone to bring a $10 and under or regift for a gift exchange (that way everyone got a present since it was everyone's unbirthday). It was a lot of fun

But DS was born on leap day, so he didn't technically have a first birthday... which is why the unbirthday theme worked

[lolar2]

We had a balloon theme. It was a pretty small party, very simple, so the theme was subtle. Basically we used an e-vite with balloons on it, we had the cake decorated with plastic balloons, and the main party activity was that the children played with a bunch of balloons we had blown up and scattered everywhere. It was really cute and we could have gone further with it, if we had felt like it.

[Baby_Cakes]

I just chose DD's favorite characters, even though they didn't match. She loves Elmo and Spongebob. She's soooo not a princess!!! So I just bought the plates, cups, and tablecloth w/Elmo and made her a Spongebob cake. We got some mylar balloons and a Happy Birthday sign.

It was enough that it felt festive but not too overdone.

Party Time!

[notjustmamie]

I also felt like the party should reflect DD's interestes, so we had a "garden party" for her. The cake was a ladybug on the dirt and we had a string of white Christmas lights up with origami flowers on each of the bulbs. I can't remember whether the cups and plates were flowery or just brightly colored.

[PatchChild]

We did the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Caterpillar shaped cake and lots of fruits to eat, since that was what DS wanted anyway. Forget the cake, he chowed down on watermelon.

[kittykat2481]

We did a monkey theme. We used this "stuff" http://www.1stwishes.com/Mod-Monkey-...KitDetail.aspx

and these cupcakes http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/23...e40f047b33.jpg They were banana cake with chocolate icing. Then I used teal and yellow balloons tied to big bunches of bananas as centerpieces. It was a hit, and really fit his personality at the time.

This year he is obsessed with Elmo, so that's what we're planning to do. I haven't really gotten into the party planning yet, although I really need to!

[sunanthem]

ok, hi spammer dragging out 3 year old threads. Go advertise somewhere else, please.

[~Adorkable~]

we decided that our best theme was that it was there first! figured they really weren't into much of anything yet and we had plenty of time for other themes. this was great for pictures too.

we used these things : http://www.birthdayexpress.com/browse/_/N-i/Ntt-Everything+One/results1.aspx?host=www.birthdayexpress.com  we have boy girl twins so we got both packs and had super fun mixing them and then picked out some plain brown ones to be a background. we have chocolate cake with blue and pink dots i have a blast making for them, so it all was super pretty.

this was one of the only times i have gone all pink and blue on them, but it was really nice colors, not pastels and frankly it looked great.

[SamanthaPankey]

Hey a balloon party although seems very simple, when done it will be a fun theme for your little guests. Try this.