Ideas for 1St Birthday Party

Hello there! My daughter turned one in October and me and my husband too were on a budget I didn't really have a theme I just bought some girly butterfly, flower stuff at Party City. But I only bought the decorative plates and stuff for the little kids she had a lot of older kids there too but we just used plain old paper plates and stuff for everyone else? It's a one year old party so she just played with the other kids her age?? Hope this helps a bit. She is now 15 months old and I am due to have our baby boy in about 3 weeks so I am freaking out!!! She is into so much!! Hope the party goes well and you take care of your babies! :)

How about a four leaf clover theme since you're so "lucky" to have her!? We did everything at our house and Oriental Trading Company has tons of cute, cheap things you can order (online or in the catalog) and it comes in about a week. You can make your own invitations using cut outs. We used butcher paper to decorate the tables. You can get some colored paper at a teacher store or brown paper kids can color on from Home Depot (using the paint drop paper.) That was a very cheap way to have a decoration/activity! We also made some trail mix to snack on- Cheerios, stick pretzels, and M&Ms. We did just plain Cheerios for the babies. I also had people make their own sandwiches (I precut the bread in duck shapes because we had a ducky luau theme.) You can use any cookie cutter. I got the thin sliced meat at the deli and squeezable condiments. I had food for 60 and it cost me $80. I also cut my own fruit for a fruit tray. It was fun and pretty inexpensive!
And congratualtions on being pregnant again!!

I have a party/event coordinating business, if you need any more help please email me! I am trying to build up my portfolio!
A.
____@____.com

hi...I have a two yr old little boy and an 8 mo old little girl...for my son's first birthday we did chuckee cheese...I know what you are thinking...she is not big enough for the games or toys there. Not the case. I don't have many friends w/ kids my sons age...so there were going to be lots of adults and older kids...which do enjoy chuckee cheese. My son played until we drug him out of there. He had just learned to walk a month before...so I was concerned with him falling and hurting himself...they have a toddler section at chuckee cheese which was perfect for his size. Even if you are on a budget, I think this could be feesable. We did not book a party in the party section b/c the price was insane. Instead we brought our own cake and table decorations. you are allowed to set up a party at a table or several tables if you need to, we set up in the toddler section. Chuckee cheese has a first come bases...so if you show up around 11am you are sure to snag a great spot. We set the cake and pizza on one table and the presents on another. We did the same thing for his second birthday...b/c we had such a blast the first time. he absolutely loved it.

I also did my first son's 1st bday party at the house. I made it easy on myself in regards to the food. I ordered Rolly Polly sandwiches....bought chips, gold fish, and sliced strawberries next to grapes. I did spend a bit more on the cake. Aston's on Lovers Lane always does a wonderful job for me on cakes. I had a small round one with colored cirles and the number 1 on it for the bday baby (matched his invitiations that I bought at Target) and then I had another cake in the shape of a "1" with the same type of decorations. I can email you a photo if you like. ____@____.com The cake is always memorable and the baby plays in it - so that was my focus. Everyone had fun just visiting. And other kids played outside or in my son's room.

Hi C.,

The first birthday is so fun! My son had his first last March. There are lots of fun things out there for people to do, but I decided to make it a smaller celebration. We had the party at our house and just invited family. I thought it would be the easiest (and least stressful for the birthday boy) thing to do. We just had finger foods and a cake (along with a baby cake for him). We had it right after naptime - so he would be fresh. Lots of places (we got ours at Target) will give you a free kid size cake for the birthday boy if you tell them it is for a first birthday.

Just remember to take lots of pictures, because she won't remember this day and will love to look at pictures of it later on!

Good luck! Let us know what you decide to do!
C.