***Need Advice from Creative Moms****!!!

My favorite goodies from parties that my children have received in the past aren't goodie bags full of "stuff", but one special thing....books are great and you can usually find an inexpensive book that ties in with your theme. Another fun party favor my child received was a bubble blowing set (a huge plastic container full of fun bubble blowers and bubble stuff). You can usually find one fun item for around $3 to $6 (which is what you would probably spend on each child's goodie bag anyway). In the past, I have wrapped up a book or tied a decorative ribbon around the item with a computer printed note attached to it from the birthday girl (thanking the guest for coming to her party). I love it when my kids come home with something that they will love to use instead of a bag of candy and Oriental Trading stuff that breaks in 1 day....good luck and have fun! Hope your little girl enjoys her party!

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oh my gosh!
i have a lot of good ideas! i tear out really cool things from magazines that i see that i like and keep them in a
3-ring binder with birthday ideas!
my husband and i have a 3 1/2 year old girl and i love the theme we did for her first birthday party!
please give me a phone call ( ###-###-#### ) and i can give you tons of ideas for a baby's first birthday party! we did a "yellow" theme for our little girl....and i've kept all the stuff too...or you can pick any color really. then for her 2nd b-day we did polka-dots and bouncy balls! and her 3rd birthday this past may was a "messy art party" out in our front yard! i love coming up with themes and planning out kid's parties. please give me a phone call and i'd love to help! the 1st birthday is really more for the parents and family any way (as the kid doesn't quite know what's going on just yet!!) it's a celebration for the parents, the special child, and the family to celebrate that first amazing and miraculous year of changes!! call me and we can plan something awesome!
S.
ph#: ###-###-####

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Just a tip- Publix gives a free "personal" cake to one year olds if you order the "big" cake with them and their cakes are yummy! (My Sabrina will be 1 on March 21!)

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For both of my chidren's first birthdays I had everyone that came to the party to write a one-line Birthday Wish for my child. Ex. My first was an Elmo theme and I found some cute elmo note pads that I used for goodies. (I had mostly adults at my party.) I saved one and that is what I had everyone write their wish on. After the party I made a collage (sp.) with the wishes and put it in his baby book. Also if you are purchasing your birthday cake from a local grocery store (I know bi-lo will because that's where I get my cakes from) will give you a free small cake or cupcake for your child for his first birthday (for him to "play in"). Also you can find some really cool and inexpensive stuff for goodie bags at the dollar store. If I were you I would not worry to much about games unless there are going to be several children at your party because believe me the adults HATE to participate. Also keep in mind that adults can entertain themselves as long as they have good food and good company (they're just there because they love your child, and want to share this monumental occasion). If you are having quite a few children at the party and want to have games and crafts check online and your local library for party books. They have some cool ideas for almost every theme. To keep the cost down, try your local craft store (like Michael's and AC moore)and the dollar store, and make your own decorations, party favors, etc. Oh yeah, bubbles and balloons are great too. I know both of my boys loved those at one. Good Luck! Hope this helps.

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I had a shower for a friend this summer and purchased various colored baby bottles with the same color lids. I Filled them with Skittles and M&M's, then put bows around them. They were a hit. Many of the girls had other small children so the candy did not go to waste!

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Hi! We did a "Rock Star" theme for our son's first. The invite looked like a backstage pass to a concert with a lanyard. "Austin and His Noisy Toys" was the band name, and we listed "tour dates" for whatever upcoming trips we had planned at the time. I just laminated something I worked up on the computer, punched a hole, and attached a lanyard from the office supply store. I had star decorations and star lanterns as well as balloon bouquets in light and dark blue and a cake decked out in stars. I used stars and those two shades of blue to keep the visual theme in decorations, napkins, everything really. We gave CDs we made using iTunes with 50's rock and roll music as favors (fun songs that kids like to move around to) and had that playing during the party. Our son got a bunch of fun themed gifts from the family, like toy guitars and drums, even a Harley rocking "horse." The whole thing was really quite easy, a lot of fun, and Austin is still known as the "rock star" of the family. :) It's not a very "baby" theme (we've never really been that type), and I see that you have a little girl, but I thought a new idea might get your creative juices flowing. If this theme does sound fun to you, let me know and I'll be happy to send along some of the stuff we did (invite, etc.)

I completely second the recommendation to get someone else to take a bunch of pictures - you'll definitely be too distracted! If you're looking for a really special cake, we had Matty Cakes in Midtown (http://www.mattycakes.com/) do our cake - it had two layers and we used the top layer as his "mush" cake. I can't recommend them enough if you're looking for something special. In retrospect, we absolutely could have done something simpler for the cake - it was amazing and looks great in the pictures, but we had so much leftover! It was a great cake for a first, special birthday, but we'll tone it down a bit next time, I'm sure. Good luck to you! Happy birthday, little one!

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Birthday theme related sippy cups, baby cookies or other baby snacks (the Gerber stages stuff they make fruit snacks, cookies, and cereal bars).

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join toys r us birthday club. or go online. they sent me a booklet about first b-day.

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