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First Birthday Party IdeasThe first birthday party features highlights from your child's life over the past year and is a great family-and-friends celebration. Resources: Invitations Make your first birthday party invitations unique. Go to a print shop. Hand them a picture of your baby's favorite toy. Then ask them to create a black-and-white image of it. Next, get them to create folded invitations. The idea is to have the black-and-white toy image on the front of the invitation cards.As a side note: you can build your party theme around that toy. For example, you can place the toy in the middle of the party table as a centerpiece. Plus, you can ask your guests to bring their children's favorite toys to the party. (Just be sure they get them back at the end...)Write "Guess Who's Birthday It Is" on the front of the cards under the toy image. Then include party details on the inside, as well as other fun images (stars, toys, etc.) in black and white. When your guests receive the invitations, they can color them with their kids as they would color coloring books. (This would obviously work best if their kids are slightly older.)As an alternative, you can simply glue a picture of your child on the front of the invites instead. In this case, write "Vital Statistics" on the inside, and include the party details underneath.Decorations Decorate your house with balloons and streamers. Preferably, have them in such colors as baby blue (for a boy's birthday) or pink (for a girl's birthday). Spread out toys and baby accessories (e.g., diapers, teethers, etc.) around the area. Place your child's favorite toy in the middle of the party table as a centerpiece (see "Invitations" above).Cover the walls with pictures of your baby. You can also add popular cartoon posters. Create a banner that says "I'm One" or "It's a Boy/Girl" and hang it in the party room.If you wish, cut out tiny footprints and tape them to a walkway leading to your front door. Tie some balloons at the entrance.Your first birthday party decorations will help you create a special feel for your celebration. Favors For party favors, give out such items as cute teddy bears, kiddie star sunglasses, birthday bubble solutions, cone hats with "I'm One" written on the front. You can also fill goodie bags with fun removable tattoos, stickers, and coloring books. *Guess Who?: Ask adults to bring their pictures when they were around the age of one. Keep photos out of sight until game time. Then tape pictures one by one on the wall (or pass them around), and have everyone match pictures to the guests in attendance. Get a poster or picture of a donkey, or draw one yourself. (You can also buy game kit from a party store.) Before the event, cut enough "construction paper" tails for each guest. At game time, blindfold them one by one and have them pin the tail on the donkey! *Time capsule: This first birthday party activity has become very popular. *Sing-Alongs: Invite your guests to sing first birthday songs. It's a fun way to involve little kids. Have parents act out the words with their babies as they sing them. *Photo-Session: Take pictures of the guests with their children. These can provide nice mementos for years to come. Develop and send pictures with thank-you notes to everyone after the party. Food and Drink Baby First Birthday Cakes - Cupcakes: Since everything "small" fits the party theme, why not go with cupcakes instead of a traditional cake. You'll need a cupcake mix, frosting and decorator gel.Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the box, or experiment with your own recipe. When the cakes cool down, decorate them in colors that match your partyware. Use decorator gel to add number "1" on top. If you're looking for a "regular" cake option, here is a creative Baby Carriage cake that I like.First Birthday Party Food Ideas:
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