There is something about a 1 Year old birthday…This is the birthday that sets the stage for all the birthdays to come. I know you’re probably thinking – are you for real? The first birthday party is really for the adults and the child will only remember this from looking at pictures when he is older. For me – This was to be a small gathering my closest friends and family. My kids are 4 years apart – so my daughter is a total “helper”. She wants to be involved in everything when it comes to her brother and likes to play a big role in anything that pertains to him. For instance when he was born we had a bris (that by default turned into a happy hour for our nearest and dearest 100 plus friends!), Sami renamed it her “Big Sister Party”!
So when it came time to planning Max’s party – I turned to Sami for advice on what she thought we should have at his party: Glitter Tattoos, The cool lady who makes tiaras out of pipe cleaners, a bouncy castle and tons of candy and ice cream! Mind you Max doesn’t walk yet, wont keep anything on his head let alone a crafty hat, breaks out from even the most sensitive of creams and possibly has a milk allergy – so there you have it – Sami will now have 2 birthday parties this year – although Max’s name will be on the birthday banner and there will be no pink!
I’ve been blessed to have 2 summer babies – so usually parties for me tend to be planned for the outdoors. Outdoor parties sound great in theory – however I NEVER seem to have any luck with weather. Lets see..Sami’s first birthday party which was an all out pool party soiree with a huge jumpy castle, catered bbq etc. was rained out because of a hurricane like rain storm….Fast forward to her 3rd birthday – we decided to try it again – and yup – Mean Irene crashed her day. Oh and then there was the BCM Biggest Baby Shower Event that Hurricane Sandy decided to take on NYC..So to say that the weather gods are not on my side is an understatement! So – the forecast was RAIN RAIN RAIN! We were in the midst of a major heat wave – I’m talking temps in the high 90’s! While my husband was freaking out telling me to plan a trip to Michaels to get some indoor activities – I was praying and holding out! My only saving grace was that it was camp visiting day weekend for so many sleep away camps and I knew that it just couldn’t rain on their parade! While it didn’t rain – it was about a zillion degrees – so it was a good thing that this was a pool party!
I went with a nautical theme – colors were very patriotic – after all he was born in July so those colors were readily available in all the stores. Being that I plan events for a living and I love to get crafty and pinterest and etsy are my obsessions (besides amazon prime!) my options were endless and I wanted to make everything that I saw. I made fishbowl cakepops that proceeded to melt because of the heat – I joked that the fishies swam away…and my color coordinated balloons all started to deflate from the heat and I pretty much had to nix any and all dips/cheeses… But in the long run everything came out great.
I went a little overboard – surfing the web late night can do that to you – I spent hours tying napkins with lifesavers , made candy sushi, jello pools with gummy sharks, separated colors of gummy bears to make the perfect layered candy jars.
I found some great resources on the internet – shopsweetlulu.com has great party accessories – I found an amazing cookie designer sweet goosie girl who customized cookies to max’s theme and a bunch of great finds on etsy – all resources are below.
Have you ever gone overboard on your child’s party? Have any great resources to share? Let us know!
Sweet Goosie Girl
WhenIWasYourAge.com
Sprinkles Cupcakes
Your Cupcake Story
Paper Polaroid
Nuts.com