Location: Originally from the Home of the only 6 times Super Bowl Champs!
Posts: 12,099
Daughter's 1st Birthday
I cant believe my baby will be a yr. old next month!!!
We want to have a party for her with just my family--should be7 adults and 8 yr old, 6 1/2 yrs old, 4 yr old and the BD girl.
Im really not planning games, Im just going to buy bubbles so that hopefully we can go outdoors. Im looking for one other thing that they can all do......????
As for a theme, Im going with butterflies and flowers. I have a pic. of a butterfly cake that Im going to use.
I want to keep it simple for the food too. Something that both adults and kids can eat.......ideas??? Im thinking maybe hamburgers and hot dogs?? Not very creative but it would keep the mess down some. Other finger foods?
Decorations will be some balloons and streamers and hopefully our Dollar Tree will have pink and purple plates....etc
If you have any ideas to help me out, Id really like to hear them!!
Bubbles for the kids is a great idea! For our dd's 1st bday, we were very casual. We had a swing set & slide in our yard and the older kids played outside most of the time.
Are the older kids into crafty things? There are these cute plastic "beads" that the kids can place on a form and then using an iron, you melt the beads together. I bought a bucket of these at Michaels. They are called Perler Beads - it says on the bucket that they have a website (perlerbeads.com).
A friend was just at a childs party where the theme was flowers. The party favor was a small plastic pot, plastic trowel and flower seeds. Maybe you could have the kids decorate small terra cotta planters and then plant flowers in the pots during the party?
As for food, the kids would probably be happy with chips & pretzels! You definitely need foods that you can eat! What about deviled eggs, crackers w/ cheese & pepperoni and a veggie tray along with the hot dogs & burgers?
Good luck planning the party and remember that you get to have fun too!
Hi, for my daughters 1st birthday we did a ducky theme, I made a layer cake, frosted it blue, then dug out the center and filled it with already made blue jello "water" I put a rubber ducky on and goldfish crackers all around it, and crushed graham crackers around the outside edge to look like sand super easy! ... I also cut seaweed out of green fruit roll ups, but that part was a pain in the tush, very sticky and hard to shape, and I wouldn't do it again!
But the ducky cake was a hit, and everyone loved the goldfish "swimming" around it. Then the kids got to take home inexpensive rubber duckies for party favors. (because I discovered that it is hard to find party favors that are not chokable for the little guys)
Bubbles are a great accompaniment for this theme, and blue and yellow streamers and balloons were more than enough decoration.
It was simple, and fun and the kids all just loved it.
Oh, then the foods could logically be little sandwiches cut into ducky, boat, and fish shapes with inexpensive metal cookie cutters,along with goldfish crackers and blue cool aid or punch with duckies floating in the bowl. ( they go safely through the dishwasher beforehand)
and if the idea of a bunch of party dressed and white tights clad toddlers with blue cool aid freaks you out, white grape juice is still fun with ducks and boats floating in it!
Location: Originally from the Home of the only 6 times Super Bowl Champs!
Posts: 12,099
These are such great ideas!!
Im hoping that its a sunny day so that the kids can play outside. If not, I like the craft idea to keep the bigger ones busy.
I really like the rubber ducky theme! That would be easy to do too. She loves her duckies that Grandma gave her for Easter to take into the bath tub.
Now Im thinking........
For the blue Jello water, how did you make it? Was it fully prepared jello or ?? Did you put it in something so that it didnt touch the cake or did you just cut it with the cake?
I frosted the inside of the hole with the same blue frosting, and because it is so oily, it kept the jello inside. I had done something similar in the past and just added a layer of jello and cooled it, then another until it was full enough, but the glassy effect was not worth the hassle. So I made up the blue jello this time, stirred it up pretty well and poured it inside. It looked pretty cool as choppy water. As a bonus, the kids ate the jello with the cake, so they didn't even care about ice cream.
A fun game could be that the duckies floating in the punch have a number underneath, and they get the prize that matches the number, or something like that. You could play duck, duck, goose... kids that age don't play actual games well, as I am sure you know!
On food for the kids (and some adults) you might consider "Ye olde Piggie in blankets" along with the hambugars. We use those refridgerated biscuits, and cut the hot dog in half. Takes little time and looks good to kids. Just make sure you pinch the biscuit good enough to stay around the hot dog! I have one child that hates cake or anything that reminds them of bread, so I make Rice Krispie Treats and make them into shapes, add decoration and the kids love them. Chips, condiments, drinks and your done! Because sugar does effect my grandchildren we use Splenda or no added sugar juice. I also like to add those baby carrot sticks and maybe other fresh dipping veggies (on a tray at most stores) and ranch dressing (or any dressing prefered)
Bubbles are great! See what else you can find at the Dollar store for the kids. I have 2 grand daughters and bought a big bag of hair goodies and split them, for grandson I got a car. This went home with them as their party gift. Adults just get fed :-). We never have a lot to spend, but thanks to the many dollar stores here in our city We do pretty good! A new .88 cent store opened up and I'm off to see what they have! Last party we "potlucked" with friends (yes, child's b-day) and it was great! It was also easy on the budget :-)
For my son we did a Bee theme. The invitation read "come to my bee day" we had a bee hvie cake made from cake baked in glass pyrex bowls of different sizes and stacked upside down. We had a nachos bar which we have for every party. put some velveeta in a crockpot for warm nacho cheese, have a bunch of bowls with onions, jalepenos, olives, salsa , sour cream,etcs. for the kiddos we had those frozen circle peanut butter and jelly sandwiches form smuckers and goldfish. we always have our parties after the lunch hour like around 2 so people don't need a big meal.
for party favors i saw in a magazine, get the cheapy sippy cups (the ones that are not spill proof are the cheapest) fill with cheerios and tie a ribbon around it.
for my daughters first we had a cow birthday with a cow cake and cow cookies for the party favors. we got sparkle wands form orientaltradingco.com too.
they are too little for games at this age but i have been to parties where they made home made palydough in party colors, you can also supply each child with a little bag and a new cookie cutter and use it for your party favor. i have also seen making neckalces with fruit loops, apple jacks, etc for a fun craft.
have fun the first birthday is the best its kind of a congratulations for making it through the first year for you too!!!
Those all sound like such great ideas... I am getting thoughts for my daughter's 3rd birthday.
But a note on the pigs in a blanket thing, make sure that for kids under three they are sliced lengthwise into quarters beforehand, because hot dogs are the number one choking hazard in kids, they are the perfect size and texture.
Oh! the duck theme is just too cute! and duck cake!!
I was thinking of an island/Hawaii party for my dd. Now I have this great idea of a pond cake with an island in it? Any ideas on how to make the island on the jello?
Daughter's 1st Birthday 
