It's Party Planning

Time!
6 Epic Tips for Babies First
Birthday Party

Abby Akin
 It's Party Planning Time!

Its like I have been waiting my whole life to throw a birthday party
for my baby! Sure shes only one and wont remember it, but I WILL! And
lets be honest, I probably wont have much of a say for her future birthday
partys, so this was my chance to do something that I loved!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!
Yes, babies rst birthday party is to celebrate what an incredible blessing
your child is but more importantly it's to celebrate you surviving the rst
year of parenthood! Woohoo! I know some people may think Im a little
crazy to go overboard on the details for a tiny kids birthday, but I dont
care! No disrespect, I just want to make sure my baby girl is celebrated!

If youre anything like me, DIY is where its at . I can tend to be a little
picky and a perfectionist when it comes to decor and the vision I have for
something, plus I like to save money. So, if youre interested in how to stay
organized, how to save money and how to make some super cute DIY
decor, check out my birthday party pointers below!

1. Start a Pinterest Board:

This is the key to getting your ideas all in one place. From the theme, food,
decor, and activities, this will be a major lifesaver for you! However, let me
be the rst to warn you that your kids birthday party probably wont look
like the Pinterest Partys you nd and thats okay! Please, let me repeat
PLEASE dont get caught up in the unrealistic expectations of the Pinterest
world. We all know the pressure we feel from Pinterest...so simply use it
for ideas! You can see mine here.

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

2. Choose a theme

Choose a theme you love and that represents your babies rst birthday
party. Our theme was Wild owers. This theme is close to my heart for
many reasons. Growing up hiking and camping in the mountains exposed
me to the wonder of wild owers. I love how unique and sporadic
wild owers are and that there is no rhyme or reason to where they grow.
Millie is our little wildflower: beautiful, unique, sporadic and colorful.

Choose the type and time of the party. Do you want a short, simple get
together with just cake and ice cream, or would you rather serve a meal?
Do you want only family or friends too? My advice is to do what you can
handle!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!
We decided to do lunch and cupcakes, with our friends and family who
love Millie and have been our support in the rst yearand it worked great!
(We had 25 people come and had it from 11-1pm). Be sure to choose a
time for the party that you know your kiddo will be well rested and ready to
party, aka after morning nap or an afternoon nap.

Organization Tip: If you decide to go the meal route, make sure you have
an idea for the number of people you will feed. Next, map out a menu that
has easy, make-ahead food. For Millies birthday, I did BBQ chicken
sandwiches (in the crockpot) with potato salad, corn on the cob,
watermelon, and chipseasy peasy! If you map out your menu a few
weeks before you will know exactly what can be made beforehand, and
know what you need to whip together the day of.

3. Choose Invitations
(I made Millies, but there are lots of options!) You can create your own
from scratch, you can use a template online or can buy premade
invitations at the store. You do what makes sense for you!

Money Saving Tip: DIY- If youre creative and have a vision for the
invitations, try making your own! I used the website Canva, and had them
printed at my local Office Max for only $12!

If DIY is SO NOT YOU , thats totally okay! Target and Hobby Lobby have
already made invitations that you just fill in the blanks with.

If you are partial to DIY, check out Shutterfly or Tiny Prints. These websites
have templates and you can easily change the color scheme and add a pic
of your little one. Plus they always have deals going on!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!
4. DIY Decorations

DIY Tip: Banner for Highchair- go to your local hobby lobby or Joanns
Fabric and choose ribbons and fabrics that match your theme. Cut the
ribbon and fabric in varying lengths and begin tying it onto the ribbon you
will wrap around the highchair. This banner turned out so darn cute and
became the focal point for the party!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

Money Saving tip: Bake your own cake- You can buy a smash cake pan at
your local grocery store that is the perfect size for your kiddos birthday!
And while youre there, do yourself a favor and buy boxed cake mix. Your
baby is going to make a mess of cake anyway, so my advice is to save the
money you would spend on a professional cake and put it towards
something else! (I was a bad mom and bought the funfetti cake mix, yum!)

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

DIY Tip: Make the cake topper- With the left-over fabric and ribbon you
have from the banner make a cute cake topper as the centerpiece for the
food table. I cut little bunting ags and attached cardboard letters to them,
and then attached it to wooden skewer sticks.

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

A year of Millie - Like most rst-time moms, I was diligent about taking
photos of Millie every month (I am sure she will be the only child I do this
for, haha) I had every month photo printed o and pinned them on a
ribbon and hung it as more decor. It was special for me to share these
photos with our friends and family, plus they got to see the progression of
growth and personality of Millie during her first year.

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

Cake Smash Photos - Yes, we did professional cake smashing photos

and they turned out adorable, however, you can totally do them yourself! I
made sure to carry over the Wild ower theme into the photo session so I
could have the photos on display at her party, yet again as a cute addition
to the decor!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!
5. Keep food simple

Crockpot meal- I have found that for big crowds, the crockpot a life saver!
Its a no-fail, make-ahead option, plus, its a self-serve option for your
guests which elevates the pressure of you having to serve your guests.
Another easy meal that feeds a lot of people are the subs you can buy at
Sams or the grocery store. These are cheap and easy ways feed a lot of
people!

Make ahead side- to save you work the day of the party, do yourself a favor
and make the sides a day ahead. Like I said above, I did potato salad,
watermelon, corn on the cob and chips as the sides for the BBQ chicken.
The day before Millies party I made the potato salad, wrapped the cobs so
they were ready to be grilled and cut up the watermelon.

6. Activities During Party

DIY Tip: Time Capsule- this is a sweet interactive game that guests can
participate in. The people we invited have been a huge support to us
throughout our parenthood journey and have been babysitters for Millie,
needless to say, they have invested a lot of time and love into Millie girl.
The Time Capsule gives them a chance to answer questions about what
they think she will be when she grows up, and how they know herThe
answers are then placed in a time capsule for Millie to open when she is
18. If this idea doesnt make you cry, Im not sure what will!

Corn Hole and Tent outside for babies - For entertainment, we set up
our corn hole set to keep people busy and occupied until lunch was ready.
We also set up our camping awning in the backyard with a quilt and some
toys for the babies.

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!

MOST IMPORTANT TIP: Have FUN! Dont let the planning, hosting and
decorating take over the joy and purpose of the day. Something will
probably go wrong, maybe your baby may choose to be a grouch that day
or the cupcakes will spill everywhere or the food wont be done in time, but
its okay. Expect things to go wrong and you wont be disappointed. Have
fun with it!

It's Party Planning Time!

 It's Party Planning Time!
Celebrating your babys rst year of life is a HUGE deal and the fact that
you survived is an even bigger deal! If you choose to go a little crazy like I
did or not as crazy, I hope you found my tips to be helpful. Know that you
are amazing for the surviving your rst year as a mama and the years
ahead just keep getting better and better!

Abby is a rst time Mom, and an amazing team member of Baja Baby. She
lives in Colorado with her husband Alex, their beautiful new baby girl
Amelia Grace and Maple the dog. You can nd Abby on Instagram
by clicking here.

Follow Baja Baby on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram today!

Baja Baby was is now EWG VERIFIED. For more information on our
verification, please visit the EWG site.

It's Party Planning Time!