Fabulous First Birthday Party

One of my best friend’s daughter recently turned 1.  My friend, who gives Martha Stewart a run for her money, planned such a fun party that I thought I would share some of her great ideas.

On every month birthday (1 month, 2 months, 3 months old etc.) my friend would take a picture of her daughter in a white onesie with the same owl stuffed animal and with the a “month” sticker stuck to her to show the age.  Such a cute idea!  I wish I did this for my daughter.  You can buy the month old stickers at most baby stores now or make your own.  These are a great baby shower gift, which is how my friend got hers.  At the party she printed out a pic from each month old and it was adorable to see them all lined up.

Another fun idea that kept kids of all ages busy was to put balls in a Pak N Play.  So easy and it kept babies happy as well as the toddlers and even the 4 year old had a fun time.  You can buy a bag of 100 balls for only $22.97 at Walmart.  Here is a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ball-Pit-Balls-100/8456390

For decoration my friend used a simple stencil to cut birds out of different scrapbook paper and put them in vases with roses.  It was so simple and added fun prints and colors.

For cupcakes my friend made 72, from scratch, that were a vanilla almond flavored white cake with a fresh strawberry puree buttercream frosting topped with a lemony marshmallow fondant hydrangea blossom.  In other words, yes those flowers on the top are edible fondant and yes she made each one individually!  They were SO delicious.  I ate more than one…ok, more than two.

My friend even made a tiny party hat for the birthday girl and put it on an elastic headband so it would stay on comfortably.

For favors my friend make cookies with “1” on them for everyone to take home.  These also matched the color scheme.

Obviously the crazy baking skills are beyond what most of us can probably do, but a lot of these ideas are affordable, fun, and so cute!

What are some of your creative ideas that you have done for your children’s birthdays?