First Birthday Party Ideas!

[savannahgrl]

Dana- What Ebay seller sells the b'day hats? It is adorable! I love your DD's dress too! She is so cute!

[psusna]

WOW!!! The latest parties are amazing. The cakes are blowing my mind!!

Dana: Stunning party. Classic Pooh never looked so good.

Natrat: What an awesome idea with the flag! How did she do it?

Great job everyone :)

[AndreaMMS]

If anyone is having a Rubber Ducky theme - thought I'd thow out there that Bath & Body Works is having a huge sale, and amongst their offerings are REALLY cute rubber ducks for $2.

http://bbw.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pBBW1-2275943t144.jpg

http://bbw.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pBBW1-2275995t144.jpg

http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=rubber%20duck&origkw=rubber%20duck

[AndreaMMS]

There are SUCH great ideas on this thread!!! I am thoroughly enjoying myself looking through it.

I think I've come up with a theme for Naomi's party- which isn't until the end of September, by the way.:o :rolleyes:

I've become enamored with the idea of her wearing little wings like these:


http://purpledaisykids.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/POSH1_1-s.jpg

So I want to do an Enchanted Garden theme of some sort. Flowers, butterflies, ladybugs, fairies.... hmmm... Let me know if you see fun stuff for us! :D Thanks!!!

[dana b]

vjel thanks! i got that dress on massive markdown at babystyle last year.

cr8nme, psusna thanks :)

club924 oh god, i love peonies! i've designated them as noa's birthday flower since they're out right at her birthday. last year i ordered about 40 bunches of them from trader joe's, i love tj's.

savannahgrl the ebay seller has a site, it's www.kidspartyhats.com, it looks like they do just about anything you want.

[cr8zyforaf]

vgel - where did you get your flower chocolate molds? I've been everywhere (Michaels, JoAnns, and a bunch of bakeries) and can't find anything but roses :(.

OH, and where did you find those napkins

[vjel]

vgel - where did you get your flower chocolate molds? I've been everywhere (Michaels, JoAnns, and a bunch of bakeries) and can't find anything but roses .

OH, and where did you find those napkins

I got them at Michael's, but I've been to several and not all have that flower mold (called Flower Power) in stock. I usually see it at the bigger Michaels stores. Oh, and I got the napkins at Party City.

[Cr8nme]

Andrea~ I too am obesessed with Noelle wearing the wings!

Diane~ Maybe you could use a banana for the stem its sorta the same color as the real thing :)

[cr8zyforaf]

vjel - thank you...yes, at Michaels they had the flower power spot, but no molds...

[EJH]

Kim --

I googled chocolate flower molds and got this ...

http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/candymolds/M-flowers/M-flowers.htm

Not exactly sure what you are looking for. Also, if you want I can ask my MIL for suggestions since she's always getting molds for the business.

Erin

[JRPAGV]

All of these ideas and pictures are so cute! My DS is only six months old, but I can't help but lurk in this thread. :)

QUESTION: How old was your DC when you started planning his/her 1st birthday party?

[LILRTL]

QUESTION: How old was your DC when you started planning his/her 1st birthday party?

"Planning" or "Thinking about it"?? ;) I'm just now REALLY into the planning. However, I have been thinking about it for a while... at least 3-4 months. :)

[BooeyJ2]

vjel - SO cute!...and I love Noa's dress :)

natrat - Good job :)

[alienhost]

Mrs.Chappy I love your Baby Einstein cake, you made it yourself? Very impressive!

allyray231 Cute cakes, love the Elmo smash cake! The b'day outfit is precious too.

dana_b love the pooh theme. We used those same cards for DD's thank you notes for gifts we received when she was born, very cute. The cake is beautiful too - love the cake topper.

Natrat80 your party looked wonderful. I love the clothesline pics and favors. Very nice!

I hope I got everyone...

[alienhost]

does anyone have a free shipping code for Oriental Trading company? I just order a bunch of things last week, but I didn't order enough favors and I just hate having to pay for shipping twice. Thanks!

here's one but you have to order $60 or more:

Order online by 11:59 p.m. CT, June 20, 2006, and get free standard shipping on your purchase of $60 or more, within the contiguous U.S. Shop any link in this email, or enter key code WC75204 during checkout. This offer is not valid on purchases made with any other offers.

[nalif]

perfect thank you!:D

[Katie]

We had our son's 1st birthday party this past weekend (3 months after the fact!). I went with a brown/turquoise color theme and "E" inital theme for his name (thank you Martha Stewart and everyone else here for your great ideas). Here are a few pics of the decorations:

Here is the table set up before we set out the food.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34735%3C%3A47%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3248%3E954%3E385%3EWS NRCG%3D3233835779%3A28nu0mrj

Table with the food and you can see an "e" decoration.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34735%3C%3A47%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3248%3E954%3E385%3EWS NRCG%3D3233835779%3A73nu0mrj

Here are labels my DH made. They were going to be balloon weights, but never used them as such.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34735%3C%3A47%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3248%3E954%3E385%3E WSNRCG%3D3233835779%3A3%3Bnu0mrj

Here's an example of one wall I had with the "e" decorations - we had "e's" I made around the living room.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34735%3C%3A47%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3248%3E954%3E385%3EWS NRCG%3D3233835779%3A59nu0mrj

And, finally, the favor bags. Nothing fantastic, but the kids enjoyed them.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34735%3C%3A47%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3248%3E954%3E385%3EWS NRCG%3D3233835779%3A25nu0mrj

[DianeCourt]

dana, natrat, & Katie: Great job! You're setting the bar very high! :)

Those labels are very cute, Katie!

[lil_nance]

katie I love the soda pop labels. Very cute! Where did you get the colored bags for favors? I need to find some.

[cartersmommy]

ok, so enlighten me on how you guys are doing the soda pop labels! i am dying to do this for DS's bday party!! :)

[dbers]

Subscribing because it's time to start planning Alex's 1st birthday :)

[alex67]

I need to get started planning Trenton's birthday party. I am so overwhelmed with where to start. I do not want to have it at my home (too much mess, cleanup, stress, etc.) so I was thinking about having it at a local park. His birthday is in late August and I live in northwest Florida. Do you think it will be miserably hot? Has anyone else in a hot climate had an outdoor party during the summer?

[vjel]

katie, your party turned out wonderfully, love the turquoise/brown theme!!

alex67, are you having a big party? Me, personally, I couldn't deal w/ the sweltering heat in August here (DC area) let alone in FL! :eek: I am easily irritated when hot, but that's me. ;) I'd rather deal w/ the mess/clean-up/stress at home. Do you have a library near you? Some of the ladies here have had their parties in a private room there. Maybe look into that as an option...a community center you can rent?

[Cr8nme]

Alex67~ I agree with Vjel I am having my DD's birthday party at a local library (DC Area) so maybe you can look into that...I booked it two months ago:o because we are having her party Labor Day weekend:)

I am still debating of whether I should do soft and subtle or bright and colorful! The theme is going to be butterflies..

[Mickey&B]

Alex I'm with the rest of the girls, I know I don't do well in extreme heat, and Florida being so humid I would maybe try to find an alternative.

[cr8zyforaf]

Alex - agreeing with the rest...way to hot to be outside..especially with the humidity.

Cr8nme - do bright - Noelle looks so good in her bright colored clothes (she looks good in everything...but the bright colors seem to bring out the best in her IMO).

[Cr8nme]

Kim~ Thanks I love her in bright colors :D

[dbers]

Okay - so I'm thinking either Hello Kitty/polka dots:

http://birthdayexpress.speedera.net/images.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/assets/product_images/E2513.jpg

or Rubber Ducky:

(but I'm not really feeling the paper supplies I've found):

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/simplybabystuff_1899_25072006

http://birthdayexpress.speedera.net/images.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/assets/product_images/26953.jpg

I like these but they seem to be sold out:

http://www.birthdaymonster.com/images/products/204.jpg

[vjel]

dbers, I say Hello Kitty/Polka dots...SO CUTE!!! Plus there are several colors you can incorporate into your decorating if you don't want to buy all the HK/Polka dot stuff.

[dizylizy]

I am doing the duck/polka dot thme. getting lots of ballons-green, blue and clear. using green plates and yellow napkins. still have some small details to work out.
the Hello Kitty would be cute!

[cr8zyforaf]

dbers - another vote for hello kitty/polka dots..I think you will have more flexibility with everything. Plus, I love the HK stuff you posted - too cute!

[BooeyJ2]

DEFINITELY Hello Kitty :)

Hello Kitty will probably be DD's 2nd b-day theme :) ....she looooves "kittyyy"

[Cr8nme]

I too love the hello kitty so so cute!

Booey~ Are you planning Paige's 2nd birthday yet? Hello kitty is the cutest! Especialy with all the colors!

[alex67]

I've decided on a wild animal theme party (lion, tigers, monkeys, elephants, zebras) at my house. Yes, I didn't want it there but that seems to be the easiest solution based on what is available here. The party will probably me late August and we will be inside and outside in the back yard. Not sure about the color scheme yet except that it will be bright.

So, if any of you have some great suggestions or ideas for the wild animal theme, bring them on!!

I know I want some bright colored paper string lanterns to stretch from the side of our house across to the corners of our covered patio. We will have bright balloon clusters and maybe a few mylar animal shape balloons if I can find them. For food I plan on having small pails of peanuts on the tables (for adults) and some banana pudding cups with an animal cracker in each, and some green jungle juice for punch. We will grill hotdogs and have chips I'm sure.

Please share any tips!! I have no idea what to do for invites, other food items, other decorations, favors, and activities. The kids invited will all be 2 or under so not many can make crafts or anything like that. Now that I have a vision, I'm starting to get excited about this party!

[LeslieR]

Alex, do you mean like jungle animals? I saw some cute stuff in the Oriental Trading catalog that I have. Just found this on their site:
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/70_9800.jpg?resize(350x350)
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/46_189.jpg?resize(350x350)

I think I saw some jungle animal beach balls, too...
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/49_128.jpg?resize(250x250)
(the description says zoo animal)


How cute are these?!?!?!
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/49_246.jpg?resize(250x250)

[LexyLou]

Hi everyone,

DD is almost 9 months so we are starting to think about her 1st birthday. We've gone through a gazillion themes...

pink and green like her room
ladybugs
pink and brown

but she has a dress from Janie and Jack that we LOVE. I can't find a pic online but it's red, orange, and pink and it's got a floral print.

We were thinking of maybe doing a red gingham theme...but I don't know...maybe just red with pink dots and pink stripes?

1) where to start
2) what else to do with the red gingham...don't you think there needs to be more to the theme than just red gingham?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)

[lelee17]

Alex - we had a jungle animal theme for my DS's 2nd birthday.

Here's are the invitations I made.

Used petal envelope in bright green (chartreuse -sp?). Seal on the outside. "Look who's turning 2."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/lelee17/JJs%202nd%20bday%20invites/Pics079.jpg

Picture of DS over dots cardstock
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/lelee17/JJs%202nd%20bday%20invites/Pics081.jpg
It opens up with all the information inside. (btw, I purposely made the picture small since our personal info is on it, but you get the idea)
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v293/lelee17/JJs%202nd%20bday%20invites/th_Pics083.jpg

Wording:
Swing on in for a jungle full of fun and a rrroooaring good time!
Ain't no lion, our little cub is turning 2!
Come celebrate Jaden's 2nd birthday!
Date
Time
Place
RSVP


oops! baby's awake...be back later with more ideas.

[vjel]

lexylou, all the themes you mentioned (pink/green, pink/brown, and ladybug) have been done or are being done. So if you want to do a quick search in this thread for any of them, you'll find a lot of ideas. Off the top of my head I know booeyj2 and neenbean did pink/green themes. tgray99, club924 and I did pink/brown. There are a TON of ladybug ideas in here for sure, too, but I don't think anyone has had their ladybug party yet.

If you want to do a red gingham theme, you could just do that. Doesn't have to be anything more if you don't want. You could just use your DD's dress as inspiration too and do a red/orange/pink theme party. That would be cute!

shamocha, as always your invites are absolutely beautiful, I LOVE it (you so inspire me)!!! and congrats on your new baby boy!!! :)

[BooeyJ2]

Just wanted to pop in real quick and let you all know that...

CONFOTI ( www.confoti.com ) is no longer in business :(

It looks like MAYBE you can still order though......

On their website:

After 17,000 orders, 30,000 bags of confetti, 3000 sticker packs, and over 25 million pictures, the Confoti team is moving on. If you have an interest in purchasing Confoti, please contact Steve Zimmerman at 408.342.3093.

If you would like to purchase Confoti Confetti or Confoti Photo Stickers, we're sorry, but we are no longer accepting orders. If you've previously placed an order, it will be fulfilled on schedule. If you have questions, please contact us at support@confoti.com.

The Confoti Team


There's gotta be another site that does similar items now :(


ETA - Found some! See post 2 below!

[LeslieR]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Dammit.

[BooeyJ2]

Did a little searching and found some places just like CONFOTI!!



I knew there had to be other sites out there!


Here you go gals!..........



http://www.photofetti.com/


http://www.beau-coup.com/personalized-confetti.htm



http://www.escapeconcepts.com/Store/2179.htm

[Cr8nme]

Can anyone reccomend some stores that you use to buy cardstock and otehr things for invites... I am looking for a fun cardstock that has both pink and orange in it.

[Cr8nme]

Alex~ Here are some ready to assemble invites with animal type theme

http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/20030019.jpg

http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/2003005901.jpg

[LILRTL]

Oh Booey I almost cried! I started to order on Friday and decided to wait on 11-month pictures. AAAHHH! So glad you found some more!!

[vjel]

cr8nme, I think you mentioned you were in the DC area (me too). Where abouts? I usually go to scrapbooking stores (Memories, Recollections and Scrapbooks Plus) to find my cardstock for invites. Much better selection than just the craft stores. There's also a Paper Source in Old Town and Georgetown if either are close to you.

[Cr8nme]

Vjel~ Thanks...I currently live in AZ but whole family both DH and mine are in Maryland (where we grew up)areas... DD's party will be in the Bowie area and we grew up right around that area as well. I am aslo in Maryland for one reason or another at least 1 time a month! I will go to the websites and see the store locations thanks!

ETA: Recollections has locations close to me in AZ! and Dallas! (moving in 2 weeks )

[lelee17]

Cr8nme - I'm going to be relocating to Phoenix soon so I know there are a few good scrapbooking stores in the area. You may wanna try Scrapbooks Etc and Scrapbook Barn ( i think that's what it's called.) I believe they are in Gilbert and Mesa.

[Cr8nme]

Shamocha~ thanks! Gilbert and Mesa are kinda far... I live in far north phoenix close to Paradise Valley

[Hawaii2SJ]

I love the petal type invites:) Out of curiosity shamocha what was the postage for your adorable invites?? I've still got 4 months to go but been planning sine he was 3 months old:p

[alex67]

Leslie - Thanks for finding all of that! I really LOVE the animal inflatable balls - I'll be buying those. I went looking today in my town for paper goods with the wild/jungle/zoo animal theme but couldn't find anything I liked better than what oriental trading has so I'll be buying paper goods from them too it seems.

Shamocha - Your invites are AMAZING! Very nice. I'm also interested in how much postage cost you. And, I cannot believe you are finding the time to post in here so close to giving birth! Congrats on your new baby! :)

Cr8nme - Thanks for finding that invite. It is very cute and I am loving the petal designed ones.

Today I went shopping at some party stores but couldn't find much. Guess I'll be doing most of my party shopping online. I did pick up some foam animal stickers. Don't know what I'll be doing with them yet. Maybe decorating the favor bags or something. I also found a cute party hat for Trenton.

[lelee17]

vjel Thanks! :)

cr8nme - we're gonna be relocating to Anthem, but I would still drive to Gilbert and Mesa for my scrapbook paper...haha! Yes, I'm crazy like that, but I looove paper. :D

Hawaii & alex - thank you! Postage was .49 cents when I mailed them back in October. I believe the charge has gone up to .52 cents now. (.39+.12 surcharge for square envelope. )

[Cr8nme]

Shamocha~ You go girl that is like a 1.5 hour or more drive from Anthem...you could go Recollections in Glendale off of Bell road and it would be 30 minutes or less. I am going to look for some stores that are closer to "us" there has to be some.

[Cr8nme]

Shamocha~ I found some! I don't know if any of these will suit your paper needs:p but I thought I would try and find you some that would be a little closer to your house!

The Scrapbook Attic
(623) 825-7977
8194 W Deer Valley Rd
Peoria, AZ 85382 - 2127


Scrapbooks To Remember
(623) 551-9322
42211 N 41 Dr
Anthem, AZ 85086 - 3810

Memories Well Planned
822 E Union Hills Dr 14D
Phoenix, AZ 85024 - 8405
(623) 879-0670


Filled With Memories
5930 W Greenway
Glendale, AZ 85306 - 3200
(602) 789-1908


My Scrapbook Studio
15090 N Northsight Blvd
Scottsdale, AZ 85260 - 2610
(480) 391-3799

The Mad Scrappers
The North Valley's Most Comprehensive Scrapbooking Supplies
30845 N Cave Creek Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85331 - 2916
(480) 515-3131

[alex67]

Came across this while hunting down wild animal ideas. Thought those doing a monkey or tropical-ish theme might like it. I thought it was cute.

http://www.creativecardshop.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/cib-2003-50.jpg

[Mickey&B]

alex67 man those are cute! wish I had seen them before I embarked on the whole Martha monkey one :rolleyes:

[LeslieR]

Booey, thanks for finding those! I liked the package on the second site better, so I tried to go through them-I got pop up window to put in my username and password. I clicked on cancel and it took me to confoti.com with this message:

authorized access only
The page you requested is available to authorized users only.

If you have a username and password, please use the back button and try again. If you would like further information about confoti, please contact us by phone at 650.569.3220 or by email at info@confoti.com.

We apologize for any inconvenience.


blah. Guess I'll try the first link instead. I just hate that you only get 10 photo options. Better than nothing, of course!

[LeslieR]

2 questions! I really want to do a pinata for Luke's party. There will be kids of all ages-he will probably be the youngest one there. Oriental Trading has these pull pinatas:
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/7_33.jpg?resize(350x350)

Do you guys think that would be more appropriate? I mean, Luke's 10+ months now and I don't foresee him swatting at a pinata at all, but I can see him pulling on the strings very easily.

Now, if I do go this route-what the heck do I fill it with? The site says it is 7" x 7" x 12". I am really spatially challenged-could I put goldfish packages and the like in it or would those be too big?

TIA!

[BeachBum]

Leslie, if you think about a standard size piece of printer paper it is 8.5x11 so the pinata is roughly that size.

[LeslieR]

:o Duh. Thanks, BeachBum!

[lelee17]

cr8nme- You rock! Thanks for the info and for feeding my addiction. :) I'll have to go check those places out. I had no idea they had one in Anthem, too. Yipppeeeee!!!

btw..you've got mail.

[Cr8nme]

Shamocha~ You are very welcome...I would hate to see you drive all that way if there are places in your back yard ;)

[BooeyJ2]

Hi everyone,

DD is almost 9 months so we are starting to think about her 1st birthday. We've gone through a gazillion themes...

pink and green like her room
ladybugs
pink and brown

but she has a dress from Janie and Jack that we LOVE. I can't find a pic online but it's red, orange, and pink and it's got a floral print.

We were thinking of maybe doing a red gingham theme...but I don't know...maybe just red with pink dots and pink stripes?

1) where to start
2) what else to do with the red gingham...don't you think there needs to be more to the theme than just red gingham?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.







Hi Lex :) Saw your message on LJ, so here I am LOL.

Not sure how much help i'll be, but here we go.....


Here's the invite you wanted to use from www.inababycarriage.com ......
http://www.inababycarriage.com/designs/invites/birthday/images/olivia.jpg



If you want red as your base color, I would use red for the tablecloths and then accent everything else in pink polka dots and/or pink stripes.


Here are some things that might be cute with it (of course with your own exact colors - red/pink/white).....

http://www.isobelandco.com/catalog/images/heart3.jpg

You could make your own polka dot buckets as centerpieces....
http://www.plumparty.com/Merchant2/graphics/products/large/17017.jpg



For favor bags (or boxes) you could just do regular favor bags (plain red or plain pink) and then accent them with polka dot ribbon.....
http://www.sewing.co.uk/images/RIBBON%20PATTERN%20CARD%20POLKA%20DOT%20B.jpg



http://www.sophiesfavors.com/custfavdiy_doublebandpolkadots_brown_sub.jpg

[BooeyJ2]

continued.......

http://www.sophiesfavors.com/ribbows_grosgrainpolkadotribbon_sub2.jpg


or vice versa....
http://www.whiteaisle.com/beauty_favors_files/pink_box%20020.jpg



Acck...BBL, gotta get some work done LOL.

[PrincessCrappy]

I'm another monkey party mama. I know lots of others are planning monkey parties but I haven't seen many specific examples of ideas -- other than Ms. Stewart, of course. I'm not really into the "neon monkey" pattern I've seen on oriental trading, etc. Can anyone help?

[BooeyJ2]

I'm another monkey party mama. I know lots of others are planning monkey parties but I haven't seen many specific examples of ideas -- other than Ms. Stewart, of course. I'm not really into the "neon monkey" pattern I've seen on oriental trading, etc. Can anyone help?


I thought these were cute monkey ideas....

http://www.peekaboopumpkin.com/RL-MONKEY%20MOO%20BLUE%20BDAY.jpg


http://www.alloccasioncards.net/birthday/monkey%20five.jpg


http://www.thecakefairy.co.uk/pix/2monkeys40.jpg


http://www.bethelbakery.com/prodimages/cakedecs/miscellaneous/monkey05.gif



These little bath toys would be cute as centerpiece decorations...
http://www.bambinibliss.com/store/product-images/thumbnails/DD04_sm.jpg

[LexyLou]

Thanks Julie! That's a really good start. I'm so uncreative...I had no idea where to start.

[BooeyJ2]

You could fill this bath tub toy bag with balls or toys for kids to play with.....
http://www.pokkadots.com/images/products/detail/O-TOYM_dt.jpg


Cute balloon.....
http://www.sendacelebration.com/images/products/small-image/additonalitems/jungleparty/jumbomonkeymylarlarge.jpg



Ok, so they look like they're drinking booze LOL, but cute layout of the invite and monkeys...
http://www.monkeygoods.com/images/rlb_invitation_blue.jpg


Love the non booze version....
http://www.monkeygoods.com/images/rlb_invitation_yellow.jpg



http://www.dorianns.com/cw2/Assets/product_full/5050r.jpg

[PrincessCrappy]

Keep 'em coming, Julie! That's much more in line with what I was thinking. I loved this:
http://www.peekaboopumpkin.com/monkey%20moo%20blue.jpg
from the peekaboopumpkin site you posted -- but a little pricey at $29.95 for 10!

I think you posted this:
http://www.inababycarriage.com/designs/invites/birthday/images/bananas.jpg
before for someone else. I think we'll probably go with that for our invites. Would a brown/yellow them be cute? I'd love to find tableware (napkins, plates, etc) to match. Think you can put your googling skills to work and find a similar napkin? I can pick up solid tablecloths and accessories from party city.

[Cr8nme]

Princesscarppy~ I think Yellow and brown would be a really cute color scheme.

[dana b]

http://www.peekaboopumpkin.com/monkey%20moo%20blue.jpg
i'm so saving this for ds's first birthday, so cute!

princesscrappy you could always ask amber to do that invite in blue/brown.

[alex67]

Can anyone find some paper napkins with a large single letter on them? Party City had white dinner and beverage napkins with a single large lowercase letter on them that filled up most of the napkin, kinda off-centered. I thought they were so cute but they only had black on white. I would love to find them with a bright colored letter instead of black. If anyone comes across these, please post links!! I tried googling but only came up with fancy monogrammed napkins.

[dana b]

alex67 i've never tried it, but maybe you can get a large rubber stamp in your initial and make them yourself?

[vjel]

alex67, I was going to suggest the same thing as dana b. That way you could get whatever colored napkins you wanted and just stamp the letter on there in any color as well.

[Klo.]

Hi everyone -
I had to come in and show off my pictures from Matthew's First birthday party. We had so much fun. M was a little under the weather, with a constant runny nose, but basically did really well.

This is what my table looked like at 1:30 am on Friday morning when I had just finished frosting every last dang cookie.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/3a45349f.jpg

close-up of cookies
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/79373493.jpg

Favor bag contents for adults. For couples I did 2 dog cookies and 3 bone cookies, singles and kids I gave them each one dog and 2 bones. For the kids, I also added either bubbles or dog soap and some bouncy balls, depending on their age.
Notice the ribbon on the cookie bag - thats my favorite part. Its blue with brown dots. So cute!
I also did the picture magnets. Its said, "Snips and Snails and Puppy dog tails. Thats what little boys are made of." "Matthew's First Birthday, June 16, 2006" I did them like business cards on MS Publisher and printed them on business card paper and attached to magnets that are made for sticking business cards to them.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/5c6b7c45.jpg

The Doggy bags.
The name tags were supposed to look like a dog tag but I don't know if anyone 'got it'.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/7684f645.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/747add53.jpg

This may take a couple posts....

edited to fix a picture

[Klo.]

Doggy bags and invites together -
The doggy bag labels and the invites were made by Heather at Starr Custom Design (http://www.starrcustomdesign.com/index.html). I love them she did an awesome job with them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/1cf6e263.jpg
My phone number is on there so I don't want to show it any closer. But I also had a bone shaped hole punch so I did that in the opposite corners. I also pasted this paper to the back of the invites. I love this paper. I got it from www.mygatsby.com. It doesn't match perfectly but i didn't care.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/cda2fab9.jpg

The cake -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/81fbc455.jpg

Beautiful flowers my sister brought from her garden.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/f6d2c70e.jpg


Picture display -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/e035cc3e.jpg

[Klo.]

Everything put together
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/ec2a18f8.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/726edd04.jpg

Food table -

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/bbb69c2f.jpg

I wish I had more pictures of the balloons. Oh well. We had light blue, brown, paw print and some blue First Birthday boy balloons. About 18 all together. We had them all over the place.

Oh and a few shots of the birthday boy!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/fb257022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/d03d8bc1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v702/lofo02/First%20B-day/d3a959e3.jpg

Everything was pretty much worth it. I love having parties like this, we had a great mixture of friends and family and everyone had so much fun.

The only part I hated was doing the cookies. Last week they were commonly referred to as - 'the damn cookies'. I'm not much of a baker and they were just a total PIA. Most of the tails and legs were broke before the doggy bags were even handed out. I stopped caring though. I don't know if anyone even appreciated all my work anyway. Oh well. Like I said, everything else was awesome.
Anyway, that was our big party. Thanks for letting me share.

[alex67]

Klo - Awesome party! You totally paid attention to detail and I love the theme and color scheme. And the best part, your son looks like he had the time of his life! :)

[solongtogo]

Klo-those doggy bags are so freakin clever! Looks fantastic!!

[LIZNKEITH]

Klo
The party looks so cute! I LOVE the cookies!! At least we appreciate your hard work. ;)

[LIZNKEITH]

Dropping off some pictures from Caroline's 1st Birthday this past weekend. The theme was Pink/Green Polka Dots. More pics in my journal if you are interested.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3A%3B%3C39nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3B662%3Bnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3B6638nu0mrj


The Food Table
(You can't tell, but the plates and napkins have polka dots)

http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3A%3B%3C4%3Bnu0mrj

[LIZNKEITH]

The Desserts

(They screwed up on the cake- it wasn't supposed to be pastel)
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3B6645nu0mrj

The Cookies:
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3A%3B%3C48nu0mrj

Her Smash Cake:
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3B6648nu0mrj


The Goodie Bags
(Colored Goldfish, Gummy Fruit Snacks, Candy, Jumpropes & erasers for girls, balls & pop firecracks(yeah, only in GA) for the older boys)
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3A%3B%3C53nu0mrj

The Favors
Beach sets. Labels read "A Gift From Caroline"
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3B6654nu0mrj

And finally, the birthday girl & I
(her outfits has polka dots as well)
http://images1.snapfish.com/347395969%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D325%3B%3E874%3E%3A98%3EWS NRCG%3D323384%3C5%3A%3B%3C44nu0mrj

[vjel]

klo and liznkeith, WOW, great parties!!! Such great attention to detail, I love everything! :)

[cr8zyforaf]

OH MY GOSH..you ladies did such a great job with the parties!! Wow!

KLO - don't worry - even if no one appreciated all of your effort now, Matthew will look back at the photos one day and realize what a lucky little boy he is.

lizandkeith - your home is beautiful. I love how everything turned out.

[BeachBum]

Wow!! Great job Klo. Such an original idea, and it came together so well! So you let people mingle inside/outside? (I also sent you a PM unrelated to birthday :))

So cute, Liz! Love the cookies and the cake! Thanks also for sharing the pic of the two of you together. Adorable!

[LIZNKEITH]

Thanks, Ladies! I really had fun planning it, though I think #2 will be scaled down a bit.

cra8zyforaf,
Thanks, but it's actually our neighborhood clubhouse. I wish my LR was that big!




In the spirit of passing things along, as Booey so generously did with her things. If anyone is interested in:

-5 Pink Lanterns
-5 Green Lanterns
-32 pink plastic spoons
-30 pink plastic forks
-2 Lime Green Buckets
-25 Green Polka Dot cocktail napkins
-19 Pink Polka Dot cocktail napkins
-20 Green Polka Dot Dinner Napkins
-19 Pink Polka Dot Dinner Napkins
-1 partial spool Lime Green Ribbon
-1 partial spool Pink ribbon
-23 Lime Green Cups
-40 Pink Cups
-24 Pink/Green Polka Dot Dinner Plates
-19 Pink/Green Polka Dot Dessert Plates
-4 Pink Goodie Bags
-5 Lime Green Goodie Bags

Whaddaya say...$30 plus shipping? PM me if you are interested.

ETA- SOLD

[dbers]

I just pm-ed you - that's my theme (plus hello kitty)... :)

[alienhost]

Klo. your party turned out awesome. I love the doggie and bone cookies and kudos to you for attempting them, I have no patience for making "roll-out" cookies. Nice job! I love the doggy bags too, very cute!

LIZnKEITH Your party looked fabulous too. I love the decorations, cookies, cake (even if it wasn't the color you hoped - it looks wonderful), everything turned out so pretty!

[alienhost]

dbers I'm glad you are doing the Hello Kitty theme, so fun! I was saving it for DD's 2nd birthday since her nickname is "kat". Anyway I can't wait to see what you do!

confotti I can't believe they are no longer in business! I've used them for two parties and loved it. Oh well...

[Cr8nme]

Wow Ladies great parties!!!! I am putting all of the invites together slowly...Question har far in advance would you all suggest I send them out I was thinking a little farther in advance since her party is labor day weekend

[BooeyJ2]

Klo - SUCH a cute idea :) Loved everything...especially those "damn cookies"! Sooo cute!


Liz - Everything turned out great! Awww, brings back memories to see that stuff :) Glad you could use it all!



GREAT JOB LADIES!!!! :D

[vjel]

cr8nme, maybe at least 6 weeks out since it's a holiday weekend? Or what I did was send out a save the date email a couple months or so before and then sent the invites a month before the party.

[lil_nance]

Klo Absolutely love the dog theme! Everything turned out so cute. I like the magnets. I think I may have to save some ideas for DS's 2nd b-day.
LiznKeith Love those lanterns. Everything coordinated so well.

I got the invites for Connor's party done this weekend. I added stickers to the inside of storebought invites. (sorry the pics are so big)
Front
http://static.flickr.com/71/171339490_d063e4d5e4.jpg?v=0

Inside (each one is a little different)
http://static.flickr.com/58/171339491_1761a40968.jpg?v=0

Now I need to work on the pictures and the favor bags. We're having mainly adults but I still want to do the goody bags for everyone. So far here are some ideas I came up with. Anyone have other suggestions?
Birthday rubber ducks
Frog/fish beach balls
Goldfish crackers
Frog or fish tapemeasure
CD
Fish/duck cookie cutter
Go Fish Card Game

[lelee17]

Klo and Liz - Amazing Job!!

Booey - I'm glad you posted those. We're thinking of doing a Curious George/Monkey theme for Lucas' 1st bday. Only 11 days old and already planning his birthday party..haha! :)

Cr8nme- I agree with vjel. 6 weeks in advance since its a holiday weekend.

[Cr8nme]

So that should give me about the middle of July to send them out! Will do thanks ladies!

[kindermom]

Cr8nme - We are having our party that same weekend. We have had to start telling people about it as our friends and family are already starting to make plans. Our invites will go out by the end of next weekend I hope.

[HollyMN]

I finally finished my invitations this weekend and they are in the mail. I'm a little angry with Visio and Photoshop, as a couple of the simplest things took the longest time.... I learned some things, though.

Here's the invite, map card, and photo. I have this thing with map cards, I love them and must make them - even though most of the people already know how to get to my house.

http://www.calesota.com/images/misc6/invitebirthday.jpg

http://www.calesota.com/images/misc6/mapcardbirthday.jpg

I included a photo because at Caleb's nine month photo I got "15 bonus wallets". I have no use for 15 wallets, so I tossed one in each invitation.

http://www.calesota.com/images/misc6/photobday.jpg


I loosely used these invites on this thread in particular this invite

http://www.finestationery.com/graphics/images/36822.jpg

And this mapcard

http://images.costcophotocenter.com/34685%3B3%3B3%7Ffp5%3Enu%3D3236%3E863%3E%3A64%3EWS NRCG%3D3232543%3A55694nu0mrj

I put a train on there because his cake is going to be this train, I think.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/images/recipe_images/Birthday_Train_Cake.jpg

Thanks!

[dizylizy]

Klo and Liznkeith- Great job! you are setting up hard acts to follow for the other July babies!! ;) I am doing duckie cookies. maybe the magnets-have to ask DH. He gets this look on his face... like how much are we spending on a 1st b-day... Ijust say this is is his Golden Birthday and his first and we may be moving away from all our friends with kids so we might as well have a blow out! KWIM? :) Thanks for Sharing!!

lil nance- Your invites look great! Great to modify a store bought one! Always ways to improve! I got the birthday ducks from OT and love them. they fall over a bit in water but Harry loves to chew on the hats... :)

Holly- your invite is great! you made that map yourself!! Good job. Love the Train idea! maybe for Harry's 2nd.

or the dof theme for the child closest to the time we get a puppy.... hmm love party planning!!!

[Klo.]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. You are all so nice!

Liz - Very cool party. So cute.

Holly - love those invites. Nice job.

Beachbum - I got your PM. I'll have to wait until tonight to find the info on the wallpaper for you. I'll PM you back when I get it.

[DianeCourt]

klo: I LOVE the doggy theme! We have a black lab, so I guess I'm kinda partial. :rolleyes: I have that exact same cookie cutter which I usually only use at Christmas time for sugar cookies. (It's too much of a PITA to use on a regular basis!) You're right - the little tails & legs snap off, and it's SO irritating! You did a fantastic job, though! How did you get the frosting to be so black?

[AndreaMMS]

I want to do an Enchanted Garden theme. Can anyone point me in the direction of inexpensive flower garlands in pastel colors? All I've been able to find so far are bright, tropical colors for Luau parties.

Thanks!

[twinnyme]

I want to do an Enchanted Garden theme. Can anyone point me in the direction of inexpensive flower garlands in pastel colors? All I've been able to find so far are bright, tropical colors for Luau parties.

My first thought was Oriental Trading, and I found these on there:

http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/34_895.jpg?resize(250x250)

Pretty pastel - and they're $14.95 for a dozen.

[Klo.]

How did you get the frosting to be so black?
Thanks DianeCourt. We have a black Lab too so I HAD to do labs.
Like I said, I'm not a baker so I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. When I went through the checkout at Micheal's with only my black food coloring, the lady told me if I want to get a true black that I would have to start out with chocolate frosting. I was like, "what the ????" I didn't have a clue how to make my cookie icing chocolate. So I went back to work and was telling this older lady about my whole cookie fiasco and I was literally on the verge of a complete meltdown! She told me to just had a little cocoa to my frosting in place of/or in addition to the confectioners sugar. I almost kissed her! It worked!!! It helps to have that brown base otherwise the black has a real purple/blueish undertone to it.

Now you can see why I was referring to them as the "damn cookies!" ;)

[AndreaMMS]

Twinnyme- thank you so much, but I am looking for garlands- long strings of flowers to hang around the room (like Christmas decorations), not small ones to wear.

[NicoleWisconsin]

Check out www.partypro.com - they have a lot of floral stuff. (and everything else as well.)

[NicoleWisconsin]

They have a fairy pinata. http://www.partypro.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=011179660544

[HollyMN]

Thanks!

KLo

I don't know if anyone even appreciated all my work anyway. Oh well. Like I said, everything else was awesome.
Anyway, that was our big party. Thanks for letting me share.

Hey, even if they didn't appreciate everything, WE appreciate it. I am totally admiring your party - you probably have a bigger audience here than you did at the party ;)

LiznKeith Beautiful! Now if only someone could come on here and sell the boy version of the party (blue and green) for $30. :)

[NicoleWisconsin]

I think this is the Ebay seller's website that sells the adorable hats: www.poshpartyhats.net

There are some adorable ones!

[Hawaii2SJ]

great photos of the parties everyone:)

Quick question: For those of you who made your own invites with the pretty paper/vellum/cardstock, where did you print them at?? I have used paperzone in the past but where are you all getting your "goods" from?

TIA...

[vjel]

Hawaii2SJ, I get all my goods at scrapbooking stores, LOTS of pretty paper there. And I always print my own invites at home on our inkjet.

[Kanga]

If anyone esle wants to do cookies, I worked in a bakery for a while and have frosted more cookies than I care to count (btw - this works great for cakes too). The easiest way is "factory style." Mix up all the dough you're going to need first, then cut out however many will fit in your oven, bake those with wax paper underneath, continue cutting if you still have left overs. When they come out of the oven, let them sit out just long enough to cool completely then put them in the freezer (without removing them from the pan)until you're ready to frost. When you're ready to frost, make up all the frosting you'll need, and then pull out the cookies, one pan at a time. Because they're frozen they'll be less likely to break and you'll have less crumbs in your frosting. Also it's easiest to use royal icing. recipe (http://www.wilton.com/recipes/recipesandprojects/icing/royal.cfm) Heat it up in the microwave until it's liquidy, then dunk the cookies face down into it. When it cools, it will harden.

[elnelson]

Hi all,

Wow - the parties in this thread are such an inspiration! I'm in the early stages of planning DS's 1st bday party for July 30 and need some help firming up my "theme".

Here's the background..

We're doing construction on our house right now so will be hosting the party at a nearby park that has a great covered picinic area right next to a playground. Because of the location I was thinking about going with a pretty simple bbq/simple "picinic" theme -
- red checkered cloth tablecloths with white butcher paper "runners" that the kiddos can color on (with little terracotta pots with crayons)
- these plates/napkins
http://www.plumparty.com/Merchant2/graphics/products/large/18794A.jpg
- big bunches of red, white and blue balloons
- these invites with navy blue instead of the purple
http://www.inababycarriage.com/designs/invites/birthday/images/bdayballoons.jpg
- picnic/bbq food - bbq ribs, chicken, potato salad, watermelon, lemon bars, etc.
- some sort of a picnic theme cake - maybe with little ants?? any ideas?
- little sand pails with shovels personalized for each kid for favors so they can play in the sand at the adjacent playground.

My question is - is this enough of a theme? How can I make it more kid-like? Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA!!

Erika

[alex67]

Some other cute items I just found while googling:

http://www.giftaria.com/Uploads/PPD4162.jpg
http://www.giftaria.com/Uploads/PPD88113.jpg

http://www.giftaria.com/Uploads/FrenchStripes_plates.jpg

http://www.giftaria.com/Uploads/urbancue.jpg

Thought someone might like these. I am still on the eternal hunt for the perfect animal/zoo/jungle/safari plates. :)

[Kanga]

elneson Here's a cake, and believe it or not the hamburgers and hotdogs are made out of starburst and snickers and vanilla wafers!

http://www.marsbrightideas.com/summer/images/popup_1421.jpg

directions on how to make it (http://www.marsbrightideas.com/summer/recipes/r_1421_1.jsp)


This one doesn't look to hard either, styrofoam and pipecleaners for the big ants, the little ones are plastic. The ant hill is a bundt cake with frosting and crushed graham crackers on top. The grass is dyed coconut.
http://coolest-birthday-cakes.shippony.com/images/theme/garden/ants/birthday-cake-decorations-01.jpg
link (http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/birthday-cake-decorations.html)

[elnelson]

chad and liz - such cute ideas - thank you!!

[alienhost]

www.paper-source.com has some cute kids stuff now:

http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/3432652603.jpg

http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/3432568250.jpg

http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/4071295411.jpg

cute monkey rubber stamp:
http://www.paper-source.com/images/detail/871161.jpg
here: http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/rubberstamps/animals.html

there also is a lion and zebra stamp. fun stuff!

[myshel]

A quick question for you regarding the guest list. DH and I have semi-large families, so we're expecting quite a crowd (think 20-30 people) with just them. I'm wondering, since some of you indicated that you invited friends, how many friends did you invite? How did you decide which friends to invite?

A woman in our IRL group had a first birthday for her daughter in January and invited family and the group of friends. A couple of people commented on the fact that the party had a weird vibe because of the mix of family and friends. I obviously don't want to have that vibe going on. Most of our friends don't have children yet, so... I'm not really sure what to do? Just leave it family?

Opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[allyray231]

myshel I invited close friends-some with kids some without. Since my party was upstate at my parents house none of my local friends could come, but if I could had invited them I would have. All of the friends that were at tha party have been to other family events and know my family so it was fine.

I went to a 1st bday last year where I didn't really know a lot of the family and the other friends, but DH and I quickly made friend with another couple and it was fine :)

I would keep it to people who you consider close friends who will appreciate being part of your little man's big day!

Hope that helps!

[Kanga]

We're inviting family and close friends. Most of our close friends have met our parents before so I don't anticipate it being a problem.

I was just in Target this morning and they had a light pink dress with green, brown, and dark pink polka dots on it if anyone is doing those colors.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000EMZDW4.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS384_V54923945_.jpg
It's 14.99 online, but I think the store had it for 30% off. Looks like sizes ar limited though - only up to 6mo online and the store only had one in 12mo

[dana b]

i got the new paper-source catalog, too, cute stuff!

myshel we had about 60 guests for dd's first and i would say it was an equal mix of friends/family. i think when you have a large family group and then say 10 friends, it can be awkward, but not always.

[alex67]

ladybug0525 - You posted pics from your party pages back but I remember seeing the colorful cd sleeves you used. Where did you get them? We will be giving out animal themed music cds for favors and I would love to enclose them in colorful sleeves as you did. TIA!

[LILRTL]

Fully admitting I'm lazy, and need help! :D

We would like for all of the kids to bring a swimsuit to DS' birthday party. We are going to have the kiddie pool set up, plus Zach's birthday present (a water table), etc. Any cute little rhymes out there? TIA!

[BooeyJ2]

Fully admitting I'm lazy, and need help! :D

We would like for all of the kids to bring a swimsuit to DS' birthday party. We are going to have the kiddie pool set up, plus Zach's birthday present (a water table), etc. Any cute little rhymes out there? TIA!



Off the top of my head......



We're having a party,
since Zach will be ONE!
We'll be swimming around
and soaking up sun.
Please bring a swimsuit
and join in on the fun!




It's time for fun since Zach is ONE!
Please join us for some cake and SUN.
Bring a swimsuit, even a hat if you please,
we'll be playing and swimming until about 3!
(that would only work if your party ended at 3 though LOL)





Zach is ONE, it's time for fun!
Bring your swimsuit and soak up some sun!
Please join us as we celebrate Zach's 1st birthday!







A year's gone by in less than a flash,
it's time to celebrate, have fun and splash!
Zach is ONE and wants to have fun,
so bring your swimsuits and soak up the sun!

[LILRTL]

Cute! Thanks! My only worry is that the kids (i.e. babies under 2 years old lol) will be the only ones swimming...

[QPDoll]

I'm not all that creative when it comes to this stuff, but here is what Verseit.com has:

We're going to the beach, it'll be a ball!
Bring your swimsuit!


Surf's Up, Dude!
You're invited to get wild on the beach
It's Shore to be a Whale of a Time!

Birthday Beach Bash
for
NAME
DATE
Surf's Up at TIME
Snacks will be served to Tide you over
ADDRESS

[LILRTL]

Maybe I should clarify a little. :o Sorry, girls. The invite itself reads...

"Time sure flies when you're having fun...
Come to our luau, Zach's turning 1!"

And then all the info. I just want to make a little info card - one side was going to say to bring your swimsuit... the other has directions...

[Eliezrah]

We are trying to narrow down the theme for our son's 1st bday which will be in almsot exactly 3 months. We're going to do just what we did with our daughter's: invite all our extended family and have it in the house with pizza and stuff. He'll get his own bday cake and the rest of us will get a sheetcake. We just need to pick the theme. We're thinking of the Sesame St 1st bday one or one of these others:

http://www.birthdayinabox.com/images/box_images/4023DBox.jpg
http://birthdayexpress.speedera.net/images.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/assets/product_images/E2367.jpghttp://www.first-birthday-party.com/images/papergoods/sesamo/sesamo03.jpg
http://birthdayexpress.speedera.net/images.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/assets/product_images/E2369.jpg


The other problem is that he's highly allergic to milk so we need to find a dairy free cake for him.

[Kanga]

LILRTL - One I thought of off the top of my head

Water, sand and sun
Please bring a swimsuit
And join in on the fun!

We'll be setting up our pool
So please bring your swimsuit
To keep yourself cool

Lisa Here's a link to allrecipes for all kinds of dairy-free cakes http://cake.allrecipes.com/directory/2461.asp

[PaulsGirl]

I thought I'd share my invites since this thread has been so inspiring for me!

The cover:
http://static.flickr.com/52/173847611_deb343e3d0.jpg

Upon Opening:
http://static.flickr.com/59/173847613_7178ea852e.jpg

Contents: (The actual invite is printed on the paper lantern):
http://static.flickr.com/67/173847617_fb6bfac96d.jpg

[NicoleWisconsin]

Here are some cake recipies, courtesy of another mom on another message board. I bolded my notes.

Carob Layer Cake
My daughter, Emily, wanted a chocolate cake for her 3-year-old birthday party. Since I try to avoid giving her food with caffeine in it, I baked this cake instead. It was a huge hit with the kids and adults.

1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter or corn oil
2/3 cup water
1 1/4 cups maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, or honey
1 tablespoon apple cider or brown rice vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs, separated

Preheat oven to 350º. Oil and flour 2 8-inch cake pans. Sift the flours, baking soda, sea salt, carob powder, and nutmeg together. In small bowl, beat egg whites until firm but not dry. In large mixing bowl, beat butter or oil, water, sweetener, vinegar, vanilla, and egg yolks until completely blended. Beat flour mixture into wet ingredients. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake about 30 minutes, or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out dry. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Serves 12

Note: I don’t like sugary frostings so here is how I like to serve this cake. Spread a thick layer of strawberry jam between the cake layers. Mix a teaspoon of agave nectar into 8 ounces of crème fraishe and spread it over the top of the cake letting it drip down the sides. Decorate with fresh strawberry halves.

Variation: For those avoiding eggs – you can use Ener-G Egg Replacer instead of the eggs. Add the equivalent of two eggs when you would add the egg yolks and ignore the instructions pertaining to egg whites. Or, you can use 3/4 cup water instead of 2/3 cup and just ignore any instructions pertaining to eggs.

I'm not sure if you can use non-dairy milk or not...

Vanilla Cake
This moist cake contains no eggs.

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup safflower oil
2/3 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/2 cup milk (dairy or non-dairy) or water
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 375º. Oil 9-inch cake pan. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. In separate bowl, beat remaining ingredients. Add to flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out dry and edges are golden. Cool on rack before removing from pan and frosting.

Serves 8

Applesauce Cake
This moist, spiced cake is easy to make and vegan too.

1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a 10-inch round cake pan or 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. Beat oil, maple syrup, and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in applesauce, raisins, and walnuts. In separate bowl, sift remaining ingredients together. Dough will be stiff. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until cake pulls away from edges of pan and knife inserted in center comes out dry. Cool on rack. Serve cake plain or with whipped tofu topping. It’s also delicious frosted.

Makes 12 servings

Pineapple-Carrot Cake

This is our favorite cake. It is moist and flavorful and just sweet enough. It’s perfect for baby’s first birthday. Use Ener-G Egg Replacer if baby is not eating eggs yet.

2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or brown rice syrup
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup oil
1 3/4 cups crushed pineapple, drained
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
2/3 cup minced walnuts, almonds, or pecans
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300º. Oil a 9-inch springform pan. Beat together eggs, sweetener, yogurt, and oil until smooth. Stir in pineapple, carrots, and nuts. In sepa-rate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir flour mix-ture gently into carrot batter. Pour batter into pre-pared pan.
Bake 60 to 70 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Frost cooled cake with Pineapple-Yogurt Frosting (recipe follows) or Cream Cheese Frosting (page 114).

Yield: 8 servings

Pineapple-Yogurt Frosting

When the liquid or whey is drained from yogurt, it be-comes firm like cream cheese. Mixed with fruit, you have an easy, sugar-free frosting.

16 ounces plain yogurt
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes

Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Place a dish underneath to catch drippings. Pour yogurt into center of colander. Let yogurt drain in re-frigerator overnight.
Place yogurt cheese in bowl. Gently mix in the pineapple. Spread frosting over cooled cake. Sprinkle with coconut.

Yield: 2 1/2 cups

Note: You can substitue 8 ounces cream cheese for the yogurt cheese.

(Again, I'm not sure exactly what the allergy is, but these are just some ideas that she had. Hope they help!)

[solongtogo]

NYN

I have a question about your invites (which I shamelessly stole the idea from you..) The little lady bug that's on the inside...is that a rubber stamp?

[dbers]

Paulsgirl - that is one AMAZING invitation! very cool.

[vjel]

PaulsGirl, WOW, those invites are so amazing! Did you buy lanterns and then just attach the invite info? did you buy the box or make it? So very unique, love them!

[PaulsGirl]

Thanks dbers & vjel!

Yes, that's what I did...bought the boxes & lanterns & glued on the invites. :)

[lokahi]

Eliezrah
My boys' (ages 3 yrs and 17 months) birthdays are in Janauray. We had a construction theme party :)

Paulsgirl
AWESOME invites!

[Club924]

paulsgirl - LOVIN your invites! very creative and your guests are going to love them! BTW, love the dress your daughter is wearing in your avatar pix...where did you get it?

[PaulsGirl]

Thanks so much!

The dress is from Janie & Jack, last year? I think the line is called "Set The Table".

[fifibee]

PaulsGirl -- Like the others, I'm absolutely in love with your invite! Very creative stuff! I think it's perfect for a small and intimate guest list. :)

Do you mind sharing where you got the box? Thanks.

[Mickey&B]

Lora I found these, though I am still searching
http://www.sleevetown.com/images/memorex-sleeves.jpg
this is one of the few places I have found that sells them in packs of 50 they are 5.95 here (www.sleevetown.com)

[PaulsGirl]

fifibee Thanks! I got all the items at www.orientaltrading.com (Oriental Trading Company).

[AndreaMMS]

I've been pondering party favors. Anyone have any ideas as to where I can get inexpensive children's books?

[kindermom]

I've been pondering party favors. Anyone have any ideas as to where I can get inexpensive children's books?

Depending on how inexpensive you mean...

I like the selection from Kidsurplus.com (www.kidsurplus.com). They have books for about 50% off list.

ETA BooksAMillion (http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?sort=price_ascending&N=4293592968+9676+25009&id=3512585962077&x=13&y=2)has great discount books (i.e., under $2).

ETA: Also check your Dollar Stores.

[Mickey&B]

AndreaMMS your could try www.scholastic.com or I don't know if you have a Ross by you but they sometimes have a some good children's books and they are cheap

[AndreaMMS]

Kindermom & MickyB&B- fantastic resources! Thank you!!!

By the way, if anyone is lookig to do a flower/garden theme, I found garlands, and CHEAP! In ebay under wedding supplies - many, many examples of stuff like this:

http://images.channeladvisor.com/Sell/SSProfiles/40000189/Images/2/arti-smg-white.jpg

48 FEET of rose garlands for $9.49!!! I heart ebay.:p

[solongtogo]

I've been pondering party favors. Anyone have any ideas as to where I can get inexpensive children's books?

party supply stores...I was there today shopping and they had a bunch of books for 50cents -1 dollar, as did michaels

[Kanga]

I don't know if anyone is planning a zoo or animal themed party, but I saw these at the store the other day. They are just too adorable.

The ears are for putting dips/sauces in
http://a1061.g.akamai.net/7/1061/5412/home/www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/260150.jpg

The top folds over to minimize spills
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000E0FZRE.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1139005829_.jpg

[alienhost]

paulsgirl very nice invites!

I've been pondering party favors. Anyone have any ideas as to where I can get inexpensive children's books?

what ages are you looking for? Try www.overstock.com they have a lot of inexpensive books (sort by price):

http://www.overstock.com/?PAGE=CATLIST&PRO_SUB_CAT=1408&PRO_SSUB_CAT=999&CAT_SORTBY=1&CAT_SKUPAGE=24

[AndreaMMS]

Ok, I've lost my everlovin' mind. I'm obsessed. I've been scouring the internet for ideas of what to dress Naomi in - To remind y'all we're doing a Enchanted Garden there and I want to dress her as a fairy, complete with wings. I rationalize this by saying this will be her Halloween costume as well!:p

Here are some of my favorites - they can all be made in her size- what do you think?

http://www.ssb6.net/users/21876/000_1425.jpg

http://i5.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/22/b5/a7_1.JPG

http://static.zoovy.com/img/babym/W310-H232-Bffffdf/T/petite_pirouette_009.jpg

http://www.butterflycraze.com/Products/MiaRosa.html (won't let me post a picture)

https://securewschent01.websitecomplete.com/alohaearthstar/images/Img180.gif

https://securewschent01.websitecomplete.com/alohaearthstar/images/Img55.jpg

[dana b]

andreamms your fairy theme made me think of this luna luna dress
http://i2.ebayimg.com/05/i/06/d2/11/13_1_b.JPG

[Mickey&B]

Geez all those dresses are beautiful!!! makes me want a little girl :p

[QPDoll]

I love them all! Boys clothes are so dull in comparison.

If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the last one, I love the rich colors. But gosh, its so darn hard to pick!

[Kanga]

The first and last ones are my favorite. For your enchanted garden theme, you could do dirt cups, but instead of gummy worms for worms, you could use lollipops for flowers.

[vjel]

I got this email from Confoti today:

As a loyal Confoti customer we know you love Confoti products. Have you ever
thought it would be wonderful to run a company like Confoti? Well now you can.
After five fantastic years the founders of Confoti are ready to turn over the
reins to the company's next owner. Yes, Confoti is available for purchase!

Confoti is one of the most heavily trafficked customization sites on the
internet and is supported by a small manufacturing operation that can be housed
in 1000 square feet or less. Confoti sales have grown by more than 70% over the
last three years and are averaging almost $27K per month this year. This is a
rare opportunity to acquire a leader in the $450M photo-customized product
market.

Confoti is being offered for purchase for $300K. To discuss this opportunity in
more detail please contact me at the number below.

Thank you,

Steve Zimmerman
Business Broker


Anyone want to go in on this venture?!?! ;) :p :eek:

Andrea, I like the first and 3rd dress. :)

dana, that dress you posted is soooo pretty!!!

[ihearttx]

Does anyone know where I could purchase a cool punch bowl online? I'm looking for one for my DD's bday in August.

Thanks!

[QPDoll]

punch bowl - what price point, and define "cool"...

Im looking for CHEAP punch bowls - I need 7 of them! Anyone know of a cheap resource?

[vjel]

ihearttx, ditto what QPDoll said.

QPDoll, are you lookingf or plastic punch bowls? have you checked places like Party City or Factory Card Outlet?

[dana b]

punch bowl it's not a "bowl", but there's those big glass jugs with the spout in the bottom. target had some last week when i was there.

[QPDoll]

QPDoll, are you lookingf or plastic punch bowls? have you checked places like Party City or Factory Card Outlet?[/QUOTE]

I haven't yet - well, not recently. :p
I just did a quick netsomethingorothersearch and found them for $6.99/ea. Probably the cheapest Im going to find.

[ihearttx]

I'm looking for glass or acrylic..something modern, hence "cool". Ha. I am having a hard time finding one. I was at Macy's earlier and the guy in the housewares said no one buys them because no one makes punch anymore.

Help!

[vjel]

ihearttx, we have this punch bowl from Crate and Barrel. Not sure if it's what you are looking for in terms of coolness or price-wise. :)

http://images.crateandbarrel.com/is/image/CrateandBarrel/OpticPunchSet?$lg$

This is from Target 39.99 for the set
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009QPP2.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS260_.jpg

[ihearttx]

Thank you Vjel!!

[Red'sGirl]

Hi, I'm just starting to prepare for DD's 1st birthday. I think I have the theme http://www.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/product.asp?sku=E24841
but I was wondering what kind of games or activities do you do at a party for a 1 yr old, where the kids will range from 1 to 3yrs??

[alienhost]

but I was wondering what kind of games or activities do you do at a party for a 1 yr old, where the kids will range from 1 to 3yrs??

we didn't do any games, but had sidewalk chalk, bubbles and that sort of thing available outside. If you have a space outside that the kids can run around that probably would be fine. The younger ones (1 or 2 years old) just played w/ DD's toys. I had older kids and they played basketball since we have a hoop out back. You could have some beachballs outside that they could throw and kick around.

[alienhost]

punch bowls

linensnthings.com has this one for $19.99

http://lnt.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pG01-1068803reg.jpg

here: http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1352131

[QPDoll]

Red At a one-year olds party I recently went to, they had a bubble machine in the backyard. The kids loved it. They were ages 9 months to 6 years. It was just a cheap one from Walmart and it came with a gallon of bubbles. It entertained the kids for quite awhile!

[ihearttx]

One more question..anyone have a good source for tablecloths? Not the paper kind..the "real" ones. I am doing a pink poodle theme..so I'd love to find a pink polka dot tablecloth. I'm having no luck!

[Red'sGirl]

Tina I figured I'd get a bubble machine, although DD hates bubbles (go figure). I guess the other kids will like it.

ihearttx don't know if this will fit the bill, but if you look at the link I posted above, it's a pink poodle theme and it has a tablecloth (though the cloth might be lavender).

[ihearttx]

Reds--Ha! That is the same stuff I am using! How funny. I didn't like the way the tablecloth looked when I got it..it is paper and just not my style.

You can I can share ideas!!

[lil_nance]

QPDoll A bubble machine is a great idea. Just one more thing I need to get now. haha

Pictures For those of you doing 1yr portraits. What is DC wearing? I just got this for the day of the party but don't know if it's too bright for photos? It has little frogs on it for our frog, duck, fish theme. Opinions?
http://static.flickr.com/76/176536030_43f3e29636.jpg?v=1151441405

[dana b]

tablecloths do you have a local place that rents them? i rented tc's for dd's party, i have to have real ones :o if you only need 1, you're better off getting the fabric and finishing off the edges yourself.

[QPDoll]

One year photos Im not sure what my boys will be wearing for portraits. We have them done at JCP, and they say to bring in a big white towel and a smash cake and let the kid have-at-it. Thats what they do for one year birthdays.

[QPDoll]

One more question..anyone have a good source for tablecloths? Not the paper kind..the "real" ones. I am doing a pink poodle theme..so I'd love to find a pink polka dot tablecloth. I'm having no luck!

http://images.solidcactus.com/usawall/picture.aspx?i=1005-491&w=150&h=150

Azalea Pink Polkadots Tablecloth 52" x 72" Azalea polka dot table cloth is 100% cotton. The table cloth is 52" x 72" and comes with matching carrying bag.

http://www.usawallpaper.com/pipokico.html

[Mickey&B]

Red Sidewalk chalk is great, if your having it outdoors you can have playdough (which you can make). How about a craft table? with stickers lots of shapes and different color paper that you could buy cheap from Oriental Trading co, add a few glue sticks and wala! crayons are always a hit.

[lil_nance]

Ok I've ordered favors. Everyone is getting Birthday Rubber Ducks and goldfish crackers. For the adults I ordered little gift soaps shaped like frogs, ducks, and fish. For the kids, beach balls with fish on them, and I may get a few things from the dollar store. We are only having 3 or 4 kids all 3yr and under. I got paper bags with fish on them from OT for the goody bags. Phew, one more thing off the list.

[Mickey&B]

Okay I am having too much fun with this :D
here are the monkey labels I made for the bubbles that are going in the sand pails, along with animal crackers a small luau monkey from OT and the beach balls we'll have at the party.
http://images1.snapfish.com/3474697%3B5%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3249%3E979%3E%3A5%3A% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233865%3A7%3B737nu0mrj

[L-O-V-E]

Mickey - Those are really sweet! :)

[kindermom]

Is anyone NOT having favors? I am looking at either having 1) an open house/birthday party for family or 2) having a small party. If any kids arrive, they will either be older or younger (i.e., M is the oldest of our friends' kids by 4 months). Call me crazy, but I do not see the point in activities/favors for kids that young or kids who will just hang out in our basement playing playstation while the adults talk. I am the only one on this.

FWIW, I will most likely have homemade truffles for everyone there.

[allyray231]

Noel We didn't have favors. When it came down to it I just didn't have enough time. Plus the kids that were there were all older. I don't think they really cared. The boys played upstairs with their gameboys and the girls colored.

[ihearttx]

I am just getting cute big cookies as favors..we also are only having a handful of kids..most of them are going to be under 10 months so I'm not worrying with kiddie-style favors.

[EJH]

Oh we are so behind on the birthday party front!!

We are having a bbq and we don't even have a grill yet. Heh. :o

We're hoping that DP will be getting one as a gift for her birthday on July 9. If she doesn't, that's our next big purchase.

We've been debating the guest list but that's about as far as we've gotten. Since the party is in about 6 weeks, we should probably get on this, huh? :p

Erin

[vjel]

kindermom, we didn't do favors for DD's 1st b-day either, but we did do them at her recent 2nd b-day party. A lot of the kids were young, didn't know the difference (not to mention we had a BIG guest list) and I just decided not to bother on top of everything else.

EJH, 6 weeks huh? You might be a *little* behind compared to some of the ladies here who are planning MONTHS ahead. ;) But seriously, I'm sure you can whip something up lickety split...and there's no rule that says you have to do a ton of cute stuff or go all out for her party, only if you want to and have the time to do it. :)

[dana b]

pricey, but cute!
http://liliputians-nyc.com/store/images/birthdayset.jpg
http://liliputians-nyc.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=28_10&products_id=143

[dbers]

Just ordered DD's invites from amber at inababycarriage. I'm so happy with the proof, and can't wait to get them in the mail! I had to order them a bit early because she's closing shop for a bit while she moves. I'm thinking about sending them out 6 weeks in advance since it's a summer party. Do you think that's too early?

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f311/dbers/alexandra_bday5.jpg

[NYN]

omg, i was away for the month and i can't believe how much this thread has moved! i just got caught up and i love all the parties that have been posted. you ladies have done great jobs.

NYN

I have a question about your invites (which I shamelessly stole the idea from you..) The little lady bug that's on the inside...is that a rubber stamp?
i used a font (that i downloaded for free from dafont.com) called Laurie's Country for the ladybug. it is the lowercase "u" that is the ladybug. then i just used the pencil tool and did the little trail freehand. what program are you using to make the invites? it is easier to explain that way. what i did in InDesign wouldn't apply if you are using something else but i'd be happy to help.

i arrived home to all my ladybug products. i can't wait to see it all put together. i am planning on mailing the invites out this week but of course i have yet to address the envelopes.

[usafwife]

Not much time to post (as I'm suppose to be cleaning/straightening up) but I did have a question. We are going to be using my mom's chocolate fountain and just wondering what items we can use to dip into chocolate. So far we have thought of marshmellows and pretzels. We are having trouble thinking of other things to use.


I'll try and post a picture of the invites I made for DD's birthday party. It took some time to make them, print them, and them assemble them (even included another trip to the store to get more ribbon since we didn't buy enough of the first ribbon - and I was a little disappointed because it had Happy Birthday with candles behind it and was pink ribbon. We ended up having to go with a plain ole light purple ribbon. Not my first choice but they were needing to get out in the mail and couldn't wait until we could find more of the first ribbon.).

[Cr8nme]

USA~ any type of fruit or poundcake would be really good

[Kanga]

Strawberries, apple slices, graham crackers, cherries, pretty much any type of fruit really.

BTW - I love the idea of a chocolate fountain. Somebody mentioned it in another thread, but don't know anyone with a machine to do it. I'm trying to convince dh we need to buy one His response was "Why, so you can hog it the whole time and eat all of it?" Pretty much:D

[cr8zyforaf]

pound cake...ummm..pound cake dipped in chocolate..

Also cheesecake..you could make some mini cheesecake..when we went to this place that does fondue the dessert was the chocolate fondue with fruit, poundcake, and cheesecake.

[LeslieR]

Rice krispie treats! We went to a wedding last year that had a chocolate fountain and that was the best dipping item!

[kimthebride]

I'm thinking about sending them out 6 weeks in advance since it's a summer party. Do you think that's too early?
First of all, I am DYING over how cute they came out! :D I will be saving mine 4 eva-n-eva. Amber freakin' rocks.

Secondly, 6 weeks should be perfect. There's so many things going on in the summer, its good to give advanced notice.

FAVORS
Just dropping off what we did for favors at DS's party, since they went over well:
For the 1-ish-Year Olds:
Bubbles in no-spill container
Goldfish crackers
Wrist Bells (you know, jingle bells on a wrist band)
Fisher Price Roll-A-Rounds (pets for girls, cars for boys)
http://www.fisher-price.com/img/product_shots/F2435_b_3.jpg

For the 4-10 Year Olds
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/kimtomtom/DSC04453.jpg
Single-serving cookies
Stickers & notepad
Stickyball
Bubbles in no-spill container
Rubber bracelets (4 & 6yo girls)
Harmonicas (4yo boys)
Mini travel games (6-10yo boys)
Sports pencils & erasers (boys)
Bag of candy

I got advice from a cousin who has 3 kids aged 4-10. She said to do everything in my power to give all kids the same thing, because otherwise it would be WWIII - espeically kids in the same family. I didn't listen to her compeltely, and at the end of the party I found out that kids already went thru the bags (that were on a high counter) and were mad/jealous of each other's goodies in different age ranges. Next time, I'll make everything the same for the 4-10yo's.

[AndreaMMS]

I can vouch for the quality of kimthebride's goodie bags. Naomi LOVED hers and is still playing with the toys!

Dbers- Diane!!!:eek: :D Those are SOOOOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DianeCourt]

Chocolate fountains: I have my heart set on doing this for DD's 1st b-day. Linens n' Things and Bed Bath & Beyond sell a Rival model for $50. It's not a professional one, but probably just fine for infrequent use at home. It has removable dishwasher safe parts, so hopefully it's not too much of a PITA to clean. I plan on using one of the 20% off coupons they send to my house all the time to pick it up for $40!

http://lnt.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p2121530_group_reg.jpg

[LeslieR]

We stopped at the Pepperidge Farm store today and got a great deal on some snack packs. 20 packs of strawberry flavored PhysEdibles (baked animal crackers) for $1! I tried a pack on the way home and they are really good-I think we'll have to go back and get some more. We also got 10 packs of Parmesan flavored Goldfish for $1. They had 10 chocolate flavored graham goldfish for $1, too. I can't think of a cheaper snack for the pinata.:D

[mcl]

i think i recall someone here doing a butterfly/flower theme and was looking for something for dc to wear.

www.cutelittleme.com is having a sale right now 40% off and $5 flat shipping. here's some of the items i found.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-76909254302214_1903_31316525

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-76909254302214_1903_34229954

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-76909254302214_1903_25741307

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-76909254302214_1903_30022335

[usafwife]

Thanks ladies for the suggestions for items for the chocolate fountain. We off to buy the food and a few other things so we can start to cook, decorate cake, and stuff tomorrow.

DianeCourt ~ My mom ordered hers and I believe it has removable parts that are dishwasher safe. A coworker of my mom's bought one at a local store for her husband's birthday and she was asking my mom what type of chocolate to use. My mom's says to use the chocolate wafers (to make candies with...they are round disks and to melt them in the microwave first) but the coworkers says to use chocolate chips.

[solongtogo]

diane Beautiful Invite!!

[Montaukbea]

Wow! What great ideas!!!! Subscribing now....What is everyone thinking of serving for food? We are doing a "lunchtime" party and I just can't decide on what I want to have...

[mrstim]

Chiming in to say that we have that same chocolate fountain from Linen's and Things (although we snatched up the Demo model for $10) and it works well! It's obviously not the same quality as the professional expensive ones, but it still does the job. In fact, here's a picture of the last wedding my mom and I catered that we actually used it at!
http://images1.snapfish.com/3474898%3B3%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3234%3E2%3A%3A%3E295%3E WSNRCG%3D323383%3C364%3C%3A6nu0mrj

This was when we first started it up - it took a few minutes to really get going.
http://images1.snapfish.com/3474898%3B3%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3234%3E2%3A%3A%3E295%3E WSNRCG%3D323383%3C3674%3B7nu0mrj

We served pretzel rods, orange candy slices, marshmallows, cherries, and rice crispy treats.

The only advice I can give is that don't start it up at all until you are ready to use it! We used Almond Bark (you mix it with veggie oil) and we started it up 1/2 hour before the reception to try it out, and some of the chocolate hardened inside the auger. That was a mess - we had to tear it apart quickly and clean it out before it would work, but it was working fine by the reception time.

I can't help but lurk in here, even though my baby isn't even born yet, b/c you all are so talented!!

[LeslieR]

Food-we're ordering two big subs (one Italian and one American). I'm going to make either a Hawaiian salad or a fruit salad (haven't decided yet), my mom's going to make my Grandpa's World Famous Beans, and MIL is going to make her pasta salad. We're going to have a tray of chicken nuggets for the kiddos. I think I'm going to get a veggie tray, too.

[Jessiesmama]

Just wanted to post a few pictures from DD's first birthday party. It was 3 weeks ago - which in this thread is a lifetime ago - but I got so many great ideas in this thread - so here they are!

The theme was pink and brown

The place before the people arrived
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D32338549%3A6876nu0mrj

The Goodie Bags
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642% 3EWSNRCG%3D32338549%3A6873nu0mrj

The Cupcake Tower (I made them)
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D32338549%3A%3B697nu0mrj


The "J" Cookies (I made them)
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642% 3EWSNRCG%3D32338549%3A%3B6%3A3nu0mrj

The Cake
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D32338549%3C5827nu0mrj

[Jessiesmama]

The candy Bars
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D32338549%3C97%3A9nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D3233854%3A49%3A%3B6nu0mrj

The Balloon Guy
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642%3E WSNRCG%3D32338549%3B%3A%3C2%3Anu0mrj

The Entertainment
http://images1.snapfish.com/34748%3C593%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3A4%3A%3E642% 3EWSNRCG%3D32338549%3C6%3A97nu0mrj

[LILRTL]

WOW! Now THAT is a birthday!! Would you plan mine, please? ;)

[Club924]

jessiesmama - great job on the party! the room looked great! love the pink and brown theme...of course, i'm partial since DD's party was p/b too.

[alex67]

Calling all creative minds!!

I have made music cds as part of our favors. They are comprised of a selection of children's animal themed music. I am now in the process of designing the sticker labels for each cd which will basically be a photograph of an animal in the wild (like an elephant on one, or a zebra on another). I need some wording for the title of the cd. Something short and catchy.

I'm using Zoo Tunes right now but not sure that is creative enough.

Here is a sample of one of the cd labels to give you an idea:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/CDlabel.jpg

[LILRTL]

Alright. I know I keep asking for help instead of giving, but ooooone more thing. ;) Could someone provide step-by-step instructions for the photo-clothes-line thing? I would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally appreciate it! :D

[QPDoll]

Okay, we changed from A Very Hungry Caterpillar (too difficult) of a theme to a Circus theme (much easier).

I ordered supplies for the invites from StampinUp, I will be making this as the invite http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001aygb5. Color scheme wll be Red, Orange, Yellow and Turquoise.

I bought felt to make a circus tent (Im going to drape it over our table umbrella) because I didn't want to spend $50 on this http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/62_5.jpg?resize(350x350)
So it will look something like this (pardon my terrible photochop)
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001b41a5/s320x240

I bought plates, napkins, cups, and table cloths today. Table cloths are red, everything is solid colors: orange, yellow and turquose.
Im going to put balloon boquets on each table, anchored down inside of these http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-1126390689415_1890_1497442. Im also using the popcorn boxes as favor boxes.

Thats about all I have so far. Im thinking of clown noses, oversided clown sunglasses and animal cookies for favors. Hamburger and hotdogs as food.

[alex67]

Tina - I think it is going to be wonderful! And you did a great job on that photochop. :-)

I also went shopping today for more b-day supplies. I picked up the scrapbook papers/supplies I'm going to make the invites out of, the cd label stickers, paper gift bags in red, teal, and lime, and some favors (mini Curious George board books for the little guys and animal flash cards (photo on one side and facts on the other) for the older kids attending.

Oh, and I found the plastic cd sleeves that I was looking for at Office Depot, in case anyone else is looking for them. They call them CD Keepers.

So now I not only need some help in what to call me music cds, but also on invite wording relating to the wild animal/safari/zoo theme. If anyone has some great ideas, please post! I think many pages back someone posted a couple wording samples so I'll have to scroll through those pages.

[Mickey&B]

Alex I'm so not creative with the word thing so I am sorry I can't be of any help, I know Booey is so hopefully she'll pop in and give you some good ideas. But I did want to ask you what program you are using to make the cd labels? and where you got the pictures? I have CD Stomper, but I can't quite get the pictures the way I want them for our Cd's.

[alex67]

Michelle - Our burning software is Nero and it comes with a cd labeling program. The way it works, when you find the photo you want, just copy it and then paste in the cd labeling software. It is simple to then resize it or move it around on top of the "cd" template. I don't know if that made any sense but it was easy to figure out how to use. I found the photos by doing a Google Image search for "tiger" or "lion". I found what I thought would work and just copied directly from the web, no middle-man sofware needed. I tried to be careful and not take anything copyrighted. :)

eta: I think you can make cd labels in Microsoft Word. If your version of Word doesn't already come with the cd label template, I think you can get it off the Microsoft.com site.

[JamieTheTiger]

I went with a monkey theme. I found an awesome ebayer who made the invites and thank you notes. oh man was I in love with the invites!

Invites
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/34749%3A396%7Ffp4%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B62%3E238%3EWSNR CG%3D323247587363%3Bnu0mrj

Then, we have thank you notes done up with photos from the party
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/34749%3A396%7Ffp3%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B62%3E238%3EWSNR CG%3D3232493794743nu0mrj

The party was at a local park. I rented the picnic shelter. I decorated the tables in alternating pink, green, and clear plastic. On the tables with clear plastic, I placed 4x6 photos from Em's first year. Huh, thought I had a photo of that uploaded.

I ordered cupcakes from Stater Bros - oh MAN they were good. And my mom made the smash cake
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/34749%3A3%3C5%7Ffp6%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B62%3E238%3EWS NRCG%3D323248%3A5%3C7736nu0mrj
[IMG]http://images.photo.walgreens.com/34749%3A3%3C5%7Ffp6%3Enu%3D3236%3E%3B62%3E238%3EWS NRCG%3D323248%3A632%3C98nu0mrj{/IMG]

It was a great time! I had sandwhiches, fruit, veggies, chips, and chicken strips from Chik Fil A. I used our local Albertsons for everything but the chicken. I also rented a snow cone machine. Everyone LOVED that!

[QPDoll]

Jamie - I LOVE your invites and thank you notes!!!! Im so going to have to add a photo chop of the boys through the year to my invites. Maybe I will just tuck it inside. LOVE the thank you notes. Do you have the ebay'ers info to share?

Love the monkey cake. Your mom made that?? Talent!!! Thanks for posting pictures of the cupcakes. Im thinking of doing cupcakes and wasn't sure how they would look. Love how yours turned out!

CDs I bought a couple of DVDs off of Ebay (JoJos circus music and a circus magic trick DVD) for favors. I plan on burning them and doing something with the front of the CD case. No idea how to do it...haven't tackled that type of project before! Any tips anyone cares to share??

I have more planning pictures in my LJ.

[Mickey&B]

Thanks Alex I have Nero, I just have never used the labeler part. I tried doing a search for monkey's but nothing good came up. I guess I keep trying thanks for the info.

Tina Do you have any of the burning software? they usually have a labeler with them, if not you could use CD stomper (I got it at Costco, a few years back) or as Alex mentioned you could try using Word.

[BooeyJ2]

Calling all creative minds!!

I have made music cds as part of our favors. They are comprised of a selection of children's animal themed music. I am now in the process of designing the sticker labels for each cd which will basically be a photograph of an animal in the wild (like an elephant on one, or a zebra on another). I need some wording for the title of the cd. Something short and catchy.

I'm using Zoo Tunes right now but not sure that is creative enough.

Here is a sample of one of the cd labels to give you an idea:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/CDlabel.jpg


I like "Zoo Tunes". It's cute, short and to the point :)
You can always add your son's name to the beginning too - "Trenton's Zoo Tunes".

[alex67]

Sorry this takes up so much room. Michelle - how bout some of these. Don't exactly know what you are looking for.

http://www.coping.org/wordauthors/monkey/babychimp.jpg

http://www.e-vet.com/images/animals/chimp.jpg

http://fab.cba.mit.edu/forum/chimp.jpg

http://www.pottyworks.com/images/monkey.gif

[ihearttx]

Alright. I know I keep asking for help instead of giving, but ooooone more thing. ;) Could someone provide step-by-step instructions for the photo-clothes-line thing? I would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally appreciate it! :D


I second this! HELP!!

[solongtogo]

Here's our invite, which was shamelessly and 100% absolutely stolen from NYN. Thanks!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/solongtogo/invite.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/solongtogo/invite1.jpg

[Mickey&B]

Alex thanks those are great! I didn't even think of looking under chimp DUH!

[cr8zyforaf]

Lisa - those turned out AMAZING!!! Wow...Where did you get the font for the first line?

[solongtogo]

Lisa - those turned out AMAZING!!! Wow...Where did you get the font for the first line?

it's called curly corphaeus at www.dafont.com

[dbers]

Calling Booey!! Are you there? I noticed an adorable polka dotted dress that your dd wore to her birthday party, and I'm wondering where you got it..?

TIA :)

[kimthebride]

Hi Diane-
I believe it was from this website:
www.PaulinaQuintana.com
The stuff there is too cute! And it looks like her dresses come in 3 different dot color combos.

[kindermom]

Can I vent? I was so looking forward to making the invitations for our small party. DH decides that the prefab invites are better than anything I can make and now I am kind of stuck using these predone invites. Sigh. At least the invites he has his heart set on are cute.

[alienhost]

Alright. I know I keep asking for help instead of giving, but ooooone more thing. ;) Could someone provide step-by-step instructions for the photo-clothes-line thing? I would reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally appreciate it! :D

I just took pictures from each month, I printed on card stock "one month old" etc, but you could just mount the pictures. Cut the cardstock so there is a 1/2 to 1 inch or so border around the picture. I hung a ribbon on the curtain rod (tied to each end of the rod) and used actual wood clothes pins to hang each picture. I put up one picture from each month (taken on the actual "birthday" so people could see how she's grown) but you can hang any pictures you have really.

http://static.flickr.com/49/139997407_87848f7ed3.jpg?v=0

I think this is what you were refering to. I know others used circles. You can buy a circle cutter at JoAnns or Michaels/AC Moore or a scrapbooking store. You cut the photo and then cut a larger circle for the cardstock border. You can also punch a hole in the top and thread the ribbon through if you don't want clothes pins.

Scotch 3M also sells these hooks that you can safely adhere to the wall. You could tie each end of the "line" on those as well.

jessiesmama your party looked wonderful! Nice Job!

solongtogo your invites came out great!

[BooeyJ2]

Calling Booey!! Are you there? I noticed an adorable polka dotted dress that your dd wore to her birthday party, and I'm wondering where you got it..?

TIA :)


Kim is right, the brand is Paulina Quintana.
I didn't get it from there though, luckily one of my wonderful LJ/CC pals had it for her daughter and was kind enough to let DD borrow it (even though her DD has never even worn it yet!) for her party :)

[LILRTL]

Thanks, alienhost. I just couldn't figure out how to hang them! But that looks great! :D

[LeslieR]

Ooh! Why have I not seen that picture clothesline idea before? I might have to steal that idea!

[dbers]

Thanks Kim & Booey! It's so cute. But not so cheap. I'm also having trouble figuring out how to actually purchase that dress in that pattern! If anyone knows, please help me out - I see there are a few internet stores which carry her line, but not that dress specifically. Do you have to special order or something? How nice that your friend lent it to you Booey :)

[PaulsGirl]

dbers Have you tried calling one of the stores? I called the one and they do ship stuff if they have it. Worth a shot.

[Club924]

dbers - can you sew or know anyone that can sew for you? you could always buy the fabric (michael miller dots) and have someone make it for you. you can find them all over ebay or at many online fabric stores, like J. Caroline Creative (http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1030-000910-006&Category_Code=1030a&Product_Count=5) for $6.90/a yard.

http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/1030-000910-006.jpg

[dbers]

Paulsgirl - I haven't - but I probably will if I can't figure it out. It looks like they have a store in NYC now - so I'll check that out too.

Club924 - Unforunately I don't sew - and I don't *think* I know anyone who does, but I'll definitely think about that option! It would probably be much cheaper...

[kimthebride]

Thanks Kim & Booey! It's so cute. But not so cheap.
You've got mail darling. :)

[LILRTL]

Would you all mind posting your menus for your parties? And what time of day it was held? TIA!

[LeslieR]

Lora, Luke's party is at 1. I left it open ended as I know people will just leave when they're ready to go.

Menu-We're having 2 subs-1 Italian and 1 American, my Grandpa's World Famous Beans, MIL's pasta salad, a veggie tray, and either a Hawaiian salad or a fruit salad (haven't decided yet). There will also be a tray of chicken nuggets for the kiddos. I'm thinking potato chips and colored goldfish in bowls on the table. My SIL is making the cakes and I'm thinking about making some 'L' cookies if I feel up to it. For beverages, we'll have soda, water, beer, wine, and I'm going to make a special Luke themed punch (no recipe yet) with Malibu Rum on the side. I think that's it.:)

[Eliezrah]

Lora, we're starting around 11:30 since both my kids are used to eting lunch at 12 and my daughter usually naps from 1-3 (she'll go down late for her brother's bday party though). We'll serve lunch around 12ish and cake probably around 1ish. People can leave whenver they want to. We're having just family (he'll have a bday playdate either the week before or after for his friends) we'll be serving salads and deli stuff most likely.

[Kanga]

lunch menu - I've thought a little bit about this. I'm thinking soups and sandwiches since it will most likely be chilly outside. I'll have the soups in crockpots, so it won't take much to prepare. For the sandwiches, I'm going to get a variety of meat, cheese, and bread from the deli with mustard, mayo, etc on the side and have people make their own. This way, I don't have to cook and people can have their food exactly how they like it. Will also have snacks too - chips and dip, goldfish crackers for the kids, and fruit. I really like the chocolate fountain idea - just not sure I want the cleaning and hassle;)

[LILRTL]

Kanga Your post is making me want baby #2 to be a late fall/winter baby! :D

Leslie What is a Hawaiin salad?

Thanks so far, ladies! We are having a 2:00 party, and I just can't decide whether or not to do heavy foods or just a lot of light or even heavy snack foods.

[Eliezrah]

FOr a party that late, I'd do more snack type stuff. That's what we did for Jackie's 2nd bday. Her party was at 1:30 (in The Little Gym) and we had the party room afterwards so we jsut did snacks.

[lil_nance]

Does anyone have an idea of what a fairly simple custom 1/4 sheet cake would go for? I have someone in one of my playgroups that does cakes but don't know what the going rate is. Local supermarket bakery doesn't have/do what I want.

[vjel]

For DD's 1st bday party, we started around noon or 1, I can't remember. :o We did subs, finger sandwiches (ie. egg/tuna/chicken salad), 2 different pasta salads, wings, sushi platter, fruit/veggie platter, turkey/cheese sandwich rolls (Costco), nuggets for kids, 2 different trifle desserts and cake.

LIlRTL, I think you'd be ok w/ heavy snacks/sandwich type thing b/c of the time of day.

[Goodies]

It was my god-daughters 1st birthday over the weekend. I've been lurking in this thread for months, and glad I can post now :D I was in charge of the majority of the party: decor, cake, favors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos018.jpg
14.99 at birthdayexpress.com

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos016.jpg
Favor -Take out boxes with mermaid stickers and birthday girl thank you.

[Goodies]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos019.jpg
Balloons

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos020.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos023.jpg
Centerpiece display

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos026.jpg
My DD kissing the centerpiece fish

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos140.jpg
Yummy cake...

And the Birthday girl!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos012.jpg

[Cr8nme]

Wow I love the mermaid theme! Everything looked great!

[LILRTL]

Oh I LOVE the bucket with goldfish crackers!! That would be cute for our kids' table! Everything looks great and so put-together! :D

[Goodies]

Thanks Cr8nme and lilrtl!
The empty fish bowls later had gummy worms, it was so hot (109degrees) they were melting!

[kindermom]

We are having a full-on barbecue for M's party. We asre starting at 1:30 and will go until 6:00 at the latest. M usually naps from 11 to 1 or 1:30. I figure that we will eat around 2:00 and have cake around 3:30.

Tentative menu:
Green Beans with dill and butter
Gingered sweet potatoes
Macaroni salad
Kabobs with steak and chicken, tomatoes, red peppers, and baby potatoes.
Ramen noodle salad

Snack (before the cake):
Fruit salad

Dessert:
Carrot cake
Brownies
Ladybug ice cream

[LeslieR]

Lora, there are a lot of variations, but this is the one we use in my family:

HAWAIIAN SALAD

12 marshmallows
1 sm. pkg. lime Jell-O
1 sm. can crushed pineapple
1 c. nuts
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 c. boiling water
1 pt. whipped cream (or sm. pkg. Cool Whip)

Dissolve marshmallows and Jell-O in boiling water. Fold in whipped cream and cream cheese. Add nuts and pineapple; whip and chill.

If I do end up making this one, I won't add the nuts, of course.:)

I've had a variation with fruit cocktail, coconut, pineapple, and marshmallows, and sour cream-that one is pretty good, too.

[dana b]

hawaiian salad i had no idea that was called hawaiian salad, i haven't had this since i was little -- it's sooo yummy.

[dana b]

lil_nance around here (l.a.) a cake from a decent bakery starts at about $4. pp (most of them charge pp).

anyone know how to order a decent birthday banner, preferably online? it's for a 50th birthday party and i only know of kiddie stuff.

[solongtogo]

The little mermaid pictures are great! That cake is amazing and I LOVE the goldfish in the buckets...really cute idea.

[Cr8nme]

I didn't know it was called hawaiian salad either...Is it sometimes called Watergate salad too?

I am also looking for a banner for DD first birthday

[solongtogo]

I am also looking for a banner for DD first birthday


Make sure you check out ebay...the only place I found a ladybug banner was there :)