First Birthday Party Ideas!

[cartersmommy]

Hey Girls!
Ok, needing some help and I thought that with all your great ideas, I would come here first. I have tried searching for this and can't come up with anything. I am doing the Martha Stewart monkey party for DS's 1st bday. I am making his invitations with this stamp set from Stampin' Up!:
http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/Stampinup/index.aspx?pagename=moreinfo&fsid=f0efa749-4700-4d15-b7b3-4d33478dc1d7&storeid=1039273&uniqueid=7212315&circularid=8784

and want to incorporate his 1 year pictures in the invitation somehow. what i am needing help with is a really fun way to do his pictures.... like a theme or something for him to be doing or holding... does that make sense?? I just need some ideas to get me going of some portraits I could use. Any suggestions??

[BooeyJ2]

Hey Girls!
Ok, needing some help and I thought that with all your great ideas, I would come here first. I have tried searching for this and can't come up with anything. I am doing the Martha Stewart monkey party for DS's 1st bday. I am making his invitations with this stamp set from Stampin' Up!:
http://catalogs.shoplocal.com/Stampinup/index.aspx?pagename=moreinfo&fsid=f0efa749-4700-4d15-b7b3-4d33478dc1d7&storeid=1039273&uniqueid=7212315&circularid=8784

and want to incorporate his 1 year pictures in the invitation somehow. what i am needing help with is a really fun way to do his pictures.... like a theme or something for him to be doing or holding... does that make sense?? I just need some ideas to get me going of some portraits I could use. Any suggestions??


Here is the set you are using.....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/OTHER/MONEYSTAMP.jpg

I think a cute and simple way to add his photo is to just add a basic square photo of your DS's face and make it look like the monkey at the bottom left is holding the picture :)

Or you can just get a TON (the more the better - so I would say at least 5+ big bunches - don't worry, you can make banana bread or banana mildshakes afterwards ;) ) of bananas from the grocery store and have him sitting with bananas all around. More than likely he'll pick one up and put it in his mouth which would be really cute.

[cartersmommy]

booey-- i love those ideas! I love the one of the monkey holding him up... that would be adorable. thanks!

[EJH]

Hi ladies,

DP and I are pretty strict about DD not having sugar at this point. There is a history of diabetes in the family, and we just don't think it needs to be introduced yet. We'd rather her not develop the tastebuds for it. It's a personal thing that we're doing b/c of genetic health issues, that's all.

Last night we had MIL's birthday, and she got very angry that we wouldn't let her give DD cake. We have had visions of this problem coming up at DD's birthday in August since before she was born, really. Now that it is almost here and we've just witnessed what will happen if we don't give her cake at her birthday (though it'll be much worse, I'm sure), we are thinking of NOT having a cake at all.

We can do cookies and get some italian pastries for grown-ups and the kids who will be there.

I guess the other option is making DD a cupcake or cake with no sugar...can you even do that??

Would love everyone's thoughts on what we can do instead of the traditional cake.

Thanks !
Erin

[BooeyJ2]

cartersmommy no prob :)


EJH - There are lots of sugar free recipes. Here are some I found......
http://cake.allrecipes.com/directory/2464.asp

Also, instead of a whole sugar free cake (which may or may not be a hit at the party), maybe do cupcakes for all of the guests and do one little "smash cake" for your DD. Not only will it avoid the whole "sugar/no sugar" thing, but you won't have to cut and serve cake as well ;)

[kindermom]

Erin -

I searched in Google (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-29,GGLG:en&q=sugar+free+cake+recipe)using "sugar free cake recipe" and got quite a few results. It looks like most of the cakes there are sweetening with apple juice.

Here are a few I trust.
http://cake.allrecipes.com/directory/2464.asp

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,sugar_free_cake,FF.html

http://www.lifeclinic.com/whatsnew/cookbook/diabetescookbook.asp

We are making a carrot cake to limit the sugar. Would this be a compromise?

[EJH]

Thanks Booey and Noel!

We definitely would do a regular cake for guests, and give DD the sugar free one.

Carrot cake might be a compromise...hmm.

I'm off to look at recipes. I knew I could count on you mamas!!

Thanks so much :D

[LILRTL]

Erin Our Food City (grocery store - not sure about your area) keeps Sugar Free birthday cakes stocked. I'm willing to bet not ONE person would know the difference! ;)

[Kiley]

I'm also looking for a sugar less cake receipe but most of the receipes I have found have an artifical sugar substitute (splenda, etc.) which I also want to avoid. Some also have nuts and eggs; eggs might be okay but nuts aren't. Also, is nutmeg a nut or just the name of a spice?

Any good carrot cake receipes?

[NYN]

have you guys checked wholesomebabyfoods.com for a sugar free cake recipe? i would definitely do the sugar free smash cake too - no one would be the wiser.

do you guys mean sugarless carrot cake recipes? b/c i have a carrot cake recipe that requires sugar.

nutmeg is a spice.

[solongtogo]

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

I'm trying to order some photo confetti...here's what I've found so far.

www.photofetti.com website does not work correctly. I've had to go through my entire order crop it and all that two times, and each time at the end it says my shopping cart is empty.

beaucoup takes you to confotti

escapeconcepts takes you to photofetti

Frustrating! Hopefully I can find another place.

[kimthebride]

I guess the other option is making DD a cupcake or cake with no sugar...can you even do that??
My ex BF of 4 years was a diabetic, and every year I made him a special diabetic's sugar-free cake. They had the mix & frosting in my regular grocery store, and they were usually pretty good. I have to imagine these days they have even more options. So there is definitely stuff out there!

ETA: I just cheked my local online grocery store for "sugar free cake mix" and they have SF Angelfood Cake in regular stock. Mmmm....

[HollyMN]

Questions about balloons and lanterns. Our party will be at home.

1. How did you hang lanterns from the ceiling?
2. Did you inflate the helium balloons yourself or did a store do it?
3. If a store did it, how did you transport them all back to your house, we have cars - no minivan or SUV.
4. How early before the party can you do balloons? The night before? How long did it take?
5. What did your morning look like? I like to get everything done in advance, but balloons, some of the food, flowers, cleaning the bathrooms.... getting myself and Caleb ready - it seems there's a lot I can't do in advance.

Working moms with Saturday parties - did you take that Friday off?

We are doing a lot of homemade stuff, but my husband will do the grilling and chopping of produce, and he's good about taking over my tasks when I run out of time - he's helped when I've hosted showers and regularly makes Thanksgiving dinner so I trust that my DH will do everything and do it right, but there's still a lot on my list for the day of. I have a wide open weekend right now, and I wish I could be decorating now.

[NYN]

Holly, we didn't have our party yet but I can answer two of your questions:

-we are renting a helium machine to blow up our balloons (b/c we have small cars and the transport issue seemed too annoying).
-i am not able to take off the Friday before our Saturday party, although i wish i could. as a result i made the party start at 2pm and my mom is helping me prepare some stuff the day before.

[vjel]

1. How did you hang lanterns from the ceiling?
We ran fishing line from the curtain rod (just tied it to the rod) on one side of the room to the molding on the other side and used a thumb tack to hold it (if it left tiny holes no biggie b/c no one can see them that high). Then we tied curling ribbon on the fishing line and hung lanterns and what not from that.

sorry for the small pic
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y72/vjel/lanterns.jpg

2. Did you inflate the helium balloons yourself or did a store do it?
3. If a store did it, how did you transport them all back to your house, we have cars - no minivan or SUV.

Didn't do balloons last year but did this year and had the store do it, but we have a minivan so it was no problem. I imagine you could rent a tank.

4. How early before the party can you do balloons? The night before? How long did it take?

If you're doing just the latex balloons, you'll need to get them the day of as they won't last overnight (8hrs is what I think they told me). I would put in the order at least a day in advance and tell them when you want them ready by. If you just go in and order that AM, it can take awhile if they are busy filling other orders. Just to pick them up this year took awhile b/c there was only 1 person on register and everyone else was blowing up balloons so I had to wait in line just to pick them up.

5. What did your morning look like? I like to get everything done in advance, but balloons, some of the food, flowers, cleaning the bathrooms.... getting myself and Caleb ready - it seems there's a lot I can't do in advance.

I would get the cleaning done the day before the party. It's going to be hectic just setting up so if you can get anything done before the day, do! If you can get flowers the night before. Get as much decorating as you can get done the night before. Get food prep done the night before if you can so it's ready to be cooked/set out/whatever the next day. The thing is that you will have to do all your regular Caleb stuff in addition to all the party stuff. Plus you don't know what could come up. Do you have a good friend or family member that could come over early and help w/ either your son or the party? I had friends come help me decorate what I couldn't finish the night before. We've ordered food for all of DD's parties so we have one less thing to worry about, but even w/o having to worry about the food issue, things were still a little hectic .

HTH!

[1_mommy]

wal mart, target, and some party stores sell helium tanks for prety cheap, around $20 a tank. i was able to blow up a couple dozen baloons using them

[LILRTL]

I know these invitations have already been posted - but my BF actually bought them at Hallmark. I just thought the wording she used was really cute!

"Our little lady is turning one,
Fly on over for lots of fun!
Grandmommie's Garden is the landing spot,
Crawl on over at 2:00 on the dot!
Saturday, July 22 is the special day,
Buzz ######### if you're on your way!"

http://images1.snapfish.com/34755%3B%3A6%3A%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6 %3B%3EWSNRCG%3D32338%3B8279%3B35nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34755%3B%3A6%3A%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6 %3B%3EWSNRCG%3D32338%3B8278657nu0mrj

[alienhost]

Hi ladies,

DP and I are pretty strict about DD not having sugar at this point. There is a history of diabetes in the family, and we just don't think it needs to be introduced yet. We'd rather her not develop the tastebuds for it. It's a personal thing that we're doing b/c of genetic health issues, that's all.

Last night we had MIL's birthday, and she got very angry that we wouldn't let her give DD cake. We have had visions of this problem coming up at DD's birthday in August since before she was born, really. Now that it is almost here and we've just witnessed what will happen if we don't give her cake at her birthday (though it'll be much worse, I'm sure), we are thinking of NOT having a cake at all.

We can do cookies and get some italian pastries for grown-ups and the kids who will be there.

I guess the other option is making DD a cupcake or cake with no sugar...can you even do that??

Would love everyone's thoughts on what we can do instead of the traditional cake.

Thanks !
Erin

Martha Stewart Kids magazine had baby friendly cakes that did not have refined sugar. I made the apple one that had no sugar apple sauce, apple juice and maple syrup - no dairy or eggs either. I don't have time right now (going on vacation) to post the recipes but maybe someone else has the magazine. It was on the newstands this spring. There was also a carrot and banana version - both with adult and baby cakes, using essentially the same batter but adding frosting etc to the adult one.

I frosted her cake w/ home made whipped cream (no sugar added) - just whipping cream.

[Natrat80]

EJH I felt the same way about introducing sugar as you and I attempted to make sugar free cupcakes for DD's party. They turned out pretty horrible! :eek: When I tasted them all I could taste was baking powder. I did use regular apple juice instead of concentrate so that make have been the main problem. I got the recipe from wholesomebabyfood.com If you decide to do any sugar free cake I'd make a trial run to make sure they are edible! In the end we gave her a regular cupcake and she ate about 2 bites before throwing it on the floor and eating the cut up fruit that was on her plate instead! :D

I can't find the link to the recipe, but I saved it on my computer. I'm going to PM it to you instead of taking up tons of space here!

-Natalie

[LexyLou]

Does anyone else want to share the timing of their party?

It seems the standard amounr of time is about 2-3 hours.

I'm not sure if we should do the party between nap 1 and 2 and have it from 12:00-2pm

or if we should do it between nap and bedime and do it from 3-5 or 3-6 pm.

[dbers]

I debated on this a lot - but we decided to go with 12-3. Alex naps in the morning and the afternoon, but is a bit unpredictable. I thought doing it later in the day might be less convenient for the guests...

[solongtogo]

2-5 is our time

[Mickey&B]

solongtogo I just realized our babies have the same birthday :)

We are also doing our party 2-5, I don't really know how this is going to work out. I think I am going to try to start that morning later like around 11.

[dbers]

Mickey&B - that makes three! :D Alex's birthday in August 25th too

[alex67]

Our party will be scheduled from 4:00-6:00 but most everyone will stay later since they are close friends or family. We are grilling out so dinner will be included.

[BooeyJ2]

Questions about balloons and lanterns. Our party will be at home.


1. How did you hang lanterns from the ceiling?
I used clear 3m mini hooks (from Target). They are awesome because they have an adhesive backing (looks like thick double sided tape) but comes off clean and without removing any paint! Love them! I used clear fishing line to hang the lanterns on.
http://www.createforless.com/InterchangeData/images/2/b2000-0920-0022.jpg
http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/hooks.jhtml
You can see how one of the hooks looks right next to the picture banner (left side)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3984.jpg
We used them for the photo banner as well...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3971.jpg



2. Did you inflate the helium balloons yourself or did a store do it?
I did it myself ONLY because Party City and grocery stores didn't have the right shades of pink and green that I wanted and they were going to charge me about 50 cents per balloon to blow up (I had bought the balloons online). It was cheaper for me to buy the tank (which was on sale at Party City - but I saw it for a few dollars cheaper at Costco after the party of course).



3. If a store did it, how did you transport them all back to your house, we have cars - no minivan or SUV.
N/A - FWIW though, my co-workers and I just decorated our bosses office a few weeks ago and my co-worker was able to fit 2 dozen balloons in her Honda Civic (trunk and car) with 2 people in the car. If you have a good sized trunk, just clear it out ;)



4. How early before the party can you do balloons? The night before? How long did it take?
I did them a few hours before the party started. I was afraid to do them the night before because I didn't want to come down the next morning to find a bunch of saggy balloons LOL. Better to be safe than sorry ;). It didn't take me too long since I had precut/curled the ribbons the night before. I think about 30 min to blow up 2 dozen?




5. What did your morning look like? I like to get everything done in advance, but balloons, some of the food, flowers, cleaning the bathrooms.... getting myself and Caleb ready - it seems there's a lot I can't do in advance.
It was actually pretty laid back. I woke up (naturally) around 7:30am, headed downstairs and frosted the cupcakes, did the balloons and started getting everything ready. Luckily my BIL's, sisters and a few friends came about an hour before the party started and everyone helped to get the lanterns (BIL was mainly in charge of this since he's 6'4" hehe), photo banner, streamers, etc up.



Working moms with Saturday parties - did you take that Friday off?
Nope. After work that Friday night I baked all of the cupcakes and cut the ribbon for the balloons, etc. Even if you take a day off, the majority of the stuff that is hardest to get done is the food and stuff (which needs to be done at the last minute anyway). It should only take an hour or so (depending on how many decorations and what kind) to get all the decorations up.

[LeslieR]

Luke's party is at 1. I left it open ended as I know people will just leave when they feel ready to go. I'm just praying that he takes a good nap in the morning and I'm not so worried about the afternoon nap.

[ihearttx]

Anyone have any ideas how to attach the feather boa to the table like this one? I love this idea for my DD's pink poodle party..

Do you think pinning it or taping it would work?

http://www.promnite.com/images/m25706.jpg

[Mickey&B]

HOw about these. I have used them before to hold down table cloths and they work great. I figure you won't be able to see them with all the feathers. I found these online, but I have bought them at our local party supply store.
These are shown in white but I have bought them in clear.
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/HanoverAssets/Improvements/product_images/130542zz.jpg

[PaulsGirl]

Balloons Online Does anyone have a good site? I did a search but there are so many out there...

[BooeyJ2]

Balloons Online Does anyone have a good site? I did a search but there are so many out there...

We got balloons and sprinkles (it was one of the few places I could find single colors (and they had hot pink and lime green!) from
http://www.thepartyworks.com/

[PaulsGirl]

Thanks Booey! Your balloons looked rounder and bigger than the regular ones, and that's the look I'm going for...

[summerbaby]

I was a major lurker of this thread when planning DD's birthday so I thought I'd come back with some pics. We had a really simple party as we had moved to a new town a few weeks before her birthday. We didn't know anyone to invite, so it was just family. I totally skimped on invites, favors, entertainment, etc. Oh, the theme was yellow & orange flowers.

Streamers and lanterns

http://static.flickr.com/51/185776109_e5278039bb.jpg?v=0

Month-by-month photos on clothesline
http://static.flickr.com/44/185784668_a54f0ce61b.jpg?v=0

Flowers cut out from papers [from Martha Stewart Kids mag]
http://static.flickr.com/78/185784672_d6725b2303.jpg?v=0

The food
http://static.flickr.com/56/185776102_8d27ebcd3e.jpg?v=0

And me, DH, and DD in her traditional korean dress
http://static.flickr.com/73/185776106_144459c38a.jpg?v=0

Thanks for letting me share and all the wonderful ideas! I'm already thinking about her 2nd birthday!;)

[Club924]

what a cute bday party summerbaby! love the decorations and your DD looks so adorable in her korean dress! was that a dessert table on your coffee table...yummy! i've never seen dessert stacked like that before...it's looks so unique! BTW, what is the pink/lime green/white layer thing-y on the dessert table?

[summerbaby]

Thanks for your sweet compliments Club924. I guess I should have mentioned that traditionally, korean people celebrate first birthdays with rice cakes [that's what's on the coffee table] along with dates, fruits, and other edibles stacked neatly. I was pretty clueless too w/o my mom and MIL. :)

[mcl]

summerbaby-where did you buy your picture frames?

[summerbaby]

mcl- http://www.fastframe.com/main.html. Our friends own a store in SF Valley in LA area and we had them custom frame pics of DD taken at 3 months.

[bluhimmy]

summerbaby - The decorations looked great. You DD looks adorable in her Korean dress. Food looked yummy too; loved the way you stacked the cookies and wafers. BTW, where did you buy the lanterns from?

[summerbaby]

bluhimmy- Thanks! The paper lanterns are from Cost Plus World Market. They are battery powered too although we didn't light them since it was bright. They look even cuter when lit! I can't wait to use them again in the future!

[Kanga]

Beautiful party summerbaby! The food looks delicious. BTW - I think your dh and my dh could be twins;)

http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/28/B9/49/i28B9497F-03CF-49D1-BD05-27F91199F80F.jpg

[PaulsGirl]

summerbaby Everything looks just perfect. Great job!!

[summerbaby]

Thanks everyone! I really didn't think I did much but I enjoyed it. I can't wait until DD is a little older and it will be even more fun!

Kanga- heehee, you're right, they look so much alike!

[savannahgrl]

I loved your party Summerbaby! Great job! That birthday food makes me hungry! I've never tried a rice cake, but it looks so good. Your DD is adorable!

[BooeyJ2]

summerbaby - Awesome job :) Those cut out flowers are ADORABLE! Love the lanterns too :)

[myshel]

I wanted to let you guys know that Super Target is a pretty darn good place to get a birthday cake. I just ordered DS's today. A 1/2 sheet cake with just some basic decoration and "Happy 1st Birthday_________" cost me $21.99. They also throw in a free 5 inch smash cake for a first birthday order. Just thought I'd let those of you planning know about this pretty good deal.

[NYN]

omg there is a super target? and it has cake? target is a very new thing here and i am obsessed. DH and I were excited that they renovated it to add a section for food. wait until i tell him there is the potential for cake too, lol.

also, i am very excited and i know you girls will share in my happiness -- at my local dollar store i found ladybug socks! only 5 pairs but enough for the younger girls. i was so excited!

[vjel]

summerbaby, wonderful party!

[sem426]

Everyone's parties are so fabulous...I"m trying to start to get organized for DD's bday in November.
First, I need to find somewhere to have the party. Our house is out...too many people, can't be outside since it's Nov. Soooo, those of you who had parties not at your house...where did you have it? I'm going to start looking into some restaurants in the area, but i'd love to hear where eveyone else had their DC's 1st birthday.

RE: super target- NYN- i think only some are "super". our target doesn't have cakes bc it's just a regular target. not super. :( I'm actually thinking of getting DD's birthday cake at sam's club. they make all different size sheet cakes and can put your picture on it or make any theme you like.

[Kanga]

sem - we're in the same situation you are. Our house just isn't practical for entertaining, and the only real seating is our new sofas and as dh says, I'm overprotective of them. We checked out our local zoo which we thought we would be great because we wouldn't have to worry about entertainment but they only allow one caterer and you can't bring in your own food (I'm sure we could bring in a cake, but you had to hire that caterer) and they are pretty expensive for a first birthday. It might be a good option for your area though. Another place we looked at was a company that sells playground equipment. They have an indoor showcase and on Saturdays you can rent it out, but it was something like $200 for 2 hours and a max of 20 people. (or at least that's all they had seating for). They provided clean up and paper plates, napkins, and utensils, but I'm picky and wanted co-ordinate everything, so the price seemed kinda steep for our area (I know in some areas, this would be nothing though).

[Chimichanga]

Long time lurker (love all of the parties BTW!!!) and wanted to reply to sem...

Check out a community center or church for your little one's party. You don't have to be a member of the church usually, and they are fairly inexpensive. Usually these places have their own chairs/tables and a kitchen area you can prepare your food (and they have industrial size appliances).

My cousin held her DS's first birthday party at a community center. It had plenty of room for the kids to play in and a decent size kitchen area so she could prep the food.

The only "negative" is that you have to bring all of your own stuff. And if you forget anything, you'll be running back home or to a local store.

[usafwife]

Did you inflate the helium balloons yourself or did a store do it? ~ We bought the balloons and then inflated them ourselves the day of the party. We had gotten a helium tank because had we had to drive to get them inflated the day of the party it would have meant a couple of hours drive each way. We weren't going to do that as we had TOO many other things going on that day to worry about it. We still have part of the tank (not sure exactly how much helium is left because DH inflated the balloons while I was doing other things in the house) leftover for another use later on.

How early before the party can you do balloons? The night before? How long did it take? ~ We started about an hour before the party began. My aunt was helping my DH with the balloons and that is what someone had told her. It probably took about 20/30 minutes to do 2 dozen ballloons.

What did your morning look like? I like to get everything done in advance, but balloons, some of the food, flowers, cleaning the bathrooms.... getting myself and Caleb ready - it seems there's a lot I can't do in advance. ~ I got up around 8 or so (I'd wanted to get up a little earlier but had stayed up late doing other things on Friday evening and I was having morning sickness so that delayed me a little as well). We had did all the major cleaning in the week leading up to the party so that was done but a little straightening up of last minute things. My mom and I made some of the food items on Friday (she had taken some of the week off as a vacation) so we baked the big cake, DD's smash cake, and with the rest of the cake we made cupcakes with it. We made the pasta salad so it would have overnight to set and flavor. On Saturday we pressed out the hamburger patties and got things ready so we'd be ready to eat when the party started (just waiting for the meat to be cooked). I had made confetti, wish/advice cards, and put them on the table with the photo matte so everyone could do that as soon as they arrived at the party.

We also got the fruit and things ready for the chocolate fountain we would be having when we had cake and just put the fruit back into the fridge after we cut it up on a platter that would stay cold for hours outside.

DH and my aunt were in charge of the decorations and it only took about an hour to get it all decorated (streamers, banner, balloons, table cloths, and a couple of stuffed animal decorations to go along with our theme).

[usafwife]

Timeline ~ We had our party to begin at 2 pm but had to move it because we found out on the day before the party DH was put on the on-call list for the holiday weekend. He was suppose to have Saturday off (no one was suppose to call him) per his supervisor but we could just see that at about 1/1:30 he'd get a call and be gone for a couple of hours. I knew I couldn't cook the hamburgers (because of my morning sickness) or other meat so we decided to move it back two hours. It all ended up being a big mess (since we had people show up who hadn't RSVP so we had absolutely NO idea they were going to be there. We notified everyone we knew was planning on attending) and (no call the entire four day weekend even though we couldn't go a darn place and had planned to go to the zoo one day) should have left it at the original time.

Even SIL (who I've mentioned before) didn't show up. Seems that oldest niece got home from camp but had another birthday party (first time we heard about it because up until then it was she was getting home from camp that day and SIL wasn't sure of the time therefore couldn't say whether or not they'd be there). Okay, but she has two other children whom she could have brought to the party considering how she states (all the time) they "never get to see DD." Well, lady here was your chance and you didn't take it. :mad: :mad:

Cakes ~ Considering how little DD ate of her own cake it wouldn't have mattered if we'd made a sugar free one or not. She had maybe a couple of bites of it (she ate more ice cream than anything else).

Party Menu ~ We had:

hamburgers
hot dogs
baked beans
pasta salad
cole slaw
chips
dip
veggie tray/veggie dip
grape tomatoes

cake
ice cream
chocolate fountain
fruit/marshmallows/graham cracker sticks for dipping


I already have ideas for the next birthday party. I think we'll go with ordering subs from a local store, have chips/dip, veggie tray, cole slaw, cake, etc. And then maybe have fireworks after so we'd need to have a party later in the evening (say about 6).

small vent ~ I will say that I wish people would RSVP so you wouldn't buy more food or make more than you need. A simple phone call to let the person know would be very helpful!

I'll be back later to post pictures of the party.

[kindermom]

So my invites went out. I was able to convince DH that they should be home made. I will post once I take photos and load them...

My Wording
A little cake, a lot of fun.
A little host who's turning ONE!
Join us in celebrating the first year with Madelyn Grace.

Sunday,
September 3, 2006
2 pm to 6 pm

Join us for an early supper and dessert

Address

RSVP by August 18th

Phone

We look forward to celebrating with you!

[alex67]

Noel - we will be partying at the same time!

Here's our invite wording (so far, I haven't printed them yet)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Go WILD with Trenton
and have some fun
for this little MONKEY
is turning one!

Grown-ups will be grilling
so bring your appetite
while the little-ones will be swimming
oh, what a sight!

Sunday, September 3, 2006
from 4:00-6:00pm
address

rsvp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a little clipart monkey, elephant, and giraffe on page surrounding the invite wording.

[QPDoll]

Help!

Can anyone find these "Circus Cone" hats?
http://variety.ws/images/circus%20cone%20hats.jpg

The place I ordered from (Variety) is now out of stock!

[LeslieR]

Anyone know of a place (not online) where I can find alphabet cookie cutters? I need an L, A, and an R. Oh, and a 1, too, I guess. I saw a set on ebay, but I really don't need an entire set...

[BooeyJ2]

Help!

Can anyone find these "Circus Cone" hats?
http://variety.ws/images/circus%20cone%20hats.jpg

The place I ordered from (Variety) is now out of stock!


http://www.plumparty.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=100200&Category_Code=pphats



http://www.partypartnersdesign.com/pparade_hats.html

[LeslieR]

Ahhh, nevermind. I see that Michael's and Joann sell a set of alphabet and numbers cookie cutters. Yay!

[LILRTL]

Leslie Any bakery should have them, and Hobby Lobby even had some!!

[LILRTL]

Oop - cross posted! :D Glad you found them!

[Traciray]

Help!

Can anyone find these "Circus Cone" hats?
http://variety.ws/images/circus%20cone%20hats.jpg

The place I ordered from (Variety) is now out of stock!
----------------

these aren't exactly alike but we did a circus theme for DS First b'day last year. these came from party city.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/traciisom/100_0138.jpg

[QPDoll]

http://www.plumparty.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=100200&Category_Code=pphats



http://www.partypartnersdesign.com/pparade_hats.html

Plum Party is also sold out (so is Amazon), and the sencond link (party partners) is actually linked to order through Plum Party. I feel like Im going 'round and 'round. LOL

Traciray Were the hats small enough for kids to wear?

We have a really small Party City locally, I may have to drive to a larger town for a decent selection.

[QPDoll]

It seems like Im shooting out on these cone hats. Anyone have suggestions for hats that don't have a cartoon on them and that don't cost $90 for 12?

The only thing else Im coming up with are these plain/small cone hats.

http://www.7ware.com//Group/Group486/Catalog/CONE%20FOIL%20HAT.JPG

ETA: our theme is circus and the colors are red, orange, yellow and turquoise.

[NYN]

could those of you who did custom labels on soda bottles as balloon weights re-post the pictures please? i am trying to create mine, need ideas and am too lazy to go through this whole thread. thanks!

[lil_nance]

For those of you with ladybug themes, my local Trader Joes had Ladybug Red Wine. Cute if you're having a bunch of adults. By Lolonis Wines.
http://www.lolonis.com/Assets/images/LBR-5.jpg

Question We're planning to BBQ on Sat. from 1-3 and have the party in our backyard. Current weather forcast is for low 90s :eek: We have an umbrella and I can borrow a tent. Can I do the party outside or should I move everything in? We probably have the space but I'd prefer people outside. 20 adults & 4 kids if that matters. I don't entertain much so this party is stressing me out.

Menu:
hamburgers
pasta salad
chips & salsa
veggies & dip
cake

Am I missing anything that I "have" to have?

[Mickey&B]

lil_nance I would set up to have everything outside and then plan that a few people might straggle inside to cool off if needed. With an umbrella and lots of cool drinks you should be okay. It get's pretty hot where I am in the summer, I have a few misters that you could hook up to a regular hose, and I set those out for the hot day parties! Just an idea.

[BooeyJ2]

could those of you who did custom labels on soda bottles as balloon weights re-post the pictures please? i am trying to create mine, need ideas and am too lazy to go through this whole thread. thanks!


Here were ours....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3946.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3948.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3956.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/More%20pics/Newest%20Pics/Newest2/IMG_3959.jpg


We just mocked up our own "Jones Soda" label.

[NYN]

thanks booey.

For those of you with ladybug themes, my local Trader Joes had Ladybug Red Wine. Cute if you're having a bunch of adults. By Lolonis Wines.
this is cute but i am so far uptown. i'll have to send my DH on another errand, lol.

[Traciray]

QPDoll

They did have the smaller versions of the large hats I used on the table as decoration too.

[Hawaii2SJ]

I need some opinions on centerpieces for birthday parties. Babies first birthday parties are a pretty big event in my culture/family, practically like a mini wedding event.

So for centerpieces I'm gearing them for the kids. Do you think a stuffed animal is a bad idea?? I'm going for an ocean theme * i think* so I was going to do sea turtles (like the baby one from Nemo, but NOT a nemo theme) I haven't looked for them yet, it's just an idea. I'll probably do the turtle with some sort of candy with an ocean theme wrapper or wrapped in a fish net and those will be the ballon weights as well.

What do you think? Any other suggestions? His party will be at a community center with long buffet style tables.

[DianeCourt]

Hawaii: I think the stuffed marine animals are a perfect idea. You could probably give the centerpieces away as prizes to the kids, as well. (Kind of like a baby or wedding shower!)

They have some super cute ones at This Place is a Zoo (http://www.thisplaceisazoo.com/underthesea.html): clownfish, crabs, octopus, manatee, jellyfish to name a few. Some of them are $10 & under.

[myshel]

Nancy: I'm running into the same issue you are... the weather. It's supposed to be the hottest day of the summer on the day I have DS's party planned (July 22nd). My plan is to have some stuff set up outside in our carport (chairs, a table, a cooler of drinks), but also have areas to sit inside the house too (in our very small, 90 year-old living and dining rooms). I know some people, like DH's 80 year-old grandmother and DH's halo bound mother, will come inside. It's just the way it has to be.

I think your menu sounds good. You *might* want to consider a small package of hotdogs for the kids. In my experience, most kids aren't too fond of hamburgers.

[kindermom]

Julie - How did you adhere the labels to the bottles for the custom pop labels? My Photoshop Saavy DH will be making them but does nto know how to finish them!

TIA

[NYN]

kindermom, staples sells these adhesive "labels" that are 8.5" x 11". i printed mine out on there and cut them to size.

[myshel]

small vent ~ I will say that I wish people would RSVP so you wouldn't buy more food or make more than you need. A simple phone call to let the person know would be very helpful!


I'm totally feeling you here. I was planning on doing the shopping for DS's party this weekend. I was looking through my list and realized that 16 people haven't RSVPd. Tomorrow is the date. If it were 3 or 4, I wouldn't mind, but 16 is the difference between several pounds of meat. Argh! I guess I'll get it figured out.

[Hawaii2SJ]

Hawaii: I think the stuffed marine animals are a perfect idea. You could probably give the centerpieces away as prizes to the kids, as well. (Kind of like a baby or wedding shower!)

They have some super cute ones at This Place is a Zoo (http://www.thisplaceisazoo.com/underthesea.html): clownfish, crabs, octopus, manatee, jellyfish to name a few. Some of them are $10 & under.

Thank you for the website!! I'm still playing around with the ocean theme and couldn't find fish net but that website has it. All the animals are pretty cute. I love the big eyed baby turtles. The prices are a bit steep for my budget though. I didn't want to spend more than 10 bucks TOTAL. We'll see what happens. Thanks again:D

[BooeyJ2]

Julie - How did you adhere the labels to the bottles for the custom pop labels? My Photoshop Saavy DH will be making them but does nto know how to finish them!

TIA


We just used double sided tape ;) Label paper would have worked too, but it would have been harder to remove if you accidentally stuck it on crooked or didn't cover the original Jones Soda label ;)

[kindermom]

Julie - So you just taped on the labels? I may go this route because 1) it is cheaper and 2) I could see me sticking things on wrong!

[BooeyJ2]

Julie - So you just taped on the labels? I may go this route becauyse 1) it is cheaper and 2) I could see me sticking things on wrong!

Yep! :)
They were pinted on sheets (in rows to wrap around the bottle), we cut them out and then taped them on ;) Easy as pie and no worrying about centering correctly on label paper ;)

[LeslieR]

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but did you/are you opening presents at DC's party? My mom is buying Luke a wagon and wanting to know if we should bring it to the party or not. I'm leaning towards not opening presents as of right now...

ETA: DH seems to think a lot of his family will be giving money. Did DC receive a lot of money gifts? Or should I say more money gifts than toys (or clothes)?

[lil_nance]

Connor's party was yesterday. Here's some feedback for those of you still planning.
Timing It was 1-3 but about half the people stayed until 4 to witness the present opening spectacle. I'd say 2-3hr was about perfect as far as length of party. Connor woke up from his morning nap around 11 so was more than ready for a nap at 3 but the toys amused him until all the presents were opened.
Outside/weather/menu Weather was hot but we had tents and soda, beer, etc. Would recommend more soda for those of you still planning. It also rained but the timing was perfect for moving inside for cake and presents. Menu was simple: burgers, pasta salad, chips & dip, veggies, fish crackers, and cake. Everyone seemed satisfied. Don't forget condiments. I forgot to put out the ketchup/mustard until someone asked. Oops.
Favors Everyone: fish crackers, birthday rubber duck. Adults: frog, duck, fish guest soaps. Kids: no spill bubbles, beach balls. The adults really didn't care about getting favors, most seemed surprised by it. But I wanted to do it so I did.
Decorations Did a frame with birth stats in the center surrounded by month-by-month pics, balloons, streamers, a fish windsock, a large frog and duck stuffed animals.
Be back with pics later. The birthday boy just woke up. :)

[JATTNJ]

This thread has been invaluable for me as I have planned my son's 1st - so thanks!!:D

I have a question for all of you that had outdoor parties - how did you work out the tent thing? We are having his party outside in August in NJ - HOT. We invited 85 adults and 12 children - I am in a townhouse so it is my inlaws backyard. Right now, I have a contract sitting in front of me for a 20X30 frame tent, tables and chairs....the tent alone is $595. Does this seem reasonable?? Have any of you come up with a better solution?????:confused: TIA :)

[usafwife]

Opening Presents ~ We had DD open the gifts because out of the people we invited only her grandparents, great grandparents, great aunt, and one great uncle showed up (I was a little disappointed to say the least especially at my SIL but that's a whole other thread). They all enjoyed watching her open the gifts. I'm not sure we would have done it if we'd had a lot more people there though. But I also knew that everyone wanted to see her open the presents.

Gifts ~ DD did get some money gifts (which were put into her saving acct) and some savings bonds. The rest were toys (which we were in need of because most of her toys she was outgrowing) and clothes.

Tent ~ We didn't rent one so I have no idea what is high and what isn't. My mom had bought a huge pop up tent earlier in the month and we had that to use for more shade. I knew we'd probably need more shade than what we had because we had the party in early July and that usually means it's VERY hot in our area. However, we had a little bit of cool down (which was greatly appreciated) so it wasn't as hot as we were expecting it to be.

[jki]

LeslieR: Here's (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=22123) a good thread from 18 months - 4 years that talks about opening presents.... pros and cons are discussed. HTH!

JATTNJ: IMO, you will want a tent. It was only in the low 80s here and everyone was ROASTING.

I have no idea how big our tent was but the two tables underneath are 8 foot tables:
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/34762%3B%3B%3C2%7Ffp3%3Enu%3D3236%3E73%3A%3E%3A%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D32325%3B395%3B6%3A%3Anu0mrj

We had 50 bodies - I can't remember the kid/adult breakdown. I rented 2 tables and 16 chairs for adults, 1 long table with 10 chairs for kids and 1 buffet table. The park where the party was had 4 existing picnic tables - 1 was used for a bubble station, 1 for gifts/favors and the other 2 were for people to sit and eat.
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/34762%3B%3B%3C2%7Ffp6%3Enu%3D3236%3E73%3A%3E%3A%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D32325%3B3962%3B34nu0mrj

The tent rental seems REALLY expensive to me... can you check around to a few other places? It seems like you could BUY one for that price! :eek:

[lil_nance]

Ok, back with pics. Theme was Frogs, Ducks, & Fish.
Frog pond cake
http://static.flickr.com/73/190807223_12b8cb5240.jpg?v=0

Smash cake
http://static.flickr.com/62/190807224_55efc8bebb_m.jpg

Blue birthday boy
http://static.flickr.com/70/190807225_0da4a0949b_m.jpg

Tent We're in NJ too. It was HOT yesterday. We borrowed a 10x10 tent from a friend. 2 tables fit under it. Also borrowed tables from a friend and chairs from church. Ask around you might be surprised what people have that you can borrow for free. Target has a 15x15 tent on sale for $77. It folds up for storage or you could resell it.

[JATTNJ]

lil nance - your party looked great :)

thanks for the input on the tent. After measuring today and looking at the yard a little bit more closely, we decided to rent a 20X30 tent ($495) for most of the tables and chairs to fit under (I was told 60-70 comfortably) and then just borrow some smaller tents from family for the food to go under. Hopefully that will be OK.
The grill can go on the patio away from everything. There is some shade under trees where I plan on putting all of the kid stuff....arts & crafts table, pool, bouncy thing, sidewalk chalk, etc. etc.

Part of the cost of the tent is someone installing it....My husband is doing all of the cooking so I don't want him to have to worry about installing a tent. ;)

We are doing a beach theme...I will post pics after the party although I doubt they will hold a candle to most of yours!!:D

[celina]

For anyone interested, Oriental Trading now carries the donkey...
http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/70_1796.jpg?resize(250x250)
https://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=search&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=button.search&Ntt=70%2F1796&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&N=0

[manatee]

Hi everyone,

I tried to go through the thread but haven't been able to read all the posts. I desperately need help. My dd's 1st birthday party is on August 12 and I'm trying to decide on the party time. Some background: I'm in southern California (a little warm lately) by the ocean. The party will be in my backyard (we have a pool) and will be a pool party. DD's nap is not always consistent but usually naps once in the morning (10 or 11 - 12 or so) and once in the afternoon (2:00 - 3:00 or 4:00). I am so stuck on what time to have the party. Most of the people will be adults and older kids. I was thinking of starting at noon but thought it may not be great to go swimming around that time. My other thought was to start at 2:30 or 3:00 where the sun won't be as fierce and it'll be cooler by the time we eat. I am also afraid that she'll get cranky if the party is at the wrong time. Any suggestions? Please help!

Pauline

[lil_nance]

manatee My DS has a very similar nap schedule. We had the party from 1-3 so that it would be between naps. As it was, he was awake from 11:30-4. I fed him lunch before the party started. By 4 he was getting cranky and definately needed the nap. It was more important to me that DS be happy for his birthday. I figured the adults could cope for a couple of hrs. As for the hot sun, it was very warm but we had tents for shade and lots of sodas. Hope that helps.

[namrodda]

Ok creative ladies I need HELP! DS's party is finally set for Aug 19th and probably at our house unless I think of something else in the meantime. Its mostly going to be adults with a few other younger babies not so into games and whatever so I need minimal entertainment. But I still want a theme with cute invites and decorations but I can't think of anything!!! I've scanned this thread and see lots of ideas but I keep coming across girl type stuff it seems.

So far I've thought of baseball which DH wants but I'm sorta over it. Golf right along the same lines. Under the sea/submarines but thats kinda over done in our family. Frogs and alligators, native to our yard so that could work maybe. Monkeys are cute...really popular lately? All kinds of cute bugs...dogs....

DS doesn't have something he's into yet...whatever we give him he likes. So I need some suggestions of a theme either what I've mentioned or something new that stands out to you and would have a lot of creative things I could include (invite wording or whatever)....I'm a graphic designer so I can make most anything but for some reason I can't even think of a theme yet! And I've got less than a month to go....:eek:

Thanks so much!

[BooeyJ2]

namrodda - How about just a color theme (green/blue) - (orange/yellow) - (black/lime green) - (brown/lime green), etc? If you want to add to that, how about your son's initial (J) along with colors?

That might be easier than trying to find certain animals or characters.

We did colors (hot pink and lime green) and panda bears.


If I had a boy, I would probably do chocolate brown and lime green with alligators :)

[cartersmommy]

Ok girls, I need a little help. I have DS's invites done for his monkey party. the invite reads:

"Swing on in for some birthday fun,
Carter Wesley is turning ONE!
We'll be monkey-ing around
So get ready to play,
and help us celebrate
Carter's big day!"

I need to make thank you tags for the favors... and would like to do a snazzy little saying on those too... like "Thanks a bunch for swinging by" or something... anyone have any better ideas I can use??? I am having a blast with this monkey thing! :)TIA!!

[momama]

How about ...

*This little monkey just turned ONE!
Thank you for sharing my birthday fun


*The monkey-ing around has come to an end
Thanks so much for being my friend

*I loved having you here for this monkey business
I send you off with hugs and kisses


That the only few I could come up with.

:)

[cartersmommy]

OH I LOVE THAT!! Thank you so much!! :)

[Kiley]

Did anyone have a personalized birthday banner? If so, where does one get a decent one (not just paper)?


Also, where did you guys get those paper laterns, they're so cute! TIA!

[cartersmommy]

lanterns: have you tried party america? or Target had lots on clearance where i am for like $2-3 a piece! you might check there. they were in our garden and lawn department.

[solongtogo]

kiley-try ebay, I got a great one for 15 bucks

[Goodies]

Did anyone have a personalized birthday banner? If so, where does one get a decent one (not just paper)?


Also, where did you guys get those paper laterns, they're so cute! TIA!

I got mine from birthdayexpress.com for 14.99
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/Summer7/Haileys%20Birthday/HaileysBirthday-lake-boos018.jpg

[NicoleWisconsin]

We also have a personalized banner from birthday express... it is a vinylish plastic material that has held up great for two years so far. We got a generic Happy Birthday Blake one with balloons/streamers so we can use it each year, no matter the theme.

[HollyMN]

Booey! I think I want to steal your Jones Soda idea. Will you email me your source image so I can borrow it and Photoshop my kid's face on it? I'll pm you. Thanks!

[namrodda]

OOh Booey thats a great idea! I had thought about colors but I guess that combo never crossed my mind. After much searching I've decided on green and brown and frogs....because I can find more frog stuff basically and they are definitely around here! Thanks!

I'm going to go back and read this thread more carefully for frog ideas but if anyone has some good ones or pictures I'd love that.

So far I've found frog gummies and a cookie cutter to make frog cookies for favors...plus a couple of other things
I want to find an awesome looking cake but I might have to have someone else make it.
I'm making the invites starting with "Hop on over for a Toadily good time" ...think of anything else to add to that?
Will probably do a green table cloth with a lot of brown accents....

[Kanga]

I'm thinking of doing a color themed cake (pink with either green, brown, or orange) with cupcakes as an accent. Do you all think this would be an cute theme? And what color combo would you go with? (side note: The party will most likely be Oct 21, so I'm wondering if finding a bright orange anything rather than pumkin orange is going to be difficult) Any ideas on how to decorate, invitations, or the like? The party will be at my (small) house, I'll try to take pictures later today when it isn't such a wreck.

[HollyMN]

Kanga, I think all those options sound pretty, however if you want pink/green or pink/orange those options are on clearance right now. Everywhere I go (Target, PartyAmerica, Party City, Walmart, etc) has lots of accents in hot pink, lime green, caribbean blue, and orange. I am using the blue and green and now things are on clearance and some are sold out for the summer, so if you want to use those you might want to shop now. However, solid color plates and cups seem to be sold year round.

Not that you'd need plastic martini glass lights, but I just used this as an example of the four colors I'm seeing out there (where I live):

http://www.partycity.com/images/thumb/luau/90766.jpg

[HollyMN]

Me again. I just found this label on Jones Soda's site -

http://item.slide.com/i/uid=Zecjrc19KB0uayhY0P45AfXB3Jrm1V_edjbYcIyS6mWqL-zRXUN8WhTv65-GFro7Y1sQ5-JmFb4

I made this one for Caleb

http://www.calesota.com/images/caleb/jonesblue1.jpg

The only thing is that while the Jones label is 2.8"x3.2"(which seems to match up with the bottle's dimensions), I measured the bottle 7.75" around - which means either I have to shrink up the image or have a partial image going around the bottle. Or maybe make something else up for the back side of the label?

I guess I have to shrink it?

[celina]

Anyone have a link for the photo confetti?
TIA. I so need to get my butt in gear!

Holly,
Did you measure the dimensions of the label on the bottle? ETA: I just reread your post. I've never had that drink so I've never seen it in person. How many times does the image repeat on the bottle? If it repeats 3 times, simply thin out your image and make the width 2.58. Visually comparing yours to the images I found on their site, yours is fat and short - it should be thin and tall. Hope that helps.

[solongtogo]

www.photofetti.com

[NYN]

we had our party this weekend. it went great. i didn't have time to upload the pictures but will try to tonight. we did a ladybug theme. party was supposed to be on saturday but b/c of the rain we had to move it to sunday. we were lucky in that only two of her little friends couldn't make it - everyone else was there. the ONLY thing that i want to shoot myself for is for forgetting to put her party hat on. i made it and i worked SO hard on it and then i forgot to put it on her during the cake but i guess i will use a picture of her in it for the thank you cards, lol.

anyway, i will be back tonight to post pictures but i wanted to share my finalized menu. we had way too much food in the end:

-4' American sub
-4' Italian sub
-macaroni salad
-cole slaw
-greek salad (not a traditional greek salad but a macaroni salad w/ veggies, feta cheese and olive oil, etc.)
-veggies and dip (brocolli, carrots and crispy noodles)
-pita chips/bread and hummus
-salsa and chips
-beer
-soda

we were also going to make sangria but decided to scratch that in the end b/c I didn't want to have to keep running inside and making more. i'm so glad i didn't do it (even though some people asked for it -- i guess b/c we are Spanish they expected it, lol) for that reason.

kids table
-Chicken Nuggets (these were a hit w/ the adults. wish i had ordered more. got them from the same deli we ordered the subs from.)
-veggie booty
-veggie puffs
-cheerioes
-two huge fruit platters (my MIL made them and they looked great)
-juice
-water

for dessert...in the end i got stuck making the cakes. let me just say this ahead of time - I am no baker. i thought they came out terribly (they tasted fine but they looked horrible IMO). i also had no clue what to fill the sheet cake w/ so i filled it w/ Nutella, lol. in hindsight i really wish i had hired out the cakes.

on the dessert table we had a big sheet cake, i made some cupcakes too (w/ little chocolate ladybugs on top that my sister made), chocolate ladybug lollipops and some red candy cane type things that i found in the candy store one day. i made DD her own smash cake too.

all in all i'm really happy w/ the way everything turned out and happy that i chose to invite all kids DD's age (lucky that we know so many) b/c the few kids that were there that were older (obligatory invites for the most part) were giving me a taste of what it would have been like to have a lot of older kids there and well, i just wasn't feeling it if you catch my drift. so be aware of that if you have different age groups - you might want to get some kind of coordinated activity for them (i didn't hire entertainment of any kind). i'm also glad w/ the time (2-5pm) b/c DD was at her happiest and just super-cute.

hmmm....i feel like i had all these other words of wisdom that i wanted to share to help w/ future parties but now i can't remember. anyway, i will be back later with pictures. thanks to everyone in this thread for all the wonderful ideas that really helped pull our party together!

[QPDoll]

We had Pete and Nate's first birthday party this past Saturday. Thank you all so much for your help and ideas, the party went really well! We had a circus theme with red, orange, yellow and turq.

invite cover - supplies and idea from StampinUp! (I made 30)
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d3xra/s320x240

invite inside - verse modified from http://verseit.com
Giggles, wiggles, clowns with big bows
buttercream icing smeared on your nose
these are the things that make first birthdays such fun
come join us to celebrate
Pete and Nate turning ONE!
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d4hrf/s320x240

umbrella made into circus tent (I made this!)
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d5ayt/s320x240

umbrella set up with high chairs, highchair covers from birthday express
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d63zq/s320x240

favor boxes
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d7wh7/s320x240

goodies inside the favor boxes. I was also going to do a kids circus DVD to include, but I didn't get them finished. Included: animal crackers, play-doh, circus tatoos, crazy straw, party blow-outs and clown noses.
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001d8a62/s320x240

[BooeyJ2]

NYN - Can't wait to see pics! :)

QPDoll - Your pics aren't showing up :(

[QPDoll]

http://tinaandtravis.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=14464&g2_serialNumber=1

cake (Albertsons Bakery)
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001crbee/s320x240

cake on highchairs
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001cs23p/s320x240

they were sooooo tired by the time we got to cake, they weren't real happy and didn't really enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
Nate
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001cwk2p/s320x240

Pete
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001cxx50/s320x240

the family
http://pics.livejournal.com/bluegingham/pic/001cytxx/s320x240

[QPDoll]

QPDoll - Your pics aren't showing up :(

Yikes! Working on fixing that right now.

ETA: Okay, are they working now?

[BooeyJ2]

Yikes! Working on fixing that right now.


VERY cute! The "tent" umbrella turned out great! Love the favor boxes! :) Great job!

[allyray231]

QPDoll That umbrella is great!

[LeslieR]

Has anyone actually used that photofetti site? I've been trying to place my order since this morning and I keep having trouble at the point where you pick your accent colors. I don't know if it's a glitch or if it's just me.:confused: I'm waiting to hear back from them right now. It's making me batty because I'm trying desperately to get a lot of stuff accomplished today!

[LeslieR]

Nevermind. I just figured it out.:o

[pgbg]

Leslie -- have you been able to upload the photos? That's the part I'm stuck on. I figure it's my computer at work that's the problem (I figured I'd get started with some of the pictures on my hard drive here) -- I guess it's telling me I shouldn't be doing it right now :) I just wanted to see if anyone else is having problems there. I just says "error on page" at the bottom when I try to upload.

[NYN]

QP -- super cute. you did a great job.

[solongtogo]

Leslie -- have you been able to upload the photos? That's the part I'm stuck on. I figure it's my computer at work that's the problem (I figured I'd get started with some of the pictures on my hard drive here) -- I guess it's telling me I shouldn't be doing it right now :) I just wanted to see if anyone else is having problems there. I just says "error on page" at the bottom when I try to upload.

I had trouble with the photofeti at first too...but then I figured out I wasn't reading the directions fully. I'm pretty sure this is the problem you're encountering...I can't remember what I wasn't doing (I think it had something to do with the saving of it) but it's at the part where you are croping your photo I believe...read all the directions that are on that side panel thing.

[LeslieR]

I didn't have any problem using the site as far as uploading the pictures. That was probably the easiest part. lol I did have a bit of trouble cropping the pictures correctly so as to not get any white edges, though. Once I did it a few times, I got the hang of it. The other problem I was having with the accent colors was definitely a user error.:rolleyes: I was clicking on the color dots instead of 'Add'. I must be a real moron because I did it about 20 times before I finally figured out it out.:p

[solongtogo]

because I did it about 20 times before I finally figured out it out.:p


Me too. *AND* I emailed the company because I thought they had a problem with their website. Turned out I was just can't read :D

[LeslieR]

Okay, I feel better now.:D I emailed them, too! They probably think there's a bunch of mental giants running around in cyberland. lol

[PaulsGirl]

Hi Everyone, Ava's party was on Sunday, and despite the morning thundershower (IN LOS ANGELES IN JULY ???) everything else went smoothly.

Goody Take Out Box:
http://static.flickr.com/60/197347897_92ab7bc5e1.jpg
Inside there was bubbles, build-a-panda stickers, a paper accordian,
birthday rubber duck & fortune cookies.

Little Waters:
http://static.flickr.com/76/197347899_6001ad81c0.jpg

Food:
http://static.flickr.com/61/197347903_c329f030e5.jpg

The kids' table had Dino-nuggets, juice boxes in a tub of ice, string cheese,
goldfish crackers and fruit. Forgot to take a pic.

Dress:
http://static.flickr.com/59/197370850_bdfe99089a.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/69/197347902_4e4fbbc94d.jpg

[PaulsGirl]

Continued...
Banners:
http://static.flickr.com/66/197370849_0387880b86.jpg

Cakes:
http://static.flickr.com/62/197381109_f8767ac923.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/65/197381112_bbc56f69de.jpg

[BooeyJ2]

Everything turned out FABULOUS! Cute dress!

.........and hey, us LJ pals didn't even get a sneak peek first!? =P LOL

[PaulsGirl]

I'M SO BUSTED!!! But you guys will get more pics!!! ;)

Thanks for the compliments!! (My MIL made the dress!)

[lelee17]

Paulsgirl - Everything turned out great! Good job! Ava is absolutely ADORABLE in her little outfit. Look at all that food, too. Mmmmm!!

[Club924]

PaulsGirl - what a great party! everything looked fantastic! love your DD's dress! the food is making me hungry!

[1_mommy]

ii should be frequenting this thread more often. ds turns one in oct.
it is family tradition on my dh's side to have a luau for the first b-day. we already have a menu planned and my decorations will be more of an aloha shirt design to keep it more boyish
these are the plates
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/partyamerica_1904_54697688
napkins
http://http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/partyamerica_1907_21208498

still in the process of looking for more

[Mickey&B]

Paulsgirl Everything looked beautiful!

[NYN]

Great job Paulsgirl.

Here are our pics:

closed invite:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d820b3127cce89964ee2d9bf0000001.jpg
open invite:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/iii.jpg
month-by-month setup w/ favor boxes
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b685d6c9f530000001.jpg
the little circles spell out "one year in the life of a little lady"
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b685299df390000001.jpg
backyard entrance (says "ladybugs live here"):
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b6856125e800000001.jpg
posting...

[NYN]

kids' food table:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b686bdd9ff90000001.jpg
setup:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b68635d9f7d0000001.jpg
later on:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b147ef35e6a0000000.jpg
balloon weights (thanks so much for the idea...these were such a hit):
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b6997e9bfff0000001.jpg
eta: they say "Catie Cola." I downloaded the font from dafont.com if you are interested. the tops of the bottles each had a different picture of her.

[NYN]

sorry, i am doing this in several posts b/c of the photo limit.

we also made these ladybugs and hung them all over the yard. i don't have a good picture but here is a closeup of one:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b147ef0df590000000.jpg
and here is a general view so you can get the idea. we had about 13 of them:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b6a53f65e660000001.jpg
and my favorite thing -- the ladybug pool toy, lol:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b68511e9f270000001.jpg
and the dessert which i will never again do on my own!
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d905b3127cce8b147ef15e680000000.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n220/tbesada/47b6d904b3127cce8b147efec7e30000000.jpg
i had a really great time doing this. thanks again for all the ideas i gathered in this thread!

[sem426]

NYN everything came out great! the "catie cola" bottles are amazing!

[lil_nance]

QPDoll Cute party. The umbrella is amazing! Love the family pic too. :)
Paul's girl Beautiful
1_mommy I love your plate. That's such a cute idea. It's so hard to do cute boy. So much stuff is sport/car.
NYN I've been waiting to see your party and was not disappointed. Everything looks fantastic. It's all so cute, including little Miss Catie. :D I love it. Think I'll hijack some of the ideas for the future. We're TTC #2 and I really want a girl.
Great job everyone!

[lelee17]

NYN - such a CUTE theme! Everything came out awesome! Amazing job on the invitations, too.

[NYN]

thanks everyone. i was originally going to do a pink & brown "cowgirl" theme but this was so much easier to pull together plus, best to save pony rides for next year, lol.

i forgot to mention that i have some leftover stuff. if anyone is doing a ladybug theme and is interested, PM me. off the top of my head i have the piñata (we only used it as decoration so it is intact), some of the food picks (not all b/c people took them???), the boxes w/ the "3-D" ladybugs (you can see them at the ends of the month-by-month wall and then i used the bottoms as plates for cheerioes and veggie puff on the kids table) and i will also give you whatever red and black paper goods i have left and the ladybugs that we hung around the yard. oh and i also have lots of balloons left. i won't part w/ the pool toy though. ;)

[vjel]

NYN, AMAZING job. love everything!!!

[solongtogo]

NYN: Awesome pics!

[Club924]

NYN - you did a GREAT job on the party! loved how everything matched the theme so perfectly!

[namrodda]

WOW Great job NYN! I hope our theme comes together that well....

Where is everyone getting their solid colored stuff? Specifically "lime and chocolate"...I haven't really had a chance to look around town so I'm sure its there....but figured I would shop online first...easier and all.

[LeslieR]

Wow, everyone's parties look awesome!

Okay, I need some help. I'm planning to make some tags for the favors for the adults. I know how I'm going to go about this, I just haven't decided on the wording. Should I put some sort of thank you or just "Luke's 1st Birthday Party" and the date? TIA!

[cartersmommy]

Leslie--
This is what I'm doing for our thank you tags for favors for our monkey themed party:

This little monkey just turned ONE!
Thank you for sharing our birthday fun
The monkey-ing around has come to an end;
Thanks so much for being my friend.
I loved having you here for this monkey business,
I send you off with hugs and kisses

[Mickey&B]

NYN The party looks fabulous! and I think your being a bit hard on yourself the cake looks great too! All of your hard work and planning paid off!

[LeslieR]

OMG, that is adorable and so creative! We're having a luau theme-I don't think I can come up with anything catchy related to a luau!:(

[QPDoll]

Where is everyone getting their solid colored stuff? Specifically "lime and chocolate"...I haven't really had a chance to look around town so I'm sure its there....but figured I would shop online first...easier and all.

I bought mine at Party City; in-store.

I did a quick search, and here is a site that carries both brown and lime green http://tinyurl.com/gbkas.

[JATTNJ]

Thanks for so much inspiration on this thread - you girls are awesome party planners!!

Quick Question - did you find it easier / more economical to order balloons already blown up or to rent a helium tank and do them yourself?

We are having a beach-themed first birthday party next Saturday...I'll post pics afterwards...I know all of your pics have helped me tremendously :D

[kindermom]

Did anyone make their own monogramed napkins? If so, did you just use a stamp and regular ink? I was concerned about bleeding the ink through.

[L-O-V-E]

Noel - I stamped my napkins with a regular acid free stamp pad. They turned out great and I had no issues.

[kindermom]

namrodda - I got my solid colored paper goods at the Dollar Tree. 20 plates for $1. It was by far the cheapest place around. They only carry basic colors though.

LOVE - Thanks for the info. I cringe at spending $20 in accent napkins which are just going to be overlooked. I was thinking that I may be able to just stamp her napkins.

[NYN]

kindermom i have stamped napkins (and table cloths!) in the past and have just used a regular stamp pad w/ no issues.

JATT: it was definitely more economical (and easier IMO b/c we don't have a big car) to blow up our own balloons. we bought a helium tank at BJ's for $19.99 and it was good for 50 balloons.

[L-O-V-E]

Oh, I also did our tablecloths, as NYN mentioned. They came out great too. Our party is Saturday - I'll post pictures then.

[lil_nance]

JATTNJ We got our balloons already inflated, just because it was one less thing to do that day. We had a dozen plus 2 mylars. DH fit them in his Acura with no problem. He said he could have fit another dozen in there. I did pre-order them at the store the day before. This worked great because they were ready for pick-up without waiting in the morning.

[Cr8nme]

Anyone know where I can find colored sprinkles for the cupcakes?

TIA

[vjel]

Anyone know where I can find colored sprinkles for the cupcakes?


are you looking for any color in particular? I've seen them at Michael's, regular grocery stores, any place that has cake decorating supplies.

[Cr8nme]

thanks I totally didn't think about the grocery store! I am just looking for dark pink

[Kanga]

I would think your grocery store would have pink, but I don't know if they would have dark pink.

This site (http://www.sugarcraft.com/catalog/flowers/sprinkles.htm) has some, is that about the right color, or not dark enough?

This site (http://www.millcreekcountrystore.com/sprinkles3.html) has white sprinkles if you wanted to dye your own.

[Cr8nme]

Kanga~ Thanks! I don't think I am looking for sprinkles anymore :rolleyes: but the little round ones I am guessing they are called non-pereils??

[BooeyJ2]

NYN - Awesome job! Loved all of the little details! The "Catie Colas" are SOOO cute AND original! Were the ladybugs on the sandwiches edible or toys? Cute touch! :)

[BooeyJ2]

Kanga~ Thanks! I don't think I am looking for sprinkles anymore :rolleyes: but the little round ones I am guessing they are called non-pereils??


Found some!!......
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/Searchresults.aspx?Description=non-pareils

http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=617805

[Cr8nme]

Booey~what am I going to do without you next week:D

[Cr8nme]

Well Ladies... I am about done with Noelle's birthday party...I have booked the room, bought all the supplies, made and sent out the invites, arranged for food and cakes, the last thing I need to do it to go and pick up supplies for the favor bags! I still feel like Iam forgetting soemthing...
I can't wait to post pics!!!

[char473]

LeslieR - We did a luau theme for my DD's 1st and had a blast with it. I kinda made it more tropical beachy, but still with a luau kick. I had little metal buckets from target($1) for the favor "bags", filled them with some luau dressed little duckies, some little plastic marracas (not luau, but fun!), some candies and stickers. Most of it from Oriental trading co. I had all kinds of decorations, and had Lei's and beach balls. Trust me, you can go wild with it;) I hope it works out!

Love all of the parties ladies. Great job!!

[celina]

I thought these would be perfect for anyone that's doing the pink and green theme and wants to make the lollipop plant...
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/candywarehouse_1908_141736013
http://store.candywarehouse.com/lemonadeswirls.html

For reference, neenbean's lollipop plant...
http://static.flickr.com/1/123678085_686173153b.jpg?v=0

[BeachBum]

Can anyone help me find a picture of one of those alphabet block cakes? I thought there was one in this thread? :confused: And has anyone made one of these with success?

[amtaylor]

From Martha Stewart - Baking instructions here (http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel182244&contentGroup=MSL&site=living)
http://a444.g.akamai.net/7/444/703/20030305183635/www.marthastewart.com/images/content/feature/ft_baby03cake01_l.jpg

No picture, but here's (http://keyword.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=baby+block+cake&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3D4 fcbba79de9ec05a%26clickedItemRank%3D1%26userQuery% 3Dbaby%2Bblock%2Bcake%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A %252F%252Fwww.parenting.com%252Fparenting%252Farti cle%252F0%252C19840%252C1149128%252C00.html%26invo cationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSBoom%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parenting.com%2Fparent ing%2Farticle%2F0%2C19840%2C1149128%2C00.html) one from Parenting Magazine

A simple one from FamilyFun (http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50100)
http://familyfun.go.com/Resources/Cakes/recipes/special/babycake2.jpg

[Kanga]

My thoughts on the alphabet block cake - I had thought about doing this, but even MARTHA STEWART'S isn't very neatly done in some areas, and if she (well, her staff) has difficulty with it - there is no way in h*ll I could oull it off.

[amtaylor]

Oh... I also saw an alphabet block cake in a brochure at my local Super Target. If you didn't want to make it, you have them do it for you ;)

[Mickey&B]

For those of you who had their parties at a park, or other place how did you do? did you do a smash cake? Did you bring a highchair?
I am having our party at the park so I am trying to think how or if I should do the smash cake.

[alex67]

For anyone else doing a wild animal or zoo theme:

I just picked up these for cupcakes. I'm thinking bright colored icing matching our theme colors for the party, probably 3 different colors with an animal atop each.
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/watermark.aspx?img=64-30296P
http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/watermark.aspx?img=415-1012

[Mickey&B]

Alex are those candy or plastic animals?

[alex67]

They are candy. The site lists the incredients but I really didn't pay attention. We won't be eating ours but our guests can if they wish. I think they are pretty cute compared to other options I've seen out there.

[Mickey&B]

They are totally cute! I'd rather they be candy anyway. Now I am trying to think of things I could do with them :D

[Cr8nme]

I just wanted to come and post my invites! Sorry some are a little blurry...I will try and take better ones

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737396%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3B8%3E%3B79%3E WSNRCG%3D32339%3A3753438nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/347737396%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3B8%3E%3B79%3E WSNRCG%3D32339%3A3793976nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/347737396%7Ffp356%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3B8%3E%3B79%3E WSNRCG%3D32339%3A36%3C7783nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/347737396%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3B8%3E%3B79%3E WSNRCG%3D32339%3A3779354nu0mrj

[BooeyJ2]

cra8nme - SOOO cute! Love the orange and pink together! I especially love the paisley flower on the front. Oh and YAY you used my wording! :D

[Cr8nme]

Booey thanks!!! I forgot for just a sec about your "slight" obsession with paisley :D Oh and yes I loved your wording...it was perfect for the invites thanks ;) Did you see Noelle's dress in the little ones Closet thread? Its perfect with the orange and pink theme don't you think?

[BooeyJ2]

Booey thanks!!! I forgot for just a sec about your "slight" obsession with paisley :D Oh and yes I loved your wording...it was perfect for the invites thanks ;) Did you see Noelle's dress in the little ones Closet thread? Its perfect with the orange and pink theme don't you think?

Totally perfect! ;)

[Cr8nme]

I thought so too:D ;) ... we better make sure we stay states apart we woudl be dangerous,lol

[solongtogo]

cr8n-those are fantastic!!

[Kanga]

cr8nme - those are fantastic! I love seeing the orange and pink theme together! Do you mind sharing how you made the invites. I was thinking of doing an envelopment style as well, but have no idea on how to get started? Was there a pattern you followed?

[LeslieR]

Has anyone received their order from Photofetti yet? How long did it take for you to get it? I placed my order on July 24th. I just went back and read the confirmation email and it says 2-3 weeks for processing.:eek: Luke's party is the 6th and I'm starting to think it's not going to be here in time.:(

[solongtogo]

I placed my order at photofetti on 7/7 for Courtney's 8/26 party, I still have not recieved it yet. Unfortunately you are probably not likely to recieve it by your party.

[LeslieR]

Noooooooooooo!!!! Dammit.

[kindermom]

Can you put it in the Thank You notes after the party?

[LeslieR]

Ahhhh, good call, Noel! Thanks! Still sucks, but at least it will get used, right?

[solongtogo]

good idea!!

[L-O-V-E]

We had my son Ethan's birthday party yesterday! It was HOT. but other than that, things went great. It was a lime green/turqoise blue/"E" theme. Here's some pictures...

Invitation
I cut out E's on polka dot paper and glued them to cardstock. The details were printed on vellum and fastened in the corners with brads.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A7696539nu0mrj

The yard
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A7669%3B8%3Anu0mrj

Food tables.
I had one of the picture banners on the back of the house here. I stamped E's on the napkins and if you look closely you can sort of see the border of E's I stamped on the tablecloths.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A7669%3B8%3Cnu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A767%3B797nu0mrj

Kids Table.
I had another banner here strung between two trees over the kids table. The table had play doh, coloring books, crayons, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a bunch of juice and snacks, and the CD favors.

You can see the stamped border a bit better here on the tablecloth.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A7669%3B87nu0mrj

...more coming...

[L-O-V-E]

The Favors
The CD was called eTunes (a little play on iTunes) to keep with the E theme. And I took Kimthebride's suggestion and also made this little sign that was a take on the iTunes gift certificates.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A767%3B567nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp356%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A7683%3C39nu0mrj

The Cake
This was an ambitious project but I pulled it off!! The cake was my first tiered one I ever made. All of the E's are made out of chocolate and then stuck on the cake.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp357%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A767%3B56%3Anu0mrj

The birthday boy!
He loved his cake! I also made the chair cover to go over his seat to match everything. The bib was from Colby Lane, which is where Booey got her daughter's bib. I was so excited to see one made in my colors.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A767%3B78%3Cnu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/34774%3A7%3B%3B%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D3235%3E632%3E%3A4%3 B%3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A767%3B79%3Anu0mrj

It was a great day. :)
~Lori

[solongtogo]

Your party turned out fantastic!!

[BooeyJ2]

Very cute!...and awesome job on the cake! I still haven't perfected plain old regtangular cakes ;) LOL. Ok, I guess it's a good thing our friend is a baker ;)

[Mickey&B]

Lori Wow it turned out GREAT! I am so impressed with your cake! Did you make the chocolate E's too?

Anyone have any suggestions on what/how to do the smash cake at the park? Do I just sit him on top of one of the tables? What about clean-up?

[Kanga]

Anyone have any suggestions on what/how to do the smash cake at the park? Do I just sit him on top of one of the tables? What about clean-up?


I would just put a disposable tablecloth over a picnic table, set him on top, and let him have at it. When your done, you can just throw it away. I'd bring lots of extra baby wipes too to clean him up afterwards. You could bring a high chair, but that seems like it would be more trouble than it's worth.

[HollyMN]

L-O-V-E it looks wonderful! It's fun to see a party in our colors - ours is next week. You probably want to keep it, but I had to check - do you want to sell your bib? I just checked out Colby Lane and she is moving right now....

[LeslieR]

Lori, Ethan's party turned out AWESOME! How many people did you have altogether?

BTW, I have to tell you again that I LOVE your hair.

[dana b]

L-O-V-E what a perfect party! you did an awesome job on that cake.

mickey we brought dd's highchair to the park with us. we have a cute little wooden highchair (that we never use!), but i thought it would be perfect for those cake-eating pics.

[Cr8nme]

Kanga~ Thanks!!! Honestly I ordered all of my supplies (enveloment and printing paper) from paper-source...the paisley paper I found at my local scrapbooking supply store and the ribbon I ordered off of ebay... Then I just put them together with double sided tape and some paper glue. I hope this helps...

[NYN]

L-O-V-E: i love the way the party came together and that cake! omg, i bow down!!!

cr8: the invite looks incredible!

[L-O-V-E]

Thanks for all the compliments on the party (and the hair!) :) I'm sad its over. Guess I'll have to start planning next years party. Don't think I"m kidding either!

oh, and Holly - I'm sorry, but I don't think I can part with it. :(

~Lori

[celina]

L-O-V-E Everything looked wonderful! Great job! I'm currently taking cake decorating classes so I appreciate the work that went into that cake! You did an awesome job. Question: How did you cut out the large dots for the pictures and the E's? Thank you!

[amtaylor]

L-O-V-E it looks wonderful! It's fun to see a party in our colors - ours is next week. You probably want to keep it, but I had to check - do you want to sell your bib? I just checked out Colby Lane and she is moving right now....

According to the FYI sale thread, Colby Lane's having free shipping on all their bibs. Hopefully you can find one that's just as nice

[vjel]

L-O-V-E, your party looks fab, great job! and the cake...wow!

cr8nme, your invites turned out wonderfully!!!

HollyMN and any one who is doing the turq/lime green theme, not sure if you have all the decorations you need but I was at Target yesterday and they have turq/lime green (1 of each per pack) lanterns in their 1 Spot along w/ other things in those colors. They are small ones, good for a small area not a big area unless mixed in w/ other big lanterns.

[manatee]

Hi everyone,

Let me preface by saying that I don't cook at all. I'm planning my dd's party and read that a lot of you served chicken nuggets for the kids. Can you all tell me where you got the nuggets? Did you order or just baked frozen ones? I would appreciate all recommendations. We are expecting 12 kids at the party and I really want to serve them something other than PB&J sandwiches. Thanks in advance!

[vjel]

manatee, we just baked frozen nuggets from Costco. We also did frozen wings from there. If you have a membership, it's a great place to pick up party food, both frozen and pre-made (ie. salads, turkey rolls, etc.)

HTH!

[NYN]

manatee: we ordered ours from the deli we ordered the subs from. i personally think we paid too much ($25 for 60) and would have definitely bought the frozen ones at BJ's and baked them myself if it wasn't so hot that week. in hindsight i also wish we had ordered more since i caught many adults loading their plate w/ them. :/

[celina]

Green and blue Supplies.
In addition to the lanterns at Target that vjel mentioned, I also noticed a ton of decorations in those colors at Party America. They had a line called the Big One which had candles that spelled out "the big 1" in those colors. They also had lanters, larger than the ones at Target, but of course not as cheap, plastic serving plates, and bowls.

[namrodda]

Oh I'm so glad everyone is posting about these colors! Our green and brown frog party is now our green and blue and some brown frog party. These colors were everywhere but not so much the lime and brown, and something that would work for a kid. I was going to make the invites but found out there are hardly any scrapbook stores around here (we moved not too long ago) and I couldn't find what I wanted...didn't have time to order. But there ARE a lot of swanky invite places and this one fit what I was looking for so I went the easy route. Just posting a pic with the wording I decided on.
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/34776%3B%3A38%7Ffp6%3A%3Dot%3E2326%3D883%3D629%3DX ROQDF%3E2323547%3B95997ot1lsi
Also ordered a cake today which I'm really excited about. Its a local bakery and their pictures were great so I'm hoping it turns out how I'm picturing! Also found a cookie cutter to do the favor cookies. Bought a bib for the smash cake and got a cute candle. I have bags and tags for the favors and thank you notes with frogs...thats where the progress stops! Keep the ideas coming ladies!

[HollyMN]

amtaylor I saw that free shipping! That sounds good except our party is Saturday and I thought it wouldn't get here by then. Tonight I went to Target, and they have a similar bib. It's not as cute or as big as the Colby Lane one, but it will work and I have it ready.

vjel I saw those lanterns and picked up a few more tonight.

Celina I'm using those lanterns! I also have that "The Big 1" candle. (I think Caleb and I have looked at every party place in the area. He likes to shop and loves the party stores with all the hanging stuff.) I'm not sure if we're going to use it, because I'm attempting to make this train cake (http://www.kraftfoods.com/main.aspx?s=recipe&m=recipe/knet_recipe_display&wf=9&recipe_id=63740) and don't know if the candles would get "lost" in the cake. But I have them nearby just in case.

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

[QPDoll]

For those of you who had their parties at a park, or other place how did you do? did you do a smash cake? Did you bring a highchair?
I am having our party at the park so I am trying to think how or if I should do the smash cake.

We didn't have the party at a park, but I did bring a smash-cake to JCPenny's to let them have-at-it during a photo session. (Im dying to get the pictures back!)

I just brought a large towel for them to sit on, and put the cake in front of them. For clean-up, I just rolled the towel up and shook it off into a garbage can. A plastic or paper tablecloth would be perfect - just toss it all in one swoop!

For clean up, I brought 2 wet washcloths in a ziplock bag. That did the trick to clean up two babies (I would recommend at least 2, even for just one baby).

[alex67]

I finally got Trenton's invites finished. I owe a huge thanks to many of you in this thread for ideas and inspiration! Here they are:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/100_3448.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/invitephoto2.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/invitephoto.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/100_3452.jpg

[HollyMN]

Very cute Alex67

[vjel]

alex, your invites are fabulous! how did you do the animals, stamp or draw? great job!!!

[L-O-V-E]

Alex - The invites look fabulous!

Celina – I did all of that work in Word. To open the drawing toolbar, go to View à Toolbars à Drawing. Select the circle icon and draw one on the page. Then you can double click it and go to the size tab to adjust the settings. Mine were 6 inches for the border, and then I just printed them on the colored paper and cut them out. For the pictures, I just pasted them in word, and drew one of those circles on top of it, so that I’d have a guide to cut when I printed it out. You just have to double click the circle, and change the color option to No Fill.

For the E’s on the invitations and CDs, I just wrote my E in the size/font that I wanted. Then highlight the E, right click and select font. Choose the Outline option. This gives you just the lines on the outside. Then I just printed that up on my polka dotted paper and cut them all out.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I hope I explained this well!

~Lori

[alex67]

Thanks ladies!

vjel - actually the animals are just clipart in Microsoft Word. I created the wording for the invites in Word and imported some clipart animals, scaled down to size. I liked the stencil-ish look of them. Very simple. No way could I have drawn them!! :D

[solongtogo]

alex, those are so cute!

[Kanga]

I need some help with my menu, here's what I have so far

Cheddar cheese and broccoli soup
Deli meat and cheese tray
Crackers and salami
Bread for sandwiches
Pickle wraps or tortilla wraps?
Chocolate fountain with graham crackers, fruit, etc (I'm doing this instead of a cake because it doesn't really seem like the cake gets eaten anyways in my circle of friends/family)
smash cake for dd
soda, coffee, and water for drinks

My question is I need one other kind of soup besides the cheddar broccoli in case someone doesn't like it, but I'm not sure what kind is universally popular. Chili, beef stew, chicken noodle? My second question is are the pickle or tortilla wraps (I haven't decided which ones yet) going to be redundant because of the sandwiches? And if so what other kind of finger food/snack could I have instaed. Also, what kind of bread should I have. All I can think of is subs and hamburger buns or is that enough of a variety?

[dbers]

Anyone want to help me with some Hello Kitty inspiration? :o I'm doing pink/green polka dots PLUS Hello Kitty.. don't want to go crazy with HK - just some accent stuff.

So this is what the HK stuff looks like basically

http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/70_670a.jpg?resize(250x250)

But I already have my paper goods which are pink/green polka dotted. Not loving the centerpiece.. there's also random stuff like HK confetti...

I also got a bunch of small figurines off ebay for the cake, tables, and maybe party favors. Any other ideas for favors? I have some girls and some boys coming...

I'm planning on doing pink/green latex balloons, and then getting one or two Hello Kitty mylar balloons.

[kindermom]

Cr8nme and Alex, your invites rock. cr8nme I love the paisley. So unique for a young child's birthday and very fun. Alex - love the choice of clip art. Simple but perfect.

Namrodda, the frog invites are completely cute and whimsical.

Kanga, while I love cheddar/broccoli soup I would say chicken noodle would be a really good alternative. What is a pickle wrap? I personally would skip the wraps and provide tortillas, rolls, and wheat bread. The wraps are redundant with the sandwiches and by providing the tortillas as a bread option, people can make their own. I would maybe recommend some side though like a) a veggie platter with dips or b) salads (macaroni, coleslaw). Other than that it sounds like you have a great menu coming!

[DianeCourt]

Kanga: What about a white bean chicken chili? Lots of people seem to like that & it's a cinch to make. Let me know if you want my recipe.

[PrincessCrappy]

I'm doing a yellow/brown monkey theme and desperately need brown balloons! Can anyone help?

[Club924]

I'm doing a yellow/brown monkey theme and desperately need brown balloons! Can anyone help?

i bought my brown balloons from this seller (http://cgi.ebay.com/12-inch-Dark-Cocoa-Brown-Helium-Latex-Balloons_W0QQitemZ330004306600QQihZ014QQcategoryZ2 6384QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) on ebay. i didn't need more than 3 dozen so i chose this route rather than buying the packages of 100 balloons.

[Mickey&B]

Originally Posted by PrincessCrappy
I'm doing a yellow/brown monkey theme and desperately need brown balloons! Can anyone help?

I was able to find some at my local party store, I had to ask them for them though.

[BeachBum]

Kanga-
I would forgo another soup. I just don't think you need it. For bread you could do buns, croissants, and a specialty bread like pumpernickle or rye. If you really wanted to add another "heavy" thing since you originally wanted 2 soups you could do a tuna or chicken salad.
I would change the roll ups to a dip, and change the salami and crackers to a side salad (pasta, bean or green).
HTH

[Kanga]

OMG! You've never had a pickle wrap?! Pickle wraps are a lot like tortilla wraps. YOu use the deli meat of your choice, then cream cheese and wrap it around a pickle, and slice it up so it's fingerfood. I know it sounds wierd, but they're really good and a universal favorite around here. I'm thinking some sort of dip would be better. Dh makes a really good chip dip with sausage, rotelle, and cream cheese that's always a hit. I think I'll do that. Still trying to come up with some other side. I forgot to mention I don't want to do any sort of pasta salad for my own wierd reasons. I can't stand the stuff (who decided pasta should be cold anways?) and want stuff there that I like. I know - selfish. Maybe baked beans, or lil smokies?

dianecourt I'd love the recipe, sounds yummy!

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! This thread has been so helpful. And I know I didn't originally ask, but thanks for the suggestions on brown balloons as well.

[DianeCourt]

Chicken Chili (I could live on this stuff when the weather turns cool!)
2 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz)
1 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped green chilis w/liquid
48 oz jar northern beans w/liquid
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
3 dashes tabasco sauce
cayenne pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 chicken boullion cube
Celery tops

Poach chicken in water. Add a few celery tops, boullion cube, chili powder. In a large pot put small amount of chicken broth - add onion & garlic until wilted. Add chilis & stir. Add beans & all else but chicken. Bring to a boil. Add chicken which has been chopped. Simmer at least 1/2 hour, 2 hours is better.

I'm probably going to make this for DD's b-day party, too. :D

[solongtogo]

I just got my photofetti order today, after ordering it July 7. I am so dissapointed. I can't understand why it takes 3-4 weeks to ship, the quality is terrible. THe pictures are on regular paper, and look like crap. They are streaky, some have spots, I'm really dissapointed with it. Did anyone else who ordered from here have this problem? It seems every time I've seen photo confetti on here it seemed fairly clear and good quality.

I'm going to write and express my feelings to them.

[Kanga]

Here is another photo confetti site (http://www.customlabels4u.com/confetti-photo.htm). A little more expensive though.

[kimthebride]

Thomas' 1st Birthday Party: Sesame Street Smiles

Hi All - I just realized I may have only posted my party favors here, and nothing on the party itself. So here we go:

The room was rectangular.
At the far left end (where you entered) was the buffet, beverages, kid's food.
In the center of the room, closer to the buffet, were the tables.
I kept the far right 1/4 of the room clear, and brought in a bunch of toys, balls, Exersaucer, etc for the kids to play with.
There were counters along the wall, where I put the gifts, goody bags, and my iPod with 3 hours worth of kid's music for them all to listen to.

I hired a musician who never called, never showed up - so it was good I had extra music!

The meal was mostly italian: salad, pasta primavera, eggplant rollatini, fresh fruit, chicken for adults, chicken fingers, grilled cheese for the kids. Plus they had some breakfast items since it was a brinch, I think eggs, french toast & breakfast meats. Coffee, tea, sodas, juices, milk, bottled water. No alcohol, since the hotel didn't have the liquor license.

Birthday Express Custom Banner
http://web.mac.com/thomasbongiorno/iWeb/Site/Thomas%201st%20Birthday%20and%20Baptism_files/DSC04461.jpg

Each centerpiece was a different 30" mylar balloon I got GREAT deals on off eBay (Elmo, Big Bird, Bert & Ernie, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, etc) surrounded by a couple coordinating latex baloons. They were each weighted with a coordinating baloon weight, surrounded by Elmo cone hats & Snufalupagus horn blowers.
http://web.mac.com/thomasbongiorno/iWeb/Site/Thomas%201st%20Birthday%20and%20Baptism_files/DSC04460.jpg

The kid's dishes
http://web.mac.com/thomasbongiorno/iWeb/Site/Thomas%201st%20Birthday%20and%20Baptism_files/DSC04467.jpg

Custom balloon done at Party City, tied to his high chair
http://web.mac.com/thomasbongiorno/iWeb/Site/Thomas%201st%20Birthday%20and%20Baptism_files/DSC04473.jpg

He wore a basic polo shirt that I put a "1" patch on, then over that a NY Yankees jersey with our last name on the back. This was a big hit (we have a fun last name!) but I'm not comfortable posting it here.
PHOTO DELETED

[kimthebride]

In his Yankees jersey and "1" crown I got online (I think from Birthday Express), you can see the smash cake I got at the grocey store bakery (sooooo goooood) and the Elmo keepsake I got for it.
PHOTO DELETED

Doing the smash cake - since someone asked!
We put DS in his high chair with that Sesame Street splat mat under him. I held onto the smash cake (about 8" round) and after we sang just let him go at it. We went right in!!

He liked the cake. :D
PHOTO DELETED

ETA:
The favors are listed and pictured in post #1417 here:
http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?p=828321&highlight=bells#post828321

[kimthebride]

Anyone want to help me with some Hello Kitty inspiration? :o I'm doing pink/green polka dots PLUS Hello Kitty.. don't want to go crazy with HK - just some accent stuff.

So this is what the HK stuff looks like basically

http://image.orientaltrading.com/otcimg/70_670a.jpg?resize(250x250)...I'm planning on doing pink/green latex balloons, and then getting one or two Hello Kitty mylar balloons.

Since its in your apartment, I don't think you need centerpieces.

Why not make arrangements of flower-shaped and circular sugar cookies frosted in the HK colors? This way, moms & kids can snack on them, they add to the color theme, and count as a favor.

Or maybe you can make a balloon garland of non-helium-inflated balloons in the HK colors to run along your walls all the way around the main living space of your apartment - it'll bring the eye upwards, add color. Then uou can put maybe 4 large HK mylar balloon arrangements in there, 1 in each corner.

Or if you want to do something sentimental, use construction paper the color of the HK theme, and cut out big daisies (1 daisy per sheet). Then hang them all over the apartment each with a milestone of Alex's 1st year written on it. Or put a picture of her in the center of each one to decorate the apartment with her cute little face. Make your livingroom a 'garden of Alexandra'.

[dbers]

Kim - Hi! What-cha been up to lately? ;)

Yeah - I was thinking just one centerpiece for the food table maybe.. but I do like the cookies idea - or a lollipop plant maybe?

I also LOVE the construction paper idea! Will have to think about that one... thanks!

[kimthebride]

Oh gee, you know...this and that. :p

I bet you could make pink & peach clear round & daisy lollipops and do 'bouquets' of them for centerpieces/decor.

Instead of a big centerpiece, if you leave the table against the wall why not do a long narrow centerpiece along the back edge of the table?

[dbers]

long centerpiece - hmmm.... like what?

Ideally - pink/green lollipops, or HK pops...

[kimthebride]

Excuse the crude image - please use your imagination!

Say, one of this type of container with green plant foam in the bottom covered in ckear green glass stones and the lollipops sticking out in alternating colors.
http://images.crateandbarrel.com/is/image/CrateandBarrel/ThreePartDish?$lg$
(see the pink flower?)
http://www.dotgiftbaskets.com/images/Welcome_Flowers_and_Home_Lollipop_Bouquet_Lg.jpg
http://www.landscape2go.com/IMAGES/Pebbles/peb9.jpg

So, one of those, then a taller clear container maybe with gerbera daisies in HK colors...
http://www.organicbouquet.com/images/products/gerbera-daisies.jpg

.... then another of those low containers, then another vase...

All running along the back of the table against the wall.

Make sense?

[cr8zyforaf]

solong - oh no!! Please keep me posted on the response..I just ordered mine a few days ago..POO!

[dbers]

kim - yes..cute! I may have to go to a crafts store or something when I'm home in CT...

[BeachBum]

I got my birthday banner in the mail yesterday. I purchased from here http://www.katscanvasart.photosite.com/birthdaybanner/ (there is annoying music on the website)
My cake is purple and green b/c I wanted it to be more masculine. She also put his name on it.
I'm pleased, but also just wishing I had the time/inclination to do it myself.

ETA: What a bummer, solongtogo!

[pgbg]

Solongtogo What a disappointment! I just ordered mine last week and was very excited about it...now not so much. Hopefully someone out there has some good things to say about the Photofetti.

Let us know if the company responds to you!

[LeslieR]

Oh great. 2-3 weeks to get it which means it will show up after the party. And shitty quality. Wonderful.:rolleyes:

[Eliezrah]

Here's the invitation I made for Seth's Construction party...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/eliezrah/invite3-1.jpg

[lelee17]

kimthebride - what a great party! Looks like your little man had fun. Love the balloon centerpieces.

Do you by chance remember the name of the ebayer you bought them from?

[kimthebride]

kimthebride - what a great party! Looks like your little man had fun. Love the balloon centerpieces.

Do you by chance remember the name of the ebayer you bought them from?
Thanks!
In my email it says "kymom1234"
I got them fast and cheap...though Cookie Monster had a little leak. But honestly, I think that is kind of an unavoidable freak thing....

[pgbg]

Here's the invite I got from babyfaceinvitations.com which I love!
I'm going to mount it on cardstock. For those who did that, what type of glue did you use? I have double-stick photo squares (tape), spray craft glue, and rubber cement. Which would be best?
Thanks!!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d627b3127cce8bf10a1d99e300000015108EcMmbhs5bS

[kimthebride]

And here are the invitations I made:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/kimtomtom/DSC04245.jpg

Paper: Party City card stock with red border (insertion cards matched & I put directions on them)
Photo: Taken at Picture People, scanned onto my iMac
Stamps: PhotoStamps.com and I got so many compliments on these
Stickers: Sesame Street Stickers from Party City
Return of Address Labels: I had some VERY cheaply done at WalterDrake.com that were clear and had all 3 of our names on them

[lml41981]

We are doing a luau... We'll have pineapples with balloons for centerpieces. I'm going to make tableskirts out of raffia-style grass skirts. This is our cake, though we will be doing coral, turquoise and yellow and I am going to ask the cake artist to use buttercream instead of fondant and to decorate it with flowers in the style of the stamps I am using for my invitation.

http://static.flickr.com/58/199911826_6307b0b2c6.jpg?v=0

This is not my invitation, but the flower stamp I'm using...

http://static.flickr.com/77/208452525_ff54413817.jpg?v=0

[1_mommy]

lml-we are doing the same type of party :) i am going to have a aloha shirt cake made also (thanks for posting the idea earlier!) since this goes perfectly with the aloha shirt theme
a couple ideas i got for his invitations
http://www.mariandme.com/CardGallery/Hawn/Images/Aloha%20Shirt%20Hauoli%20card%20.jpg

http://www.mariandme.com/CardGallery/Hawn/Images/Tshirt%20card.jpg
this one i had thought about putting a shirt where the star is
http://www.announcingit.com/images/P-Number1bl.jpg

i am so excited, we called up our local polynsian club and we were able to get 12 children hula dancers for kais party

[lelee17]

i am so excited, we called up our local polynsian club and we were able to get 12 children hula dancers for kais party

OMG! that is going to be soo cute! you must post pics of that after the party.

[LILRTL]

We just had DS' birthday parties this weekend. We did one for friends and one for family!

Here was the template for our invites:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp356%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A332%3A%3A958nu0mrj

And here was the final product:
http://images1.snapfish.com/347433732%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233868869928nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/347433732%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233868869%3B47nu0mrj

cupcakes made my me:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4446%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A2828%3A%3C33nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4446%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A28276%3B99nu0mrj

food table
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4446%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A28558564nu0mrj

to be continued...

[LILRTL]

gift table and photo banner:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp358%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A2828%3A%3C36nu0mrj

room set-up:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A28558568nu0mrj

his smash-cake:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A2855%3A369nu0mrj

favors set up:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A28276%3B97nu0mrj

favor cd's:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4497%7Ffp357%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3B%3C873%3A83nu0mrj
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4497%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3B%3C8795%3B6nu0mrj

[LILRTL]

z cookies
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4337%7Ffp349%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A33285%3C93nu0mrj

Close-up of the table decor:
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B4479%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A28276%3B8%3Bnu0mrj

Thank you guys so much for all the inspiration in this thread!! Can't wait 'til next year! :D

[pgbg]

LILRTL What a great party!! I may borrow some of your ideas! :)
I posted on the last page asking about card stock...what did you use to attach your photos to the colored cards?
TIA!

[LILRTL]

pgbg Thanks!! I just bought a regular glue-stick at Wal-Mart. It worked really well, and they're still sticking! ;)