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10 Tips for Celebrating When Your Baby Turns ONE!

A guest post written for 53 Weeks.

Your baby is turning 1!!! It’s time to enjoy and celebrate this major milestone! Here are 10 tips that helped this mama out!

  1. Pick a theme

Picking a theme can be fun and it helps you stay focused and helps organize the direction of the party.

We decided to go with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme. My daughter has an adventurous spirit and is full on wonder so it was a natural choice for us!

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  1. Ready, set, shop!

Now that you have your theme, it’s time to set a budget. Remembering that in the end it isn’t how expensive your party is but how memorable and fun it was for everyone.

The first place to start for me was shopping online at party supply sites. They have great deals and so much to choose from! From there check out your local dollar store. It’s amazing what you can find for a $1! I headed to a local wholesale lantern store to purchase all the colorful lanterns that we hung from the ceiling. I ordered most party supplies on Black Friday and took advantage of the discounts. If there is a holiday coming up take advantage of the savings!

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  1. Guest list

Make a list and check it twice! You’ll need to know how many people you want to invite in order to plan successfully. This will help you decide on location, budget and overall work. Surround that little one with loved ones who have made the year so special! It takes a village, right?

We decided to invite about 75 people. Below is our group shot (blurred to respect privacy).

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  1. Location, location, location

Now where to have the bday bash? Keep weather in mind – not so fun having a jumpy house outside if it’s raining. Can you accommodate all guests in your home? Is a restaurant more your style and letting staff handle the set up & clean up?

We decided on a recreation center. The blank space allowed us to decorate freely and there were no time restraints which allowed us to enjoy the party without watching the clock.

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  1. What’s on the menu?

Try to be creative and work with your theme. Also, keep in mind how convenient it will all be. No one wants to be stuck in the kitchen during their child’s party.

We decided on sandwiches which were individually wrapped with salads as sides. This made it easy for all and allowed many variations and choices. Best of all – no one is heating anything up or running around. For the cake, I decided on going with cupcakes which are very convenient. No cutting, no passing out, no mess. I purchased a cupcake stand on amazon for presentation. Our daughter, of course, had her individual smash cake. I was able to find a cute cake topper on Etsy.

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  1. Planning ahead will help you stay sane (kinda).

A first birthday is a big deal and one may feel the pressure to have it all be great. But now that you’re a mom, who has the time to be Martha Stewart? I started planning about two months prior. The time also allows for extra creativity and DIY projects. I shopped online, made calls and completed projects all during my daughter’s naps.

  1. Dress the part!

Get your guests involved and make everyone feel like they are part of the fun! Children love to see fantasy come to life.

We offered our guests their pick of hats as they walked into the party. Hats were purchased from a party supply store. Some of us wore costumes and had a blast! Our mini Alice looked adorable in her light blue tutu!

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  1. Gotta entertain the littles.

Try estimating how many children will be coming to the party and their ages. Kids want to enjoy themselves and be a part of the theme via games and activities.

I purchased a corn hole game and covered it with green fabric and glued some flowers on it. My husband printed out posters at work. We also printed out some coloring pages for the younger kids. We also hired someone to face paint and hand out balloons.

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  1. DIY with Love.

Crafty? Time to put your skills to work. Not crafty? Recruit friends and fam who are. Or now will be the time to become great friends with Pinterest and DIY tutorials on YouTube. Why DIY? Because sometimes you just can’t find what you want or need in a store. It can also be great way to save money.

For me, I enjoy DIY projects because I’m taking the time to do something out of love. Some DIYs I made were garland made out of dollar store playing cards, Queen’s guardsman which were made from dollar store poster board and construction paper and our table runners were also made by simply purchasing some fabric and sewing the sides. I also had some items which included pictures of her first year.

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  1. Have fun!

When all is said and done…ENJOY this special day! In the end it isn’t about the décor, it’s about celebrating their sweet life. A year has gone by and it probably all happened in the blink of an eye (despite the sleepless nights). So take it all in, these moments go by way too fast. Remember to take lots of pictures so your little one can look back on the celebration! Congrats you made it! Happy Birthday little one!

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Hello Kitty Birthday Bash

The moment I found out I was having a baby girl, I already knew what her 1st birthday party theme would be: Hello Kitty, of course! As a lifelong fan of the red-bowed childhood favorite, it was the obvious choice.

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With a sweet tooth the size of California and a penchant for baked goods, I wanted to make the dessert buffet the centerpiece. So I set out to bake cake pops, Rice Krispy treats, cupcakes and sugar cookies. Sounds ambitious, I know — especially since I had never made sugar cookies in my life! (I chose a brilliant time to learn!) But I goaled myself on accomplishing them along with all the other treats. Other than the birthday cake and the popcorn, I spent time over a span of one week mixing, baking, frosting and packaging all these sweet treats myself. I am a little out of practice but enjoyed getting back into baking.

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These chocolate cakepops with strawberry icing are my go-to cakepops when making them for a party. Who doesn’t love the flavor of chocolate and strawberry together? Red velvet cake pops with homemade cream cheese frosting, another crowd fave.

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Strawberry and Original Rice Kitty Treats – a twist on a classic and pink for our Hello Kitty theme of course! These are just as easy to make and you just add a box of strawberry jello mix to the marshmallow and butter mixture.

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Instead of cutting a cake, I baked red velvet cupcakes and yellow cake cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Individual cupcakes are easy to grab and go and no one has to wait until the end of the party to have a bite of cake.

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These Hello Kitty sugar cookies were a challenge and a half considering I was a first timer to making them. But not a bad freshman attempt. I baked them ahead of time and frosted them night before the party.

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I included some Salted Caramel and Cheese popcorn mix as well as Classic Kettlecorn for a little variety on the table.
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My baby girl’s birthday cake was made by Just the Frosting Cakes. Our favorite flavors are the chocolate cake with toasted almond frosting.

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The boys’ Badtzmaru favors were made  with simple takeout boxes filled with treats.

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I LOVE these Hello Kitty favor bags for the girls! I loved how colorful and festive they were, and of course they were part of our theme!

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My husband made the Hello Kitty and Badtzmaru photo booth cutouts for the kids (and some adults) by printing the images and mounting them on a tri panel. The kids had fun taking photos with them and they made for a nice photo memory of the event.

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I hadn’t baked like this in awhile. And truly, this party for our baby girl was a labor of love. But I was really pleased with how the dessert buffet turned out. And more importantly, I was happy that our guests enjoyed themselves and loved all the treats!

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This post was written for 53 Weeks by Anna M.

SMASH Cake

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I’ve tried it twice now…with little enthusiasm shown by the “smashers.” I love this idea, this new innovation if you will – I say that because some 30 years ago when I turned one I did get my stab at cake, but nowadays, it’s becoming even more popularized, by giving a 1 year old their very own little cake to “smash” to mark their first birthday. I know many people go all out with a full photo shoot, revolving around capturing the moment when a rising toddler gets their first crack at a cake. Many bakeries even advertise specific “smash cake” and several grocery chains will give your child a FREE (yes F-R-E-E) smash cake for the big ONE!

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I was super excited to serve Raef his first taste of cake in July 2013 when he hit the inaugural birthday milestone, but the honest truth is he didn’t show much interest. I had him all suited up too, with a cute little tie and custom bday hat, just picture perfect. Then, when “game time: arrived, he looked at it, more impressed by the flame on his candle… However when I stood by with a camera, just knowing he would attack the sweet treat I set in front of him…and NOTHING! I gave him a spoon and he sort of tapped and jabbed at the cake, but he didn’t want any part of it.

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Fast forward to July 2014. Now surely Isaiah would be all in when I set the cake down in front of him. There was little doubt in my mind that he would have no issue getting his hands dirty. So, I suited him up in the same red, white and blue tie and custom birthday hat I had dressed his brother in the year before and was ready for him to have at it… except, he didn’t seem to care to smash…the cake! To his credit, when I served him a slice, he happily found a way to eat it with his hands, but Between my 2 boys and their first birthdays, I never got that super messy, crazy cake chaos!

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It’s okay though, no big deal…it’s not like I want my kids to be too familiar with sugar or crave cake, but I did think I’d get a little more action. So Moms (and Dads), I’m wondering if you had an experience similar to mine or if your babes went all in and for the big SMASH!?!? Not that I’ve thought about it too much, but is it because I’ve been serving them bite size pieces of food, so when they see an entire cake placed in front of them they don’t know how to attack it? Or maybe it’s too intimidating to see Mommy, Daddy and/or whoever else might be present staring them down to see what will become of the cake?

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In the end, I guess my non-cake smashers was a good thing…no cake crumbs to clean up off the floor or smeared icing everywhere. No, sugar-high children and it really meant more cake for me! 😉

Winter ONEderland

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One of my good friend’s recently celebrated the very first birthday for her twin girls. And, since they are December babies turning 1, she decided on a Winter Wonderland theme, turning the WON into ONE for a Winter ONEderland! I really loved the play on words for the theme, because when you think about it, it’s very cute to spin the WON into ONE! She also incorporated a “cool” color scheme using white, along with silver and sprinkles of pink and purple for a girly touch.
vvgg5She created a fun reception table with winter-feel frames for photos and messages for guests, plus winter holiday themed floral arrangements and accents.

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Then a huge standing blackboard greeted guests with the birthday girl’s vital info from “then to now,” with a rundown of all their favorite things! BTW…this board wasn’t a printout, it was actually hand-drawn with chalk, so kudos to whoever created that masterpiece!

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Staying with the theme, she used snowflake cutouts to hang on the walls and hung personalized custom banners with the pink and purple accents for pops of color.

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The cake was a two layer fondant cake adorned with snowflakes and silver sparkles too, to give it some bling…

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A candy bar was opened to the guests after the cake cutting, as treats to bring home. She used clear serving bowls with a simple silver ribbon and cute signs tied around them to indicate the different types of candy, stacking them on accent boxes to create levels. Another great thing she did was to provide goodie bags to the children when they first arrived, to keep them occupied throughout the party. They contained items like stickers, coloring books, crayons, along with cute & easy “winter” crafts.

fairyIn terms of entertainment, a “winter fairy” stopped by for magic tricks and interaction with the children, and after the “show” she offered balloons and face-painting services.

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Then as one last parting gift (favor), the host passed out cute bars of “winter” soap and packets of DIY Hot Chocolate, perfect to keep you warm and cozy in a Winter ONEderland!