I can’t even believe it, my daughter turned one in a blink of an eye it seems.
I love seeing her grow and learn. I am fortunate enough to have got to spend the last 5 months with her at home.
When COVID hit it was kind of a blessing in disguise for me. Being a new mom and adjusting to work and a new me was hard I’m not gonna lie. Being able to spend more time with her was amazing and I am so thankful! However… it did take a gander on my wallet 😬
I wanted to do all the things, which is normal but then I had time… which that, is NOT normal.
So I began to plan for her 1st birthday.
I knew it had to happen and it could keep my mind busy instead of working on unnecessary house projects 😅
So what I did was simple, first of course come up with a theme.
I choose to go with DONUT GROW UP!
I went back and fourth with so many themes but I’m happy I choose the one I did.
Once you have a theme start thinking of a color scheme. So with your color scheme not everything has to be matchy matchy like PartyCity, be creative, think outside of the box. Don’t be afraid to go all out, the kid only has one 1st birthday 💗
One way I really dressed up the party without spending a ton of money was using balloon garlands. They were super easy to make and really brought it together!
I also made sure I took care of the little details to incorporate the theme, like the napkins and plates. I also made shirts formy Husband and I which is a MUST!
Since COVID is still a thing, when planning for food I wanted to be sure everything was single servings and more like grab and go. I didn’t want people to have to all touch the same serving spoons so toothpicks worked great! I also used individual cups for fruit, which everyone loved!
Instead of doing cake and keeping with the theme of course we had to do a donut bar complete with donuts, donut holes, cookies, and as an added extra I included milk jugs for the kiddos!
Next I wanted to be sure there were activities for all so I planed games… that didn’t really workout to be honest (I was ALLLLL over the place lol) ! But we did do a piñata for all the kids, which was fun!
I wanted to be sure the memories of the day were not forgotten so I set up a guest book for the guest to sign , which went with the theme too ( I used “If You Give a Dog a Donut”)! This is something I plan to do every year, it’s fun to go back and ready what people say.
I also had a time capsule set up so in 17 years when she is 18 she can look back and see who helped us celebrate.
Little details here and there and personalized posters and signs brought it all together!
Lastly a made sure there were party favors, mini donut holes were what we gave out and they were a hit!
+ added a personalized messaged
If you are planning your child’s first birthday, a few things to keep in mind..
- YOU DO YOU! People are going to tell you “want you are doing isn’t worth it”, “they won’t remember” but who cares! Do it for you, go all out for your baby because guess what… you CAN!
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help, I struggle with this but if it weren’t for the help from my family the party wouldn’t have been possible!
- Have fun! Don’t forget you need to enjoy it to, relax and be in the moment!
xoxo – IVY LOWERY