Elijah's Island- He is ONE

5 Things You Need for Every Child's Birthday

 

 

My baby turned one! What a mix of emotions you experience as your sweet baby turns into a toddler. You feel devastated he is growing up too quickly but so filled with pride of the joyful, sweet, affectionate little boy he is becoming!

We had a ridiculous amount of fun celebrating Eli's birth with family and friends. I've been to my share of birthday parties but this is the first we've ever planned for our own. There are some things that were a great success, and some things that took too much effort and was not enjoyed by many. My Mother always gave us fun and creative parties and I wish to follow her lead! I will share what I've learned... In my opinion a good party needs a few essentials:



1. A Good Theme
Parties always have a theme, even if it's super simple like, well, "party!" Guests most likely will want to join in the fun, even if it's just the fun of anticipation and knowing what excitement lies ahead provided in the details of the invitation. The more specific the theme is, the easier it will be to plan everything around. Also, I feel the more creative, the more fun you will have too!

2. An informative invitation, simply explaining the theme of course! Also, are you exceeding an invitation with your words, as in "join us", "you're invited" "we hope you can make it" etc? It's popular now to have a cute poem about how old a person is turning, and then a date, time and place; there is no warmth in that! We like to be personally requested to attend, it makes a big difference. Other important attributes is to add the planned activities so guests can come prepared and have the most fun possible: Is this indoor? outdoor? A drop-off if this is a kids party or are parents expected to stay? etc. It is also popular now to put an email for an RSVP, which is fine, as long as there is also included a phone number in case someone gets lost on the way to the party, or has a last minute question! I know a lot of elderly folks who don't use computers. This was Eli's first birthday invitation: (I quickly made Eli's invite on the free program, GIMP and had them printed at Staples, very affordable.)

3. Easy and Pleasing Food. What kind of crowd is attending? Plan your food around your people, and secondly, look for clever ways to tie it into your theme. Thank goodness the crafty food labeling is popular now so you can make any food fit your party. Our party began at 1PM so I wanted to have sandwiches, chips and such. Filling food for all ages! Not very Gilligan's Island, so I totally opted for the food labeling.

4. Decorations (including utensils, plates, napkins)- Because this is the first party I have ever given my son, I went all out! I bought scrapbook paper and  made pendant garland. I bought lots of burlap to go on tables. I took all the frames from my house and filled them with pictures of my son's first year. For his first year of life we took a staged picture of Eli every month, so we printed those and made garland out of the pictures. I did not do everything "Gilligan's Island" theme, because if I am spending much time and energy into making decorations or money purchasing them I want them to be easily reusable. I picked colors: red, white, and blue, and burlap accent. I hope we'll get to use the decorations over and over because they are adorable. Even if its just streamers from the dollar store, decorations put us into party mode!

5. Activities- Who are your guests? What do they like?  You will need activities for the young ones. Adults will be happy to eat and talk, which they can only do if their kids are kept busy! We had a pool and it kept everyone busy, it being one of the hottest days of summer, ugh. It could be a playground, craft activities (paint a picture, decorate a mini cake, make a super hero mask), games, etc As long as there is something to keep little minds and little fingers busy and having fun! Kids don't need a lot to get started.

As a side note, and hindsight being 20/20 there are a few things I would have done differently. I would have prepped the food the night before as I was rushing to get it finished. Since it was at my mother-in-law's I actually wish I would have set up a lot of things the night before. I also would have left Elijah with his great-grandma for an hour or so before the party so I could get everything set up. He was an extra handful and I didn't get to do things as quickly as I wanted. We feel blessed to have so many family and friends who came to celebrate Eli and we will always cherish this day with everyone! I am already thinking of his next birthday, not that I want it to arrive too very soon. xoxo