First Birthday Party Idea

[mamarazziof3]

On TB someone had posted something about first birthday parties, and I thought I would share this idea, since we had talked birthdays on TB.

This weekend I went to the first birthday party for a friend's little one and they sent a message along with their invitation that in lieu of gifts for their son (who just got a lot of gifts for Christmas and didn't really need anything more) that people bring a toy, book, or other needed item to be donated to a local charity for families in need.  They titled the list of ideas "toy-letries for tots".  They had a list of suggested items to bring that may not be covered by assistance like toys, diapers, wipes, paper products, children's books, clothes, games, etc.  

I thought this was a GREAT for them to do in honor of their little one, and they got an amazing collection of things to pass on to those in need. I'm thinking about doing something similar for my little guy's party because we already have more toys and clothes than we need since he is the third boy.  (And he is too little to know to expect gifts or care that he has hand-me-downs for now. :-) 

Just a suggestion for anyone who might want to have a unique way to celebrate their little one's first birthday!

Edited for clarity and because I can't multitask. ;-) 

[kittyriot]

Love it. Thanks for the suggestion. I think I am going to steal this!

[jcrewgirl]

Can I bump this? One, because I don't want to create another thread. I know on the dump we discussed first birthday party themes - there were a few other people who were doing pink/gold glitter(ish) theme, right? Where are you getting your decorations?

[athn64]

We're doing Star Wars. DH talked me into it. Decorations TBD, but we have a party store in town I'll try to pick some stuff up for not too expensive. Then I'm going to order something cutesy off of Etsy.

I'm looking at Princess Leia 1st b-day shirts, and I've got an R2-D2 cloth diaper on the way.

[kittyriot]

We're doing a Secret Garden theme to welcome spring! Flowers, green, orange and yellow as colours. I wanted to make it easy to decorate. And also make it adult appropriate. It's a joint birthday part for the MIL (beb was born on her birthday).

I did splurge on the cake and am totally going to AW. This is what I ordered, but in buttercream (not fondant)!

[kittyriot]

CAKE!

[jcrewgirl]

Mar 11, 2015 14:56:55 GMT -5 kittyriot said:

We're doing a Secret Garden theme to welcome spring! Flowers, green, orange and yellow as colours. I wanted to make it easy to decorate. And also make it adult appropriate. It's a joint birthday part for the MIL (beb was born on her birthday).

I did splurge on the cake and am totally going to AW. This is what I ordered, but in buttercream (not fondant)!

Love the cake!

My DD was born on my dad's birthday! 

[Deleted]

I'm thinking pirate themed or Finding Nemo just so I can make this

[Susan0utLoud]

Our theme is food and money. Lol

[flockofmoosen]

I like the idea that mamarazziof3 posted, too. I'm sure if you posted that idea on the birthday party board (is there one here? There was on TD) they would have a hey-day about how tasteless it is to dictate gifts, blah blah blah. However, I totally disagree with a lot of the crap they say, so go for it.*

We are doing a Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood theme. She LOVES him. For gifts, I kind of want to just ask for no gifts. I know some stubborn people ignore this request for some reason (those without kids?), so I think we won't display or open any that are received that day.



*Re: the etiquette thing. i don't understand when ppl say that birthday parties are not gift giving events so if you mention gifts it means you're expecting them and "yuck", YET AT THE SAME TIME, when you are invited to a party you must bring a gift. I think people over-think this, and if the parents don't want any more toys, then they should be able to say so. Plus, the advice to just accept the gifts and then immediately donate them with our without telling the guests is way more rude in my mind then saying up front that you prefer something else or none at all.

[mary97]

athn64, Love the theme!

DD's favorite toy is her Cookie Monster doll so that's going to be our theme. I'm going to do cupcakes with Cookie Monster faces on them instead of a cake and of course, cookies.

mamarazziof3, I like that bring a donation gift idea rather than a gift for her but I think our families would still be giving her gifts. First grandchild on my side.

[Susan0utLoud]

In our family, it's seen as disrespectful to say no gifts. It's the same as saying we're only having cake, not a full meal. It's just not ok with them. I learned this when we had a baptism reception and at christmas. My new way of dealing with it is to be very specific. Clothes in very specific sizes and brands, diaper brands and sizes, etc. DS has gotten and will get a lot more gifts of money. Most of it we have saved, but some we have spent on big ticket items like car seats and strollers.

I should add that a lot of this is cultural. I'm doing my best to respect both cultures and still be true to what we want as parents.

[kendy20]

I don't even know if we are throwing one No family here and have just a few friends that have kids.

[Deleted]

We were going to do a Star Wars theme but then DS loves Dr. Seuss so much that we decided to do that instead.
I now have a massive pinterest board I'm going to make a Cat in the hat cake and then thing 1 and thing 2 cupcakes.
I also ordered DS a bowtie and party hat from zulily from their Dr. Seuss celebration sale.

We are doing a cake smash too so I have to figure that all out...only 2 months to plan...

[athn64]

Mar 11, 2015 16:08:10 GMT -5 @usernameedit said:

We were going to do a Star Wars theme but then DS loves Dr. Seuss so much that we decided to do that instead.
I now have a massive pinterest board I'm going to make a Cat in the hat cake and then thing 1 and thing 2 cupcakes.
I also ordered DS a bowtie and party hat from zulily from their Dr. Seuss celebration sale.

We are doing a cake smash too so I have to figure that all out...only 2 months to plan...

That's a cute theme!

[emmagk]

We're just doing a small party for DSs library/ play date pals plus both his grandma's will be here. There's going to be a train theme but not going wild with it.

I'm also planning on asking no gifts. We went to our friends DD birthday over the weekend, they requested no gifts and most of the people still showed up with presents. We took 'you made it through the first year' beer for the parents.

flockofmoosen, I agree that kids birthday parties are always gift giving events and don't see why it's tacky to request no gifts.

[letal316]

Mar 11, 2015 16:04:25 GMT -5 kendy20 said:

I don't even know if we are throwing one No family here and have just a few friends that have kids.

Same as us. I decided we're not throwing one. DH and I are taking the day off work and then my sister and her fiance are flying out two days later so we'll have a little family celebration a few days later.

[meggypoo1]

We have family coming the weekend of her birthday and the weekend after. We will have two different parties but I will most likely use the same stuff! I am up in the air between frogs or monkeys because those are her favorite! Also, since we are doing two different parties I am not sure what to do about the cake! I am also thinking about doing a 1 year photo shoot with a cake smash!

[pinkstarbursts]

We are doing "A Wild One" aka Where the Wild Things are theme.

[lecky11]

Mar 11, 2015 16:08:10 GMT -5 @usernameedit said:

We were going to do a Star Wars theme but then DS loves Dr. Seuss so much that we decided to do that instead.
I now have a massive pinterest board I'm going to make a Cat in the hat cake and then thing 1 and thing 2 cupcakes.
I also ordered DS a bowtie and party hat from zulily from their Dr. Seuss celebration sale.

We are doing a cake smash too so I have to figure that all out...only 2 months to plan...

Our theme is Oh the Places You'll Go. I used the book as a guest book for everyone to sign at my shower. This time the guest book will be Dr Seuss' Happy Birthday to You!

[becole]

I will be doing a baseball theme.

[athn64]

Mar 11, 2015 19:24:05 GMT -5 12345 said:

My DD was born on May 4th (aka Star Wars Day)...so I was thinking Star Wars as well. But I also want to do something complete girly like pink and gold. DH hates the idea of a Star Wars party. Neither of us are in to Star Wars at all. I just thought it was kind of funny.

[haykay13]

Mar 11, 2015 19:44:02 GMT -5 becole said:

I will be doing a baseball theme.

Baseball theme is cute!
I am sure we will end up doing that once DS is older. We have a minor league team here and they have a kids party area at the stadium with blow up stuff and the mascot comes to party with the kids

I can't remember if I commented on this thread or TB... We're doing The Very Hungry Caterpillar

[haykay13]

Mar 11, 2015 14:29:46 GMT -5 jcrewgirl said:

Can I bump this? One, because I don't want to create another thread. I know on the dump we discussed first birthday party themes - there were a few other people who were doing pink/gold glitter(ish) theme, right? Where are you getting your decorations?

Not sure how you feel about hobby lobby, but last time I was there they had a pretty big selection of pink & gold baby girl bedroom decorations that could be used for party decorations.

[Deleted]

I'll be doing pink and gold glitter. I'm trying to make as many decorations as I can. Started the happy bday banner last night. Also doing a "one" banner, big one in gold glitter for the food table, painting wine bottles pink and gold. Got most of the supplies from hobby lobby. You can follow me on Pinterest, I have a lot of ideas pinned. I'm chevygrrl91 over there too.

[Deleted]

Here's what I have so far.

[ricola0522]

I'm planning a red, yellow and blue theme. DH and I can't agree on invitations though. Which one would you pick?

[athn64]

ricola0522, I like the top one. Part at my crib. It amuses me

[ShtsNGiggles]

Ds was born on May 8th, which is close enough for me to cinco de mayo so we are doing a Mexican fiesta.

Pretty much i just want an excuse to drink margaritas. I'm going to have a taco bar and a pinata for the older kids.

[lecky11]

becole have you seen this on pinterest? I love baseball and thought about a baseball theme but didn't want to hear any comments that it wasn't girly enough.