A Life In Review

As a mom, choosing the theme for your baby’s first birthday is a big deal (or it was for me anyway 😂). I spent months choosing the theme and then making the decor (because, you know, I didn’t wanna be a regular mom, I wanted to be a Pinterest mom). I gathered ideas and materials and I tried to make it the best birthday that Georgia will never remember. I wish that someone had just complied a list for each of the fall first birthday theme ideas to make my life easier, but instead we had to get creative. However, I decided that I could at least make a layout of one birthday theme when it was all over, so here it is.

First birthdays don’t have to cost a fortune, but any party is going to cost something. I am going to share the food, decor and party favors. (I did NOT make my guest play “party games” because I’m not a mean host). One other thing, I always thought we needed to have a huge party for the baby, but she did so much better with a small group. She wasn’t as overwhelmed and she was able to visit with each person individually.

What: Baby Girl’s First Birthday ^{(this can be switched to a boys party by simply changing colors)}
When: Fall (September-November)
Where: Your house (or a small barn area if you can swing it)
Theme: Our Little Pumpkin is One
Theme Colors: Light Pink, Gold, Orange
Guest Count: 15 people

Food: I tried to choose some simple foods that I could make fit our theme. Pinterest helped some, and my creative mom helped with the rest. We made everything ourselves (even the cookies) in order to save money, but there is no shame in getting a party catered (especially for those of you who don’t have any help). We served:

• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Clementines (decorated to look like pumpkins)
• Pigs in a Blanket (I never did come up with a clever pumpkin themed name)
• Carmel Apple S’more Platter
• Pumpkin Shaped Sandwiches (Egg Salad and PB&J)
• Cookies (this was our dessert, I wanted to do something other than cake so my mother-in-law helped me make these)

Beverages: I kept this SUPER simple because the party was small and the more options you have, the more food/ beverages get wasted.

• Water
• Apple Cider

Decor: I spent a lot of time creating the decor myself, however, if you are not a crafty person, I highly suggest checking out Etsy for super cute (and original) party decor. The one thing that we decided we would never do again, is the balloon arch. It took us about 3 hours to get it done and then the whole house smelled like balloon latex for DAYS. It was beautiful, but not worth the hassle (though there are a lot of companies now that will come in and do it for you, so that is an option).

• Monthly Picture Banner: This was way bigger than I expected. Originally I had printed 4×6 pictures to hang on the clips, but it made the banner way too long. I ended up cutting them into 3×4 size pictures. I cut the pumpkins and the numbers on my Cricut and then glued them to clothes pins to hang on the string. If you don’t have a Cricut, a simple stencil cut out would look just as cute!
• Welcome Sign: This is something you will have to get crafty with, but I fell in love with a certain Pinterest design and tried to make it my own. If you are not crafty, this is something you will probably just want to buy. You could either Cricut the welcome sign, stencil it so that the lettering is perfect, or free hand draw/ write on it (if you were blessed with that talent). We saved the welcome sign and hang it in my daughter room during the fall now.
• Wooden Number Ones: I found these wooden number “ones” at Hobby Lobby during the summer and kept them tucked away. When it came time for the party, I painted them pink (one of the theme colors) and used pumpkin stickers to make them more fall like. They took maybe 2 hours total (including drying time)
• Mini Painted Pumpkins: Probably the EASIEST decorations. Most of the mini ones actually came from a family wedding that happened the week before. You can either spray paint them (it goes on smoother) or you can paint them with a sponge brush (it may take a few coats though to get the paint to look smooth).
• Letter Board Baby Stats: Letter boards are all the rage right now and I wanted one included (we used letter boards for pictures during her whole first year so it made sense for us to use it at her party). Make it simple and sweet. We literally just added a paper pumpkin to the top to make it match the party theme.
• Center Piece(s): I found a cute fall plate (at the dollar store), put a medium sided pumpkin in the middle and surrounded it with the little colored pumpkins. You can either paint, or glue a giant number one on the center pumpkin if you want, as well (see picture below).
• Wooden Backdrop: I searched for backdrops that would cover a large space and they were pretty expensive. Then I stumbled on a wooden looking table cloth at Hobby Lobby for like $3 and that’s what we used.

Party Favors: This one gave me a run for my money. I googled and checked out Pinterest, but I couldn’t find anything that was small, but nice to use as a favor, so we ended up making extra cookies and packaging them up for people to take on their way out the door. It was simple, cute and saved time because we were already making the cookies.

I know that seems like a lot, but it really wasn’t. Since Georgia won’t even remember that party, it wasn’t worth driving ourselves crazy to plan. We didn’t spend a lot, but we sure made a lot of memories for ourselves. I think that’s really more the goal anyway. A first birthday party is just a celebration that you made it through the first year (let’s be honest, that’s a big deal, especially for first time parents).

Happy Birthday to your sweet fall babies! We sure do love ours!