1St Birthday Party - Hickory,NC

How many kids?

If its a few, Dollar Store for Sheriff badges and bandanas
If its mostly adults, skip the goody bags.

Keep it simple with only immediate family and god parents. The first birthday isn't for the child, it's for you and dad...no treat bags required. Spaghetti and meat balls/sauce...salad, bread, and a homemade cake or a bucket of chicken, same sides or a back yard BBQ/pot luck.

Ask people to bring drinks.....TAKE lots of pictures.

Have a great first BD for your little one.

I would skip the treat bag - your own child won't even get to really enjoy them, anyway. I would skip the them & just go dollar store cheap on the decorations, as well. He won't remember any of it, so I would recommend not going crazy, as hard as it is.

Skip the treat bag. If you feel you must do something, hit the dollar store. You can find fun things there for very cheap. You may find what you want for the decor.

The fact that your child is one is the perfect excuse to downsize and cut out the expensive bday stuff. I would save that for 4 years and up when they know what they are missing if you don't do it. Grandparents, your/Hubs siblings and their families only. No gift bags, cake etc. A 1 year old does not like any of that anyway. Good luck!

check your local dollar store. I get most of my party supplies there. They usually have a good selection (at least the one in my area does.)

As for decorations, a table cloth, some sort of center piece (dollar store), some balloons and streamers. It doesn't have to be elaborate. You can find all of this at the dollar store and can make a nice table with it!

Why do you want to do gifts to the people that come to his party? I just don't get this new fad. I have never felt like they were a thing to do. It's such a waste of money to me. I just don't do it.

I also would not have a big party. Just mom and dad, any siblings, a grandparent or two, that's it. They really have no interest in goody bags I'd think.

Don't do all this stuff that some business started so they could sell more stuff. I do not know ANY mom personally that has ever done this. I don't and won't.

I wouldn't bother to do treat bags or a theme for a 1st birthday. He's not even going to remember this party.
We just bought a cake and ice cream and a few small gifts for my daughter.

I'm with many of the other posters - this whole bday party thing is out of control. People have 30 kids, spend more on gifts to the guests than they can afford. If you do a big thing now, how will you top it at 2 or 3? The bday party venues have created a huge demand (bouncy houses, play gyms, and so on) and parents are going broke. Then you read on Mamapedia all the questions about should the child open gifts from 25 kids while those 25 kids sit there and feel miserable, or does the birthday child learn to say thank you for things even if they are duplicates, and should they write thank you notes, etc. etc.

Your child will remember nothing and will be completely overwhelmed by too much stuff and too many people. I would invite a few people over, skip the theme (save those ideas for when the kid actually cares), and just have a cake with a candle. Then take pictures of the child putting cake all over his face, and put those in a scrapbook or on a DVD! Have a couple of balloons on the backs of the chairs, and maybe some party napkins.

Have immediate family or a couple of good friends, skip the goody bags, and make a family friendly meal you can afford. If your child has a couple of cousins with whom you are close, then have a small and simple craft that they can do to take home. You could do picture frames from the craft store (wood or foam) that they attach foam figures to or stick macaroni shapes on (use wood or Elmer's glue, then spray paint in the garage and they'll be dry in an hour). You can take a photo of each child and email them later to the parents, who can print it out at home or at the local discount store, and put it in the frame).

Scale back now or you are really in for it as the kids get older and you face all kinds of peer pressure.

Get a big piece of fabric and make your own bandanas. Depending on the ages of the kids, licorice rope can be made into "ropes" for a snack. Just put them in snack baggies. And then make some trail mix from things at the grocery store (oats, cereal, chocolate chips). If you can find sheriff badges or stickers, give each kid one. Decorations can be pictures of horses and cowboys. A checkered red and white tablecloth that you can find for cheap at the dollar store can be a good table cover. I'd get checkered or red and white solid colored plates, etc. Solids are cheaper and you can probably find red and white at the dollar store.

I agree to keep it simple. My sister simply gave out small beach sets to the kids (about 5, because it was just family) at the end of the day. I'm not sure we even had goodie bags at DD's 1st birthday.

No treat bags.

Few decorations (Western themed tablecloth, few ballons to make it
festive, sheriff badges & cutouts from Dollar Store for decorations, few
tiny horses from there too to decorate table, streamers. Done.).

Lasagna, salad & rolls to feed a crowd.
Or Spaghetti, salad & garlic bread.
Always have some appetizers for ppl to nibble on: chips, salsa, egg rolls,
shrimp w/cocktail sauce, smokey sausages in bbq sauce & mini quiches

Do cupcakes instead of a cake. Easier, cute, festive. Remember to have a cupcake just for the baby to demolish & take a picture.