Daughters Birthday

At my daughter's first birthday (last September) we decorated in baby Sesame Street characters. There are tons of decorations with baby Elmo, baby Cookie Monster, and baby Big Bird at Party City and at Arne's (Heights area-huge party store, must see!). It was sooo cute and the primary colors are easy to match generic (red, blue, and yellow) plates and cups. Also, many bakeries in Kroger, HEB, etc. make Elmo/Sesame Street cakes. Good Luck!!

Really, a one year old is too young to appreciate a "party" of any theme.....a birthday party for a one year old is for the parents not the child.....she would be happiest with a small gathering of significant adults in her life with MAYBE one or two children there....no more....too overwhelming for that age.

A good "theme" is something simple like "Things that go" or "Balls" or "Balloons" Maybe you could make it a certain color scheme....something that is meaningful to a one-year old.....if she adores pull toys...make that the theme....if she loves waterplay, make that the theme....really, for HER benefit, make it small and low key or it will be too much for her to enjoy as much as you.

HAVE FUN!
L.

Elmo is a perfect theme for that age...or Wiggles..or Sesame Street characters.... Happy Anniversary early!

When my first son turned one I had a cocktail party. A "party" for a one year old is really for the adults. So invite your friends, have them bring thieir kids and just celebrate. Take lots of pictures, especially the pretty girl with the cake, and show her off to all your adult friends. You can still have a theme, of course, but your kiddo doesn't care. You'll have lots of years to thrill her with special days. This is your special day too!

I agree with you, she's too young to enjoy it. My the,e for her first birthday was "her". I did a picture cake with her pic on it and so forth! Good Luck, time does fly!

Just anything that interest her. Balloons, cookies, bubbles, teddy bears, baby dolls, water play, her favorite color, flowers, animals, a whole party around the number "1", coloring, finger painting if your brave, play dough, or just celebrate her with pictures displayed of her changing over the last year....you know her best, what ever excites her.

Your daughter will not have any memory of her first birthday. This party is going to be more for you and your husband, so that you know that you had a great 1st birthday party for her. If you have no theme in mind and want your MIL's help, I say let her help you out with ideas and decorating. Stay within a reasonable budget though. If you go too crazy with this party, you may feel like you have to do it every year and for every child when you have more. Then birthdays can get so expensive that you may start to dred them, and you don't want that. GOOD LUCK and HAVE FUN!!!

What does she like?? The first b-day party is really what you want to do. The child is pretty oblivious as to "theme". My first daughter was born on tax day, so we did a money theme. If she likes flowers then make that your theme. The possibilities are endless, just have fun with it.

I know that first birthday is so important to the mom, but the baby could care less. However, just remember this advice I was given by a professional, only invite as many children as the age of the child. This will not count this 1st birthday, because usually it is just family. But as the get older, if the child is turning 3 invite 3 of his friends etc. until they reach age 10 or 12 . But I can tell you that worked out very well, and another thing to keep in mind not to give them a party every year, maybe every 3 to 5 yrs and your friends will thank you. Can you imagine having to buy gifts yr round for your childrens friends yr after yr. I keep to these rules and am so glad we did. Kids should not expect a party every yr, and if they do they are spoiled.
So, when they had a party it was very special to them.

i don't think shes too young for dora!! my son had elmo at his first. ie..elmo cake, napkins big elmo stuffed doll. he loved it!

No offense but your daughter is only going to remember her first birthday party through pictures. Pick any young kids theme, Dora, Blue's Clues, Little Einsteins, etc, or something more generic like unicorns, horses, rainbows etc. Just make sure there is agae appropriate toys for her to play with and she will have a great time...If you want her to have a total blast give her a large cardboard box to play with, I promise you your child with have hours of fun with it that you will find yourself scratching your head at.

Good Luck and congratulations!!! ;-)

C.-- I went to the Martha Stewart website for ideas: http://www.marthastewart.com/kids-birthday-parties
I had always called my son my little monkey because he was into everything, so I wanted to do a monkey theme. I had seen a really cute monkey-themed party idea in an issue of Martha's magazine when I was in a doctor's office, so I checked online, and it was there. I modified a lot of the ideas because I am NOT Martha Stewart-- not even close. I just did what worked for me. But it was fun to plan-- I used stuffed monkeys and bunches of bananas for centerpieces and made monkey cupcakes and mini-banana splits. You might find some fun ideas. I found my favorite ideas on the Martha Stewart website message boards on the birthday party page. Another idea: my friend did a cupcake theme for her daughter's first birthday. The invitation said "My little cupcake is turning one!" with a picture of her daughter on it. Everything was pink and white, and of course, she had pink-and-white cupcakes. Have fun!

Activities at a first birthday party are a little tricky because usually the honoree and playmates can't really "do" much yet. But most can sit up and love to play with water so we decided to plan a rubber ducky theme for my fourth daughter's first birthday party and it was adorable! The front of the invitation was a picture of her wearing a cutesy duck outfit and it said "Join rubber ducky for some birthday fun - Our baby girl is turning ONE!" Inside it said to "Waddle over to the duck pond at (address) to celebrate the first birthday of...", and ended with "Give us a quack at (phone number) to respond". We floated bunches of rubber duckies in little wade pools (the duckies were given to the guests later as one of the party favors). There were also several simple toys (cups, plastic strainers, etc.)in the pools. We also had a couple of small sprinklers on for the toddlers who could walk already. After we came inside, we played the clip from an Elmo DVD with the song "Rubber Ducky, You're the One" and asked the parents and older kids to sing along and squeak the ducks at the appropriate times during the song. All the one year olds loved this!!! Then we had storytime during which I read the sweet book "Ten Little Rubber Duckies" by Eric Carle. For my "just-in-case-they-get-bored activity" I had some yellow play-doh and the little plastic Wilton ducky cookie cutters on hand. We didn't need to pull it out, so those went home as another party favor. (By the way I found some cute ducky favor bags in the baby shower aisle at Hobby Lobby.) We had a small cake which was "okay" but the cupcakes looked really precious. We baked them in the Wilton pastel-colored silicon cupcake liners, iced them with a pretty shade of blue icing (to resemble "water") and placed a candy duck in the center of each (these were found on the baby shower aisle too). They were displayed on the 3-tier cupcake stand and it turned out really cute! Also on the food table we had small galvanized (silver) buckets with a toddler-style Chex mix (main ingredient: Cheerios) and a sign on the bucket that said "Duck Feed". That received lots of chuckles. :)

In case you're interested in ideas for parties later on...I would encourage you to plan birthday celebrations based on children's books, particularly the classics. It takes a little more effort, but I have lots of fun doing it, they are unique themes compared to everything you see in the stores (I am not into licensed characters either), and it shows my children the priority we give literature, even at a young age. --And the other parents always give rave reviews after the party! :)

Some of the parties we have done that were really cute were based on these books:
"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?"
"Rainbow Fish"
"Madeline"
"The Little Engine That Could"
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom"
"Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel"
"Old McDonald Had a Farm"
"Blueberries for Sal"
"Amelia Bedelia"
and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Since it's very unlikely to find invitations with these themes in the store, I design original ones on the computer and then add some handcrafted touches using scrapbooking techniques. With a digital camera it's easy to insert your child's photo on the invitation in a cute way (for example, when we had a construction party I inserted a little picture of my son to make it look like he was "driving" the dumptruck, and on the farm party invitation you opened the doors of the "barn" to see my daughter in denim overalls bottle-feeding a baby calf). I personalize generic store-bought party favors with the book theme/main character using labels (if you can spring for it, give each child a paperback copy of the book for the favor). For the party entertainment I gather the kids in a circle for "storytime" and read the book. Then we do age-appropriate extension activities, including a craft, and a gross motor activity based on something related to the story. The food can be modified to tie-in with the theme too. At the "Madeline" party instead of birthday "cake" we served chocolate filled croissants from la Madeleine bakery, and at the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Party I put a sign on the chicken strips tray that said "Chicka Chicka nuggets" using a font and colors similar to the book. I have so much fun planning these parties for my children ...and now that they are older they love to be involved in the party-planning. My 5 year old made the invitation for the "Rainbow Fish" party using her thumbprints in colored inks for the fish scales (I then had color copies made at Kinko's). It was adorable and we have great memories of working on that together.

The most important thing is that you let them know the party is not about presents or cake but that you are celebrating the gift of life with their family and friends. No doubt there will be gifts and food, but the most important thing is we are celebrating their life. My husband always makes a point to say this before we bless the food and sing the birthday song.

I hope you have fun with this as I do. It is easy to get overwhelmed so make a committment to yourself and your precious children that you will not get too much into the details that it takes away from the enjoyment of it. How helpful that your mother-in-law is a big party planner and wants to participate. (just don't let her "take over" things that you really want to do)

Best wishes!
B.

Dear C.,
For my daughters first birthday, which she is now turning 3 in a couple of weeks, and still don't go with a character theme. For her first birthday it was a picnic theme, her cake was a big lady bug and we had hotdogs and lemonade, we had the first birthday at the house, I made different section, for the different age group (family) I had a baby pool for the little kids and the big kids and adults swam in our family pool. I went to the party store and found picnic blanket and got sand buckets in different colors and put the silver in them, found lady bug plates and napkins, and found little bugs that I scatted on the tables to give it the picnic feel. Everyone had a great time and when I look back at the pictures they are really cute. Last year we did a beach thing, used some of the same things went and got all sizes of beach balls scattered them in the back yard, and went and got sand,(big mess) and more buckets to build sand castle and again everyone had a great time. This year she is wanting it at kiddie acres,so we hired a clown to come and do ballons animals and face painting but her cake will be an outside scene of ladybugs and
butterflies, very cute. I hope this helps and gives you some ideas. God Bless, In His Grace K.

There are just your basic 1 year old themes not getting into specific characters. Like "It's fun to be ONE!" just check with your party stores like Party City maybe

Go with shapes and colors or rainbows & butterflies. A.

For my neice and both nephews birthday we just did a "1 Year Old boy/girl" party. My sister has always been able to get the napkins, plates, cups, etc. at Party City. We also buy the child a shirt and baseball cap from P.C.! Enjoy your baby's first birthday, small is best.

M.

I've seen a lot of Elmo and Sesame Street for first birthdays. My son LOVED Elmo at that age. He's now 4 1/2. Time does fly, so take LOTS of pictures and video if you can. Good luck! What ever you decide will be great!

I don't think she is to young to enjoy Dora the Explorer, but they also have Barbie, The Princess' (Cinderella, Ariel-the little mermaid,Belle-beauty and the beast,Snow White, Sleeping Beauty), Hello Kitty, Tinker Bell, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, Seasame Street, Etc. Or you can just do the simple 1 year old theme, I think that would be easy and simple.

Good Luck!!!!

For my daughters first birthday I did just the princess theme, with the big one on it, had a cake that was decorated with a tiara. I too didn't want to use a theme that she would really enjoy later. Time does fly mine will be 2 in October and it seems only yesterday that I brought her home from the hospital.

What does your daughter like? For a child who likes to play outside, you can meet in a park and have a color scheme. I'm really opposed to spending lots of money and time on character-themed birthday parties for one-year-olds because they have no clue.... I always think of it as more of the parents' birthday, anyway, since we're survivors of that first year -- lol.

Anyway, if you're concerned that a character theme will be wasted on a baby so young, focus on the colors, with a matching outfit.

Congratulations on that first baby! And happy anniversary!

I have a Son but on his first birthday I just choose something he liked. He liked baseballs, soccer balls, footballs. :-) If htere was a room full of toys he was getting a ball so we did a sports theme kinda. I made a football cake. For this age I think it's morning imporant to pick something that you can have fun with. They won't remember the theme. I think a Garden Party is a great idea.

C.,

Come one now, can you daughter now see. She is one year old and yes you should do a theme. How does a child not learn if you do not expose them to something. Years later you will look back and you will say for your first bday we did.... My daughter is 6, we did Blues Clues for her bday, and I still remember and still have the charachters from her cake. When she was one she put her hands in the cake and love the blues clues toys on her cake. Yes, hon go all out it's her first bday, celebrate the joy that she brings you and have a great time. If your MIL wants to go all out for this, let her. Enjoy do not resist!

i agree with some others -- family fun.com is a great resource. we did a "make a wish" party for my son's 1st birthday. the invites had little candles glued on them and said "make a wish for ____'s first birthday". the party favors (for neighbors and family) were empty baby jars with a votive candle inside. i glued on paper strips around the outside of the baby jars that said "with love from _____." the bubble machine at the party was popular with all the kids. the first year is a celebration for the parents -- you survived the first year! do something fun for yourself. we had coolers of beer that was enjoyed by the adults. =)

There are several websites online that show ideas for the 1st birthday. You can google them and look for things with the colors she seems to like best. At that age they notice colors more than characters, so using colors she likes a lot would get her attention. My son liked yellow so I did a Winnie the Pooh/ Tigger party and make him a Tigger cake myself. It was a lot of work, but if you are creative and can make a special cake it is worth it. I'm sure my son doesn't remember that day, but when he looks at pictures from that day, he points out to people that his mom made that cake by hand for him. So you may want something that will hold meaning over time through the pictures since they don't remember things from age one. Good luck!

A family party with balloons and horns bubbles and lots of music these are all the things that will appeal for one that age no theam just lots of noise and laughter (FUN) Oh one small cake for you child to demolish and one for everyone else. Mine put his foot in his, I tried to just keep it out of reach for the picture OH well! so much for that idea. Have fun that is what they whole thing is about right.

Hi C.-

Since your daughter won't really know the difference I would suggest that you consider who the guests are going to be and try to choose a baby friendly theme that allows for the party guests to have some fun too. For example, if it's mostly adults and older children maybe a luau theme would be fun. There are lots of water games the older kids (and adults) would enjoy and you can probably find a little grass skirt and hawaiian shirt for your daughter to wear.

I do have one idea for a game to play during the party if you need it....have your guests bring a picture of themselves when they were 1 year old. Post them on a wall or poster board and give each guest a list of the names to match up with the pictures.

Good Luck,
K.

All a one year old cares about is the box the gift is in. Don't overspend. The party is really for you and your joy in your daughter making the 1 year mark. If your MIL wants to go all out - then let her, but let her pay for it. For my 1st child's party, I invited mostly adults who went out of their way for us while she was in the hospital at birth (she was in NICU for 8 days). Simple, but fun. My daughter had a blast and there was no true theme that I can remember. Now, themes and party ideas are important to her (she's now 7). Enjoy the simplicity that comes with a one year old because before you know it, it will be much more expensive and detailed. Your daughter will never remember this party. Keep it simple is my suggestion. My MIL loves to do the all-out thing. I always have to work hard to keep things simple when she's involved. But, I've explained things to her and she really does try to do it but I know it's difficult for her. If she helps pays for it, I compromise because it is what brings her joy. I only stop something if I think it will be a waste of money or spoil/hurt my children somehow.

Since this is her forst, there are lots of thems out there for first birthday. Elmo is one. There are also just ducks, etc. This is the only one that has the number theme so available. She won't remember it, so it is really whatever you want to scrapbook about. 8)

My friends daughter is also about to turn one. They are having a pool party and the theme is ducks. They are filling the pool with them. All cups, decor, etc are ducks. It should be cute.

Margaret

Good parties for that age include animals (circus, jungle) and rubber duckie thems. Also for a little girl there are some cute girlie themes. A good source for ideas is familyfun.com go to parties-birthday-by age. You will see some ideas along with pictures of favors and cakes. Have fun!

I like the bright colors ideas. The petting zoo sounds like loads of fun for her. I'd make it a small affair, because they can get overloaded with noise and too much going on. So, just take it easy and enjoy it. :)

Be sure to designate a photographer if you're going to be busy with the party. Enjoy and congratulations on your first year together!!

Make it as simple as possible. Your daughter will like having her family and balloons and cake. She will remember nothing by the time she is 5 except from looking at the pictures of herself with cake all over her face. If you go all out at 1 at age 5 she will demand expensive entertainment. Kids will really cherish family times the most.

Who says you have to have a theme? They don't know the difference anyway. My son had a train that he always played with so I decorated a train cake and did a train theme. Its more for the adults anyway. Good luck.

MelG

I always had a birthday theme for my kids as well. I personally loved the crayon theme and the first bday theme. You may try to go to Party City and pick from their numerous selections. Maybe your child will even point to a selection. It is great for the photo album and your child's scrap book. Now that my kids are older, they are enjoying their books. I am very glad we had a theme party. Have fun!!!!

She is young but Peter Rabbit and his friends, Elmo, Winny the Poo or Paddington bear might be right for her age group.

When she is a bit older, A book called the Teddy Bears Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy and Alexandra Day was a favorite of my daughters when they were small. You could start reading any of these book to her now. And she will connect the dots by her birthday.

You could do a zoo theme and have the children bring a stuffed zoo animal. It is easy to find small plastic zoo animals that are safe to play with. Pictures of zoo animals are abundant.

She is way too young for the whole princess theme. At 1 year you are lucky to have them up and alert to blow out the candle.
About me: Mother of four daughters and grandma of 3.

Sure I have some advice, tell your mother in law that the theme is ...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY ONE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, COME ON EVERYONE CELEBRATE, and plan the party yourself. It will be much more memorable for you that way, your daughter won't remember the party in a month from now. The whole purpose of birthdays at this age is for you to get everyone together to celebrate your child has been on this earth a whole year, it has nothing to do with themes at this age. she will pick her own themes in a few years, right now it's just presents and cake...PARTY!

I have to admit, my kids 1st BD parties were really grown up - we had been out of "circulation" for a year and we had a big BBQ with all our friends and family. We had a cake, a great party, and fun for all. When my kids got a little older, they had friends they wanted to invite and we really got into the theme thing. At 1 they are not interacting (realistically) with peers, could care less about "presents" and are really about mom & dad.
Have fun!
T. s.

For both of my kids 1st bdays ( my kids will be 12 and 7 this yr). I did the babies 1st b-dAy themes.
Locally,party city sells all that you need. There is also a party website in a previuos post that I have ordered from in the past that is good,too.
Hapy early b-day to your little one.

I was th inking the same way you are - they just arent into the Dora or Princess themes yet -

So when I had my daughters first birthday - I did everything in pretty bright flowers, with lots of bright pinks and lime green accessories........

Here is the website I used since then though - they have great ideas as well....

good luck and have tons of fun.

BTW - we bought the regular sheet cake along with her first individual cake she could mess up - just an idea....

http://www.celebrateexpress.com/celebration/default.aspx?...

Elmo can always work, the theme is really for your MIL. I personally would make the theme flowers or balloons or teddy bears. It does not need to be based on a character and makes decorating and cake design much more simple.

My son turned one in March and I had a primary colors theme with animals like a caterpillar. Kinda like baby einstein. Happy 1st birthday! Man, the time flies!

Although they didn't care what the theme was at that age, I chose themes for my girls that were still about them. My oldest daughter had the nickname "Princess" so we did a Princess theme, and my second daughter was nicknamed "Little Bug" so we did a Ladybug theme.

You could also plan it around a favorite toy or color.

winnie the pooh and sesame street were favorites for our 4 kids when they were very young

I say keep it simple, yet meaningful. This is just the beginning of the birthday party extravaganzas. Ha! But, this party is usually with friends and family and a celebration of the first year of life. Do something all will enjoy. We rented our neighborhood pool for our family to enjoy. After gifts in the evening, we left to put our little guy down and all were still having fun at the pool. You could also rent a pavilion at the Brushy Creek Park. Lots to do there and they have water to cool off. This is your time to celebrate. She'll give plenty of demands later. If you want to do Dora, then do that. She's a cute theme.

I think 1st birthday parties are really for the friends and family. At least that is how it seems. My oldest is 7 and her first party was Winnie the Pooh. She enjoyed the cake and the people and didn't really pay much attention to the presents and the decorations. I haven't yet decided what my 8 months old will be. But I figure she isn't going to care, so I will just make it colorful and make sure she has her own little cake.

Hope this helps.

My friend's mother in law is the same way...they did a farm theme. She got a little petting zoo and now they have the cutes pics of the baby chasing chickens and goats.

One year old is too young for characters usually. I would go with a simpler theme. Bubbles, primary colors, bath time, zoo animals, storybooks, you get to choose this one. We did the story book and had everyone bring a book that they read to her on video. Best gift EVER! She loves it and it will always be a great keepsake. Enjoy it, next year she will have an opinion. if she is like my little one it will be loud.

Hi C.,

For my daughter's first birthday we did the 1st birthday theme. You can find some adorable items at your local party store or go online to www.partyexpress.com

You can go with characters or with a princess theme. They have just about everything you can think of for a first birthday.

A few party suggestions, if you do snacks have them a few days in advance. You'll be doing alot of stuff the day before and of the party and you don't want to add more stress to this special time. Keep it simple. Your daughter won't remember this party and it's basically for the family and your friends. If you do party favors, something we did that everyone loved was handed out balloons that we used for decorations. I bought a ton of balloons at a party store that had them ready for me to pick them up. Each kid took a balloon home and they loved it. Inexpensive and dual functioning! You can't beat that. We also added a little trinket to the string of the balloon to weigh it down so it wouldn't float to the ceiling. Also, you might want to get your daughter her own little cake. That seems to be the trend right now. It was fun watching our daughter look at her little "1" shaped cake and dig in to it. Be forwarned, you'll want a separate outfit to change your little one in after this rite of passage. lol. A bath close by might not be a bad idea either. Our little girl had cake all over her! lol.

Those are just a few ideas. I hope they help. My biggest word of advice though is this... enjoy this time. It passes too quickly and you will want to soak up every minute you possibly can.

Enjoy!

My daughter has a summer birthday, so her birthday theme has always been 'water play', and as she and her friends got older, it was a swimming party. You MIL could use a beach theme or luau theme, and if she does gift bags, they are geared towards your daughter's age. As she gets older, she will let you know what she wants!

How about a color theme? Pink Party?
She probably won't mind whatever you do, as long as there are smiles, and cake!!
Have fun!

I was reading a magazine, martha stewart i think, and there was a section for baby birthdays. it was a garden theme. it was outside and they had lemonade, cookies with bees on them, a bubble blowing station (kids LOVE THOSE THINGS!) and other stuff. Wish your daughter a happy birthday for me!

Bubbles and big bouncy balls .... have fun!

I would find the one thing she is most familier with. Wether its dogs, or kitties, balls, or just a favorite color no theme. My sons 1st. was Winnie the Pooh and friends. So, was my god daughters party. Hope that helps. B. K.

For my son's first bday, he wasn't "into" any theme yet either, so I decorated tiny gingerbread boys and girls (from Hobby Lobby) to look like his favorite people (friends and family) and put them on the cake. For his party favors, I filled bags with his favorite things, incl a small banana, animal crackers, and a $2 coupon to Baskin Robbins and attached tags that said "Thanks for being part of my first year. Enjoy a few of my favorite things!" It was a hit! For one friend's son's first birthday, I made a cake with the Baby Einstein caterpillar on it and matching cupcakes. For another, I made a pool cake since it was a pool party (found some cute ideas online.) Have fun!

What theme is her bedroom? Go with that! My son is going to be one at the end of August. His bedroom is a barnyard theme, so we're doing a "farm" party. He'll wear overalls, etc. GOOD LUCK! And happy birthday to your little girl!

When my son turned one we did the Disney Cars theme. He had shown and interested in them at that point (Now that he is 2 he LOVES them) I think at that age the theme was more for the quests than then my son, but it was still fun because now that he is two and looks at the pictures he gets so excited to see the pictures from his 1 year party and see the theme. You could just go with the first birthday theme if you don't want to go with a character. There is lots of first birthday stuff for parties out there and there is a website that I have used that has a lot of themes/characters/first birthday stuff you can order. www.birthdayexpress.com

For my som's first birthday I did a John Deere theme just because his daddy and I liked it. He was too young to know what he liked so we went off something we liked and thought it would be cute to look back on when he got a little older. As long as you like it, go with whatever you want.

Hi C.. My youngest daughter just turned one a few weeks ago, and I did The Baby Minnie theme. It really looked beautiful.

I felt the same way when my son turned 1 last summer. We did a block party theme. I had HEB make his cake in the shape of building blocks with the number 1 on several sides and the letters of his name on the other sides. The icing was white and the outside of the blocks and letters/numbers were in different shades of yellow, blue and green. It was really cute. Although, the first one didn't turn out b/c it was to tall and fell over. They re-did it with a layer of sheet cake underneath and 4 or 5 blocks on top. I had a picture in a magazine to go off of, but you might search the internet to see if you can find a design if your not able to sketch something for them. The rest of the party was really laid back with water activities and BBQ for the family and kids we invited. Hope this helps. Remember to have the cake pick up time extra early that day in case it falls over, like mine did.

I always liked the CRAYON theme. They have plates, candles, etc.. that are crayons. You can give coloring books and crayons away as the party favors...just a suggestion. When my daughter turned one I had a Dora party even though she was too young to really enjoy it all. Try not to stress over it too much. Time goes by too fast enjoy it!!!

R.-
mother of a 7 and 3 yrs old

We had a cupcake theme for my daughter's 1st. It was adorable. There are lots of options online for paper goods and cute, cute pinata's and other decorations. Do what you want this time and next. After "2", you won't have the option of doing something "pretty". Also, there is a cute cupcake cake pan made by Wilton that's available at Linens N Things, etc. It bakes the top and bottom of the cupcake in the same pan. It's adorable. Have fun!

My son's theme was "The Prince's First Birthday" I got some stuff from Celebrate Express.com. They had a Princess' First Birthday too... Way cute!

The classics are always good. My daughters had Barney and Winnie The Pooh for their first birthdays.

Good luck!

Hi C.,
As a grandmother let her have her fun if you dont want dora do ballons they are always fun and very colorful
good luck Gamma L.

C., I understand your MIL's desire for a theme name. Why not invent something like "Polka Dots and Stripes","Rainbow colors","Balloons","Puppies and Kittens"? That will allow your daughter, who you are celebrating, to be entertained by what she loves. I had a very forceful MIL and soon realized that I had to always be one step ahead of the hounds. With that in mind, if I didn't make a choice, she'd make one for me and start working from her end. Her enthusiasm and interest in participating can be helpful, so long as she is informed of the help you want. HTH

While one yr old is young to appreciate major themes...that doesn't mean she won't enjoy the beautiful colors! And, your pictures of that monumental first party would be great. She will look back at those pictures forever. It's a major milestone and I would NOT let the MIL take over. Help is one thing...but don't let her party plan, do the cake and pick out your daughter's party outfit. You'd be setting the bar for every party to come. Claim control now!!! I would choose the theme and decide (within your budget) what to have for food, drinks, flavor of cake, the party place, the party outfit, coordinating colors of plates, cups, napkins, and cutlery, and any decor (such as streamers or balloons). Then show your MIL the list. Then ask her if she would like to help, what items would she like to pick up...not pick out!! A firm list will clearly show you are in charge and she is the helper...no matter how small a party you have!

For my daughter's 1st bday I had a butterfly theme. She did not know any of the popular characters, but she did like butterflies. I hung paper butterflies everywhere, inside and outside and a few scattered helium ballons. It looked great and my daughter appreciated the hanging butterflies. I had a butterfly cake made and found butterfly sippy cups and big kid cups as party favors that I filled with approprate treats for each age group. There are several choices for plates, napkins, etc. at party stores that have butterflies on them. Hope this helps.

My little girl is turning 1 in a few months as well!!! Congratulations to you! We are doing a Garden Party. Green streamers, flowers everywhere, etc...But, I agree with some of the other mothers. Don't worry yourself with a theme. Just have a great time celebrating what is important...in this instance....your little girl is turning 1!!!

You MUST check out Familyfun.com, or the magazine. THE BEST ideas for parties!! I subscribe to their magazine and check the website often for fun things!

EVERY MOM needs to check it out!!

Enjoy this time! We threw a Cat in the Hat theme party for our daughter's first birthday. She responded really well to the black, white, and red colors including the pinata and party favors. It's a classic "theme" that should appeal to your MIL, and my daughter loves watching the video from the party to this day. She turned 6 at the beginning of June, and I also have a son that turned 3 around the same time. FYI - My son's 1st birthday was Disney characters, i.e. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc... . I really don't think a theme party is necessary for this age, but your child will think the whole event is magical regardless of the theatrics. If you want to keep it simple, then just go crazy with the cake and a few balloons. No big deal. Like I said in the beginning, enjoy this time and precious age. It seems like yesterday for me...

Cheers!

I took my son with me to Party City when he was going to turn one and HE picked out the Sesame Street theme himself...then a few months ago I did the same with my daughter and she could have cared less which theme...she was oblivious to the pictures on the plates. So, I picked out a Winnie the Pooh theme for her, because it was what I wanted...I always wanted a Winnie the Pooh party when I was little, so my daughter got one. Oh how we live out our desires through our kids...lol

Have fun!

Well I got this magazine from a company called Celebrate Express and I found the cutest Lil' Prince theme for my boy who will turn one next month. The price was very reasonable and it is just so cute. They have the Lil' Princess theme as well and it is so adorable. It is a party theme for one year olds and I just fell in love with it. Anyway, you can check out their website,www.celebrateexpress.com, they had several party themes for one year olds. I bought the deluxe eight pack and then went to party city and got extra cups and knives and forks, plates etc. for .99c that were in a color that matched the theme. This way I have super cute balloons, center piece, pinata, streamers, etc. and still managed to save money! If you have a creative streak, I got an awesome idea for a crown cake and would be happy to share if you do decide to do the princess theme. I know you will throw a great party whatever you decide and congrats on your baby's upcoming big day!

Try something simple but fun like a jungle theme. It's easy to find at party city or party pig. I did a monkey theme for my son with an invitation that said something like come monkey around. I had his party at gymboree play and music and had a monkey cake made at HEB.

You can use little rubber ducks or bears! and you can find a lot of things with this decorations!and you can add bubbles to the party!
click to see some ideas!
http://www.celebrateexpress.com/celebration/pages/product...#

good luck and quack happy birthday!

I guess I am just an old party-pooper, but as you said, she is too young to understand a big theme party. Why not just have a simple celebration with family and save the big deal until SHE can appreciate it. If not just go with what you like because it will be for the others not the child.