|
By now, I have established my love of kids birthday parties. (here and here.. oh yeah.. and here)
So you KNOW I was ready for a celebration when my sweet baby girl was turning one. First birthday parties are awesome, since they are mostly for the adults. The kids are too young to tell you what tacky party theme they want or which annoyingly loud venue they prefer to have it at. So for Mila’s 1st birthday I decided to go with a Valentine-ish theme (she was born on the 15th) and we had it at the park at the end of my street. (close enough so people could walk to the bathroom, but far enough away to keep everyone’s kids away from my nice, clean floors)  I started with the invites. For this, my go-to place is Etsy. I prefer to get a custom made invite .jpg, and I have the seller create the invite in a 4×6 size. Then I upload the file to Shutterfly or my CVS app (or anywhere I have a coupon for free 4×6 prints… which you can almost always find online) and just order as many prints I need. For Mila’s party I knew I wanted to do cupcake toppers and a banner, so I looked for a full printable party package. I found one I really liked that went with my theme on Rachelle’s Printables. I was VERY happy with their service. They got back to me with my invite proof way quicker than the stated time. I printed everything out using a thicker cardstock paper and it turned out great. I have to be honest though, I definitely underestimated the time it would take me to make the banner and cupcake toppers, etc. I did most of the work when got a sinus infection (I stayed home sick from work) and my sitter had the baby so I was uninterrupted. If I had not had that sick day, there probably would have been NO banner and NO cupcake toppers. There was a lot of other things that came in the package that I printed out and never used because I just didn’t have time. I tend to have high expectations of myself. 😉 (but what I did do turned out super cute!)  I kept an eye out while shopping for cute decorations that would go along with the theme. I found almost everything at Target, thanks to the amazing Valentine-themed dollar bin section. I also picked up favor bags and inexpensive little toys at Michael’s.
I
decided to rent a bounce house, since most of my friends have kids that are a little older, like Hudson. The playground is already there, but who doesn’t love a bounce house? I also got a piñata, because those are always a hit as well. That was the only thing that didn’t really match the theme, since I couldn’t find one. (I didn’t really look past Party City, but whatever… it worked) SO between, that and the candy in the bins, kids had plenty of stuff to fill their goody bags with. (which already had the little favor toys in them) |
For
food, I ordered sandwich platters from Publix and we also ordered
pizzas. I decided to get wine and beer, as well. Most kids party place
do not allow alcohol, which is fine, but since this was at our park and
it was more of a hang out… I thought a few drinks would ensure a good
time was had by all.
food, I ordered sandwich platters from Publix and we also ordered
pizzas. I decided to get wine and beer, as well. Most kids party place
do not allow alcohol, which is fine, but since this was at our park and
it was more of a hang out… I thought a few drinks would ensure a good
time was had by all.
 |
| Booze & a bottle, my life in a nutshell |
I
did a huge dessert table with cupcakes, and other sweets treats, all of
it bought the day before the party at Target. I also did a little candy
section using apothecary jars I bought at Home Goods. I ordered the
candy at Candy Galaxy, which had a flat rate shipping, which was the best deal I could find online. I threw in a box of these swirly pops,
even though I really didn’t know what I would do with them and they
were the HIT of the party. Apparently they were delicious (I ordered
them based on color alone) and the kids and parents were eating them up
all day long. A number of parents asked me where I got them and everyone
grabbed a handful before they left.
We
had a beautiful day, the kids had a blast, and everyone had a wonderful
time celebrating Mila’s first year. The party started at noon, and around 4pm we
packed up and whoever was left at the party came back to my house to
finish off the alcohol and watch Mila ‘open’ her gifts. It was dark by
the time everyone left, and my clean floors were filthy. It was perfect.
Mobile laser tag is an exciting, new and fun way to experience the thrill of outdoor skirmish. It’s an ideal activity for kids birthday parties or teenagers with lots of energy to burn!
skirmish