Looking for Creative 1St Birthday Ideas in Winter!

Hi M.
i will have to agree with Candace....my son just turned 1 in May and i wanted to have a really BIG party to celebrate his 1st year b/c i was so excited! He was preemie by 8 weeks and spent that time in the NICU so i was esp proud! I invited a lot of people with kids of all ages and i thought it would go over well b/c i had food and fun things planned...BUT...i was SOOO stressed and he really won't remember it...i really wish i had done a simple small family and close friends type of party for him instead! i know how exciting this is for you but my opinion is that its very stressful and knowing that he won't remember it makes me wish that i would have saved all that work for another year! :)
whatever you do decide i hope it goes well..good luck and congrats on your little man's 1st birthday! :)
p.s. the party i had was at my house...also BIG mistake on my part!

Forgive me, M., but I am cracking up here. I may end up being unpopular, but please know that this response is meant with love from a fellow Momma:

Your child is turning ONE! He will not know what is going on. I realize this is your first child and you want to do a big, bang-up party, but all he will be concerned with are playing the with the wrapping paper and boxes that the gifts come in (not the actual gifts themselves) and smearing cake all over his face (since most doctors don't recommend chocolate until a child is 1 year old, this is usually the first time people choose to offer this to their baby).

That being said, everything else you do is for the enjoyment of the other guests and your own proud self. There is nothing wrong with that at all!!! But these types of parties are exhausting, expensive, and the bottom line is your child is going to be overwhelmed and probably not in the best of moods after a bit. He will get tired and cranky. Plus in Decemeber you never know what the weather will be like and your best laid plans might easily be ruined (I also have a December birthday). You might consider a smaller affair with close family and friends that your child knows well with a few munchies, cake and ice cream, and a few games for any older children with fun party favors. You know--the types of parties that we all had as kids and were just fine! Bank the money you would spend on expensive rental items like bouncehouses and petting zoos and put it in your child's college fund or buy your child a savings bond. I'm not saying you should never have a big party with the things you mentioned, but wait until your child is older so he can actually enjoy them.

A possibility is Arentco in Lewisville. Bart is a great guy!

Hi M.- I know a woman who does this great idea for Parties- its like build a bear in your home.
Great for that whole age group- PLUS...she runs that part of the party.Its called Noahs Ark- Regina- ###-###-####
____@____.com animal.com
www.makeyourownestufed animal.com
She and I are both registered on Mamasource- tons of referals if you would like. I wish my kids were little to take advantage of that great idea- I would lug them to build a bear and then grab a bite out- This way- you can have her come to your home and have food there- I would jsut cater in some dishes or bar b que- weather is great at that time of year for that. I also know of a smoothie person and sno cone if that interests you. Bounce house is cool too- I have a referral on that as well if you would like- If you can do the bounce house and Noahs ark- that handles the whole gooide bag issue as well and keeps everyone entertained the whole time- I would have the bounce house set up AFTER the build a bear while dinner is getting prepped. A real fun idea is maybe to do cupcakes and let the kids decorate their own -or smores on an outdoor fire. Gosh I miss those days- mine are 17 and 13 now! To tell you the truth my 13 yr old dgt still loves all that stuff- ha!
I have a host assistant business- Party Angels Ltd.- so when you have an event and you want to enjoy your own party and have someone else there to clean- serve and make sure guests are tended to- we are the people to call- plenty of referrals- personally and from businesses- we do all types of events!
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions- we would love to be of service to you!

PS- Any rentals- I would use Fox Rental or Dickey Bobs

D. Sansone
Party Angels ltd.
www.partyangelsus.com
____@____.com
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Hi M.,

I too have a son with a Dec. birthday, he turned one last year. Having lived in Hawaii I was determined to have "baby's first luau", as this is a celebration of his first year of life. Before he was even born, I knew that I wanted to have that for the first b'day party, boy or girl. **Great thing is, all of the Hawaiian luau decorations are on sale now at the party supply stores. I had the party at my house, with leis for everyone, and then a little "hawaiian scene" as you came in the door for everyone to put on a grass skirt and get a family picture or a picture with the birthday boy. This was great when it came time to send thank-you's b/c I ordered picture frames that had foam hawaiian pieces that I glued on, so it said Aloha, with a palm tree and flowers. I inserted the guests picture and sent that along with my thank you note. This was originally going to be a craft for the kids, but it turns out, they were all too young to handle the glue and small pieces, but it would be great for the older kids. I made a beach themed cake, part water (blue icing w/ white caps) and part beach (crushed graham crackers), and put gold fish and gummy fish in the water, and a small umbrella with teddy grahams laying out on strips of striped gum (beach towels). I made a smaller version for my son to destroy and eat. There are so many activities you could do to cover all of the ages...fun for all would be a hula dance off, or hula hoop competition. Beach pails filled with small goodies are an easy and cheap party favor. I found inflatable ukeleles and other Hawaiian items for about .69 each at the Toy Co. at Independence and Park. Also, Oriental Trading Company has tons of ideas for this theme. I know this was a long post, but it was a fun party, and guests even wore Hawaiian shirts to get in the spirit. And yes, he might not remember, but you'll have pictures to show him, which he will appreciate. Best of luck and feel free to email me if you have more questions...I love party planning! Cheers! S.

Hi M. - my son's bday is right before Christmas, so I understand! For his first birthday, I had a "Winter One-derland" party. I wish I could claim the brilliant idea, but I can't. I found it online - if you go on & search birthday party ideas - I think I went to marthastewart.com first, & got bounced around from there. We had iceberg punch, a snowman cake, everything was blue & white, so the theme matches perfectly w/ anything snowflake at Party City, & you can mix in the 1st birthday decorations from there as well. If you have older kids there, you could have them cut out snowflakes as an activity. It really was a blast & was very simple! If you still wanted to do something outdoors, you could rent a snowmaker or something like that & make snowmen outside??? Anyhow, google it or go on Martha Stewart to get more ideas. I even used that theme as my Christmas cards w/ a pic from his birthday party. (Luckily, Carter's store had some adorable snowflake print outfits that he wore for the occasion!) Hope that helps - I feel your pain w/ the birthdays close to Christmas & winter! : ) Good luck!

My daughter's birthday is in November, and we always have a jump house for the kids outside, even though the party is held inside and the kids don't mind if it's a little chilly! I'm not sure about the gas heaters, but I'm sure a quick google would pull you up several contacts. As far as for the 1st year decorations, I just saw a whole entire aisle at Party City full of first year birthday party decoration themes. Cute! For indoor activities, think of some fun games that the toddler/children can play together, and then offer little 'prizes'. Or, have a craft for them to do where they can take what they make home, etc. It's hard with that many people indoors I'm sure! Our local recreation center rents out rooms for $30 and hour, and the gym for about $50 and hour, and that way you can incoorperate hula hoops and different area's for the kids to play ball, etc. Plus set up food and cake and tables, etc. (not to mention your house doesn't get wrecked)! Hope any of these ideas help :-)

M.,

You can rent through Ducky Bob's, but we bought one a couple of winters ago at Sam's Club and it works GREAT! My daughter is turning 4 in November and we are going to do a pool party at the Frisco Natatorium. It is an indoor heated pool. You can also do parties at the fire station, but I don't know if they can accomodate that many people and I think your son is too little to enjoy it.