Need Help Planning My Daughter's 1St Birthday Party

hi! I have tons of ideas. my daughter will be 1 in july. got to www.orientaltrading.com to the party catalog. there are tons of great birthday ideas.

The best ideas here are the memorable things like the book everyone writes a note in....or creaitng a time casule of the world the first year she was in it.

Parties at her age are an incredible waiste of time and energy. Its more for the parents then the child. But when she's older she will really like looking at the notebook or some such other thing. Mine are 8 and 6 now and love to pull out thier first year time capsule and look into it and read the little notes people wrote about them. There are notes, pictures, a favorite toy and book, magazines, a newspaper, and so forth.

We didi the party for my 8 year old and learned the hard way. FOr my 6 year old we had a nice day for just us and it was great. Each got huge parties for thier 5th birthday and these were so much more fun then what we struggled through on her first party.

Do something meaningful. Have people in her life write her a note about how life is different since she came along or anything they want to tell her. Then put them up until she is 16 or 18. Write her a letter every year that details what she has learned, her milestones, funny things she did, her first's (like trip to the zoo, first teeth, trips anything you did that was special for her, feel free to include pictures). I went to a website about "this day in history" or something like that and you can print up specific things that occurred on her actual birthdate and do that every year on her birthday to add to the memory box, book or something you can save for her. I chose to keep them in a box and helped my daughter put them in memory books when she opened them by birthday year. some things I added later cause I did not think of this until she was 10 but I went back through my calendars and made a list of things she had done, printed things up from her birthdays in the past and pics of her life. I have done this for each of my granddaughters but I actually saved the first page of the newspapers on their birth dates and also from each year's birthday. I write letters and talk about what I have done with the girls and when they are older I will share it with them. It will be special for each one of them so sit down, think about the last year and you don't have to be a letter writer, just make a list of special things if you are not comfy with writing a letter.
C.

I do face painting at kid's parties. The kids love it. Your daughter is probably too young to appreciate it, but those about 3 and up really enjoy it. My website is www.lindameeker.com. I charge $35 for 2 hours, additional hours at $17.50 each if you want me to stay longer.

My granddaughter's 4th birthday is coming up. We googled "kids party ideas" and found loads of fun ideas. You might look there.

Good luck. Call me to paint if you would like. ###-###-####
All the best, Linda

I went to birthdayexpress.com has alot of #1 birthday stuff

Hi I wanted to tell you I am currently planning my son's 2 yr old party you are right it is so exciting I went crazy at the 1 yr but I will give you a neat idea that everyone loved at my party I went to this place off of postoak in houston called the Dessert Gallery and I gave them a picture of my lil boy and they put they on individually wrapped sugar cookies, it said his name and happy 1 yr anyway I used these as party favors rather than gift bags full of junk that kids his age proably couldn't eat anyway so the cookie party favor went over great, my sis in law still has the cookie and is saving it as a keepsake :) they are sealed in air tight bags. Anyway just a thought, I had them actually sitting in a baseball bowl, b/c his 1yr theme was Lil' Slugger. It was something neat and different and u can get the cookie to match your theme.

For my daughter's 1st birthday which was in December, we used a blank journal for everyone that attended to write a special message to our daughter. For those relatives who I know won't be here to see her grow into a woman...I thought it would be something nice for our daughter to have.
We also did a pinata for the older kids that attended. Of course it was one that they could pull stings to get candy not the kind you hit with a stick. If you have older kids coming to the party...do games (Simon says, pin the tail on the donkey, bottle bowling) that they can entertain the other guests.
We also did have food for adults but I had a snack tray for the babies that came.
BE FOREWARNED THOUGH...if you have 35 guests show up (I only expected half to show) like I did...stick to one simple game (we did guess how many cheerios fit into a bottle), cake, and opening gifts. Our daughter's party was great but I don't know who was more worn out me and daddy or the birthday girl.

D.,

The idea I was going to use for my daughter's first birthday was to have a "princess" party. I was going to have all who wanted to wear tiaras. I'm going to decorate with princess themed decorations. We are also going to have a cookout. I'll have a cake for the guest and I'm going to have one just for her to play and eat for herself. I haven't thought my daughter's party out completely because I have about six more months to plan, but I hope this helps.

Good Luck,

C. N.

If her birthday is after Easter, then you could go to some after-Easter sales and stock up on pastel-colored items. They should also have lots of pastel flowers, etc. to decorate with. (I'm planning to do this, but my daughter's 1st birthday isn't until June) Unless you know of a character she likes (Dora, etc), then you can do a themed party. Also, Wal-Mart carries some animal-face plates that come in a multi-pack if you wanted to do a "zoo" type theme.

Go to www.kidsdirectory.com it's a website version of a book filled with advertisments for things you may want to do with or for your kid. the website is organized by state and city so if they have a city near you just browse through the current issue on-line and get some great ideas. In the New Orleans version they have advertisments for ride rentals (like mini-merry-go-rounds, or fake cars), a moble petting zoo (where they bring goats, pigs, a donkey, etc... to your party), a company that has people come over dressed in popular character costumes, and plenty more! Hope you can find something you like. Have fun and just remember, be cautious about spending a fortune on the first birthday because regardless of how awesome it is she won't remember it other than through pictures.

Hi D
My name is M. and I was wanting to respond to your request. I have two kids and for their 1st b-day party I had all of the family come to our house and we all celebrated. I video taped the whole party and to me that was the most memorable party ever. I can watch it anytime and show them. They are 7 and 5. Hope this was a little help. Good luck and I am sure no matter what it will be awesome :) REMEMBER to have fun with it and try not to stress to much :)

you can go to www.brightideas.com for great ideas and also www.birthdaypartyideas.com.

I found both sites helpful while planning my dd parties.

When I found out I was having a little girl (and after having a boy first), I was WAY more into pink than I ever imagined I would be...and I'm talking baby, powdery pink. Her nursery was pink, I constantly dressed her in pink. Pink, pink pink. So when she was nearing the end of her first year, I decided to celebrate pink by having a pink party. I bought her an all-pink outfit, decorated everything in powder pink, pink balloons, table covers, plates, forks, cups...all pink. I bought cheap pink silk flowers & cheap glass vases & put little flower centerpieced everywhere. The cake was primarily powder pink & roses and was tiered like a small rectangular wedding cake. Her invitation read "Maddy is tickled pink to be turning ONE," and mentioned that it was a pink party, so most people dressed in pink (girls anyway). It was so girly & pink and fun. Everyone loved it. It was like my final farewell to the powder pink days as she got older and I started moving on to other colors....like hot pink!!! ;-)

C.