When we think of first birthdays, our mind start to run all over. Where will I host? What will the theme be? Its like serious anxiety attack, especially since "firsts" are all the rage now and you see people spend like 5000$ just for a child birthday party, yeah umm...no.
Our daughter decided to be born during the busiest time of the year..DECEMBER! Like there isn't already a ZILLION things to do? Not to mention we already have like 7 other birthdays this month...and thats on top of the Christmas parties, Santa parades, and other winter activities.
If you know me, you know that I party plan well in advance..were talking like 2 months before AT LEAST. This gives me time to think of a theme while I browse pinterest, and decide where to host the event. Now because my daughter is turning 1, we didn't see it fit to reserve a play place for a couple hours..not this year anyway. So we decided to host her birthday at our house. We kept the guest list small this year because obviously we would be stuck indoors.
I went with probably the most basic theme for a winter one year old party, "A Winter Onederland." Whatever, I love the theme...but I decided to make things a little different then just snowflakes and glitter.
Yearly Banner
I wanted to create something different then the basic wall banner. I purchased the white wash wooden frame from Walmart, and also got the pictures developed from there. I already had the greenery, twine string and mini clothes pins. But those can all be purchased from the dollar store, Michaels or Amazon.
Milestone Poster
I purchased a PDF of this milestone poster and simply inputed all my daughters info myself. I then printed at my local print shop and put in a frame I had around the house. Super cute and affordable! I bought this PDF off Etsy from here. Frame was purchased from Homesense.
A Perfect Gift
There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to get my daughter a doll house! I already loved the Ikea dollhouse because its made of wood, but I wanted to spice it up a bit. Before assembling, I painted the roof and exterior walls a dusty rose colour. I used a sample size of the Behr paint from Homedepot. Once that was dry, it was time to install the wall paper. I purchased 2 sample size wall papers for less then 20$! It was more then enough to cover the back of the dollhouse. Once everything was painted, and wall paper was on, the doll house was assembled from my lovely husband. Then added some cute finishing touches! Doll was purchased from Winners. Pom Pom garland was from H&M home, currently sold out.
Kids Party Favours
I decided not to go with the original loot bag with random junk found at the dollar store that the kids will mostly lose or get bored of in a day...lol. Instead, I wanted to create something fun that the kids will want to play with for many days to come. I went with a home made slime recipe and created sparkly snow slime! Soooo much fun and great for sensory play! For the babies, I purchased some fun board books. You can find how to make the slime recipe from here.
Balloon Garland
I feel like now a days every birthday party has a balloon garland. These add so much life to the party! They can also be super expensive! Some balloon garlands can range from 250-500$. Yeah well mine cost 40$...and thats only because I needed to buy new balloons. If I were to make this balloon garland again...it would cost me ZERO DOLLARS because I buy my balloons in bulk so I can have them for future events.
Now I can't take credit on how to make this SUPER SIMPLE balloon garland, that would have to go to a friend of mine who shares a step by step tutuorial on how to make this beauty. You can find her balloon garland tutorial in her stories here.
Welcome to "Onederland"
One good thing about a birthday being around Christmas season is having various decor items that LUCKILY fit the colour scheme and theme! Everything just seemed to work out when it was time to decorate. Below are some pictures of the setup. I also linked some of the items and decor pieces at the bottom of the page.
This day truly exceeded all my expectations. With a little preparation and a vision in mind, anyone can throw the perfect and affordable first birthday for their little ones special day. Thanks for reading!