I thought I would start off with "Dr. Z's Seussical 1st Birthday Party". When it came to party planning for a boy, I was just baffled at first. Its not that I don't like "boy themes", my second & third daughter are all about pirates, cars, and all that good stuff, it was more about the struggle to find the perfect 1st birthday theme for Z. I didn't want to pick some of the more obvious things like firefighting because that is a theme I want to save for when he will actually remembers his party & can participate in all the fun activities, ya know? They are still so lil' & barely showing interest in specific things, so its kind of all on the parent to find something fun & unique.
Let me take a moment & pause right here for a second. I hear a lot of people say that its the first birthday & because they can't really remember then why go "all out" the way I do? I have nothing against the more intimate party, but for me celebrating the completion of that first year of life is something SO special. So many big milestones are accomplished, so many wonderful people playing such intricate roles in helping to get that child to 1-Why not celebrate it? Life is so precious & for me having so many trials try come against my babies before they were even born yet...Its something so precious to our family to reach 1 years old & to have them here with us-healthy, whole, happy, & stronger than ever!
Okay, back to it.... I started off thinking that construction was the way to go for a theme, but as I started the party planning process (which for me is like 9 months out lol), I just didn't feel sold on the whole idea. Until one day I came across a flyer for Frozen celebration event at a ma & pop toy store all the way on the other side of town that I definitely wanted to take my ladies to. I showed up to the store with "Anna, Elsa, Olaf, & Sven" & was blown away when I saw what the main theme of the toy store was -DR SEUSS. From wall murals, to clouds hanging in the sky, to the most fun play area around for kiddos to have a blast in while their parents shopped....It was magical & I knew right then I had my theme for Z's 1st!
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| Z's first time at the venue |
Well, here is the finished party product. It was seriously the most wonderful place for a 1st birthday that older guests all the way down to the very youngest could enjoy! I kept it super simple because the location in itself was so super seussical!
Happy Party Planning!
-M&M Momma
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| Fun lil' invitation by Sweet Cartoon Paperie. Did a mini photo shoot with Z in his very own Dr. Seuss outfit. |
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For Zye's 1st birthday, I wanted to do something a lil' unique,
so added an extra note that asked guests if they could bring a
matchbox car to help him start his collection!
It was a huge success & he got a lot of really great cars from
the people in his life that mean so much!
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"Our lil' guy is almost 1 & so we would like to invite you to join in some fun!
We are starting his very own Hot Wheel car collection
& it would be oh so special for you to add your very own selection.
So, please feel free to pick up a Hot Wheel car or two,
to give to the birthday boy box signed by Y-O-U!"
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| Everyone received a Dr. S themed bag & a few of the treats inside were a fish straw (a nod to "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"), a pair of socks ("Fox In Sox" book, plus very handy in case a child forgot their socks for play time) & a Dr. S themed pencil. The main favors were colorful Dr. Seuss hats that everyone got to pick out as they arrived! |
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| The centerpieces |
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| Fun straws for the drinks. The Dr. Seuss cutouts were originally meant to put on pencils, but I added them to striped straws instead! |
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| I did a lil' DIY to create Dr. S hats for the food signs. |
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| A fun sign to not only identify the party location, but set the Dr. Seuss feel from the get go! |
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| The smash cake with the classic goldfish from "The Cat in the Hat" book. |
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| Banner wording was a play off of "Sam I Am" |
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| Had to do the shirts! |
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| Yeah...the whole family! "Thing Dad" & "Thing Mom" |
Food & parties are a big deal to me always. I love trying to get all the fun treats to go along with the theme. There are so many Dr. Seuss books out there, that I knew food would be fun...But I also realized soon woke up from my fantasy & realized that with my location an hour from my house I was going to have to find food that transported well & would not need to be heated up..Good times! Here is what I came up with in the end...
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| "The Vipper of Vipp's Chips & Dip" |
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| "Green Eggs & Ham" |
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| "Hop on Pop" Popcorn |
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| "The Places You Will Go-gurt" |
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| For the pizza! |
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| I did not picture it here but I did "Mr Brown Can Yoo-hoo" (kid sized Yahoo milk boxes), Yink's Pink Ink Drink (pink lemonade), Moose Juice (orange Hawaiian Punch), Goose Juice (green Hawaiian punch), & water. |
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| "Poodles Eating Noodles"-Fox in Socks |
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| "One fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish"-One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish I had the fishy cracker snacks and gummy fish for fun also! |
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| "Bar-Ba-Loots Truffla Fruits" (The Lorax) |
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| The cupcake toppers! Another great online find, just cut out & add to a toothpick! |
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| SO many fun toys to play with! |
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| The sweet birthday boy all decked out! |
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| The fun hats! |
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| Hung this where guests could read as they left! |
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| Not feeling that hat so much |
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| First taste of sugar...ever |
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| End result.... |
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| The cute lil' THANK YOU card made by the same company as the invite. |
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| Next day, gift time! |
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| He seriously LOVED all of his cars! |
A few of the details I forgot to capture with my actual camera (of course the snapshots are on my old cellphone lol), but are a fun edition to any Dr. Seuss party are Truffula trees I had by the gift table. I made them out of large tissue pom pom balls, small wood rods that I covered to make striped & then had them appear to be "growing out" of painted flower pots. Here is a similar picture to what I had that I found online to give you an idea...
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| Picture courtesy of tipjunkie.com |
For the eating area for the kiddos, I found some fun Dr. Seuss eating mats online that you could also take home to color on or play a few interactive games.
As far as the favor hats for the guests, I had them in a wood crate that I painted white & red to give the same striped effect as Dr. Seuss' hat & added a note....
"Please, grab a hat & join in the fun.
Help us to celebrate Dr. Zye turning 1!"
As the "Ma" of the "Ma & Pa" store Toys & Playtime Oasis, I am so happy that we were able to be part of Dr. Zye's first birthday. The party was wonderful & the attention to detail just shows everyone how special your family is to you. Thank you for allowing us to share in this wonderful birthday!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sari! I Wish there were more places like yours out there.
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