1st Birthday Party...For the Parents or the Child?

This was the question my husband and I asked ourselves as we were thinking of plans for our son's first birthday. J will never remember this party but the adults will so we went with a theme to please all! We are HUGE Colts fans so the party was themed accordingly!

Invitations are really important to me and here is why...they are the first impression of your party, get together, or event. And as we all know, first impressions can make or break a deal. I made a contact with my old job that has remained priceless for invitations. It's really easy to create invites in Microsoft Publisher. I am by no means a design guru but this is a user friendly program which makes it fun and easy! If you are local I would highly reccomend PIP Printing in Castleton. I speak with Shawn Snodgrass. They are fast and inexpensive (*contact information at the bottom of this post).

We planned the party for a Sunday day game and served a variety of heavy appetizers, my husbands famous italian beef sandwhiches, and cupcakes for all to enjoy! Note: Its good to implement yourself in your party (especially if it is in your home). You can do this with theme, food, ambience, etc. With this particular party we implemented both theme and food for a touch of our family!

I enjoy baking and have really been into the cupcake fad going on! I used Wilton's fondant colored icing (found at Walmart in the fabric/craft section) for the "decoration" part of the cupcakes. It doesn't taste like much but it makes for easy decorating! All you have to do is roll out the icing with a rolling pin and then design how you would like!

For half of the cupcakes I used a horseshoe cookie cutter to make the Colts emblem. I iced the cupcakes with yummy icing and then added this as the decor. For the other half of the cupcakes I used a circular cookie cutter (one that will make a cut out large enough to cover the top of the cupcake) and iced the cupcake with yummy icing, then placed the green fondant on top (Note: the yummy icing acts like a glue to the fondant and adds great taste!), then took a piping bag with the smallest tip and drew a "football field." I found these cute toothpicks in the **SEE.SPOT.SAVE section at Target and they worked out perfectly!

Two other items that I am passionate about when it comes to party planning are favors and personalized Thank-you's. I am a big believer in carrying out a theme from start to finish. Meaning, if your initial invitation has a Colts theme, then the party should have Colts elements throughout. Also your guests should leave with a small token to remember your party with. This can serve two different purposes:


1. To remind them of the great time they had
2. To give them an idea for their next party or get together


Our baby guests received a goody bag filled with Colts Blue pom pom's, footballs, gummy snacks, and Colts Football trading cards. The adults left with Colts pens (the poms, footballs and pens were found at the SEE.SPOT.SAVE section in Target).

Finally your guests should receive a personalized Thank-you if gifts were involved (and sometimes just because!). In our case I again home-made the Thank-you's with a photo from J at the party (in his Colts gear) and then a big "THANK YOU" at the top. We wrote each guest a personal note at the bottom. For these I just printed them on our home color printer. You can 5x7 card stock and envelopes at your local Office Max. Below is the photo that was used for the Thank-you's.

All in all this party was a family success! I think J will look back at his pictures fondly! One thing to take away from this post: you don't have to go to your local party store to get supplies. If you think outside the box and keep your eyes open while shopping you can find wonderful items at a better price!


Remember, for a party like this just be true to yourself, your creativity and your limits and everything will turn out wonderful!


*PIP Castleon's contact information is:
Shawn Snograss
317-842-6338
pipcastleton@att.net


**SEE.SPOT.SAVE section in Target is normally the area right inside their doors on the non-grocery side. It normally contains a mixture of junk and treasures!