Splish Splash it's Andy's First Birthday Bash!

Choosing a first birthday theme is not for the faint of heart. (Yes, I realize it's a little silly that I rank choosing first birthday themes up there with life's most difficult decisions. Ha!)

I started thinking a few months ago about what we might do...Anderson is completely uninterested in any baby TV shows and still would rather eat books than listen to them being read, so that was no help on the theme front. He does love throwing and catching the ball, but I figure I have many years of sports themed parties in my future... He also loves to eat, but I was sort of blanking out on a cool food related theme for a one year old boy. Long story short, we were left with his other love - bath time. The baby loooooooves bath time and has since he was born...so rubber duckies it was! I love color and the rubber ducky theme played perfectly into a palette of springy yellows, oranges and blues.

(The invite is from Tiny Prints & the too cute for words duck hat was crocheted by my good friend Melinda.)

I went all out on the DIY front with a little help from my friend Natalie and her adorable etsy shop, The Pretty Paperie. Every bone in her body is creative! I threw out a few random thoughts that were in my head and she came up with some adorable designs that I was able to print from my home computer and incorporate into the decor of the party (I chose cupcake toppers, water bottle wrappers, snack cup wrappers and treat bag tags.) I was so, so pleased with her work! Thanks again Natalie for helping make Anderson's first birthday party as cute and sweet as he is :-)

After a mediocre cupcake experience at our New Years Eve party, I also decided to DIY the baked goods as well (with a little help from Betty Crocker, shhhhh!) Anderson's smash cake, the cupcakes for guests, and the ducky sugar cookies we sent home as favors were all pretty edible if I do say so myself!

I think Anderson agreed.

So did Schafer :-)

A few other inexpensive ideas I used included the little bunting/pennants that I knitted and strung with ribbon to hang on Andy's highchair, a little personalized banner that I made just using dollar store construction paper and Mod Podge with a picture of the little guy from each month, and the ONE sign I made out of japanese masking tape...which is very cool stuff! I've found a million uses for it already and am mildly obsessed with finding new things to slap it on :-) For snacks (not including the sweets), we did a "create your own trail mix" lineup that worked perfectly for all the little people at the party, and the grown-ups seemed to enjoy it, too. I saw this idea somewhere in blog land, but can't find it to link back...Anyway, it's super easy and you have a million options to choose from. We went with goldfish, raisins, cheerios, marshmallows (all personal favorites of the birthday boy) and honey roasted peanuts for those over a year old!

Sooooo, my long story short has turned into a long story long. I think I'll just zip it now and just show you the pictures...

It was a wonderful day with our family and friends, and we are so thankful for our new little one year old!