I Have a Little Boy Turning One Soon...

...So I am totally obsessing over his first birthday party!!!

My original vision was an Eric Carle and balloon themed party, but my invitation concept didn't work, which led me to consider the entire theme a catastrophic failure. I am putting it on hold until next year. I am sure you have all seen the invitation idea that I found; it has been pinned a hundred million times! The helium balloon box invite from On-Hand Modern (orignally posted July 2010).

I did my research and discovered that the invitation pictured above isn't practical. This was a water balloon, which will only hold the helium for a few minutes. So I did my own experiment. I found a party store that has balloons and had them fill a small (regular) balloon for my experiment. Next, I took it to UPS and asked if I could ship it. We found a small box the perfect size and they gave me prices for shipping (USPS $5 for 3-5 days and UPS $11 for 1 day delivery). It has been hot here in Oregon lately so I wanted to see if that would affect my boxed balloon and necessitate the 1 day shipping. There wasn't even time to test it. The balloon didn't even stay afloat for more than a few hours in our living room. :( I couldn't really troubleshoot a way for helium not to escape the balloon, and I didn't want to go bigger with a bigger box in hopes a bigger balloon would last longer. It was already adding up to be pretty costly.

Once I realized that the balloon idea wouldn't work out, I decided to start from scratch. I gave up my whole Eric Carle themed party concept. I set aside my matching invitation I had designed that used images and text from Raine's Eric Carle flashcards and Up Up I Go growth chart. (It didn't seem as fun without the balloon rising out of the box with it.) I gave up my bright, primary colored decorations with lots of helium filled balloons. And away went the food concept...A little bit of everything the Very Hungry Caterpillar ate.

I decided he only turns 1 once, and that is probably the only time I can still treat him like a baby. So then I considered doing a Peter Rabbit theme. I found this cute little invitation on Etsy, but then OH MY GOODNESS THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES ON ETSY. LOL.

Fast forward three hours.

I ended up with invitations that I think are completely unique. I don't know what sort of theme they create...Maybe none at all. But I think that's OK. His party will be sweet and celebratory and I will give myself the luxury of not worrying about a theme this year. ;) I ordered the invitations yesterday. They are so delightful; I had to share:

Thank you so much, Etsy shop Emily Isabella! ;) 

Next I need to determine what time of day and what food to serve. I think we will try to have everyone meet outside in our condominium community's common lawn next to the pool. Is it too much to open it up for pool use? I'm not really thinking I want a "pool party," but I know it will probably be hot and the kids (ranging in age from 1 to 16!) would love it. How do I incorporate pool time into such a little party? I don't know how long Raine will last in the warm sun with all of the commotion before needing a big nap!?

An outdoor party gives me less to worry about in terms of decor, so I think I will just try to find some nice vintage table cloths and have some flowers out with the food. 1 challenge might be finding a square cake stand for his cake. (I have a NSM's banana cake in mind for his first bite of cake, and it is only offered square.) I also kind of want to hire a photographer because I want to enjoy the party and not be worrying about taking photos.

Much to think about! (And don't even get me started on all of the toys I want to buy him). I have a couple of days to decide the time before the invitations and stamps arrive in the mail. After that, it is T Minus 7 weeks! Yea!