Colin's First Birthday Party!

So bittersweet. My baby is ONE! It is my last first birthday party. And yes, I say "my" birthday because isn't the first birthday really all about mom anyway? Such a major accomplishment to conceive and bear a child and sustain him or her for a whole year and manage to remain relatively sane. Besides, by their second birthday, they start having their own ideas, likes and dislikes.

I had so much fun planning the party. The planning started back in January when I saw the most adorable jumbo whale cupcake on a flyer for a cake decorating class at Michaels. I started planning the entire party around this cake!

I decided upon an Ocean "One"derland theme. I had seen this play on words on one of my new favorite blogs, Everyday Celebrating, and loved it. Michelle had planned an adorable Winter ONEderland party for her son's 1st birthday, so I adapted it to fit my theme.

Shortly after, I found these adorable paper plates, bowls and cello bags in the dollar bins at Target, as well as these plastic plates and placemats which made wonderful party favors. They were perfect because of their juvenille look...most of what I found on-line was too realistic looking for a one-year old's party.

I designed the invitations to look like the whale cake.

Decorating was really fun, too! I borrowed yet another idea from Michelle from Everyday Celebrating. The popcorn cones were really easy to make following Michelle's tutorial. Each "whale cone" held Crunch 'n Munch that guests could carry around and snack on.

I made this pod of whales using terra cotta pots, chennille sticks, wiggly eyes, foam and a hot glue gun!

One of my favorite decorations from the party was the time line that I made using ribbon, scrapbook paper and glitter sea creature shapes that I found at JoAnn Fabric back in January. The time line showcases pictures from birth, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 8 months, 10 months and 1 year.

No party is complete without balloons!

The Birthday Boy!

The guests had a fun time decorating foam sunglasses with foam sea creature stickers, all purchased from Michaels.

I made this cupcake stand using this tutorial I saw on cakejournal.com. I had to modify it a bit, as I could not get my hands on cake dummies so I used an oatmeal container. I used rick rack and wrapping paper instead of satin ribbon.

The Jumbo Whale Cupcake!

Colin did a great job digging into his cake!

Opening his gifts!

In keeping with the Ocean "One"derland theme, I used beach pails and shovels for the favors. Each bucket contained a plate, a matching placemat, a package of sea creature capsules that grown in water, and three sea creature lollipops made with Wilton cnady melts! The two baby guests recieved smaller buckets containing a Pepridge Farm goldfish shaped goldfish holder and a packet of goldfish. Each bucket had a tag that said, "I hope that you had a Whale of a Time!"

The "Baby Buckets"

Starfish, seahorse, sea turtle, tropical fish, and shark lollipops! YUM!

The best part was that Daddy was there for the special day. He flew home for a quick weekend visit!