Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

{A FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY}

It happened.  Our baby turned one.  ONE!  The little boy who surprised us all by his arrival continues to surprise us with his awesomeness.  He’s one great kid and we consider ourselves blessed to be his parents.  To celebrate his first year on the planet we decided on an “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” birthday party.

I’m a little nutty and start planning first birthday parties before my kiddos hit the 6-month mark.  I know, call me crazy.  I just think that SO MUCH happens in the first year and I get energized thinking about ways to celebrate it.  The idea for an “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” themed party started with his room.  Last year when planning his nursery we went with a map-inspired room.  It was an especially great fit for my husband, the social studies teacher and lover of all things old: historical places, old books, old maps, globes, you name it.  I’m not sure what his love of old things says about me but I’m choosing not to read into it. 😉 Anyway, one of the items I made for Micah’s nursery was this “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” map wall art.

I took it and ran using maps and the wonderful work of Dr. Seuss to bring his first birthday party to life.  I’m sure you’re all familiar with the book and its array of colors.  I used colors for the party that are often also found in maps like aqua, orange, bright green, and yellow.  There are balloons throughout the book as well so I incorporated them where I could.  Here’s how it all came together.

First up: table settings, centerpieces, and a big shot-out to my sister for all her ideas and supplies in making these tables.  Also, she took all these great pics.  Thanks, Aunt Stevi!  For the tables I used white tablecloths and streamers as runners.  I love how simple and easy (not to mention cheap!) they were.  The centerpieces were my grandmother’s aqua mason jars filled with “clouds” made of quilt batting and balloons.  I ordered my the balloons from Party City and had them use tulle instead of ribbon when tying them.  I thought the effect was pretty cool!  On the main dining table I added the globe that best matched the colors of the party.

Our other decorations included our well loved “Happy Birthday” burlap banner, hung with accent strips of fabric in the party colors.

Micah’s booster seat was spruced up with this sweet “I Am One” printable bunting from 4UPrintableDesigns on Etsy.

The dessert table held a few more globes and a pretty cool chalkboard sign with an awesome quote from the book.  “Today is your day.  Your mountain is waiting.  So…get on your way.”  Your mountain is waiting.  Mountain.  Get it?!

One of my favorite things about this party was the guest book.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and all-caps LOVED it.  We had a copy of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” available on the dessert table for guests to write a special note to the birthday boy.  It was great to read the heartfelt messages after all the excitement was over.

Onto favors!  I picked up some Dr. Seuss books for a sweet deal.  Along with them I made bookmarks to thank Micah’s buddies for coming.  I also found these ridiculously cute inflatable globes from Oriental Trading Co. and couldn’t pass them up.   They were a hit!

The party food was fun and easy — Walking Tacos!  These are a fan favorite at every party we have.  Guests started with a small bag of Fritos or Doritos.  After cutting the bag open and crushing the chips a bit, they built a taco in the bag from a buffet of toppings.  It was a great way have something for everyone — those who don’t eat meat just added beans instead of beef or chicken.  Those who are gluten free skipped a tortilla shell and ate Fritos.  Plus, when’s the last time your Mom let you eat straight out of the bag?  It’s party time.  Let’s break all the rules.

Lots of other yummy goodies accompanied the Walking Taco bar, dessert included.  Cake!  Someone was super excited to help me set up…

One batch wasn’t going to be enough for our friends and family so I made two batches: one batch of cupcakes and one batch for a double tiered cake.  The melt-in-your-mouth recipe is the same one I used for Nora’s birthday cake found here.  Using Wilton supplies I piped on some colorful icing.  To bring in the theme a little more I added some cupcake toppers that I made in Microsoft Word.

He wasn’t sure about the singing or the cupcake but boy did his sisters want to help him out!

 

Everything came together making a wonderful celebration for a wonderful little boy.  As usual, I couldn’t have done any of it without the help of my fabulous family.  We were so happy to share this big day with the people we love and we can’t wait to see the places Micah goes!

Happy birthday, buddy!