Superman First Birthday Party

01/20/2014

Is it just me, or is Pinterest seriously contributing to over the top, fabulous birthday parties.  I remember my 5 year olds first birthday party – I thought buying the giant cupcake mold and decorating it on my own was a major feat.  Fast forward 5 years to my son’s first birthday and I am ordering trinkets online, creating a balloon archway, designing a cityscape back drop, pre-ordering smoked brisket for supper, dressing up the entire family and having a themed photo shoot for etsy-designed invitations.  Wowza!  I have to say though, it did turn out pretty well and it actually wasn’t that expensive (minus the brisket!)

The first step was choosing a theme – I am pretty sure (thanks to Pinterest!) I have Carter’s birthday parties planned for the next 5 years.  There are tons of really unique boy themes; monsters, lego, construction, camping and more!  I have them pinned on my Kids Soirees Board if you want to check it out.

1) I had the super talented Carmell from Elegant Photo take the photos – they turned out so cute!

2) I found an awesome Etsy store, Pupil of the World, who designs themed invitations, water bottle labels and cupcake toppers.  I ordered all 3 from her for under $5.00 each and I got the files emailed to me.  I had the invites printed at Walmart on 4×6 photo paper and printed the cupcake toppers and water bottle labels at home on cardstock and cut them out.

3) I ordered some balloons, plates, napkins, birthday banner, streamers and table decor from Party City.  For my husband and I, I also ordered t-shirts with capes (which will come in handy for future school Halloween parties etc!) and for the kids, Superman and Super girl outfits.  They turned out really cute!

4) I made the cityscape backdrop out of boxes that I had collected and I found blue wrapping paper at the dollar store.  I then used different sizes of sticky notes for the windows.  I think I ended up with the look I was going for!

5) I made the balloon archway out of a long piece of card board (I cut a box open and taped 2 pieces together – end to end) Then I wrapped the cardboard in foil, taped on the streamers and taped on the balloons.  It made things look more birthday-festive when our guests arrived, since the party was 3 days after Christmas and the tree and stair garland was still up!

6) I made the cupcakes ahead of time and froze them and also made the icing the day before and iced them the morning of the party.  If you are looking for an icing that will stand up to being on display (and not melt!) find one that has a bit of flour in it for stiffness!

7) Here was the supper menu:

• Smoked brisket from our local butcher (they smoke a different meat each Saturday, so we ordered in advance and froze!)
• Cesear Salad
• Garlic Bread
• Loaded Baked Potato Casserole
• Baked Beans
• Cupcakes!
• Simple punch to drink (1 frozen can limade, 1 bottle cranberry juice, 1 bottle gingerale with ice

It was a great party!

Happy party planning!  The next thing I am working on is Valentine’s Day!