baby einstein first birthday party theme

 

Laila turned one years old recently and I wanted to theme her party with things she loves…and at only a year old, we only had a few options. She loves nature, (flowers, leaves, being outdoors), and absolutely adores Baby Einstein videos. Her face just lights up when she sees that little caterpillar come on the iPad. So I wanted to do a Baby Einstein outdoor party.

While we were in NY the day of her actual birthday, we did a rainbow themed party with our close family, (post on that coming soon), which was fun, also. But this was more of a challenge since Baby Einstein party decor has been discontinued! I was still determined to do it in creative ways. Check it out:

Decorations:

For the main colors, I chose bright pink, teal and splashes of yellow. All the tablecloths, plates, cups and silverware revolved around these colors.

To line our backyard fence and out front, I had balloons in those colors that we tied to float all around:

For the main banner, I had a caterpillar one made on Etsy to include the colors of the party, (the round circles on the string are so easy to remove that I can definitely use this again for other birthdays for her by replacing or removing the “1st” and caterpillars):

For centerpieces, I used small clear bottles that I had at home and also ordered extra of off the internet for a great price. I chose sunflowers, both orange and yellow for the summer feel and splash of yellow/orange. I made little colorful caterpillars, (exactly like the Baby Einstein one), out of construction paper that I glued with tacky glue to wrap them around each bottle. I included bubbles, (another one of her favorite things), and paper fans, (since it was  warm day), at each table. We had small round high bar tables for the small centerpieces, (below), and one large round table, (large centerpiece above). For the large centerpiece, I printed the Baby Einstein crew off a stock image I found on the internet, wrote Laila’s 1st Birthday above it in pink and attached it to the vase.

To add to the paper fan feel, I created these caterpillars that I placed around the indoor area where the music class would be which were easy to make. I just put together three fans with tape and made/glued on construction paper eyes, ears and a smile 🙂

To honor her first year of life, I printed pics of her at each stage. I had been taking monthly pics, (one month, two month etc.), and hung them as 8 x 10 sized prints along twine by the trees near the appetizer/food tables. I found these awesome Baby Einstein hand painted clothes pins, (again on the amazing Etsy), that I ordered to hang each print with.

 

Activities:

As all the kids entered the party, I had a puppet making station at the kiddie tables under a tent.

At the station, we had recyclable brown paper bags, non-toxic markers, star and flower foam stickers for buttons/puppet ‘clothes’, googly wiggle eye stickers, biodegradable grass for hair, and pre-cut out tongues, (out of the construction paper), for everyone. The kids had so much fun making them.

As the kid’s tables centerpieces, I made ‘sample’ puppets.

After lunchtime, we had Laila’s music teacher, Miss Ashley, come over for a music show that included bubbles, a parachute, fun instruments, Baby Einstein songs and puppets that I had ordered off Amazon. It was a big hit, the kids loved it!

 

Food:

Appetizers:

For the kids, I had a mini table that had 100% juice juice-boxes and mini Goldfish packets on it. Here’s Laila enjoying some Goldfish with her bestie, Chloe, (p.s. notice the cute lil caterpillar hair clip in Laila’s hair-that was off Etsy also!):

I also had fruit trays at the adult food table for kids to eat.

Other items for apps included hummus and pita chips, artichoke dip and veggies and baked veggie straws.

I labeled the hummus and dip varieties with Baby Einstein stickers I had found online.

Lunch:

We had a caterer come in, San Diego Taco Company, who made us all fresh tacos and tortillas right there in our backyard, that is popular to do here in Southern Cali). He made soy chorizo and chicken tacos plus had a variety of salsas, homemade tortilla chips, rice, beans, homemade guacamole, and all the taco toppings. It was delicious. For the kids, he made cheese quesidillas.

Dessert:

I did caterpillar cupcakes by ordering different cupcakes from a local bakery, VG Bakery in Cardiff by the Sea, (a different type per frosting color: red velvet for red, carrot for green, vanilla for yellow, chocolate for blue, marble for purple), and then arranged each color on  circle platters as a caterpillar. I bought a black icing tube to draw eyes and smiley face. For the feet, I just used a different color cupcakes to break up the circles.

We used a cupcake as Laila’s smash cake since it was just her size. I also had out fruit, swirly all natural lollipops and a cookie plate of chocolate chip, macadamia nut, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin.

Favors:

For party favors, I ordered little teal and pink pails for the boys and girls. I got custom labels that said Laila’s First Birthday for the little yellow bubbles bottles and personalized stickers that said Thank you from Laila. I also printed all the kids names who were at the party from the computer and cut out little tags from construction paper, put on the Baby Einstein stickers and attached them to the pails with twine. I filled each pail with a birthday rubber duckie, (Laila’s favorite during bath time), the bubbles and funky heart stickers, (she also adores stickers-what kid doesn’t?!).

 

 

Laila had a blast at her first birthday party and I am so glad we got to incorporate her favorite things into her whole party:) Hope this helps you plan your Baby Einstein themed party!

-Puja