ESSENTIAL: Amazing First Birthday Party!

This January 26th marked a very special birthday for my baby boy Silas... his first! His stepsister Ella's 6th birthday is on January 24th. Naturally, we wanted to have a big party for the both of them. My job was to create a girl and boy themed party fit for a 6 and 1 year old.

This was no easy feat, but once I decided on a general theme everything just worked out. I knew something that they both loved and could agree on was Elmo! This guy for some reason has the ability to put a trance on small children! I also decided to throw cookie monster in there for good measure.

Now I know these cupcakes aren't "cupcake shop" quality but they're cute, and the best part is that Ella and her brother Dakota helped me to make them which made them feel good! Elmo was made of vanilla cake and white frosting with red food coloring. His eyes are a small, white marshmallow cut in half with a mini chocolate chip for the blacks of the eye. Finally, the finishing touch is a orange, tangerine flavored Jelly Belly Jelly Bean for the nose. Cookie Monster was made with a german chocolate cake mix and a homemade coconut topping with blue food coloring added. His eyes were made the same as Elmo's and he had Mini Chips Ahoy Cookies shoved in his mouth. Both cupcakes were a hit with adults and kids alike!

I wanted to do a party favor that kids and adults would be happy to take home. I did a variation of something I saw Martha Stewart do on "The View" for Whoopi's birthday. First, I took pretty scrapbooking paper and glued two to each other, print side out. Then I used the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter to cut out circles in the paper that were 5 inches in diameter. Now you could probably use a cup or something just as easily to cut out your circles. I just happened to have a coupon for 40% off at Michael's. Next, I printed out photos of  the birthday boy and girl from the past year. I used photos of the kids pictured with the other kids and adults that would be at the party. I then cut the pictures into circles with a 3 inch diameter. I wanted some way for the guests to remember what the occasion was and what year, so I used Avery address labels and added the date and occasion to the labels. It still didn't quite seem "finished" to me. I was planning on using the circles to attach to helium balloons that would float so it only seemed appropriate to find some sort of balloon quote. After a quick Google search, I found the perfect quote.


"No one can be uncheered with a balloon."
                                         - Winnie the Pooh


I then printed off the labels, stuck them on one side of the balloon and the picture on the other. I laminated the pieces, punched out a hole for the balloon string and the project was complete!

Everyone had a blast searching for their balloon with a photo of them with the birthday boy or girl.

Tip... when doing this project if you are worried about finding pictures of everyone, search Facebook! If you don't have a picture, maybe they will. You can then save it to your computer and print it out.