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Thursday, November 3, 2011

MonSTAR 1st Birthday Party: Decorations

We all know I love a challenge, right? I helped a friend plan her baby girl's first birthday party. A monster party. At the same venue as my last monster party. Dah! I didn't want the two monster parties (did I mention at the same venue?) to be alike. Luckily, mom and dad already had plenty of ideas in mind. Since their little girl didn't end up being a little princess/angel (you never know what personality your child will have!), mom and dad came up with a monSTAR theme instead. It was more fitting, and fun! Check out our inspiration board for Reese's MonSTAR 1st birthday party here.

Mama Kaye wanted the Dessert Table to be a focus for the kids. There were plenty of colorful treats for everyone!
The Backdrop consisted of strings cut from one bundle of yarn pom yarn and hung with tape. Super easy!
A 3M hook kept the 1 Year sign (idea from HWTM) up, love those things!
Cupcakes from Deerfield's with DIY cupcake toppers.
Star Cookies and Cake Pops from Danielle Shannon.
The Cake Pops are displayed on styrofoam cones wrapped with yarn and googly eyes.
$7 Smash Cake from Jewel decorated with a DIY yarn pom banner.
Lollipops from Michael's displayed in a vase filled with styrofoam, wrapped with yarn and googly eyes.
Mom painted wooden letters (base coat and then glitter coat). And made all the yarn pom monsters.
The tablecloth is the flatsheet from Mia's bedding set. 
I told you kids love cake pops!

The Entrance greeted guests with hanging yarn pom monsters, which are easy to make and super cute!
Yarn and googly eyes carried the colorful theme throughout the party.


Centerpieces were made from Gerber snack cans (FREE!) wrapped with yarn and googly eyes (inspired by Craftaholics Anonymous). They also displayed monthly pictures of the birthday girl.
 Free printable monster coloring pages via Kaboose.com were scattered to look like table runners.

The Photo Booth was another activity for the kids (see how I made the sign here). Dad made lots of props and a disposal camera was set out for the kiddies to take pictures. The polka dot backdrop is just wrapping paper taped up. Love those yarn pom monsters!

I think the kids liked the monSTAAAAAAARs J

The two monster parties at the same venue turned out to be different in their own fun and colorful ways, don't you think?
Looks like the birthday girl enjoyed her party!

All your hard work paid off, mom and dad! The party looked amazing!

Mama Kaye also learned some Party Hosting Lessons along the way:
* Start planning/crafting early! (1-2 months)
* Give yourself time to set up before the event. (2 hours)
* Stick to your PLAN. Don't brainstorm ideas up to the last minute when there is no more time to execute!
* Stop browsing/shopping and spend more time DOING.
* Make a detailed checklist of what to do and what to pack (like your camera's memory card!).
* Pack a day or two before the party. You don't want to waste energy running around  beforehand.
* Bring flat shoes to prep and clean up.
* Accept help from friends and family when offered!
* Get some rest the night before the party. As Lil Mama Stuart said, "You don't want to look like sh*t for the party." J

No supplies must go to waste! See how I used both monster parties leftovers as last minute Halloween decorations.
 

linked up here:


as seen here:
 I Was Featured at Baby Lifestyles

7 comments:

Jackie said...

Great job to you both! Everything looks awesome :)

Coloring pages for the runner is a good idea! And the easy photo booth.

Camille at Makoodle.com said...

What a wonderful party! I am blown away. Way to go. I'm bookmarking this for ideas for my daughter's birthday party next year!

~The Bargain Babe from *Zucchini Summer Blog* said...

Love the monster theme, that was the theme for my baby shower with our 1 yr old. :) I like how you wrapped yarn around vases and stuff and added googly eyes, that was perfect!

Sarah said...

Wow this looks awesome! What a great theme idea! Love it!

Courtney said...

I featured this post today on my blog! :D

kate said...

very cute! thanks for sharing!

A Blissful Nest said...

SO cute! I love the pom bunting on the cake.