1st birthday on a budget?

[amberdansmom]

My youngest daughter just turned 1 on the 9th of June. I am planning to have her party on the 18th of July. I have two other kids that are 10 and 11. She is our last. I want her first birthday to be a memorable one. I want to do something special. (more for me then her I'm sure). My DH and I moved here without a job. He finally got one, but doesn't make any money and what he does make we are trying to save what we can to get a vehicle and to get of my sisters house and into our own. I need some ideas for a budge friendly party for her. I am already trying to make my own invitations instead of buying any of those expensive ones or using those expensive sites. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HM]

All a kid needs for a 1st birthday is a cake (to stick their hands in) and those are really cheap to make yourself. Not sure who you plan to invite (I'd only do family), but I think having it at a local park where the kids can play on the playground and the adults can talk under a shelter would work fine. I'd get a few balloons for decorating (not helium..but ones you blow up yourself) and hang them with tape around the edges of the shelter. Use a table cloth you have from home to cover the picnic table and buy plates and forks on sale at the Party City store or a Dollar Store. Offer some lemonade for drinks and chips and salsa for an opposite for the cake.

As for invites....why do you need to buy some? Can't you just call and invite your guests? Very cheap and personal!

 

[Peanut&Piglet'sMom]

I agree...as long as you have cake, good company and a balloon or two...your little one will be happy.

As for you being happy....just take a ton of pictures!!!! Memories are priceless.

 

[Dancemom03]

Memorable for who??

The one year old won't remember it in six months, much less six years. They don't have a large social circle and aren't especially good at playing well with others yet.

I agree with PPs, have cake for them to stick their hands in, take lots of pictures, give lots of hugs. A park sounds like a great idea - most have free use of pavillions - or buy a couple balloons, use the backyard, and fill it with happiness and smiles!

As you can probably see by my signature - I understand all about how special that last baby is, and enjoying those 'once in a lifetime' moments done right, creating priceless memories - my kids are each almost 12 years apart THREE TIMES! DD8 is my last, younger than my DGS. I want to savor every moment - and I do - but it doesn't always have to be expensive.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

If you go on playhousedisney.com and nickjr.com (I believe nickjr, not sure b/c we don't watch it all that much.) you could print things out and use them at the party. They also have party idea links on their sites. on the pbs kids website they have pin the bow tie on Arthur (all free printables), invites, thank yous, happy birthday banners, etc. I also made an arthur cake to go w/ that one.

DD was diagnosed with a peanut allergy so now I make ALL kid birthday cakes for the family since she can't have any bakery items. If you google your theme I am sure you will be able to find some nice ideas. I made a cheap Lilo and Stitch cake for DD's 3rd birthday and we has a Hawaiian Lua theme in January hee hee. Also, the little toppers that go on cakes, if you go to your grocery store and ask to buy them, they will sell them to for like $4-$7 depending on the topper. Also, Wilton cakes decorating things are usually $1.99. I also did a cool spiderman cake that was super easy (time consuming, but easy and one of the cheaper cakes I made).

Hmm...what else...my dollar store sells balloons and all you really need is a few.

If you are planning on doing an dinner then cake, pasta is always cheap. For one of DD's birthday I made Giada DeLaurentis (the girl on the food network w/ the big head and little body) Lasagna, it WAS AWESOME and pretty cheap. Throw in a salad and done

We also did a cold cut platter one year and just had cold cuts and potato and macaroni salad and some cole slaw, it wasn't that expensive, but the lasagna was way cheaper. I just did not feel like cooking b/c I think I had finals or something crazy going on.

And just take A LOT of pics...

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

here are some easy ideas of cakes....

the first one was for my cousin who turned one in Jan, it was very easy.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1914713&l=5edd84c600&id=566603125

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1942157&l=e09f479bb6&id=566603125

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&
friendID=33069851&albumID=1454839&imageID=25744017

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2682277&l=4eb7a5caec&id=566603125

 

[StefnMike]

Are you having it at your sisters house or are you having it at a place?
How many people? Kids?

We had DD's party in our backyard. We had about 25 people and 6 kids.

We BBQed. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken. Very inexpensive. My MIL made the salads. We had soda, beer and juice for the kids.

I bought the decorations from Celebrate Express but you can also get things from target, walmart, ebay cheaper. To save money, I only bought themed cake plates and coffee cups. The rest I bought in plain white from a wholesale club.

To entertain the kids, I raided every yard sale I could find for outdoor toys. I got a ball pit, a bounce house and some playskool/little tykes toys for really cheap. At that age, there is no need to pay for entertainment. They make their own.

I got a cake from the wholesale club. My only splurge was a party cannolli since they are DDs favorite. I bought a cannolli for her to do her smash with.

Or you can go really simple and just do a cake smash with your family. It's not like they really care much at that age. It's more for us anyway.

Good luck and have fun! Happy Birthday to your DD.

 

[amberdansmom]

All a kid needs for a 1st birthday is a cake (to stick their hands in) and those are really cheap to make yourself. Not sure who you plan to invite (I'd only do family), but I think having it at a local park where the kids can play on the playground and the adults can talk under a shelter would work fine. I'd get a few balloons for decorating (not helium..but ones you blow up yourself) and hang them with tape around the edges of the shelter. Use a table cloth you have from home to cover the picnic table and buy plates and forks on sale at the Party City store or a Dollar Store. Offer some lemonade for drinks and chips and salsa for an opposite for the cake.

As for invites....why do you need to buy some? Can't you just call and invite your guests? Very cheap and personal!

I am inviting my family and a couple friends and their families. Not many. I am not buying my invites, I am making my own. On any other birthday I would just do the EVITEs or Punchbowl or something cute like that, but for the first birthday I like to have actual invitations to keep as memories. I like the idea of the park, but since it is for her 1st birthday, she will be crawling all over, so I plan to keep it here at the house. Thanks for the ideas, you are right on track for what I am looking for!

 

[amberdansmom]

Thanks girls for all the great ideas! My sister has a pool here at her house, but I am not sure if I want to turn it into a pool party. I think I will make it a red white and blue theme since after July 4th all that stuff will go on clearance, even at the dollar stores! I should get a bargain there! I will look at those cake idea websites and the nick jr and playhouse Disney and my DD suggested PBS kids too for ideas and printables. I wanted to get her an inflatable ball ball pit for her birthday gift from us, but I can't seem to find one at the right price. I just don't seem to remember them being quite so expensive when I got my other DD one. (that was 10 years ago though)

 

[amberdansmom]

here are some easy ideas of cakes....

the first one was for my cousin who turned one in Jan, it was very easy.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1914713&l=5edd84c600&id=566603125

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1942157&l=e09f479bb6&id=566603125

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&
friendID=33069851&albumID=1454839&imageID=25744017

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2682277&l=4eb7a5caec&id=566603125

I liked them all! I couldn't see the ones on myspace as we are not friends there and it is private but the rest are nice! great job!

 

[PollyannaMom]

The best thing I did at DS's first birthday didn't cost a cent - I made up a list of questions about DS - favorite food, favorite sport, height, what he wants to be when he grows up, etc. - and had everyone write predictions about his answers at 1, 4, 10 and 18. (There was also a space for a personal message if they wanted.) We read the current answers, and sealed the rest in envelopes to be opened at the future parties.

When he turned 4, his cousins got the biggest kick out of their predictions when they had been "so little" themselves (and we all had a big hug over his great-grandmother's.) I'm looking forward to opening the next batch in 2 years!

 

[Nie0214]

Buy a cupcake and 1 candle. It'll be $3. Make sure the baby gets messy and snap a bunch of pictures.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

The best thing I did at DS's first birthday didn't cost a cent - I made up a list of questions about DS - favorite food, favorite sport, height, what he wants to be when he grows up, etc. - and had everyone write predictions about his answers at 1, 4, 10 and 18. (There was also a space for a personal message if they wanted.) We read the current answers, and sealed the rest in envelopes to be opened at the future parties.

When he turned 4, his cousins got the biggest kick out of their predictions when they had been "so little" themselves (and we all had a big hug over his great-grandmother's.) I'm looking forward to opening the next batch in 2 years!

That is so cute! And you could even do that at age 2, 3, 4, 5. Thanks, that was cute