Bee's First Birthday: A Boat Birthday Party!

Amazingly, we are coming up on Bee’s first birthday. As cliche as it is, I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. His sister’s first year felt like an eternity with all the doctor’s appointments, night nurses, medical interventions, and therapies to help her meet her milestones. Bee’s first year was the opposite; he was tiny for about a minute, and now he’s approaching toddlerhood faster than his mama would like! I want a few more months of babyhood!

Unlike his sister’s first birthday– a massive bash with 100 guests– his will be a bit quieter. Not because we love him any less, but because it’s a different set of circumstances. This time, we are inviting only family and are blessed that just about all our cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents will be there. About 21 guests, including the birthday boy. I want a simple, homemade shindig for our special little guy!

You know how much I love a theme party (blame it on the teacher in me) so we are going with Boats. It fits him, not sure why. I’m pretty sure that between this party and his nautical nursery he’ll enlist in the navy as soon as he’s able, so I’ll switch to another theme next year to circumvent that. My goal is to spend under $50 (with the exception of the dinner we are feeding our guests) so here’s what’s on the drawing board:

~ These tissue paper streamers from Oh Happy Day look like waves. They’ll set a festive mood in shades of blue for our nautical theme. Plus… they are so darn fabulous.

(source: Oh Happy Day)

~ Toy boats from the Dollar Store will be great centerpieces, and when we are done they’ll double as perfect toys for the water table and bathtub.

~ These nautical flags from Land of Nod are $29, almost my entire party budget. You know I’ll {try to} knock these off somehow and then use them in his room when the party is over.

~ The stamp that started it all: this was the inspiration behind the whole shebang. When I saw it in my craft bin I envisioned white boat stamps on blue paper. That’s the look I’m going for with the invites and favor tags.

~ As for the favors, we’ve snagged some buckets from the Dollar Store which I’ll personalize with the names of the kiddos. Filled with bubbles and a beach ball I think they’ll make useful gifts!

~ Not sure if we’ll have formal activities planned since the oldest child guest is under 4, but if we do I’m thinking bathtub boat races and a craft table where the kids can decorate cut-out fish and boats since I already have those supplies. Newspaper sailor hats would also be fun.

The two things I might actually spend money on are a sailor’s cap and a pillow life preserver. The hat will be his first birthday hat, a keepsake I can put in a shadow box in his room:

And the pillow life preserver would make for fantastic photo ops, like those cheesy cruise photos they always make you take before you board the boat. This one is from Land of Nod, but I’m going to try to find one on Etsy that is personalized:

When we are done making our kids pose with it we can put it in Bee’s room.

~ I already have his outfit: a Birthday shirt from Carters and some whale khakis I got on wicked sale at Gymboree. Plus boat shoes. OF COURSE.

Next up: FOOD. The heart of the party, with the exception of the birthday boy!

~ For the kids we’ll have sandwiches cut from this cookie cutter:

~ Plus goldfish and celery boats and a few other treats.

~ The adult food has nothing to do with boating but more to do with our heritage– a Greek Grill-Out! Chicken Souvlaki Kabobs (I’ll share the recipe soon, it’s the easiest and yummiest thing I make) plus grilled pita with cucumber/tomato “salsa”. My husband made this Spring Mix salad last night, it’s the perfect mix of deliciousness and freshness. That’ll be on the menu for sure. Plus a pasta salad of some type (preferably with orzo)– anyone have a great recipe to share?

~ Finally, some dessert. I priced out ordering cupcakes but I think in the end I might try to make them myself. I can’t find a picture online for what’s in my head, but these will work for now (oh, Martha. You complete me).

If you’ve seen my cupcake skills you are laughing out loud right now at my claim to try to make these. Thankfully it’s just family and they know all my shortcomings, so if they come out looking wonky it will make for a good story and we can laugh it off.

I’d better get cracking. T-minus 30 days to pull this party off!

{with Noodle’s following close behind a few weeks later. We’re stuck on her theme. She currently loves Curious George, Minnie Mouse, pirates, and Clifford. So many ideas… so little capacity to make a decision on my part. Any votes?}