Breakfast and Pajamas | A First Birthday Party
I’m the first to admit I’m not a good party planner. Themes are impossible to come up with for me and then I feel like it’s just haphazardly thrown together. They always seem to turn out and everybody has a good time, but I think this is the first themed party I’ve thrown. It was for E’s first birthday and it was a “Breakfast and Pajamas” theme.
I was highly inspired by Charlotte’s first birthday party. I emailed our friends to make sure it was okay if I went with the theme and did the invitation (which I made in photoshop) very similarly. Instead of gifts (you’ll see below we have enough “stuff” we asked everybody to bring $1-2 for a donation to Make-A-Wish (in memory of our guardian angel). This seemed to go over very well. We only had one non-donation gift. I wish I would have done this sooner with other parties!
I knew I wanted to display pictures of her from her first year, so I turned to my instagram friends and found Printstagram and printed out 48 little square instagram prints. Once they arrived, I had to decide what to do with them. I looked around and found people had spelled out O-N-E with the pictures, but I didn’t have enough, so I went with the number 1. I used double sided tape and stuck it straight on the wall. Everybody checked it out and it also made a nice backdrop from some pictures. I think now I’ll take the pictures and put them in a frame or make an E with them and put them in her room.
I went very easy on the decorations. We were going to have kids at our house, they don’t really care! So, I did the birthday banner (which, I cut out by hand! Yes, I’m crazy). It received a lot of compliments. Since the theme was breakfast, I decided that the food should be the bulk of everything. With kids ages 0-9 I knew that structured games or activities were out, so we let them eat and have a free for all with the toys.
People arrived before everything was on the table, so I forgot a final picture, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
I made everything homemade and everything was delicious:
- juice boxes and mimosas for the adults.
- make your own yogurt parfaits (which were much more of a hit then expected); diced strawberries, blueberries, granola and chocolate chips. I scooped out vanilla yogurt into little cups and placed them in a container with ice.
- homemade cinnamon rolls (using the Pioneer Woman recipe) but with cream cheese icing
- homemade egg-bacon-cheese muffin cups (I’ll have to make them again and take pictures. They were delicious and all gone.)
- pigs-in-a-blanket (the girls rolled these the night before so they just had to be cooked in the morning).
- fruit skewers (strawberries, blueberries, grapes, pineapple and cantaloupe). In hindsight, skewers weren’t the best for kids, but I was trying to keep it finger friendly.
- cupcakes. It’s a birthday. We had to have them. This was the only thing I “out-sourced”.
Y’all, either people came hungry, or everything was really really good, because almost everything was gone. Like crumbs only left in the bowl. We went through two 9×11 pans of cinnamon rolls, too. (I managed to remember to take a picture of those).
Our birthday girl was totally unimpressed with me taking her picture while eating. (You can see the breakfast muffin cup on the front of her tray, but she sort of destroyed it).
And everybody eating and playing at the same time. Yep, it was crowded, but I think everybody enjoyed it.
E’s smash cake. Which she didn’t smash. But, I requested it with no color. Mean? Maybe. But those food colors are brutal and nasty and don’t come out, so I didn’t take the risk.
It’s important that the siblings still feel important on the big day, too (especially since they practically share their birthday). I caught N licking E’s icing right off her fingers right after this!
I had to include this one because it captured the crazy so well.
As a party favor, a friend suggested cereal. I wanted the boxes, but we went shopping the day before the party and could only find these giant containers. We made them work. My mother-in-law tied the ribbon on them with a plastic spoon and they were our gifts to our party guests. And, it cost a $1 for each of them.
We had to stop and get a sibling picture with the girls and the birthday balloon (E went crazy over this ballon…she was squealing and yelling with delight).
Just in case you missed it Monday, we got a family shot, too. I almost always forget to snap one, so I’m glad we had our father-in-law to stop and snap a picture for us! And yes, we did wear our jammies, too.
There was a lot of prep work the day before the party, but it made the morning much less chaotic. Thus we were able to mingle with guests and enjoy their company, too.
love love love friend!!
seriously everything looks perfect!!
especially those party favors – wink wink!!
I’ve never heard of a pajamas and breakfast themed party but I’m totally diggin’ the idea. I’m going to have to give it a try for one of my kids’ birthday parties this summer. Happy 1st birthday to your daughter!
Thank you! And, yes, totally use it. It was more work in the morning, but we had a ton of day left over:)
One of the cutest birthday themes I’ve seen! Love this for a sweet first birthday. I may steal the idea for a back to school party. Happy Birthday E!
Thank you so much, Ann! Steal away, I imagine it would be great for kids of all ages. Even grown ups, too..maybe add bloody mary’s:)
Looks like so much fun! The food and decorations were great. Glad everyone, especially E, had a great time. I like your theme…wish adults could get away with that for our birthday parties!
I think they could…just a little different menu, but not much:)
What a fun idea!!!! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!
Thanks, Dee. Kallie Jane is up next:)
what a super cute idea! may have to copy it for one of our birthdays in the future. nothing beats partying in your jammies! happy, happy #1 to sweet e!
Copy away….jammies and yummy splurgy breakfast food. Totally a win.
What a wonderful party! I like the 1 with photos – and the family shot!! Breakfast is a great idea!
Thank you! It’s a treat to have special breakfast food for the occasion.
And I was quite proud of the 1…which is still up:)
What a fun party theme! I might have to steal this idea at some point, love it!
Yes, steal away. Why reinvent the wheel?
i am so glad your party turned out nice. Yes you do throw some good ones. Can’t believe E is 1 already. Time is passing way too quickly.
It turned out so cute!!! Looks like such a fun party! Happy Birthday E!
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and the theme! I couldn’t have done it without your help.
What a wonderful party! I love how you made your No. 1! What a fabulous idea. Your Birthday Baby’s cake is too cute! Thanks for sharing such wonderful memorable pics with us. You have a gorgeous family.
Thank you! I’m glad everybody can tell it’s a 1, because I was worried.
What a great first birthday party! LOVE the breakfast idea.
Thanks! And it was nice to have so much day left when it was over..and splurge on all of the tasty breakfast treats!
What a fun theme! Great job! And the pics are so cute! The last sister and family shots are so great!! Happy birthday to your baby girl!
Thanks, D! And you are the party extraordinare:) They are growing up way too fast, aren’t they?
love this idea!!!!
If we are in a house next year, this is totally going to be done!!!!
SO FUN!!!!
It really was fun and it seemed like all of the parents enjoyed it, too (sometimes first birthday parties are torture!)
Looks like it was PERFECT! Happy Birthday Evelyn!
Thanks, Angie! No comparison to some of your awesome bashes, though:)
We had a blast! Oh and I made it into one of the pictures go me!
Aren’t you lucky:) So glad you guys made it.
Are you kidding we had a blast! Thanks for inviting us!
This is such a cute theme!! My twins are turning one in May and I’m already overwhelmed with theme ideas. I may just do a breakfast party!! Look cheap and so fun
It was relatively inexpensive in comparison…and I think the parents really loved it, which is nice because sometimes those first birthdays are snooze-ville!
You did a fantastic job on this birthday party! I loved how you made the #1 with those pictures. Too cute!
Thank you! I’m pretty proud of that 1!
I love the smash cake! Food coloring isn’t really good for you anyways!
Exactly…I’m not a big fan, either:)
I really like the picture collage what a great idea, I may have to borrow it!
Thank you! Borrow away. I couldn’t find anything like it on pinterest, so I had to make the 1 template.
What a fun party! Happy Birthday!
So fun!! I love that you guys wore your jammies! I also love the at home birthdays.. creating wonderful memories in your home!
Win-win..jammies and at home. Can’t beat it!
That looks like an AWESOME party! You did a great job! I love the 1 pictures. What a great idea! And I love the family picture too. So good!
Happy Birthday to your darling 1 year old!!!!
Thanks, Kat!
Why are our babies getting so big? I don’t like it.
This is such an adorable idea! Happy Birthday E!
Thanks! I’m so glad it came together like I envisioned.
wow… you did a good job! happy bday!
Thank you:)
that cake looks so good! Can’t believe she is 1!! 🙂
It was tasty..and I still can’t believe it, either. I’m calling her 12 months still:) It’s not the same, right?
Love the pictures in the shape of the one. And that cake is gorgeous!
Thank you! I’m pretty proud of my creation…the cake I can’t take credit for, though:)
I LOVE themed birthday parties! I also love the pj theme and have thought about doing that. What a great idea to ask people to donate money to a good cause instead of getting more clutter for your house! Super cute!!!
Honestly, I’m not good at them at all! PJs were nice for me…even though we changed into our jammies:)
Yes, the donation thing worked really well, and since we did it in my cousins’ memory, my aunt got a nice surprise, too (because she got an email when we did the donation). So much better than all of the junk that could be added to our house.
There are 2 sizes on Printagram, did you order the mini squares 2.5 x 2.5 or squares 4 x 4? Thanks!
I ordered the 2.5 x 2.5 but the 4 inch ones would work too!
How fun! The food is a winner for me, and I love the décor. And the cereal cups with the spoons for guests is a great idea.
What a great idea, I’ll have to share with my best friend. We love new bday ideas!
What a cute Birthday party! I think you did a great job and the cake is very pretty. It looks like a fun party that I want to have for my niece.