Friday, April 29, 2011

Friday Favorites: Party Planning!


Now that Cayden is 9 months old I can officially start planning his 1st birthday party (I've been unofficially planning it since he was a few weeks old, but that's besides the point). As you know, I am obsessed with my kid and obsessed with planning events so his 1st birthday is a huge deal for me. This week I really went into party planning mode and I already have a ton of ideas that I wanted to share so I decided to dedicate Friday Favorites to my little guy and his party! Once again, I'm using Pinterest to keep all of my ideas in one place! (Don't worry Etsy. Next week is all yours!)

First up is the theme. Ever since Cayden was about 3 months old he has been OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse. Whenever the theme song to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse came on he would go crazy in his jumper and get the biggest smile on his face. Then we took him to Disneyland and he had the best time ever. I know a Mickey Mouse theme would be perfect, but I really want it to be loosely based on him instead of a commercial, trademarked character party. To do this I'm going with a red, yellow, and white color scheme and will be making the majority of the decorations myself! The party will also be a POOL PARTY and will take place at my mama's house! I love that he has a July birthday because hot summer parties are the best!

The food: We are serving Mexican food, because 1) Cayden's half Mexican, 2) who doesn't love Mexican food?, 3) it's easy, and 4) it goes well with the summer/pool party theme. Of course we will have rice and beans and fresh tortillas, along with...

 Carne Asada. Mando is going to be BBQing carne asada tacos along with some pollo for the main course. His family knows of the best carniceria in town where you can buy the meat already marinated. YUM!


 Ceviche. This is a yummy Mexican seafood appetizer. I love the idea of serving it in salt rimmed glasses with limes like this recipe.


Chips and mango salsa. The perfect mix of crunchy, salty, and refreshing. I love me some mango salsa!


The drinks: Serving alcohol at children's parties is controversial, but I personally am all for it. Everyone we're inviting knows how to drink responsibly so I know it won't be a problem. I plan to set up a little beverage bar with some homemade sun tea, ice water, Coronas, and...

Frozen margaritas. My mom had the genius idea of making them in her ice cream machine so we have a big batch pre-made that will stay frozen. Mmmmm!


Strawberry Lemonade. Who doesn't love lemonade on a hot summer day? It's probably my favorite drink ever, and I love adding fruit to my drinks. I think I want to try this recipe for freckled strawberry lemonade. YUM!

The sweets: Probably my favorite part of a party is the sweets! I am planning an entire dessert table that I absolutely can't wait to decorate. I'm still searching for a few more ideas, but I know I will have...

Ice cream bar. When I saw this image on Pinterest I thought the idea of an ice cream bar was so unique and fun and of course delicious. It also goes perfectly with my summer/pool party theme. I'll be serving chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream along with hot fudge, whipped cream, and cherries. I LOVE this idea of using ice cube trays to hold and separate all of the toppings and will definitely be using it. Inexpensive and easy!


The cake. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to do cupcakes or a cake until Mando and I finally decided that people might think it's weird to go to a birthday party and not have cake. I think I'll either do a plain white sheet cake or a plain white 2 layer cake and then I'll make a bunting banner topping like this one found here!


Mickey Mouse cake pops. I might be ambitious enough to attempt these cake pops, but I haven't decided for sure yet. I've made cake pops and they are TIME CONSUMING. Oh, and messy. I really do love them though, and they would go so well with the theme. I might just make a few!


Mickey Mouse cupcakes. I adore these cupcake wrappers. I can also make them REALLY easily using my Silhouette and a few buttons! I think they go great with the theme, I just have to figure out what to use for the ears because I don't want to mess around with fondant. Oreos maybe?


Whirly lollipops. I haven't decided if I want to use these lollipops on the sweets table, or as favors (Or both? Can you do that?) but I definitely want to incorporate them in the design somehow. They are so fun!

The decor: as I said before, I plan on making most of the decor. I'll definitely be making a big bunting banner to put on the wall, but I also wanted to make...

Tissue paper pom poms. I love this arrangement of yellow tissue paper pom poms hanging from the ceiling. I really want to do something similar above the sweets table!


Sunflower centerpieces. I want to put sunflowers on all of the food tables. I might do real flowers or I'll do something like this DIY centerpiece, depending on what is more cost effective.


Balloon wreath. I think balloon wreaths are so fun and festive! I also love how easy they are to customize colors to match the theme. I really want to do something similar to this one, but with a silhouette of Mickey Mouse in the middle!


Whew! That was the longest Friday Favorites yet! Are you all birthday'd out yet? Hopefully not, because I'll be blogging more party planning details over the next 3 months! Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone!

Photobucket

No comments:

Post a Comment