We can hardly believe it’s been a year since Ford joined our family! We have enjoyed celebrating each of our boys with a book themed first birthday party (Very Hungry Caterpillar,Wild One: Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George) so to keep the tradition alive, we chose the Little Blue Truck, a book we’ve loved reading to all of our boys over the last six years. And what better choice to celebrate a one year old with the name, Ford?
Decorations:
Banner made with silhouette machine (I have gotten great use out of it the last five years!)
I got the Little Blue Truck on Amazon to be a prop for his photoshoot, and it was a little bit more than I was wanting to spend, but it is precious and it can go in his room as a decoration. You can view ithere. The metal tin and sunflowers are from the Dollar Tree! You can find the best seasonal stuff there!
High Chair Banner made with material from Hobby Lobby. The “one” and truck are cut from adhesive felt sheets.
I also used the high chair banner for his one year old photo shoot.
I moved the banners outside when it was time to sing to him. No need to do extra work!
If you aren’t the crafty type or don’t have time they have some amazing options on etsy and even amazon (find one here)
Ballon garland kit from amazon. You can find it here I made the milestone banner with my silhouette. *affiliate linkA closer view of the bannerHis smash cake! I’ve always made my boys’ own smash cakes. I’ve used a box mix at times and made homemade others. I use pyrex storage containers to bake the cakes (two of them). It works really well! His cake topper I made with my silhouette- just printed on cardstock.HIs little board- I’ve had this easel chalkboard from Kirklands for several years. Warning- don’t just leave it outside all the time like I did. One side got warped so much we had to throw that side away. Thankfully, it’s double sided and with writing on it, it doesn’t look too bad. I used chalk markers to write on it. Check to make sure you can use chalk markers on the board you buy because some don’t do well and won’t come off easily and others need to be “Seasoned” first. Little Blue Truck Photo Op was a last minute decision by me and I may have stayed up until 1:30 am making it, but isn’t it so cute? I simply sketched Blue on a piece of cardboard we had from a box, used paint I had on hand and a box cutter to cut him out.
Two of the brothers trying it out
E trying it out before I finished cutting it out
Best Aunt Kay Kay
Here is our sweet sweet baby boy- our last one to turn one! His shirt is from etsy. His bottoms are swimsuits from Ruffle Butts/Rugged Butts.Themed table cloths hereJust a family tradition- I draw something thematic on the kitchen chalkboard for each of our boys’ birthdaysI always like to look back over their first year and print up some favorite pictures to display. Twine + close pens are classic and economic.The entry way- a place to sign his special book and goody bags for the guests. These were super fun to make and my boys have already played with them a couple hours over the last few days!
I was having a hard time thinking of a fun party favor for the Little Blue Truck and then finally decided I could make mini play dough sensory bags. I made chocolate playdough – our favorite one pot recipe.
I bought some sets of construction trucks from Walmart (a set of 5 is 5.88 or something like that).
I purchased the large farm animals at Hobby Lobby- a bag of 12 was 9.99, and I got a bag of several small farm animals off amazon- you can find it here (affiliate link)
If you have not yet discovered the magic of playdough sensory bins, run and buy one! So many options on Etsy- or you can totally DIY like we do. I have several ideas on my instagram pageSeriously my very boy boys will play for hours. Magic I tell you, magic!Attempting to re-enact the Little Blue Truck with the things we had on hand
Food
– Chicken Feed: Chex Mix
– Hay Bales: Rice Krispy Treats
-Wagon Wheel Pasta: Pasta salad made with wagon wheel pasta
-Farm Fresh Veggies
-“Cluck”: Chicken Nuggets from Chick-fil-A
-“Moo”: Burgers in a box from Whataburger- highly recommend! It was our first time doing this and we loved it and it was something different.
Loved these and the manager of the store told B we were the first to order them at that location. With four going to most likely be huge teenage boys, we may just need to keep this in mind for an easy family dinner!Hershey’s Chocolate Cake. So simple and so good!Cupcakes- just to give people the choice between vanilla and chocolate
Entertainment:
Slip in Slide
Water Slide Bounce House
Baby pool
Coloring Sheets
We had a smaller crowd this time (almost all boys who are good friends) and they mostly spent the whole time in water play!
The Birthday Boy playing in the waterA quaratine purchase we have not regretted
Coloring Sheets printed from the Little Blue Truck party pack
Sweet boy got his special chair from Mimi- a tradition she started when our oldest turned oneRunning out of room in front of our fireplace! What a gift these boys are C(6 years old), D(5 years old), E(3 years old) and F(1 year old)
It just goes faster each time!
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