Our Dr. Seuss 1st Birthday Party...

Wow, I can't believe it has already been a month since we had Bresden's 1st Birthday Party!

{Although, it seemed like it took at least a month to just sort through all the photos
 & upload them for this post}
Brace Yourself for Lots of Photos & Details!!!
(If you want to enlarge the photos to view the details I am pretty sure you can just click on them)

I apologize to those of you who have been anxiously waiting to see photos.....
I really didn't mean for it to take me this long!
Hopefully it will be well worth the wait! 

I had so much fun planning my little guy's party
 & I am excited about sharing all of the details with you.
I hope that you may get some ideas or inspiration for throwing your little one's next party.

Is it too soon to start planning his 2nd Birthday???

Well Without Any Further Ado...

THE INVITATION

I created this invitation myself with inspiration & ideas from other invitations that I saw online. I wanted a "Very Seuss" invitation but I also wanted it to be personalized with a photo.  I took this photo of  Bresden in our backyard.  Bresden is wearing a t-shirt that I created using iron on transfer sheets that I purchased from Michael's, his shorts are from Kohl's & I found his Dr. Seuss Converse at Sears months ago .  I had the invitations printed at Costco.

SIGNS TO WELCOME OUR GUESTS

"Turning 1" instead of "Thing 1" was my own personal idea...I used it on the shirt he wore for the invitations & then again on this sign.

 

I actually purchased all of these metal signs in the markdown section at Hobby Lobby

(LOVE LOVE LOVE That Store)

A Can of Spray Paint, A Little Time On The Computer Designing The Stickers & Voila....Three Personalized Signs to Welcome our Guests!

I just might repaint them & use them to coordinate with whatever the theme is for his next party!

GUEST BOOK

I saw a few different people online use the "Happy Birthday To You" book as a guestbook & I loved the idea. I framed the rhyme that invited guests to write a message anywhere in the book & our family and friends wrote special messages to their "favorite one year old guy" that he will be able to look back on for years to come.  It made a really special keepsake from a special day.  I also framed an 8x10 of his invitation & put it out on the table too.  The welcome sign on the wall came from Michael's.  I highly recommend mylar balloons.  By the end of the day/the next morning all of the polka dot latex balloons were on the floor.  The mylar balloons were still floating over a week later & when I was tired of looking at them I just inserted a straw, deflated them and folded them up for future use. BTW, the balloons were tied to Dr. Seuss totes that I found in the dollar section at Target (another one of my favorite stores).

JUST SOME EXTRA DETAILS

Since our little guy gets around better barefoot I decided to set his cute little Converse out at the party (they were too cute to keep boxed up).

I sewed the party hat for him myself & I actually made him another shirt (that he wore at the party) with the #1 (above) on it but I realize now looking back at the pictures that I didn't really get any good shots of him in it.

OUR BEVERAGE SELECTION

Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid coordinated perfectly with our party's decor & I dressed up the bottled water with some ribbon.

We were also able to offer our guests a wide variety of drink choices

Thanks To

You can read my review of SodaStream by clicking HERE.

The buzz sound that the machine makes when carbonating the water created a lot of buzz....Everyone stopped what they were doing to find out what it was & they were very interested in learning more about SodaStream.  I was more than happy to share.

THE TREAT BUFFET & CAKE TABLE

Okay, so there is way too much going on with these tables to discuss every little detail.  This blog post is going to be way too long as it is.  So if you have any specific questions feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me & I will try to get back to you with an answer. 

One Detail that is Definitely Worth Mentioning is the Festive Cupcake Pops that I made using

To read my review of My Little Cupcake click HERE.

Also, You Can Enter To Win Your Very Own My Little Cupcake Cake Pop Mold right here on The Modern Mommy Must-Haves Blogspot.

Our Guests Loved The Cupcake Pops!  They were so fun to eat & they really added to the treat buffet.

My mom caught one of our little guests checking them out in the photo above.

Lanterns Are My New Favorite Party Decoration!

You've gotta love lanterns...they are inexpensive, add so much to the look of your party & when your party is over they flatten down to be used again (I love things that can be reused, in case you haven't caught on to that yet). 

I Loved the Idea of a Candy Buffet....But I had no idea just how quickly the price of candy can add up! I had to keep my budget in check if I didn't want to find myself on an episode of TLC's Outrageous Kid Parties (although, I really do love to watch that show)....so I found some inexpensive alternatives to buying bulk candy. I shopped clearance & holday mark-down candy, dipped & decorated Jumbo Jet-Puffed Marshmallows with Wilton Candy Melts & I even made my own flavored & fun-colored popcorn using the recipe found HERE.

I made up & framed a little rhyme to let our guests know that they could help themselves to the goodies & even make their own goodie-bag to go.... providing them with silicone baking cups & cute little bags to put their favorite treats in.

 

I even included Baby Mum-Mums, one of Bresden's favorite snacks in the treat buffet. So that he & his little guests would have something to munch on.  The adults enjoyed trying Mum-Mums too.

You can read my review of Baby Mum-Mums HERE.

We bought an easy-set pool for the party

 & I just wanted to make sure that all of our guests were safe.

THE CAKE

I made Bresden a little smash cake to resemble the one in the

Dr. Seuss "Happy Birthday To You" Book.

He had fun digging in, getting messy & eating cake for the first time.

I just wish we could have done the cake earlier on

as he was starting to get sleepy & had used up most of his smiles!
Something to keep in mind if you are planning a party for your little one.

OUR GUESTS

 

A photo booth is such a great way to make sure that you get photos of all your guests & providing them with props to match the theme makes for some memorable snapshots.

THE AFTER-PARTY

Since, the party was on the 4th of July, we included an invitation for a BBQ immediately following the birthday party.  I would say that it was a pretty fun 4th despite the fact that there were NO FIREWORKS!  Texas is in the midst of a serious drought so all fireworks (even professional displays) were banned!

MORE SIGNS

{actually just the back side of the ones you saw earlier}

Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph the backside of the signs until the day after the party so the stickers kind of rippled a bit.

Believe it or not, there were actually a few more details that I didn't include photos of & things that I had planned for his party but I ran out of time....I will mention a few so that you might be able to do them if you are hosting a Dr. Seuss Party.

We had the movie "The Cat In The Hat" playing on the television in our living room during the party.  It made for good background noise & we sat on the floor below the TV for Bresden to open his presents so our guests could watch the movie if they weren't that interested in the gift-opening.

I was going to make a platter with green eggs & ham....I had the book, the ham & 3 dozen hard boiled eggs in my fridge but I didn't get to devil the eggs & color the yolk filling green or roll up the ham and insert toothpicks with pom-poms on top.

I had also planned to either buy rainbow swirled lollipops or make lollipop cookies with a personalized label that looked like the cover of "Oh The Places You'll Go" but said something like, "Of All The Places You'll Go We Are Glad You Came To Bresden's 1st Birthday Party."

Well, you have just about made it to the end of this post.  Thanks for hanging in there!

I hope that you have enjoyed having a "peek" at all the details from our son's party & I invite you to use any of the ideas that I have shared as inspiration for your next party.

I was not paid for posting this or for featuring any of the products or companies mentioned in this post.  I was only compensated by the products that I received free of charge for the reviews that I  provided links to in this post. Please feel free to share our blog with your friends but please do not use any of the photos on Modern Mommy Must-Haves without permission. Thanks!
 

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Soda Stream....

I was beyond excited when a large box arrived from
SodaStream a few weeks before our son's party
 (he was pretty excited about the big box too).

I couldn't wait to unpack our new SodaStream Soda Maker (sent free of charge for this review) & try it out.... but more than that I was excited to suprise our friends and family with it!

Finally, we would be able to offer our guests
more beverage choices
 than just, "Milk or Water."

Our friends & family will tell you that they got in the habit of bringing along their own sodas when they would come over because we rarely had more than just milk or water to offer them to drink.

But with the arrival of SodaStream those days are over.

Now we have WAY MORE CHOICES than just milk or water!
WAY MORE!!!

Why Is It A Must-Have?
{Even For Someone Who Didn't Have Soda In Their House On A Regular Basis Before}

VALUE

It is not that we don't like soda...
we just aren't your everyday soda drinkers
(although I drink a lot more soda now than I ever did before).

Whenever we did buy soda...We ended up throwing most of it away because it would go flat before we could drink it all.
Now we can just
make as little or as much as we want.

No More Flat, Wasted Soda.

Just 25 Cents (Or Less) Per Can Of Soda.
(I just purchased SodaMix on sale at JCPenney that I think makes it closer to 15 cents a can)

No More Bottle Deposits.
(Like in California, where we had to pay CRV)

TASTE & NUTRITION

I know that some people have a specific kind of soda that they always drink but then there are people like me who don't like drinking the same thing all the time....SodaStream gives me the freedom to mix things up.

Over 30 Flavors To Choose From.
So I'll never get tired of drinking the same ol' thing & they are sure to have something to have everyone's favorites.

It's Better For You.

Regular Flavors Contain No High-Fructose Corn Syrup.

Diet Flavors Are Sweetened With Splenda® Brand Sweetener, Not Aspartame.

See How SodaStream Compares To National Brands

CONVENIENCE

Fresh Soft Drinks In Seconds... Without Lugging Or Storage Hassles!
There is no way that we could store so many different flavors of store-bought soda .
Not to mention, having it chilled & ready to drink at a moments notice.
Each bottle of concentrated SodaMix contains enough syrup to make about 12 liters or 33 cans of fresh, delicious soda. These little bottles hardly take up any space in our pantry & because you use cold water to make your SodaStream sodas you don't have to worry about soda taking up space in the fridge either.  We just use the cold water right out of our refrigerator dispenser.

Just carrying in one little bottle is much more appealing than the thought of lugging 12 liters or 33 cans of soda into the house...especially because I am usually using one arm to lug my one-year old into the house.

Order Supplies Online or Buy At Local Retailers.
(Stores that you already shop at)

It's As Easy As Making A Cup Of Coffee & SodaStream Will Fit Right In With Your Other Kitchen Appliances.

ENVIRONMENT

Less Packaging Waste From Cans And Bottles.

Less Pollution Caused By Transport Of Bottled Beverages.

No Batteries or ElectricityNeeded.

So....

As You Can See

SodaStream Is A Must-Have For Pretty Much Everyone!

Check Out

www.SodaStream.com

Today!

If You Are Interested In Purchasing A SodaStream

Please Leave A Comment or E-mail Me

(Include Your E-mail Address)

So That I Can Send A Referral E-mail To You With A

Discount Code.

I would love to know if you decide to buy a SodaStream & I would love for SodaStream to know that you heard about them on

The Modern Mommy Must-Haves Blogspot.

I was not paid to feature this post! I was compensated only by the product sent to me free of charge for this review/feature!

I may qualify for Frequent Fizzer points through e-mail referrals.