DIY The Big One Birthday Party

I  knew since I was pregnant with my second son that I wanted to do an ocean/beach theme for him. He wore an ocean outfit for all of his monthly photos during his first year. When the time came to start planning his first birthday, I knew it would be an ocean “The Big One” wave theme. This is ultimately what I did to make the theme come to life.

Photo Backdrop

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Balloon arch
• White & different blue shade balloons
• Blue paper
• Letter stencils
• Blue marker
• Scissors 
• Hole puncher
• String
• Tape

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Blow up white and 3 different shades of blue balloons.
2. Attach the balloons to the balloon arch.
3. Secure the balloon arch into place in the shape of a big wave on the wall, using tape and/or string. I used string to tie it around the corners of the wall.
4. Using the letter stencils, spell out/color the words “The Big One” with a blue marker onto the blue construction paper.
5. Cut all the letters out individually. I cut the pieces into circle shapes.
6. Using a hole puncher (a pen or scissors also work if you don’t have a hole puncher), punch a small hole at the top of each letter shape.
7. Cut your string into three pieces. Make sure each is long enough for the letters you’ll use on them. I put “The” on the first string, “Big” on the second, and “One” on the third. I used twine for the string.
8. String each letter onto their respective string through the punched hole.
9. Hang and tape each string to the wall under the balloon wave.

High Chair Decoration

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Streamer string
• Tape

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Attach the streamer string to the front of the high chair. I taped it in place. I got mine at Walmart super cheap, and it matched the colors of our Birthday sign. It’s lightweight, like plastic tablecloths.

Birthday Outfit

Supplies You’ll Need:

• White onesie
• Blue, teal/green, and white fabric paint 
• Paint brush

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Paint a blue ocean wave in place of the O. Let it dry.
2. Paint a blue letter N and E after the ocean wave O. Let it dry.
3. Paint some teal/green splotches randomly on the ocean wave. Let it dry.
4. Paint some white splotches randomly on the ocean wave. Let it dry.
5. Do any paint touch-ups to darken the colors and let it dry.

Cake

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Cake mix
• Colored icing
• Candle

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. For my son’s cake, we bought one at a local grocery store, but you can easily make your own.
2. Mix the cake mix.
3. Bake the cake.
4. Cover the cake with white icing.
5. Use blue icing to draw an ocean wave on the top of the cake.
6. Use blue icing on the sides to create an ombre look like the ocean water.
7. Optional: You can add a birthday message for your child if you wish on the cake or platter.
8. Add a birthday candle on top.

Plates & Napkins

To add to our ocean theme, I included blue paper plates with a wave along the edges and some napkins that looked like they had ocean waves on them.

I hope that these ideas help inspire you to throw your own ocean-themed birthday party and have fun with it. Happy celebrating and creating!

DIY Turtle Birthday Party

For my son’s 5th birthday, he wanted to go with his favorite animal and do a turtle theme. He has a special doll of Squirt from “Finding Nemo” but wanted it to be generic and not specific to that turtle. I opted for some simple items and went with a blue and green color scheme. This is ultimately what I did to make the theme come to life.

Photo Backdrop

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Happy Birthday sign
• Streamer string
• Tape

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Attach the Happy Birthday sign to the wall. I used tape to hold it since it was lightweight and made of plastic, like a plastic table cover. I got it at Walmart super cheap and the colors I wanted (blue+green).
2. Attach the streamer string to the wall. I used tape to hold it since it was lightweight and made of plastic, like a plastic table cover. I got mine at Walmart super cheap, and it matched the colors of our Birthday sign.

Birthday Outfit

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Plain t-shirt
• Fabric paint
• Paintbrush

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Paint a black outline of the Turtle on the shirt. I looked at a photo on Pinterest of Squirt from Finding Nemo to use for our design.
2. Paint a brown shell of the turtle.
3. Paint the teal/green body of the turtle.
4. Paint the brown spots on the turtle.
5. Paint the eyes of the turtle brown, black & white.
6. Paint the florally pattern on the shell red and yellow.
7. Paint the age of the Birthday kid on the shell in blue.
8. Do any touch-ups needed.

Cupcakes

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Cake mix
• Icing
• Cupcake sleeves
• Gummy worms
• Peach rings
• Candle

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Make the cake mix. We made brownies and cooked them in a cupcake tray.
2. Put icing or something similar in texture on top of cupcakes. Ours came with a chocolate filling we used.
3. Stick a peach ring in the center of the cupcake for the turtle shell.
4. Break the green gummy worms into pieces and use them as legs and a head for the turtle body.
5. Break the pink gummy worms and put them in the center of the peach ring for the turtle shell.
6. Add a candle.

Balloons

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Green balloons
• Sharpie marker

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Blow up the green balloons.
2. Using the Sharpie marker, draw the body, legs, and head of a turtle onto the balloon.

I hope these ideas help inspire you to create your own turtle-themed party and have a great time with it. Happy creating!

DIY Bluey Birthday Party

For my daughter’s 6th birthday, she decided to go with a theme for one of her favorite TV shows, “Bluey”. As a family favorite show, I was excited to bring this theme to life! And since it is pretty popular, I was able to find quite a bit of stuff for it at local stores. It was also my daughter's golden birthday, so it was fun coming up with ways to incorporate gold pops of color throughout the theme. This is ultimately what I did to make the theme come to life.

Photo Backdrop

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Balloon arch kit
• Tape/rope
• Air pump (optional)

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. I got a balloon arch kit that came with everything at Target. It had blue and gold colors, so it was a perfect fit for our theme.
2. I blew up the balloons and attached them throughout the balloon arch. Having an air pump was a lifesaver because there were so many balloons!
3. Tape and/or use rope to secure the finished arch to the wall. I used both.

Birthday Outfit

Supplies You’ll Need:

• White t-shirt
• Blue, yellow, orange, black, red, white & gold Fabric paint
• Paintbrush

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Using a photo I found on Pinterest, I painted a black outline of both Bluey & Bingo.
2. Mix blue with white paint to create the different blue shades for Bluey and paint. Let dry.
3. Mix orange with white paint to create the different shades for Bingo and paint. Let dry.
4. Paint the yellow spots on Bluey. Let dry.
5. Paint the black spots on both characters. Let dry.
6. Paint the balloon red. Let dry.
7. Paint the number 6 in gold on top of the balloon.
8. Let the entire shirt dry overnight. Then wash or wear right away.

Cake

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Cake mix
• Candle
• Cake topper (optional)

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Mix and make the cake. We did an Oreo cake for ours.
2. Add a candle and any cake toppers you want.

Table Set

We used a Bluey tablecloth for eating and presents. We also used Bluey plates and napkins for our food.

Champagne Glasses

We used plastic champagne flutes with gold specks for our drinks to try in the gold colors.

Games

We had fun playing some of the very games they do in the show, like “pass the parcel” and “keepy uppy”. To help tie in the theme even more.

Bluey Ears

One of our favorites was these adorable Bluey ear headbands we got at Target. Both of my kids loved them! I only wish I could have also found a Bingo pair.

I hope these ideas help inspire you to create your own Bluey-themed party and have a great time with it. Happy creating!

DIY Sand Piper Birthday Party

For my son’s 4th birthday, he wanted to do something different and go with a sandpiper theme. He loves the Disney/Pixar short film called “Piper” about a baby sandpiper, and so we decided to try to incorporate that. I opted for something simpler and low-key with this theme and was able to find beachy stuff for it at local stores. This is ultimately what I did to make the theme come to life.

Photo Backdrop

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Hanging palm tree
• Blue tissue paper hanging decoration kit
• Giant numbered balloon
• String
• Tape

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. String the hanging blue tissue paper decorations along the string.
2. Tie/tape the string (with decorations) into place on a wall.
3. Hang the plant tree on the string between some of the blue tissue paper decorations.
4. Tape/attach the giant 4 (or other correlating age number) balloon to the wall.

Birthday Outfit

Supplies You’ll Need:

• White t-shirt
• Gray, white, black, red, orange, tan & blue fabric paint
• Paintbrush

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Paint a white outline of a sandpiper’s body onto the shirt. I painted mine by looking at a photo on Pinterest that I thought was cute. Let it dry.
2. Paint gray feathers and a beak on the piper. Let it dry.
3. Paint black legs and an eye onto the piper. Let it dry.
4. Paint the red head and arms of a crab onto the shirt. Let it dry.
5. Paint an orange shell onto the crab. Let it dry.
6. Paint black eyes on the crab. Let it dry.
7. Paint tan sand under the piper and crab. Let it dry.
8. Paint a blue number 4 on the bottom of the shirt. Let it dry.
9. Do any paint touch-ups and let it dry.

Cake

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Cheesecake
• Syrup for toppings
• Candle

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Make or buy a cheesecake. We just bought a little one at the store.
2. Use any syrup toppings you’d like. We did some chocolate and some strawberry.
3. Put a birthday candle on top of the cake.

Kids Art

My daughter wanted to draw her own sand piper for the party, so she drew a picture, and we hung it on the wall.

I hope these ideas help inspire you to create your own sand piper-themed party and have a great time with it. Happy creating!