HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
Storybook themes are a great idea for a child's first birthday party. Although any story can be used as a theme for the birthday, we have chosen the Thumbelina fairytale and Dr. Seuss books as two examples to try. Read on for inspirations on ways to incorporate the theme into your child's first birthday party.
More First Birthday Party Articles:
1st Birthday Party: Invitations & Themes
- 2 Cup heavy cream
- 1/2 Cup confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- 6 Whole egg yolks
- 1/2 Cup white sugar
- 1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1.5 Tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 Tsp salt
- 6 Whole egg whites
- 1/4 Cup white sugar
- 1/4 Cup confectioner's sugar for dusting
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whip cream, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thick and stiff. Refrigerate.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until thick and pale. Blend in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and salt. In large glass bowl, using clean beaters, whip egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until whites form stiff peaks. Immediately fold the yolk mixture into the whites. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Dust a clean dishtowel with confectioners' sugar. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and turn the warm cake out onto the towel. Remove and discard parchment paper. Starting at the short edge of the cake, roll the cake up with the towel. Cool for 30 minutes.
- Unroll the cake, and spread the filling to within 1 inch of the edge. Roll the cake up with the filling inside. Place seam side down onto a serving plate, and refrigerate until serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
- 4 Cup(s) strawberries, hulled
- 2 Cup(s) ice cubes
- 2 Cup(s) milk
- 4 Cup(s) strawberry ice cream
- 2 Tsp white sugar
- 2 Whole ripe bananas
- 2 Cup(s) vanilla ice cream for garnish
- 2 Whole cotton candy poofs
- In a blender combine strawberries, ice, bananas, milk, ice cream and sugar. Blend until smooth.
- Pour milkshakes into pretty, tall cups for serving. Add a mini scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
- Rip off a two-inch piece of pink or blue cotton candy and stick it on the top of a wooden drink stirrer. Place the stirrer in the middle of the scoop of vanilla ice cream to create a Lorax tree.
- Tips on how to throw a perfect 1st birthday party
- Get some ideas on 1st Birthday Cakes!
- Keep kids happy with unique 1st Birthday Party Favors.
Send Creative Fairytale Invitations:
1. Buy small glass tubes and fill them with glitter to create a vial of fairy dust.
2. Print out details of the party on a sheet of pretty paper and roll it up to fit inside the vial. Before corking the tube shut, insert a thin strand of pretty ribbon with handwritten note attached that says "Open Me."
3. Send the vials in a padded envelope, and write guest's addresses in a flowery, whimsical hand lettering.
Whimsical Woodland Decorations:
Create oversized mushroom stools for guests to sit on, and hang big flowers and tissue paper pom poms overhead for a magical woodland ambiance.
1. Martha Stewart featured a super cute and creative way to make toadstool chairs from tree trunks topped with felt-covered foam pillows. All of the instructions on how to craft them are featured as a video on her site. They take a bit of work, but would look fabulous for a Thumbelina birthday party and will be cherished by your children for years in a playroom.
2. Create giant flowers to hang overhead with tissue paper and some floral wire (inspired by Martha's tissue paper pom poms).
- Using 10 stacked layers of 20" by 15" colorful tissue paper, fold them accordion-style every 2 inches down the 20" side.
- When you have one accordion-style piece that is 15" by 2" long, use a 20" piece of thin-gauge green floral wire to tether the folded pieces together in the middle of the 15" length.
- Tether the tissue paper together by folding the wire so there is a 4 inch short piece and 16 inches on the other side. Place the tissue paper in the crook of the folded wire and twist the wire together around itself to hold the tissue paper in place.
- Cut a half-circle into each end of the squared ends of the tissue paper accordion, making sure to cut through every layer of tissue paper.
- Spread each side of the tissue paper accordion out like two fans. Begin pulling each thin piece of tissue paper out and toward the middle so it fluffs out like a big poofy flower.
- Once the flowers are done, hang them with green ribbon from the ceiling above the party area, and attach green tissue paper or felt leaves from the ribbon to make them look more realistic.
Serve Whimsical Looking Food and Beverage:
Pour guests cups of flowering tea, serve dainty miniature versions of all your favorite party foods, and finish the party off with a modified Yule Log (Buche de Noel) that has miniature fairy figurines on top as well as the usual flora and fauna.
Dr. Seuss Invitations:
Use Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday To You! book cover to create your invitations.
1. Borrow the book from the library and scan in the cover as a JPEG file.
2. Using a program like Photoshop, erase the word "You" in the book's title and write in your child's name.
3. Then, in the sky space around the flying character on the cover, add in the rest of the party details including day, time and other pertinent information.
Create a Seussical Setting:
1. Go the local library and check out as many big hardcover Seuss books as you can.
2. Set them up around the house standing upright for party decorations, or cluster a bunch together in the center of a table as a centerpiece.
3. Photocopy the book covers in color, and laminate the printouts for menus for the party.
4. Or, use the color copies to wrap around square or spherical glass vases. Add crazy floral arrangements with lots of curly willow and exotic, colorful flowers.
Sip Like Seuss:
Create fun punches and mocktails, as well as a few cocktails for adults, and give them fun names of Dr. Seuss characters:
- The Cat in Hat (a red and white cocktail)
- Green Eggs and Ham (a green drink with a slice of watermelon on the glass‘s rim as the ‘ham)
- Lorax Lickety Split (a strawberry-banana milkshake with scoop of ice cream and a stirrer topped with a fluff of bright pink or blue cotton candy to mimic a Lorax tree)
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