John’s First Birthday Party

I cannot believe my baby is already ONE! Not going to lie, I absolutely ugly-cried when I put him to bed the night before his first birthday. The emotions were overwhelming (aren’t they always as a mom), I realized from now on I will be putting my baby to bed with a year to his age. No more monthly baby updates, but toddler updates.

It has been one crazy year, and I couldn’t be happier that I got to spend every second by my baby’s side (actually, with him literally hanging onto my side). I was really excited to put together a little first birthday party for him and of course, in DIY fashion, I made all the decor.

onesie \\ letterboard \\ large letters

Baby’s First Birthday Idea: The Office

For the past year, I had envisioned setting up a Mr. W-ONE-derful first birthday party for him (I’ve since filed this idea away for the future!). But after a few months of laughing at John for ALWAYS dancing to The Office theme song every single time it played on TV, I remembered I had bought The Office apparel for him and my husband.

I actually bought the Office themed Assistant To The Regional Manager onesie along with a Regional Manager shirt (that my husband wore) before I was even pregnant. It’s always been mine and my husband’s favorite show, so I thought it would be a cute way to tell my husband I was pregnant and something he and our baby could wear for Father’s Day or Halloween (having no idea when I would get pregnant).

I found out I was pregnant before the clothing even arrived and I was in no way capable of keeping this secret from my husband, thus it simply ended up being a Father’s Day gift for him that year. The 12-month onesie ended up being perfect for our baby’s first birthday.

It Is Your Birthday Supplies

I decided to make everything (the cupcake toppers, banner, quotes around the house) using Canva. Once I had everything created in Canva I uploaded the files to a local FedEx and had everything printed on cardstock. This ended up costing around $10.

For the cupcake toppers, I used lollipop sticks so that they would be much more sturdy (with the heavy cardstock attached) and prettier looking than using regular toothpicks. If you aren’t interested in creating your own cupcake toppers, there are plenty of options on Etsy, which is where I got my inspiration from.

lollipop sticks \\ cupcake stands

The typical It Is Your Birthday theme uses grey, brown, and black balloons. However, the store was out of black and brown at the time (two days away from the party) so I settled on the next best options, which were white, gold, and grey. Amazon has It Is You Birthday party supplies, in hindsight I should have just ordered this, but I was really happy with the look of everything regardless.

I used about forty balloons total to create the balloon arch and to tape a few barely blown balloons onto the wall. To create the balloon arch I used simple string I had lying around the house. I got away with only using string for the arch because I hung it on shelves in my kitchen. If you need the arch in an area without shelves or furniture to help secure it (i.e. on a plain wall, over a doorway) I would look into the balloon arch strip for a sturdier hold.

I used Gorilla Glue to insert the small gold balloons into the grey and white arch. Some balloon arch tutorials suggest using a cool-temp hot glue gun, but I found Gorilla Glue to work perfectly, plus I already had it on hand. I watched this YouTube video for my balloon arch inspiration.  

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun planning your own It Is Your Birthday party! Comment below with any questions!