Welcome to the second week of the Party Planning Showcase here at The Peanuts Gang. If you’re just joining us, you can check out Megan’s Gender Reveal party for a cute and fun way to announce your baby gender news!
This week, I commissioned my friend Vicky that I knew from high school to talk a little bit about her son, Jake’s 1st birthday which was Yo Gabba Gabba themed! Seeing his party on Facebook is actually what inspired this Party Planning Showcase feature, so I thank you for that, Vicky!! Check out these ADORABLE ideas and some of her thoughts on how to make a party great!
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How far in advance did you begin planning for Jake’s 1st birthday and how did you decide on a theme?
I started planning Jake’s party right after the new year. We decided on the theme because it seems like he really watches the show because of all the bright colors and all the singing. He loves music! Also, I really didn’t want to do a basic blue 1st birthday or Seasame Street theme; I wanted to do something different that some people might have not seen before.
Where did you get some of your ideas for the decor/food?
The internet! I got most of my ideas or derivatives of ideas from the internet. Since at the time Party City didn’t really carry a lot of Gabba stuff besides tableware, I searched on the internet for creative ideas. I love to make stuff and put my own personal touch on it. I found some stuff online but it was expensive, especially with shipping costs. The day before the party I stopped in Party City to get more small Gabba plates and they had a small section of Gabba stuff! I was pissed but I still liked most of my stuff I made better anyway, like the favor bags.
Some things I found online and did for the party…most I have pictures of that I will send tonight or tomorrow.
*balloons: printed and cut characters’ main features and taped on plain latex balloons ( much cheaper!)
*Made posters using characters that I printed, one poster “My name is Jake, I like to dance” something they say in the show all the time, another one was his month by month pictures since birth and all the symbols in between pictures were Gabba symbols that they use on their decorations (probably no one noticed but me haha)
*Bought a backdrop for pictures with some of the characters and instead of using the happy birthday sign that came with it, I made my own the same size, again with Gabba symbols and characters
*Bought a backdrop for pictures with some of the characters and instead of using the happy birthday sign that came with it, I made my own the same size, again with Gabba symbols and characters
*Bought a Pin the Eye on Muno game and printed out extra eyes for adults to play too!
*Got a Gabba CD of songs and played throughout, including during musical chairs
*Made a Brobee watermelon head…one of the things I was most excited about and so happy it came out good. watermelon was out of season so was a little more expensive than I would have liked to spend but it was worth it!
Isn’t that awesome?!?!
*Made favor bags: clear cellophane bags each stuffed with different color paper shreds to represent a character, filled up with goodies (Target has a great favor section so it’s just not all candy, especially for older kids,mini whoopie cushions 4/$3, kazoos 4/$1, squirt guns 4/$2), then printed out characters head and arms from Nick Jr.
*Character party hats: printed characters’ main features, cut and glued on plain party hats…a lot of work but much cheaper and cuter!
*Brobee shaped cake, Brobee head smash cake and cupcakes with Gabba rings
*Confetti on tables since the beginning and end of the show DJ Lance drops confetti on the characters
*I got a Muno shirt and Jake wore a Brobee shirt…even got my nails painted each with a different color haha – LOVE that!
*Invitations were homemade on publisher with the characters and Jake photoshopped in hanging with them
*One thing I didn’t do just because of time and I saw it too late was Muno pretzel rods…pretzel rod dipped in red chocolate and then decorated with an eye and sprinkles! looked so cute
What was your favorite part of the party and/or party-planning process?
My favorite thing was researching ideas, getting creative and seeing my final products!
What was your least favorite part?
My least favorite would have to be all the printing and cutting, but it wasn’t that bad since I started early and did a little here and there and had help from my husband and sister.
What was your least favorite part?
I didn’t really have a budget, but I shopped around until I felt I found the best deal. Again, I started in January so I bought some stuff here and there so it wasn’t all at once and I looked stuff up and kept my eye on certain websites. Like the big Brobee balloon I found on ebay for $5.20 with free shipping and my Muno shirt was on clearance for $15 with free shipping. Even the mylar balloons I had I got them at a discount balloon store for $1.35 each and my husband picked them up. Best thing to tell people here whether they have a budget or not is to shop around…check ebay, check different sites, try and find a place to buy everything you want to pay one shipping cost.
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Thanks so much for sharing, Vicky! Did you throw a fabulous party and want to be featured here? Shoot me an email!
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