I always told myself, I’m going to be a cool Mom. You know, one that will have an awesome birthday without having cartoons or have some silly kitschy theme. Well, here I am & I’ve officially eaten my words on the cartoon theme but I managed to sprinkle in baby shark without skewing kitschy! Does that make me a semi-cool Mom? I’m not sure but it was sure fun to plan {despite how much I underestimated the work}.
For starters, the reason I went with the Baby Shark theme {doo, doo, doo, doo} is because it was literally the ONLY thing that could get Carter through his nebulizer treatments this winter when he was sick! So instead of dwelling on the fact my son was obsessing over the most annoying song of 2019, in true motherhood fashion, I sacrificed & embraced the annoyance. Baby Shark theme, let’s do it up {woop woop}!
Here are my top 5 ways to throw a themed party & make it enjoyable for both adults and kids!
ONE: An indulgent dessert table! I decided my show stopper desserts were going to be some fully loaded Baby Shark theme cookies! I purchased these & the smash cake from a local baker {How Sweet It Is Desserts}. She is so talented and can do almost anything you wish & any theme! If you spend $50 on desserts you get a FREE smash cake for a first birthday! She worked with me to utilize the cake topper I bought of off The ConfettiMe Etsy shop and we decided to go with a simple cake design. Because this was a first birthday I said forget it with the candles! I ordered some shark theme cake-pops from a family friend and my girlfriend made some cupcakes for Carter! Lastly I decided to purchase some mini tin buckets off of amazon {found here}, added some gummy worms and labeled it as “shark bait”. This adds a pop-of-fun to the dessert table without having a traditional sheet cake! Having a variety of options creates a simple way to spruce up desserts.
TWO: A cute DIY highchair banner and wall banner! This is really easy to make and doesn’t take too much time. I went to my local Hobby Lobby to pick out some cute fabric and ribbon. I decided to keep it different shades of blue and sprinkled in grey and white (staying clear of baby shark fabric)! Here is what you need:
5-6 different fabrics (1-2 yards each)
Fabric Sheers
Parachute Cord
3M Hooks (to attach to the highchair)
Measure out the length of parachute cord you need for the highchair & add a little extra just incase you need it. Tie a knot on both ends of the cord. Next, use your fabric sheers to cut 1 inch sections of the fabric (length wise). Once all of your fabric is cut, fold in half and tie in a knot on the parachute cord. Secure on a few 3M hooks to the highchair tray to ensure the banner fits.
THREE: Add a simple table centerpiece. I found these cute Baby Shark Mason Jars on Etsy {LaPetite Mermaid Shop}. I got the idea to add baby’s breath and carnations to the mason jars from a girlfriend to make the decor look a little less childish since the party was mostly family & friends {still working on finding local Mama friends, anyone?}. To add a little more pop of color, I found some Baby Shark confetti that included the characters, sparkle & blue circles. ConfettiMe on Etsy has some great options! Lastly, Target had some great $1 confetti bags in the dollar section which matched the colors perfectly!
FOUR: A themed food table adds a little humor for both adults and kids! I purchased some mini chalkboard signs from Amazon so I could label items like spinach dip “seaweed dip” or the pasta salad as “seashell salad”. The cutest idea {imo} was to get a plastic fish bowl to use as the serving piece and a fish net to use as the serving spoon. I filled up the fish bowl with goldfish and called it “Catch of the day”. The kids absolutely loved this & it was a fun way to incorporate the theme without going overboard {no pun intended}.
Above the food, I also had a monthly photo banner of Carter! Side note: I spent each month picking out a theme and capturing cute monthly photos of Carter. Somehow I managed to post these on the 7th of each month as well. Anyway, back to the banner. I purchased this off of Sweet Bug A Boo’s Etsy {shocker, another Etsy purchase} and this was able to fit my 4×4 monthly photos of little mister, perfectly! Since there was no actual Baby Shark cartoons on the food table, I thought this would be a perfect way to add a bit & is something we can keep for when Carter gets older. I mean, who wouldn’t want to reminisce about Baby Shark at a High School Graduation party….?!
FIVE: Enjoy the day with family and friends! Let’s face it, your ONE year old isn’t exactly going to remember the party. Carter didn’t notice that the wind blew the confetti all over the garage floor or that I had to make his balloon bouquet myself because of a helium shortage. I just want to be able to look back and smile at the wonderful memories we made celebrating little misters first birthday.
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