Lesley Barker is the author of five books: "St. Louis Gateway Rail - The 1970s" (Arcadia), the "Eye Can Too! Read" series of three books on vision and learning (Home-School-Inc), and "Prayer-Walk St. Louis Guidebook & Journal" (self-published). She is a freelance writer, consultant to nonprofit organizations, and a part-time vision therapist with a background in K-12 teaching.
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Party ThemesWhen you celebrate your baby's very first birthday, the party is really for the grown-ups. The baby will probably enjoy the wrapping paper more than the actual gifts, so you should decorate the house to engage the guests and also delight the baby. Start by choosing your colors. Then you can pick crepe paper streamers, balloons, tissue paper, ribbons, paper ware, utensils and frosting made from colors that go together well.
Photographs
Everyone takes pictures of the baby during the first year to record the milestones like the first smile, the first step and the first piece of chocolate cake. Use these photographs to decorate your house for the baby's first birthday party. Print out a series of the pictures on 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper. Then laminate the pictures. Use them as place mats to set the party table and then let the guests suggest captions. You could even give a prize for the best, the funniest and the sweetest caption.
Packages
Babies, like cats, love big, empty boxes. They also like ripping off wrapping paper, so try decorating the house with a few large, wrapped boxes. Get large boxes from an appliance store and cut a door into one side of the box. Wrap it using large sheets of tissue paper in your baby's favorite color. Tie a big bow on the box. The birthday baby can crawl in and out of the box, providing many new photo-ops during the party. Stacks of smaller boxes wrapped in brightly colored paper scattered around the room will continue the theme.
Cake
Decorate the cake so that it can serve double duty as the centerpiece on the party table. Choose the color of the cake's frosting to match the rest of your decorations. Tie a bunch of helium balloons to long ribbons. Then tie the ribbons to a plastic ring that you place on top of the cake--use toothpicks to secure the ring in the cake. The balloons will float above the cake, making the centerpiece very visible from everywhere in the room. You can emphasize this centerpiece even more by hanging crepe paper streamers from the ceiling so that they lead the guests' eyes directly to the cake.
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