Five fabulous first-birthday decorations

When people say that your child’s first year will “fly by,” they aren’t joking; a series of winter blizzards transformed my sweet and sleepy baby into a bold and bubbly toddler. To match our little lady’s feisty personality, my husband and I opted for a seasonally appropriate “Spring Fiesta” party theme for her first birthday on April 8th, and in the interest of adhering to our modest party budget, I opted to create the vast majority of her decorations.  You can check out my favorite ideas below:

1. Create an age progression banner. If you only have time for one project, this is it. Take a walk down memory lane, and create an age progression banner using your favorite photographs from your little person’s first year and some card stock, twine, and clothespins. I promise that you will enjoy creating it as much as your guest will enjoy viewing it.  

Her age progression banner was comprised all of our favorite photographs.

2. “Paper streamify” your home. At 1.83 dollars a roll, paper streamers are one of my go to decorating essentials.  I bedecked my doors with a rainbow-colored, paper curtain and added pizzazz to my hallways.  Grab some double sided tape and go to town.  Check out this blog for some innovative ideas.

Photograph courtesy of Neal Jandreau.

3. Get inventive with vases.  Plain vases are easy to transform into centerpieces for your party.  Wrap them with a ribbon that compliments your theme, or fill clear vases with scraps of tissue paper from a previous craft or colorful candy.  I used mine to house some rainbow colored lollipops and photography props.  Check out some more fabulous ideas here.

I filled left over vases with scrape tissue paper and tied them with a ribbon for a quick centerpiece.

4. Prettify plastic tablecloths.  Dollar store tablecloths can be a little dull, but there are a couple of quick ways to dress them up by adding fringe or creating a layered look.  Double-sided tape can be used to line the edge of a table, and you can fold the tablecloth to create a small ruffle on the bottom.  For a quick and easy layered look, simply place a narrowly folded tablecloth in a complementary color on top of a base color.  Check out some additional tutorials here.

Paper flowers were easy to use as accent colors, and I dressed up plastic table cloths by layering them.

5. Fashion tissue paper flowers and pom-poms.  Although these paper flowers and pom-poms look complicated, they are actually relatively simple and inexpensive to create.  With a pack of multicolored tissue paper, some scissors, and jewelry wire or fishing line, you can quickly and easily add some pizzaz to your home. Step by step directions can be found here.  I hung paper pom poms from the windows to brighten up my living room, and I covered a picture in my kitchen with paper flowers to create a festive backdrop.

I hung paper pom-poms in my window to create a festive feel.

Hailee Morin

About Hailee Morin

Hailee Morin is the author of Maine Mommy Musings for the BDN blog network, an amateur photographer, and mother.