Sam turns 1!!!

...three months ago!
I know, I'm tardy to the party for this one. Sam's Birthday was way back in December and it's now March. But I couldn't let the whole things pass by without showing you how amazing it was. Because it was amazing. (And I can say that now because all I have are pictures and no recollection of the stress and exhaustion of putting on a much-too-extravagant-for-a-1-year-old party.)
The good times started a couple weeks before when party guests recieved this invite in the mail:

I designed this fun invite to excitedly announce the upcoming birthday of our little man, and establish our MONSTER theme from the start! (Don't worry, these weren't mean or scary or gross monsters, just friendly fun monsters at our party!)
We ended up using a room at our church for the party. While I would have loved to have the party in our own home... our tiny house limits us to about 4 guests. Also... it was december, and we already had Christmas decor up, and I didn't want his party to compete with Christmas in anyway... So we used a big empty room at the church to fill with friends and celebration. It worked perfectly.
I did my best to keep things simple (HA!) and revised the menu about 14 times... but in the end I decided easy snack foods (fruits, veggies, and crackers) were the way to go.

I made small 'tents' to label the foods, get more monsters at the party, and added fun facts about Sam on them. For instance this one says: Even monsters eat their vegetables! ...And carrots are Sam's favorite veggie!

We also had limeade, water, and fun straws! (kids like drinking from straws...)

And a hot chocolate bar... with a fun surprise! The hot chocolate was monster chocolate... it was ORANGE! And guests had marshmallows, chocolate chips, sprinkles, crushed peppermint, whipped cream, chocolate and caramel syrups, and cookies to top their drinks with. It was a big hit.
Oh, also check out the cute monster cups with google eyes on them! My sweet MIL sat there all morning gluing google eyes onto things for the party. Thanks Linda, you are awesome!

And what party is complete without a cake? This awesome Monster Cake was made by our good friend Donna (of DonnaCakes) And I loved it so much! It was absolutely adorable and perfect and delicious! Thanks so much Donna!

I debated about games/activities for a 1 year old's party. I mean, obviously the guest of honor won't be able to participate in much... but I didn't want everyone bored either. And since we had 13 guests under the age of 7, I knew SOMETHING was necessary.

This was the popular Slime monster table, set up with a slime monster for every kiddo!

 I made these guys using this tutorial... and all the kiddos (and adults!) had so much fun playing with them. After the party, each kid got to take their Slime monster (housed in a re-purposed baby food jar) home with them. Party activity and favor in one. Inexpensive, and SO MUCH FUN.

Even the birthday boy got a little Slime time in!

 I also had a table with coloring sheets (that I got HERE) but I think more adults colored than kiddos!

And with all that fun stuff going on... the favorite activity for the under 4 ft crowd?

BALLOONS. I purchased a couple packages of balloons to blow up and toss about the room for colorful decor... I had no idea how much the kids would love balloons. They chased them, kicked them, threw them, hit them, stomped them, and had such a grand time. Sam loved them too... pretty sure that was the first time he ever saw a balloon. He was a big fan.

SO in conclusion: have Balloons at your next kids party. You're welcome.

I also made paper party hats for each kiddo at the party, which also served as table decor until they all snatched them up to wear them. Also on the tables were the 'favors'. I found mini bottles of hand sanitizer in green, blue, and orange (perfect!) that had a germ-monster thing on the front them (more perfect!). Each one got a note tied on thanking his guests for coming and celebrating with us! So each kiddo took home a slime monster, a hand sanitizer, and a handmade paper party hat for favors. (several of them also snagged a balloon or two on their way out the door!) Not extravagant, but useful, reminiscent of the party... and not candy. (You're welcome, parents!)

So there was hat wearing (even by the little littles)

There was singing and cake eating...

There were lots of pictures taken...

 Lots of playing with friends and family...

There were even a few gifts... (though we requested no gifts... our friends are obviously lousy at following directions. ha!)

...And maybe trying to sneak extra sweets out of the cooler.
But all the necessary fun stuff for a successful 1st birthday party. Sam had a great time playing with the kiddos and eating cake and carrots like it was his job.
If you want to see more ideas and inspiration for a monster party you can check out my One Monstrous Party Pinterest Board. (Do you follow me on pinterest? You should. I pin cool stuff. Just a side note.)

 Happy Birthday to our sweet baby boy! Every new day with you is an adventure and a joy. I love you, big 1 year old Sam!