A Baby Einstein First Birthday!

All photos by Kim Haynes Potography

My sweet twin boys, Jake and Jack, turned 'THE BIG 1' back in September 2009! Since their birthday is during football season I immediately assumed I would have a tailgate themed party for them complete with ballpark franks, peanuts and popcorn! However, when I stopped to think about what THEY might like for a birthday party theme, I quickly changed my mind to Baby Einstein! These little creatures LOVE Baby Einstein! All I have to mutter is "mooovieee" and my boys stop in their tracks and zombi to the TV. (P.S. I don't consider this bad parenting! When you have twins, you need a daily 20 minute break! The kitchen also needs your 20 minute break; including the sink, dishwasher and counter tops!) They have watched 1 Baby Einstein movie per day since they were 3 months old and it is still absolutely one of their favorite things to do!!!!

I worked for many nights planning and crafting to make this party a memorable one!

Here are a few highlights of what I did...

THE INVITATION

The Dining Room, Formal Living & Kitchenette

Dining Room

I loved decorating the tables and chandeliers!

• The lantern chandelier was completed by tying lanterns, Baby Einstein toys from the boys' play mat, curling ribbon, paper pin wheels and a foam letter "J" (for Jake and Jack) to my dining room chandelier.
• The gum ball "Caterpillar" centerpiece was completed by arranging fish bowls from Hobby Lobby and filling with primary colored gum balls, hand sorted, from Sam's. The yellow gum balls have a smiley face print (Amazon.com) to resemble the Baby Einstein Caterpillar's face.
• The table top was decorated by scattering curling ribbon, die cuts (number 1, letter J & various size circles) and photo confetti from the boys first year (www.photofetti.com) on top of the table cloth.
• Place mats were created by unfolding large colorful paper napkins.
• Each plate was topped off with colorful napkins and handmade napkin rings using computer paper.
• In each window of the house, I made 12" inch square signs in primary colors that hung down which were based off of Jake and Jack's Baby Einstein blocks.
• The 3rd picture is of Johnny and I getting the boys dressed in their red and yellow #1 t-shirts from 1st Wishes.com with the dining room in the background!

Kitchenette

• The boys LOVE Gymbo the Clown so he had to make an appearance!
• Caterpillar items and Baby Einstein bibs were purchased from 1st Wishes.com
• Paper lanterns were hung from the ceiling with fish wire.
• Primary colored flower arrangements and gum ball dishes were arranged on the bar along with an e-frame showcasing a slideshow of pictures from the boys first year.
• I filled the house with several dozen primary colored balloons. The boys cake chairs had one balloon each floating above in their birthday colors, red for Jake and yellow for Jack!
• I taped multi-colored dots in the window seals in the kitchenette. The boys LOVED these.. (I actually left them up through Christmas. I thought it tied in color of the toys scattered throughout the living room! ha ha)
• In the living room, I had Baby Einstein music playing through the surround sound. I threw out lots of solid primary colored beach balls in various sizes on the floor for the kids to play with. (The largest beach ball was yellow with a smiley face to resemble the Caterpillar.)

Formal Living

• The formal living room played host to a musical Cake Walk!
• Jake's favorite song, Eraser, from the CD, Snack Time, by Barenaked Ladies led the Cake Walk. (Jake and Jack happily danced in the middle!)
• Large circle die cuts were made and arranged in a circle. The top circle was yellow with a smiley face to resemble the Baby Einstein Caterpillar.
• If you landed on the smiley face when the music stopped, you got to choose from a Square Brownie, Triangle Rice Crispy Treat or Round Cupcake!
• The formal living room was also the spot we took our group shot.
• I also hung 4 large paper lanterns from the ceiling with fishing wire.

Cakes and Cookies

The cakes were my favorite!

• A 10" inch round rolled fondant cake was served as the main cake. It was chocolate with bavarian creme filling and 3" inch fondant circles were cut to create the Baby Einstein Caterpillar on top! Small gum balls were placed around the bottom.
• Jake and Jake's cakes were small smasher cakes in vanilla with buttercream frosting!
• Primary colored sugar cookies were cut and iced in the letter J and number 1!

Food and Drinks

• Pizza was served from a local favorite pizzeria, Hideaway Pizza!

I loved arranging these adorable drink buckets in four different primary

colors and hanging coordinating 1st holiday picture signs above!

Jake and Jack's First.. Halloween, Christmas, Easter and 4th of July!!

• Each bucket contained a coordinating color selection of kid beverages, non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages
• Also, in the middle of the buckets, I placed a picture of Jake and Jack at 3 weeks under their Baby Einstein play mat!

Take-Aways

• There were 12 red take-out boxes filled with gum balls and Baby Einstein stickers!
• The boxes were adorned with green curling ribbon, blue #1 die cuts and a picture of the boys with their Daddy from each monthly birthday celebration!

Thank You Cards

12 Month Baby Einstein Wreath

• We took a picture of the boys in the same place with their Daddy each month on the day they were born. (Okay, we missed 2 of the months... I'll blame it on the Colic and Acid Reflux and Lactose Intolerance and!!!) I used a green wire wreath and circle die cuts to create a Baby Einstein Caterpillar to display these pictures!

Some memorable moments!!

I am happy to announce, 
The Boys' Baby Einstein First Birthday Party won a feature on
Kara's Party Idea's Blog Spot!
- Check it out -