Adventures in Birthday Parties! - Our Lively Adventures

I live for a good theme, always have. I joke that the only reason I even had children was to plan their birthday parties (and of course also for the newborn photographs!).

When it came time to plan my sons first birthday party I was good-to-go because I had created that Pinterest board with my “Winter ONE-derland” theme m o n t h s beforehand. Pinterest is my favorite party planning tool – so much inspiration!! I love to take what others have done and make it my own.

With my son now age 4 and my daughter age 2 I have hosted 6 children’s birthday parties. I have picked up a few tips alone the way…

6 Tips For Planning A Birthday Party:

Plan, plan, plan! The key to getting everything accomplished (and not be overwhelmed) is to start planning months in advance. I don’t mean hold a meeting with family and friends to start delegating tasks, I just mean every few weeks start pinning things on Pinterest (to your secret board, of course! Who wants to spoil the surprise before the party?!), add to the notes you keep on your phone, pick up a few things on sale here and there, etc. which brings me to my next tip…
Lists are your best friend. Guest lists. Food lists. Decoration lists. Things that need to get done before the party lists. Nothing feels better than crossing something off of your list!
Make treats that freeze well. This way you can make them a few weeks in advance, stick them in the freezer, and they are ready to go the day of the party. This works well for homemade cookies and cakes. Your guests will wonder how you got everything done, but really you finished it weeks ago!
It takes skill to make a big space feel cozy. This is something I am still working on. I have found that focusing a lot of decorations in 1 or 2 places helps. For example, rather than putting a few decorations all over the house, put a lot on and around the food and cake tables. It seems to make a bigger impact.
When in doubt, order more balloons! There can never be enough balloons. More is more when it comes to kids party decorations.
These are children’s birthday parties – as long as there is cake and presents the kids will be happy! Try not to let yourself stress too much!

More Birthday Party Tips

I have few more posts that might help with your birthday party planning…

The Ultimate List of Birthday Party Themes is just what you need to find the perfect theme for your child’s next birthday party.
My Favorite Birthday Tradition will help inspire you to start new birthday traditions with your family.
Tips for Decorating (this is geared toward Halloween decor, but the same concepts apply to any decorating).
Gifts on Amazon under $10 are the perfect little “extra something” to add to any child’s birthday gift.
and a few more Gift Ideas are always helpful!