Thursday, October 25, 2012

Smith's Rookie of the Year Birthday Party


My sweet sweet baby boy turned one!  Smith, or as Caroline refers to him, Baby Sniff, has been such a wonderful and fun addition to our family.  I absolutely love love loved having a girl, so I was initially admittedly a little worried about being a mom to a boy.

(while I could never be a Twins fan (1991 World Series, anyone?) I couldn't resist wearing this shirt for his party)

But I honestly can't even imagine it any other way.  He is most definitely a momma's boy.  He loves to snuggle with me (for 0.35 seconds anyway, before he's off on another adventure).  He's hilarious.  He's inquisitive, daring, adventurous, and basically all-boy.  I love it.  


Like most guys, Joey played baseball growing up.  And I've been a huge baseball fan my entire life (Go Braves!)  So a baseball party seemed like a great theme - and then to make it even more awesome cheesy, I called it a "Rookie of the Year" party.  It was so much fun to plan the party, and all of our friends and family loved the theme as well.  



As soon as I decided on the theme, I knew I wanted the invitation to be a baseball card.  I had a good friend of mine design it, and I love how it turned out.  And I laughed every time I looked at his "stats."


The menu was super easy to finalize.  If you throw a baseball themed party, you must serve stadium food.  As much as I love to go all-out and make things complicated, I managed to successfully reign it in here.  We served:

Hot dogs with ketchup and mustard
Soft Pretzels  (I made a quadruple batch, and they were all gone by the end of the party!)
Nachos with cheese
Popcorn
Cotton Candy
Roasted Peanuts
Cracker Jack
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ice Cream Sundaes



I also put together a little area for more snacks, which included a giant fruit tray (not pictured), pretzel bites, applesauce tubes, extra Crackerjack and popcorn, and some goldfish.  Since we had a lot of small kids at the party, I thought it would be nice to have some more familiar, slightly healthier, and less messy options for them.


Perhaps Joey's favorite detail of the party, however, was the ice cream sundae bar.  As soon as we decided to have a baseball party, he threw out the idea of ordering those baseball helmets like we used to get at Dairy Queen growing up.  At first we were going to order all Braves ones, but he liked the idea of having all the teams represented.  Pretty much everyone in attendance commented that they loved getting ice cream in those helmets when they were kids.  And it was a fun favor for them to take home as well.  And as excited as Joey was over the helmet bowls, I was just as excited about these super cute spoons!


While I initially had so many cute ideas for the decor, I ultimately just didn't have the time or energy to execute it all.  We had moved into our house just 2 1/2 weeks prior to the party, so things kind of just got stripped down to the basics.  I loved the green "turf" tablecloth for the food table though, and we made a banner out of baseball cards to display as well.  Joey also had several baseball player figurines and old gloves, balls, and hats to scatter around.  And I put together these super simple centerpieces on a few tables that were just vases filled with peanuts and cute little flags.  They served double duty because everyone liked to munch on the peanuts while sitting around.


And of course what kind of first birthday party would it be without cake??  A baseball smash cake seemed like the obvious choice, and since I am no cake decorator, I just used the star tip to pipe the frosting.  When the time came for him to dig in, however, Smith was not a fan.  I really wonder sometimes if he is even my child?!  He picked at the icing for a few minutes, then just cried until I took him out of his high chair and held him.  


But of course the most important part of the party is who you're celebrating!  Smith had tons of friends and family there to help us celebrate his big day, and I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all!



Sources
Braves Onsie:  Little Ones Baby Boutique Etsy Shop
Wooden Spoons:  Sucre Shop (Etsy)
Red and White Snack Cups:  TomKat Studios
Cracker Jack, Popcorn Boxes, Striped Straws:  Amazon
Flags, Tablecoth, Baseball Cards, Candles, Ballons:  Party City



33 comments:

Shawnda said...

Josie, that is one seriously cute party - and little boy!

Heather said...

What an adorable party! I absolutely love the invitation idea--so cute! It sounds like he had a wonderful party :)

Jennifer said...

What a great idea for a birthday. Love the rookie of the year cards and the cracker jacks!

Michelle said...

So cute! I can't believe he's one already!

Anonymous said...

Love this idea for a first birthday party!

Anonymous said...

I love this! I am stealing this idea for sure!!

Kat Swain said...

That was my comment above...I was not trying to be anonymous. I am not ashamed of the fact that I am going to 100% steal your ideas when Micah turns 1!

Rhi said...

What a darling party! And, I can't believe your guy is one!

elly said...

Everything turned out so well, Josie! Such a great party theme!

Dana said...

What a sweet idea for a party! Great theme. Happy first birthday to Smith!

Winnie said...

Love your setup for the party! Very clever and perfect for your little one. (He is precious!)

Emily @ She Makes and Bakes said...

What a great party! Happy birthday to little Smith!!!

Ana said...

Your little man is so cute and the party theme is great!

Krystal R said...

Ahhhhhhh, what an awesome 1st year birthday party!!! I love everything about it!! Smith is too cute in his 1 year Braves onesie, too.

Alida said...

What an adorable party! And I love baby "sniff" !!

Anonymous said...

Such a cute party!!!! Great job :)

Lindsay {life and kitchen} said...

I love this theme! I mean, is there anything better than babies and nachos and cracker jacks??

Eva @ Eva Bakes said...

I love your theme - you did a great job with all the decor and food. The baseball card invitations is such an amazing idea!

krissy said...

Adorable, love the rookie of the year idea!

Joanne said...

How has he gotten so CUTE!! And so big. Has a year really past?

Kristen said...

This is adorable! We are having a baseball party for my son's 2nd birthday and I really want to use your helmet ice cream idea! Where did you get all the teams? I see single teams on amazon but not a pack with all of them. Thanks for the help!

Dawn said...

Such an adorable party! I love the theme!

Unknown said...

Lovely party!! so cute...

Books n' Cooks said...

Looks like an awesome party!

Josie said...

Kristen, my husband ordered them, and he's not sure what website though. He said he'll look it up at work on Monday, and I can let you know when he finds it though!

Josie said...

Kristen, here's the link: http://www.everythingbaseballcatalog.com/setof30mlbte.html

Let me know how the party turns out!

Unknown said...

What a handsome young man, and what a great birthday party theme!

Ammie said...

What an awesome theme! Happy 1st birthday to him!

Erica said...

Awesome idea!

Kristen said...

Thanks so much Josie!!!

Jessica @ Sunny Side Up said...

Josie, I love this party!! The turf table top is awesome!! The sundaes in a baseball hat are also awesome! All around adorable!

Bellasun1681 said...

Josie, I love your theme! It is exactly what we were thinking about doing for my twin boys' 1st birthday in a couple months (since Daddy is a baseball coach). I was curious, how did you do the baseball card/invite? Can I have some more details? Did you/your friend make them on your own? Looks like it was a great birthday for your little one!

Anonymous said...

It strikes me he was talking about spring, about that time of the year when all your senses awaken, and your desires become sharper. Walking along the street you smile at passers-by because the sun is smiling down on you, the sky is blue, and the birds are singing their mellifluous song. At that time, dissertation help service like it or not, you want to wear a shorter skirt, higher heels, brighter make-up and go out and conquer the world!

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