My baby is a year old and when planning for his first birthday I had one goal, keep it simple. Firstly, because after the marathon of holidays and our anniversary, an elaborate birthday was not in the cards. Secondly, because he’s not going to remember it anyway! So the vision was something simple at home with family only. I still wanted to decorate and decided to go with a subtle ball theme since baby boy is obsessed with them. Think lots of colors, balls, balloons, and bubbles.

I DIY’ed most of the decor over the course of a week. If I am being honest, the balloon garland did the heavy lifting to make things festive. My cousin and I made one of these for my baby shower, this time I sized down and it was very manageable to make on my own. I also made the cutest garland of his face (ugh I know such a tease) from each month of his first year and a little cake topper to match. And the easiest and most nostalgic of all my crafts were colorful paper chains, oh how fun and I cannot wait to make them with my little guy when he’s a bit older.

The day of I made a little cake and tried out a watercolor frosting technique. This was meant to be a smash cake but as predicted he was not interested in smashing anything. He stuck his little fingers in the frosting and once he realized it was sticky, retreated his hand in disgust, ha! He is in a phase where slimy and sticky textures are lava and I can complain because I was not excited to wash cake out of everything anyway.

We kept food simple and ordered pizza. Honestly after hosting Christmas brunch we felt like we deserved to cheat a little with this event. Plus a pizza party screams childhood to both my partner and our guests loved it!

What I Bought for the Party

Beige “One” Balloon (Amazon)

Balloon Garland Kit (Etsy)

Custom Fabric Crown (Etsy)

Party Hats (Target)

Paper Plates (Target)

Paper Napkins (Target)

Compostable Flatware (Target)

Ball Party Favor (Target)

Bubbles Party Favor (Target)

Et voila, that was it! We sang happy birthday, ate, and played in his playroom. No gifts, no planned activities or schedules. It was low-key and I actually got to be present with everyone! Happy birthday to my baby <3