James' Dinosaur-Themed First Birthday - He's One-asaurus

It's official - James is ONE! We are officially baby-free as our little boy moves on to his toddler phase. It's such a weird feeling knowing we will never have a baby in the house again, but so exciting as we get to watch him start to become his own little person!

Ever since James was old enough to make cooing sounds, we've called him our little raptor baby, our little dino. So, it was only fitting that we would throw him a dinosaur-themed first birthday! I was looking on Pinterest one day and saw someone use "ONE-SAURUS REX". Then, a few days later, I found the exact same outfit in Marshall's that we had bought as his coming home outfit. I knew that this was the perfect themed to celebrate our little one's big milestone.

Our Plans & Hurdles

For the dinosaur-themed first birthday, we kept it simple with a backdrop, balloon arch, and themed cupcakes. Our biggest hurdle at the time was that we wouldn't know for sure where we were going to be hosting the party until a week and a half birthday the scheduled date. It was absolute chaos and 0/10 would not recommend planning a milestone party like that. Eventually, we decided on a whim to host it at our local favorite pizza restaurant, Rick's, that had this really fun indoor "outdoor" space that was frequently reserved for parties. We knew we needed an easy up and teardown setup to make a stressful day a little easier. Our family and friends loved having the party there so much that several of us are already planning our next several parties there!

Things I DIY'd

The Backdrop

My biggest accomplishment for this party also ended up being my biggest regret, haha! Sometimes, you just can't DIY it all. I really wanted a colored arch backdrop to put the balloons around. Since we were going to have to transport everything in our car, set it up withing 15 minutes, and be able to teardown to take home, I knew our options were extremely limited. I learned that fabric slipcover arches were a thing and attempted to DIY my own with PVC piping that I already had on hand. I just bought the slipcover and a flexible PVC pipe to make the curve at the top.

I wish I had spent a little more time testing out the arch because it began to sag to one side over the 3 hours we were at Rick's. I think if I get a few more pieces to stabilizing the middle sections, I won't run into that issue. I do intend on testing it out again and will be making a full DIY build tutorial if I feel I can successfully make it work, so be sure to follow me on Instagram and/or subscribe to my monthly email newsletter to get those updates! If you're not DIY savvy, I've got just the products for you: metal arch frame, arch slipcover, balloon set.

The Cake & Cupcakes

I had an absolute blast with making James' cake and cupcakes. I learned some great box cake hacks over the years and they have never failed me yet. Keep an eye out for that recipe coming soon, too! (I'll be sure to update the links for you here.) I did a 3-color frosting with a sprinkle mixture from 2 different sets (a multicolored Jimmies set & rainbow mix set), and tied in the earthy tones using kraft cupcake liners. The cupcake toppers and candle I was able to find at Hobby Lobby. I used a 4" springform cake pan (the same one I purchased and used for Miles' first birthday, but here's a similar one) to make the smash cake. I only need to use one, cut it in half, add some homemade whipped cream to the center and stack. Since the cake was so small, I didn't find the need to reinforce it with dowels. Its also only 2 layers. If you were doing a slightly larger cake with more layers and a slippery filling, I would highly recommend using 2 or 3 straws or dowels.

I made the cake topper by hand using my Silhouette Portrait 3 and some graphics I found online. I did a layered-style to make it as thick as possible. This was attached to a wooden dowel and placed in the center, which was done to add any additional support incase it was hot at the restaurant (it wasn't, so we got lucky)!

We've definitely been grateful for the Amazon marketplace since our in-person shopping options have dwindled down so much over the past year. I love throwing parties with fun and beautiful decor, and love sharing those products with you guys even more!

Special thanks to all those who helped make that day so special and memorable for us all, including the wonderful staff working that day that gave us the amazing service we always know we get there!