Your child’s first birthday party is a big milestone. It’s a celebration of their first year of life and the beginning of their transition from baby to toddler. The reality is, though, that first birthday parties are a lot more for the parents than the children, and while it’s important to celebrate your achievement as a parent, if you’re on a budget, remember that your child is far too young to understand the significance of the day and will likely only remember it through any photographs and video you take. In truth, your child will enjoy a homemade cake just a much as a fancy store-bought one and many times individual cupcakes are much better suited to the size of a child’s stomach (and much easier to eat with their hands) than a slice of cake. 

It is incredibly tempting to buy every ‘baby’s first birthday’ plate, hat, banner, etc in the party store, but unless you plan on keeping all the decorations for any future children, chances are, you will never use those ‘Baby’s First…’ decorations again. A more economical alternative is ‘Happy Birthday’ decorations which can be used over and over regardless of the child’s age or even designing your own (see Part 2). 

As far as party food goes, the majority of your young guests are likely to still be transitioning between different foods, tastes and textures. Rather than purchasing a lot of ‘typical’ party food (chips, dip, soda, cookies, etc) which most young children will not yet be eating, instead purchase increased quantities of what your child typically eats on a day to day basis. Some favorites include animal cookies, apple juice, cheese cubes, and plain cooked chicken. Assuming you will be introducing your child to one of their first experiences of intense sugar through a slice of cake or a cupcake, there is no need to overdose them on the high amounts of sodium and fat found in typical party foods as well, One new food/taste sensation will have more impact than a multitude of them. 

As tempting as it is to buy a lot of presents for your 1-year old, this can quickly add up in costs. Make the most of the few years while children are still too young to want a lot of presents or character themed gifts (and tend to prefer anything that makes noise or feels interesting) and buy only 1 or 2 store presents and instead use your imagination to create these fun, thrifty presents:

Fun Furry Stacking Cubes

You will need:

A variety of empty plastic food containers and cardboard cereal boxes in all shapes & sizes

A hot glue gun

Brightly colored sheets of felt or textured paper

Scissors

Thoroughly clean out and dry your containers and boxes, then, to help them keep their shape stuff them with newspaper. Draw glue around all the edges & corners of the boxes and quickly place them on your sheets of felt or paper and wrap them as you would a present while the glue is still hot. Trim off or glue down any surplus pieces of material. Once the glue has dried, your baby can enjoy stacking the brightly colored boxes, knocking them down and generally exploring their new toys.

Mess-free Finger Painting Packs

You will need:

A large freezer bag

¼ cup of baby oil & ¼ cup of water, mixed together

Liquid food coloring

Selotape/Duct tape

Pour the water/oil mix into the freezer bag and add a couple of drops of food coloring. Squeeze all the air out of the bag, then seal it up and lay it on a flat surface (i.e. a table, large tray lid or tiled floor). Spread the bag flat and securely tape down each side to the flat surface underneath. Your child will then to be able to use their hands, feet or any other non-sharp tool to ‘paint’ on the floor or table without any mess.