Curious George Themed 1st Birthday Party

Description

Our curious little monkey turned one, so we threw a Curious George themed 1st birthday party.

Design Inspiration

My son is one curious little monkey who especially loves books. We read a lot and Curious George gets quite a lot of air time. The image of George peeking out of the man's hat served as the primary inspiration.

Decorating Style

Colorful, modern, and fun with chevron accents.

Project Details

Invitations- DIY: designed in photoshop utilizing PBS’s coloring book images of George. For another modern touch I added a QR code to the invitation, so guests could scan the code and instantly RSVP to “The Mom In The Yellow Hat.”  I ordered red A7 envelopes from Paper Source, and used their envelope liner kit and a photo of Quentin reading with George to create photo liners. I framed the invitation in a red chevron frame I found at Target.

Straw flags, Cupcake Toppers, Happy Birthday Banner- DIY: created in photoshop repeated elements and fonts used in invitation. (Toppers were 2 inch circles, a 2 inch circle punch and 4 inch lollipop sticks were used)

Striped straws, chevron favor bags, chevron cupcake liners, solid red and yellow cupcake liners - Sweet Treats Boutique

Cake- George peeking out of the man's yellow hat- Rey of Sugar

I wrapped each yellow paper cup with black mini duct tape  and placed each on top of a yellow plate (for a yellow hat look).

One Poster- DIY: hung this on wall featuring a photo collage (in the shape of the number one) of each of Quentin’s monthly photos I had taken.

One Year Stats Chalkboard- DIY: made using a large black foam board that I had handwritten Quentin’s “stats” using chalkboard markers. Also used board as a photo prop for his one year photos.

Yellow framed chalkboard (purchased at Home Goods)- I hand wrote a welcoming message on using chalkboard markers.

I really loved the idea of having guests sign Quentin’s copy of ‘Curious George and The Birthday Surprise’ (He has this copy: A Treasury of Curious George)  Inspired by this sign, I created a chevron sign that said “When I’m older I’ll be curious about who was here to celebrate with me. Please sign my book & leave a note for me.”  and framed (in a white floating frame purchased at Target) to place on the table next to the book.

Curious George party hats, Curious George masks (attached to Wilton 6-Inch Sticks), & Coloring booklets - made from templates available on PBS.

Favors-  When our guests left, we gave them a magnet featuring some images from Quentin’s cake smash session.These were completely DIY- I made smash cake, took photos, designed collage in photoshop, and printed onto magnets

Favorite Items

The delicious and adorable cake!

 

Advice

Start early. Designing and printing invitations, signs, and other paper products yourself takes quite a bit of time. Try to map out a party layout in your head. Where are people going to sit? Where will the food be? Where will the cake be? Where will people place gifts? We had a small space to utilize (our own home) so we tried to minimize any disruption to our existing decor. This took a bit of thought. Also thinking about keeping kids entertained (even the older ones) will help keep parents happy as well.