A Playful and Modern Party to Celebrate a Wild One (Pun Intended)

It seems like only weeks ago we were bringing little Charlie home from the hospital, and here it is, his first birthday already! He is by far our most fearless child—sometimes even a little wild—so when his birthday was coming up, I couldn’t think of a more perfect theme than a wild one birthday party. The best part was that his nursery already had a lot of wild elements that would double as decor! With the theme in mind, I started to design a fun yet simple party perfect for a first birthday.

Wild One Banner | Brushed Spots Fabric | DIY Balloon Garland

I really wanted the party to be playful yet modern, so I combined black and white with bright colors for a bold look. I loved the way my balloon garland turned out for my daughter’s unicorn birthday party earlier in the year, so I was excited to create another to go over the dessert table. I made palm leaves out of card stock and added them to the balloon garland to mix it up a bit. I love the way it turned out!

We hung photos of Charlie that were taken throughout his first year and later gave them away to guests as party favors.

I designed signs and labels that coordinated with the theme to tie everything together.

I had so much fun illustrating these little animals! I started with the bear that I had made as an art print for Charlie’s nursery when he was born and then created the rhino and tiger to match. At first I was reluctant to include a bear because of the jungle look I had going, but then I remembered that the The Jungle Book features a bear!

I found a great deal on these animal brownie pops from Shari’s Berries. I was browsing the site looking for a gift to send to a family member when I stumbled upon these cuties in the sale section! I just love when a great deal falls into your lap—plus, they were delicious!

Plain animal crackers are one of Charlie’s favorites and perfect for little ones, so they became wild animal cookies for his party.

An inexpensive bucket of small plastic animals from Joann’s created the perfect dessert toppers that the kids got to keep.

I was excited when I stumbled upon this Wild One bib when I was out shopping at Carter’s—the colors were even perfect! And Charlie couldn’t look any cuter as he tried cake for the first time!

For our party favors, we let each guest chose a photo of Charlie to slip into a colorful vellum envelope with tags that read “Thanks for being a party animal!” They were the perfect takeaway for family members who hadn’t yet received a printed photo of him.

Our wild one birthday party was a fun and relatively stress-free event. We planned around nap time and kept our guest list to family and our closest friends. Of course Charlie did his job of charming and entertaining everyone with his wild antics!