Now that the chaos has died down and my house is cleaned up (for the most part; we still have a semi-deflated balloon arch hanging on the porch and unopened toys strewn around the house) it is time to share the inspiration behind Hank’s golf-themed first birthday party!
The golf theme came courtesy of my husband’s love for the sport and his future dreams of Hank being a professional golfer. A quick Pinterest search uncovered so many witty play on words (RE: Hole in ONE, par-tee, etc.) and fun décor ideas that I had to say yes to Nick’s theme request. Keep scrolling for all the details from the outfit(s) to the cake!
THE INVITATION
I usually design my own invitations, but with everything going on in my life this past June (Nick starting grad school, dislocating his shoulder, potty training, etc.) this was one element I was fine with outsourcing! I found the invite on Etsy, created by Anna Hatcher Design. The colors, design, layout, etc. was exactly what I had imagined. I purchased the design for about $8.00 and had them printed on cardstock and cut at Office Max! I bought cobalt blue A7 envelopes on Amazon and was all set!
THE VENUE
My backyard! Right in the middle of putting up our new privacy fence (takes way longer than one would think when your husband and dad are doing it on their own) and days after Nick finally finished chopping up the two trees we had cut down back in May (that darn dislocated shoulder again….).
We setup my parents pop-up canopies and borrowed tables and chairs from the school my mom used to work at! Food was setup inside, games and gifts outside.
THE FOOD
When you are expecting over 25 kids, ranging in age from 2 months to 10 years old, you need something both kid and adult friendly. Hence the macaroni and cheese bar. I made four crockpots full of homemade mac n cheese (which was WAY too much for 80 people) following this recipe. I very well could have bought Costco mac n cheese or ordered some from a restaurant, but this was the one thing I knew I could save money on. I think I made it all for less than $40!
Toppings included: ground italian sausage, bacon, broccoli, diced jalapenos, caramelized onions, tomatoes, and Frank’s Red Hot. It was a hit! And now I have frozen macaroni and cheese in my freezer for a day in the future when I can’t muster up the energy to cook. Add in home made corn bread, Oriental Salad, potato salad, chicken wings, baked beans and a variety of other appetizers; it was a feast!
THE DRINKS
Keeping to the theme, I obviously had to serve Arnold Palmers (half lemonade, half iced tea – for those of you who live under a rock). And no kid’s birthday party is complete without adult beverages (I mean, how else do you get through a one-year-old’s party?) so I made John Dailys – which are just Arnold Palmers with vodka. We also had an assortment of soda, juice boxes, beer, wine and water.
THE DECORATIONS
I bought our tableware at Party City and Oriental Trading; everything from plates and napkins to table cloths. All were either golf themed or royal blue/kelly green!
Here are links to some of the stuff we used!
I bought my very own helium tanks and an assortment of blue, green and white balloons. I also found golf-ball balloons and silver number one (1) balloons. I put Nick in charge of those! I also purchased a really beautiful eight-foot balloon arch from Oh How Charming. It turned out GREAT but definitely allow yourself a lot of time to put this one together. Thankfully my aunt and cousin from OKC came over early and I was able to delegate this task to them (thanks again, Mary Jo and Sam!!). I set up blue foil streamers behind the gift table and hung HANK silver letter balloons on them to add a POP to our new fence.
My mom is a wizard with the Cricut and was kind enough to make pennant banners for the gift table, thank you favors, mantel, etc. She also made the super cute high chair fabric decoration you’ll see below. She is wonderful!
We covered all of the tables in blue or green tablecloths and our centerpieces were small, galvanized buckets with blue and green number ones on them, which we filled with old golf balls. My mom also created signs for our activities (more on that later in the post).
One of my favorite decorations were these Titleist golf balls. I just bought a pack of white paper lanterns, printed out the Titleist logo and then taped them on. So cute!
THE OUTFITS
Hanks birthday romper was made by Zuli Kids (found on Etsy). They were so wonderful and allowed me to customize the fabric, design and colors. It turned out better than I had imagined!
For the cake smash (I don’t even think we can call it that, he basically wanted nothing to do with his cake!) Hank wore this adorable golf bib from 7at9apparel and this tiny party hat from Cutest Little Party; both found on Etsy!
After cake, Hank changed into this ONE t-shirt made by my best friends’ fiancé. He also made the twins coordinating shirts that said “Hank’s Caddies” on the back. I matched those with adorable white shorts (which, after 4 washes, are still stained on the butt…thanks sand trap!), space buns and bows.
Mama wore an adorable Kelly green dress from Shein, and daddy wore a boring t-shirt he already owned.
THE CAKE
An old elementary school friend who now owns a very successful local bakery (7 Little Cupcakes) made Hank’s smash cake. The final product was gorgeous and looked just like a golf course, complete with a red #1 flag (pin?). Even though Hank wasn’t all that interested in smashing it, the cake was delicious. We also had a variety of cupcakes at the party, including flavors like creamy banana pie, chocolate chip cookie dough, Snickers, lemon blueberry, confetti and more. If you live in the Toledo, Ohio area I HIGHLY recommend 7 Little Cupcakes!
THE ACTIVITIES
No party is complete without activities, especially when you are expecting over two dozen kids. Keeping with the golf theme, I set up a make-your-own-visor station. I purchased these colorful visors from Oriental Trading and provided a variety of different decorations: foam stickers (glitter flowers, sports and letters), gems and fabric markers. This activity was much more popular than I had expected and it was so much fun watching the kids (and the adults) get creative with their hats. Word to the wise – setup a tarp or blanket under this activity to catch stray decorations, otherwise you will be picking gems out of your grass for weeks.
In addition to the visors, I set up a “sand trap” (AKA a sandbox with sand toys), mini golf, hula-hoops, bubbles and other outdoor activities. The kids also had free access to our house full of toys. I don’t think any child was bored, that’s for sure!
THE FAVORS
As a special thank you to the kids that attended the party, I put together golf-themed favors. I found small sets of plastic golf clubs and golf balls at the Dollar Tree and then put together a small blue treat bag filled with golf tattoos, stickers and bubbles. I attached the bags to the clubs with ribbon and a cute thank you tag that my mother made.
That pretty much sums up what went into Hank’s big birthday bash! The party was so much fun and all of our friends and family were so generous to our baby boy. My house is overflowing with toys and love.
Now, onto the next party! Stay tuned for a much more low-key, Young, Wild & THREE birthday party in September!
The Patient Mom 
love it! the theme, the colors, the clothes, the decorations, the sisters, the activities, and the food and drink are all adorable.
LikeLike
Thanks, Sue!!
LikeLike