Teddy Bear Birthday Party

While planning our baby’s first birthday party, I had a hard time picking a theme. I wanted it to work with the fall landscape, be kind of outdoors-y, but also sweet and applicable to a one year old boy. I texted my cousin, and she suggested the bear theme, and it stuck! The party turned out better than I imagined, and I am so pleased to share the details of Ridge’s Teddy Bear First Birthday Party with you!

 

Ridge’s Shirt (it was a custom version of this one, made to match the party color scheme!)

To get started, I searched Pinterest (obviously). My mom and I shared this board and both pinned to it. I realized I didn’t want to get too far into the lumberjack theme, but I did love the black and white and rustic, woodsy feel.

Invitations

Teddy Bear Invitations

How adorable are these?! This etsy seller did such a great job! I bought them, downloaded them, and emailed the attachment to our local UPS store. I typically have printing jobs done at Staples, but doing them with UPS was a much better experience.

Decorations

Brown Bear | Black Bear | Bottle Brush Trees

I found black and white buffalo check fabric in the seasonal section at Hobby Lobby. To make the runners, I simply cut the fabric. Having fabric runners is something my mom taught me to do, and it always makes a huge difference for a minimal cost!

I also found an inexpensive pre-made buffalo check runner on etsy.

Many of the decorations are Christmas trees that my mom loaned me. We made a little forest on top of the buffalo check runner on our dining room table. We used this area for the kids to sit and eat.

The Happy Birthday banner is from Hobby Lobby. They have a section in their kids’ party area that is lumberjack theme.

I carried the forest look to our mantle. My mom drew the bear that looked like the one on the invitation on my chalkboard! How cute, right?!? I found the wood slices at Hobby Lobby, but they are also available on Amazon here.

Small Round Wood Slices

Favors

The favors were one of my favorite touches of the party. Instead of gathering lots of little items to fill a gift bag, I decided to buy a book for each family for the kids to enjoy. I bought a few of each of this bear series. Have you all read any of these? They are so sweet, and the illustrations are adorable! Plus they are inexpensive! I bought black gingham ribbon and printed their gift tags on craft cardstock. The fonts are Amatic SP and Shellahera Script Demo (both free downloads).

Bear’s New Friend | Bear Wants More | Bear Snores On

I (Todd, actually) filled individual favor bags with “Teddy Bear Trail Mix” and tied them with twine. Though it wasn’t exactly healthy trail mix, and not something you’d take hiking,  it fit the teddy bear and s’mores theme. Mini marshmallows, graham and chocolate flavored Teddy Grahams, raisins, and peanuts were included.

Activities

We wanted to have a fun activity that the kids could do outside. I found a nature scavenger hunt on Pinterest and printed off a copy for each child. This ended up being so fun for all of them! They really got into is, and the older kids made it into a competition.

Down on the living room floor, we set up a little cozy reading station with teddy bear stuffed animals and all of the boys’ bear-themed books.

Food

For the food, I wanted it to be both kid- and adult-friendly. I made some things from scratch, and also used some store-bought items. The little teddy bear sandwiches had almond butter and honey inside, and mini chocolate chip faces. This is the cookie cutter I used. Because I like to balance out sweet treats with healthier food, I made a large veggie and fruit tray. I also made mini macaroni and cheese cups. I loosely used the recipe from Shauna Niequist’s book “Bread and Wine.” (Side note – I LOVE this book!) The “fancier” pigs in a blanket are from the frozen section at Trader Joe’s!

Smash Cake and Cupcakes

For dessert I made cupcakes for all of the guests, and a smash cake for Ridge. The cupcakes were my chocolate cake recipe and I used this marshmallow frosting recipe. (I made 1.5 times the amount she recommends). The topping is crumbled graham crackers. I wanted them to taste similar to s’mores. The smash cake was this recipe from Yummy Toddler Food, and I was so happy with how it turned out. It was gluten free, because it only uses oat flour, and is much healthier than a traditional cake. I made 2 6” round layers. If you make this, double the icing. I only made one batch and I didn’t have enough to ice the outside at all. I had to make a quick buttercream – so it didn’t end up being completely healthy, but that’s okay.

These cupcake toppers matched perfectly with the theme, and shipped quickly!

Kind of obsessed with these teddy bear plates that we used for dessert!

Watching Ridge enjoy his smash cake had to be my favorite party of the day. I loved seeing the joy on his face as we sang to him and he dug right into his cake!

I loved how sweet this party ended up being! We were able to celebrate Christopher Ridge with so many friends and family, and we are so grateful! I still can’t believe he’s ONE!

Gift Ideas

If you are searching for some birthday gift ideas for a one year old, I had to share a couple with you that Ridge loves: this Noah’s Ark toy and this bumbly bear. The bear was actually given to him at my baby shower and he sleeps with it and is always loving on it. 🙂