We did this when she turned one. We celebrated when she was 1 year and 1 month old because her birthday is December 28th.
And a party that time of year (for anyone other than the people who are already waking up in our house) is just not going to happen. Although, we certainly don’t ignore her birthday that day. There is a bit of a fuss, some special breakfast and even a small cake.
For her 2nd birthday, there really wasn’t much of a celebration beyond that bit of a fuss. Though I blame that largely on the first trimester of my last pregnancy, and not so much on the timing of her birthday.
People made me so mad when I was pregnant with her with all their comments of pity. “Poor thing. A Christmas birthday. She’ll get forgotten.” ::cue pregnant rage::
The truth is, while she doesn’t get “forgotten” and we don’t do combo gifts, it is super hard to get excited to plan a party for her around her actual birthday.
But a month after the holiday madness has passed, I’m in just the right mood. I’ve found plenty of great after-Christmas deals, and most people’s social calendars are vacant.
So until she can voice a different idea, she will get parties 1 year and 1 month after her last birthday.
She seems to be okay with the idea so far.
*********************
Details:
This was a lazy-Pinterest party, in my book. I ordered Hello Kitty invitations from Etsy, but didn’t actually print them. Instead I emailed them to the handful of families we invited.
I did go out of my way to order a Hello Kitty shirt and matching hair bow for her, though. And I got Hello Kitty stickers that matched the invitations to put on treat bags.
I also ordered custom Hello Kitty frosted sugar cookies from the same shop who did cookies for her first birthday.
We made a Hello Kitty cake for her, but used box cake mix and canned frosting. The rest of the snacks were simple, with the biggest hits being the jumbo marshmallows and pretzel sticks.
The activities were mainly running amok in the house and through the backyard, BUT my sister also brought a legit photo booth where we all got to take turns taking pictures with Hello Kitty. It’s called the Socialite Studio, and it’s her new business!
The company is called On The Flipside, and is based out of Austin, TX. This photo booth is just one of the stellar technologies they offer. If you’re looking for a cool party experience, or a great way to market your business, you should look them up.
Here are all the Etsy vendors I used:
Hello Kitty invitations and matching stickers
The rest of the stuff I ordered off of Amazon, mostly. These are affiliate links.
Polkadot balloons (I brought them to my local Kroger to be inflated, where they also had hot pink polkadot balloons and a large mylar Hello Kitty.)
Pink Polkadot wrapping paper (I used this to cover our table.)
Hello Kitty cake pan (This was the easiest ever. We made a box cake, and frosted with canned frosting.)
Hello Kitty cupcake tower (I bought cupcakes topped with Hello Kitty rings at Kroger.)
Hello Kitty napkins (I paired these with simple pink plates from Target.)
White paper bags for goodie bags (I shopped Target’s Dollar Spot for Hello Kitty goodies for the girls and Skylanders goodies for the boys, plus each kid took home a Hello Kitty cookie, and pictures from the photo booth.)
White paper hot cups (For hot white chocolate, which we made “special” for the grown ups with the addition of a little rum.)
Available now: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
11 Comments
I love the pics. It looks like she really enjoyed her special day! And you did a great job w/the decor and details. I love it! Gotta start planning for my LO’s 3rd birthday! It’s next month!
Annnd you just planned my two year old’s next birthday party for me. Thank you, seriously, for all the links. The party looked fantastic.
I love this! My youngest daughter was born on New Year’s Eve. We just passed her first birthday and I COULD NOT think about planning a party amidst the chaos. We’re past the one year one month date, but I’m thinking a Feb 28th party may be in order 🙂
This is such a brilliant idea! And such a cute party! My daughter’s birthday is also December 28th and we just had her 1st birthday party on that day, most stressful week of my life! Between hosting Christmas, working retail and then getting her party together. I think for her 2nd birthday we will be pushing it back a bit!
My daughter’s birthday is Dec 28 also. We just had her second birthday party last weekend and it was so much better than her first birthday party last year which occurred 4 days after Christmas. I think we’ll be doing the 1 year and 1month birthdays also.
I hated the “poor Christmas baby” comments when I was pregnant!
OMG – she is sooooooooo cute!
My sister’s birthday is December 28. My parents got tired of no one being available to celebrate on her actual birthday, so they created “Lauren Day” on June 28. Every year, she got a cake and presents from family, but 6 months later, she had a party (with more cake and presents!) with her friends.
She’s 26 now and she celebrates her birthday from December 26 – 31. The entire week between Christmas and New Year’s is fair game for parties and reasons to celebrate her. Of course, we still celebrate Lauren Day and her boss laughs every June 28th when I walk in the door with balloons and cupcakes.
My daughter’s birthday is Dec 27 and I heard all the same things when I was pregnant. She didn’t care much when we celebrated this year (she turned one) but I love this idea of the delayed party for the future. Who doesn’t love extending their birthday celebration out a bit?!
Lovely. She looks super happy. We have a similar situation with a Thanksgiving baby so it is tough having a party right in the middle of it all so we try to squeeze it in a couple weeks after – before Christmas, but after Thanksgiving break. It seems to work out and he says he gets “3 celebrations” lol. Love the balloons!
This is seriously adorable–and pretty perfect since my almost three year old has decided she wants a polka dot party. Can’t wait to use some of these ideas myself!
My boyfriends birthday is also on Dec 28th. Before he met me, he never celebrated it because he always got dissed for Christmas. I don’t usually have a party for him, but we always have a small trip and a super special dinner. He gets presents too! Well, usually something big that he may have wanted for Christmas and something sweet too.
Anyway, You’re little girl is too cute!!!! I
Love all of your party details, especially the balloons and your cake. You did a great job on everything!!!
Thank you for listing me as a vendor! What a fabulous birthday party that turned out to be!