Dr. Seuss First Birthday Party for Twins - Part 2 (Decorations)

If you've read my blog this week, you'll know we recently celebrated our twin boys' first birthday.  I spent most of the boys’ birthday month working on their party in my down time.  It was actually a great distraction for me. Rather than sobbing over the fact that my babies were turning one, planning their party made me look forward to celebrating their big day with them.  I mentioned earlier in the post about Planning and Preparing that I worked on a project for the party each day during the boys nap time the few weeks leading up to the party.  Over the next few days, I'll post more details about where I got something or how I made something for the party.  Today I just want to share an overview of the decorations of our in-home Dr. Seuss first birthday party.  Here was my exact list that I kept on my iPad of the decorations I needed to come up with for their party.

• Welcome Sign
• This Way To Seusville Sign
• Party Here Party There Sign
• I AM ONE picture frames
• Welcome Table Frame for Birthday Book
• Dr. Seuss Stuffed Animals for the Welcome Table
• Dr. Seuss Books to display for the Welcome Table
• Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss Book as the Guest Book
• Look How We've Grown Clothes Line (using baby clothes)
• Here We Grow Picture Display (months 1-12 and important milestones)
• Two High Chair Banners
• Birthday Banner to hang above the Food Table
• Runner for the Food Table
• Food Tents/Labels
• Balloons to go by tables
• We are One Banner to hang above the Dessert Table
• Frame 6 Month Thing One and Thing Two Halloween Picture to Display
• Also display newborn and one year photo 
• Thing One and Thing Two Onesies to hang above Dessert Table
• Print Dr. Seuss Quotes to hang above Dessert Table
• Tissue Paper Truffula Trees to Display on Dessert Table
• Decorate Cupcake Stand
• Runner for the Dessert Table
• Print Dr. Seuss Quotes to hang above the Drink Table
• Tissue Paper Flowers to hang above the Drink Table
• Water Bottle Labels
• Party Favor Tags
• Party Favor Sign
• Photo Booth Area
• Slide Show to display on the TV of the boys' pictures throughout the year

I know this looks like a big list, but most of the projects were really simple and inexpensive. This wasn't a fancy-shmancy party.  This was a family party thrown by a simple mama who wanted to celebrate her kids' first year of life in a fun way.  Which is why I should also mention that we chose to have the boys' party in our home, and specifically in our upstairs loft area.  The loft is the boys' fun zone.  It's completely baby-proofed and home to all of their toys.  It's also the biggest open space in our home, so it was perfect for having kids run around and play while adults sat back and watched the craziness unfold.  To make sure I had enough room upstairs for 20+ adults and 10+ kids, I chose to: 1) rearrange the furniture in the loft, by putting what I could against the walls, 2) take down some wall decor and hang Dr. Seuss decorations,  3) bring up dining chairs, kitchen chairs and any extra seating I could find throughout the house 4) utilize any kind of table top I could find in the house to create a food table, dessert table, drink table and welcome table.   

I'll end this post by saying that because I choose to be a stay at home mom with my boys, that means that I often choose to keep cost down and do things the “Susie Homemaker” way.  But in all honesty, if I chose to still work and bring home a paycheck, I would have probably bought a lot of my party items instead of making them myself.  For one, my limited time with the boys would be more valuable to me than my time with a hot glue gun.  But also, when I was working, I found that it often cost less for me to work a few extra hours and buy something than it did to make something when I could be working.  That’s just me though.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love to get my craft on, but sometimes it pays off just to buy something because of the amount of time it takes me to make things.  Whether you are someone looking to save a little money or you are someone who just likes to get crafty once in a while, I hope you got a few ideas from this post about decorating for an in-home Dr. Seuss first birthday party!