A is for Alec–ABC 1st Birthday

Aa is for Alec
So what if he was going on 15 months, Alec finally had his first birthday party, full of A’s B’s and C’s (and other alphabet letters, too)!

A little hard to see in these pics, but the white letter banner spells “Happy 1st Birthday Alec”

Bb is for ball

Contrary to this picture,
Alec loved playing with the balls in the pit!
As in, we had a ball and a ball pit! We filled an inflatable pool with as many balls as we could find for a make-shift ball pit.
I didn’t anticipate that the big kids would enjoy it so much, too!

Cc is for Cake

Stacked on a pile of vintage books, I used each letter of his name as a side of the alphabet block, with the #1 on top.
Special thanks to Ashlee @ I’m Topsy Turvy, for giving me some baking/decorating advice! She is master (mistress?) of fondant!
That smooth fondant exterior didn’t fool him one bit! He knew there was good stuff inside, and started digging right in. He wasn’t so sure what to do with the candle flame, however.
But there were more cake surprises inside!
Served with a previously-scooped and frozen (in a cupcake liner) scoop of ice cream (thank you Pinterest! Brilliant!)

Dd is for Dancing

My little guy can cut a rug–so we played some of his favorite songs and let loose–but didn’t get any pictures. 🙁

Ee is for Everywhere
ABC’s are everywhere…



I customized plain plates and napkins to fit the theme (I might have to experiment with these a little more before I post a tutorial or recommend you try this at home. Love the idea, still perfecting the technique!) I had won the fun cups on a giveaway a while back and used a fine point sharpie to personalize them for the guests. They made great snowcone cups.
which brings us to…

Ff is for fun food

On the menu: Hamburger sliders on homemade buns (thanks mom!). Perfect size for the little ones, and easy to grab a few for the big guys! French fries and carrots set out in serving-sized cups. There is ketchup in the bottom of each cup, eliminating a lot of mess and hassle with serving small children. We also had alphabet finger jello, colorful melon balls, and juice boxes. 

Gg is for Goodie Bags
Alec’s cousins each took home a simple goodie bag filled with some ABCs and ball fun. Where possible, I tried to give each child the letters of their names with the alphabet magnets. They were packaged up with their own monogram as a label.

Those are the ABC’s of the party! I plan to write posts about some of the how-to’s later. Is there anything you’d specifically like more information about? You can see some of the inspiration for this party on my Pinterest Board, here. I’m also working on a personalized ABC photobook for him, I will share later. Big thanks to my mom for all of her work on the food and letting me throw a little insanity in her backyard!
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Comments

  1. Alison@Oopsey Daisy says

    Kendra, you really are insane! Insanely COOL! This party is So SO great!

  2. You're in charge of my 40th in a few years. Also, I first thought that invite said "C" is for "coke" and I was all over that! 🙂

  3. Hollie - TheSevenYearCottage.com says

    Adorable 1st birthday party!

  4. Kristy Life-n-Reflection says

    So cute, I love your party style!!

  5. That is a perfect birthday cake for a child. Just change the number on the top.

  6. This was an amazing party! So cute and the kids look like they had a blast!

  7. Ashlee @ I'm Topsy Turvy says

    the cake looks great! Were you happy with it? I admit I'm never fully happy with most of my cakes, but no one else seems to notice what I do. The colors are fantastic! Love the 4 layers inside.

    I stamp all my party plates as well! I use food safe markers on my stamps for my plates, but I've also used a blank stamp pad and food gel, but then I'm stuck with just one color.

    The whole party looks like so much fun and everyone had a great time! Congrats on another wonderful party!

  8. Rachel (Lines across my face) says

    I love this party. I love all things ABCs and you have so many adorable details here. Your little guy is so cute (I was going to say he looked a little older than 1) but I totally agree it doesn't really matter exactly when it is. They surely don't know yet. I would love it if you would stop by and share at the link party going on right now at Lines Across My Face.
    :)Rachel
    http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/08/cure-for-common-monday-3-craft-link.html

  9. Sam Findlay says

    This looks like a fantastic party! So many fun things!

  10. Melanie @ bear rabbit bear says

    Cute! I'm also planning a birthday party for my soon-to-be 2 year old (minniemousebirthday.blogspot.com), so I can relate with how much work it must have took for you to have such an awesome party!

    I'd love for you to stop by and add your fantastic project to our first blog party this Thursday! It's a party specifically for kids' and teens' craft projects and other ideas, so your idea would be perfect! Hope to see you then!

    bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com

  11. A is for Adorable! (sorry I couldn't help it.) I am loving all the details. The invite is perfect, the cake colors are amazing, the flash cards are so fun and I loved the personalized paper goods!
    I would love it if you would share your party at my August "It's a Celebration" link party. I know my readers would love this as much as I do!
    Christina
    http://www.inspirationforcelebration.com

  12. Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.com says

    Very cute party! I love the cake.

    My brother's name is Alec! 🙂

  13. Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.com says

    Very cute party! I love the cake.

    My brother's name is Alec! 🙂

  14. What a great Birthday! I am in love with the inside of that cake! The portion cup carrots and fries is a Great idea! I know the kids had a blast!

  15. Wow! This almost makes me want another child!

  16. Katie's Nesting Spot says

    Love it, just added it to my pins.

  17. Ashlee @ I'm Topsy Turvy says

    Just wanted to let you know I'd be featuring this on Topsy Turvy Tuesday's this week! Thanks for linking up! I'm so glad it turned out so great, it's just lovely!

  18. Auntie Lolo says

    Ok this party is amazing! And the cake is sooooo cute! I have people guest post every Friday featuring their parties on my blog and I would love it if you guest posted! Email me if you are interested!

    Lois

    auntielolocrafts@gmail.com
    http://www.auntielolocrafts.blogspot.com

  19. Tanya Anurag says

    I loved the theme and the way you worked it out. Wish I had seen this before. My nephew's b'day is coming up and I would have suggested this theme had I visited your blog earlier!! Pinning the idea. Thanks for sharing.

    We have a link-up party going on – Tea Time Thursdays @ Kreative Korner. I would really appreciate if you'd link up some of your awesome posts there. Hope to see you at the party.

    http://tanyaanurag.blogspot.com/2011/08/tea-time-thursdays-2-and-features.html

  20. CraftyCupcake13 says

    What an AWESOME Party!! You are soo talented I LOVE it! I love to throw parties.. I'd love for you to come by my blog and check out some of my party ideas!! THanks for posting and sharing I saw your post over at Topsy Turvy Tuesdays I'm sooo glad I found you!!!

    xoxoxo,
    Lilli
    http://onestopbabygifts.blogspot.com

  21. ::little projects in style:: says

    what cute ideas! 🙂 and how perfectly themed! x

  22. Janine @ Alternative Housewife says

    Fun! I found your site looking for inspiration for our own ABC party. 🙂 Your cake is amazing.

  23. Victoria says

    I love your theme! Anyways you wanna help me plan the ABC theme for my son’s 1st birthday? 🙂 his name is Michael

  24. I REALLY want to do the ABC Rainbow Block cake for this weekend. I can’t seem to find the instructions to make the cake. Can you give me advice on getting the layers the right colors, decorating the cake or anything that would help me pull it off. I’d really appreciate it. I am going to just wing it if I can’t find anything to help me out but if you have recipe or anything I’d love it.

    Thanks bunches,

    Donna

  25. What a cute array of goodies for Alec and his guests! Love the cake especially. Themed birthday parties are certainly so much fun and a sure fire hit for kids!

  26. Love your ABC cake. Fabulous party. What sizes are those square cakes? I’m planning a 2nd birthday for my little one and this party is such an inspiration

    • Thanks, Chey! I can’t remember for sure whether it is an 8 or 9″ cake, but I’m guessing 8 so it would be easier to make it as tall as it is wide. Just a standard square cake pan.

  27. Hi Kendra, Saw what an awesome birthday party you put together for your son Alec. It looked like everyone had a great time ! Grandma deserves credit too…”Way to go Grandma!” Loved the ABC cake. Do you have a recipe at all that you followed for making the cake. What kind of colorings did you use for the layers? Any advice that you could give me would be helpful as we are making a cake today for my granddaughters 1st Birthday Party tomorrow. Thanks Kim

  28. wow cool. Can I have plz the cake recipe? my daughter first birthday is in 1 week and I’m looking for a fun cake to make. I adore the one you made! Can you please send me the recipe?
    thank you!

  29. Hei KAndra I love your tema and I’m gona make the same to my daughter shes making 6 in April. thanks for the pictures and ideias. I ‘m gona make the same food( hihihih).

  30. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
    The words in your post seem to be running off the screen in Firefox.
    I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with
    internet browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know.
    The style and design look great though! Hope
    you get the issue solved soon. Many thanks

  31. Hi Kendra,
    LOVE your blog, I am doing an ABC theme for my son’s second birthday… how did you make the cards? Thank you, Katie 🙂

  32. Madeline bonilla says

    i love this theme and wanted to do this for a babyshower can you tell me what you use for the abc wood block

    • I found the cube box unfinished at the craft store (I don’t remember which one at this point). Then I just painted it. I bet you can find something similar in stores or online.

  33. This design is wicked! You definitely know how to keep a reader entertained.
    Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job.
    I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you
    presented it. Too cool!

Trackbacks

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  6. […] finally another amazing party by My Insanity! Kendra did a great job on this 1st birthday for her little boy. She was up in Utah […]

  7. […] See more over here on Me and My Insanity. […]

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