Happy Monday and Happy Memorial Day for those of us in America. Today is the day we honor those who have served our country, and are currently serving, in the Military. There will be lots of family gatherings today. Barbeques and picnics all across the nation and more than one red, white and blue birthday party I'm sure! Today we give you the party plan for a very special First Birthday!

                                                           

First off the invitation by Zazzle.com but there are hundreds of different invitations you can use including those that use the photo of your baby! So cute!

Speaking of cute...you can always dress your birthday boy or girl up in a sailor suit or just this adorable hat from yoyo.com for under $5!

 I have been that young mother with a baby and no budget so when I found OrientalTrading.com I was immediately hooked. These multicolor nets that can be draped across your backyard fence, tables and used as curtains across doorways are only $4 each. Even one would add beautifully to your theme when draped across your food or cake table!

 Speaking of easy, this nautical banner is under $10 for 100 feet of decoration...this would go around your whole backyard or decorate every table for very little budget!

 Not everyone has these fancy decanters but I wanted to show you how you can use just a little of the banner mentioned above to add decor to your plain white tablecloth! Set up the drinks in pitchers or cans/bottles for the same look. Stripped paper straws are available almost anywhere but, with this colorful party, regular striped straws would work as well.

 I love simple DIY. These labels from Etsy are under 50 cents each and so easy to just stick onto grocery store clear plastic cups.

 Your food table can be really easy to tie into the theme as well. Just get a yard of striped or starred fabric and drape it right over the center of the table. If you have one of those nets handy, drape that over the entire table. Then just set your food and drinks onto it.

These little popcorn buckets would be perfect for a DIY centerpiece. Fill with popcorn, stick in a Nautical Flag made from scrapbook paper and glued to a skewer and you have the perfect decoration for your table.

 Favors don't need to be complicated at this age. Ask your friends if their kids eat fruit snacks before giving them these or candy but don't be tempted to buy those huge bags of kid trinkets either...most of those are a choking hazard for this age.

Since a first birthday party is usually a family affair you could make up these really cute Bon Voyage bags by using brown paper lunch bags and scrapbook paper that you have printed on your home printer. Attach the tag to the bag with double stick tape and fill the bag with something fun like kettle corn or cotton candy!

 Finally there is dessert. Cupcakes are really the easiest thing for a Mom on the go to make. They take just about 20 minutes are easy to frost and you can just pop in cupcake picks like these from Etsy.com .

You can, however, make a bigger deal out of them with this 1st Birthday Sailor cupcake holder! From Orientaltrading.com it will set you back only $8. What a great way to decorate the center of your food table for just a little of your budget!

Next week we are going to be spotlighting summer picnics! How to make your family picnic a bit more special!

Cat