It's less than a month before my son's first birthday, I planned the theme to be Thomas & Friends (from the cartoon character Thomas the Tank engine), since his name is also Thomas. I did my research on party ideas for the said theme and I was able to conceptualize my own party.
When planning a party, these are the essential elements that you need to consider :
1) Venue - my kind aunt offered her townhouse garage to be the venue. It's great since the townhouse is newly built and the walls are painted sky blue which coincides with the color scheme of my theme.
2) Food - my husband and I meant to keep it simple and easy, so, we decided to have the kid's party favorite, spaghetti and chicken. Then we added hotdog and marshmallow on a stick as finger food. For dessert, aside from the cake (which I planned on ordering at Sweet Home Bakeshop in Pasig), I decided to try a DIY candy buffet using gummy worms, lollipop tree, cupcake with my homemade frosting and other imported chocolates. My mom-in-law suggested that we should have rice and a viand, but we want to keep it simple and also light, so snacks for everyone is what we are aiming for.
3) Entertainment - games, music and clown performance. Again, my kind aunt sponsored for the clown who she recommended after seeing its performance at a friend's party. For the games, we planned for the usual "bring me" game, piñata and trip to jerusalem but I'll be doing another research on other games that is connected to the theme.
4) Props, Plates etc. - balloons, banderitas, plates, utensils, cups. What is a party without decorations?
For preparation, I recently did my props shopping in Divisoria, I went to party supplies shop located
in Tabora Street, 168 Mall and Lucky Chinatown Mall. You can find lots of character items that can be used as party theme. For boys, party items for Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Cars, Toy Story, Minions (from Despicable Me), Ben10 are also available. For girls, items include Dora, Barbie, Disney Princess, Hello Kitty, Minnie Mouse and many more (sorry I can't enumerate more, because I focused on finding Thomas Train items).
Here are some pics of the things I bought for the party :
Thomas Train items such as Puzzle (3 for PhP 15), Loot bags (10 for PhP 20), Party hats (PhP 25/pack), Banderitas ( 3 for PhP 100), Stationary set (PhP 100/pack), Pens (PhP 10 each)
More Thomas Train items, Piñata (PhP 135), Red and Blue Pail (PhP 55 each), Red and Blue Plate (Php 25/pack of 25's), Red Stripes and Blue Polka Dot Cups (PhP 15/pack of 10's)
Thomas Train Set as props, PhP 100
Letter Balloons (PhP 20 each), Number 1 balloon (PhP 35), 10" diameter Red and Blue Balloons (PhP 55/pack of 25's), Balloon Stick (PhP 20/pack of 20's)
I also finished the layout for the invitation (including the sketch of venue), key chain souvenir and candy buffet labels.
I'm really excited to see what my concept will turn out. Hope this helps out other moms who are planning their kid's party. Check out my next blog of the actual party.
