This was never the plan. We were going to keep it simple, up until about Thursday morning. Then everything changed – we realized the momentous nature of this day. This first birthday with us, the first birthday without her biological family. The newness, potential feelings, potential rollercoaster we were going to be on. I decided to make it stand out, to be a key memory. Zoey is everything colorful and vibrant and we wanted to throw something together – on a budget – that matched that energy: and so was the theme: Color Explosion.
Inside Decor:
I typed in unicorns and rainbows birthday party on Amazon and ordered this set: Amazon Color Fest Birthday Set
I loved how this turned about because it wasn’t ALL unicorn. This simple and colorful happy birthday sign was perfect!
ATTIRE:
I did go pretty FULL unicorn on this outfit but I loved the colorful tu-tu and so did Zoey: Unicorn Birthday Girl Set
CAKE:
Originally I was going to make the cake AND the horn, but I nixed the idea of the horn and just made the layers. Here is what I used :
- 2x Pillsbury Funfetti boxed cake mix. I did a square bottom layer and a circle top layer
- Swirled in pink food coloring on the bottom layer
- Swirled in blue food coloring on the top layer
- 2x homemade buttercream frosting using this recipe: Homemade Buttercream Recipe
- Mixed in purple food coloring for the frosting
- 1/2 bag of Betty Crocker Unicorn Sprinkle Mix
- Horn & eyelashes from Amazon here: Cake Horn & Eyelash Set
Here was the final result (and I am not a baker):
Food
Other than the cake we stayed in line with the theme, and although almost none of it was healthy it was great for a special occasion.
- Birthday Cake Mini Muffins
- Poptarts
- Lucky Charm & Capn Crunch w/ Berries cereal bar
- Berry Parfaits (healthier option but on brand)
- Egg White Frittata bites
- Honest Juice box Variety pack for the kiddos
- Spindrift Variety Pack for the adults
FUN:
Since it’s summer and very hot we set up our water toys w/ a twist:
We have two hard plastic baby pools we got for $10/ea at Target, and a Sprinkler we got for $5 at Walmart.
Then we added glow sticks to the baby pools and chalk bombs to throw along before hitting the water slide we ordered from amazon. You can check the links here:
The Result:
FUN. Seriously, this party was chaotic. My kids were covered in different colors of chalk. The baby pools were all different colors at any given time and the water slide to rinse off was a really great addition to the fun.
Having mixed use space of the front yard, carport and inside made everyone feel comfortable in our pretty small and modest house, but we have seating to help accommodate even the biggest crowds which we are grateful for.
***Box fans or ceiling fans in an outside space are KEY.
Fueling Her Forward 
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