Rubber Ducky First Birthday Party

Time flies when you're having fun!  And this year certainly has flown by.  It's hard to believe that we are celebrating Summer's first birthday already!  It seems like just yesterday that I was announcing her arrival...

Mike came up with the theme for Summer's birthday party.  I was brainstorming out loud and asked him if he had any ideas.  Immediately he said that we should do a rubber ducky theme because Summer loves ducks.  It didn't take any convincing for me to agree!

I designed the invitations myself and had them printed out as 5x7" cards.

We chose to keep the food fairly simple because we were serving 25-30 guests.  I decided to do a hot dog bar with simple toppings like chili, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and relish.

Fresh fruit and chips are always good sides for grilled food!  

The rubber duck Jello was my favorite part and it was a hit with the kids, and the adults!  I just used blue raspberry jello and poured it into individual clear cups.  Then when the jello was set, I topped each cup with a little Rubber Ducky !  Everyone got to keep their ducks, so the kids loved that part.

I opted for yellow and pink accents for the party.  Yellow for the ducks and pink because it's a girl's party and you have to have pink, right?  I served the drinks in Pint Jars along with Pink Polka Dots Paper Straws.  I floated a few rubber ducks in the punch bowl also.  The punch was pink lemonade and Sierra Mist, simple and delicious!

I purchased a copy of "Happy Birthday to You! " by Dr. Seuss for the guests to sign.  This will be a fun keepsake for Summer when she is older as she can read the messages from her friends and family.

I kept the decorations pretty simple and this was my favorite part!  I made copies of the monthly growth pictures I took of Summer from 1 month to 11 months old.  Then I used Mini Clothespins to pin them onto a string and hung them in front of the window.  The guests loved to see her growth!

Outside I set up a kiddie pool with ducks in it for the kids to play with.  We also had bubbles out as party favors for each of the kids.  They loved the pool and a few of them got a little wet!  This picture is of Summer with her best friend who is just 6 days younger than her.

What party is complete without cake?  Not ours!  I opted to make cupcakes instead of one large cake because I knew we would be eating outside and I thought they would be easier.

Summer absolutely loved her cupcake, especially the frosting.  She ate the entire thing!  (Cupcake recipe coming soon...)

After lunch we headed inside for the birthday girl to open her gifts.  She was so excited and had so much fun!

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