First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas

It’s been almost two months since we threw M’s “first trip around the sun” first birthday party at our house and I’m only just now getting around to posting about it!! With his birthday being in November, it has kind of become an extension of the chaotic holiday season for us 😆.

I was planning this party for a while before it was actually time to throw it, and the amount of times I searched “first trip around the sun birthday ideas” is slightly absurd. I’m such a perfectionist, so obviously this was no exception!

We had been deciding between a Where the Wild Things Are “Wild One” birthday theme and the First Trip Around the Sun birthday theme, but I’m glad we ultimately went with first trip around the sun! It ended up being so cute and fun.

Instead of buying themed decorations, I decided to just purchase a printable set of decorations on Etsy (Here’s a link to the one I got–it was so amazing!). A lot of printer ink and cardstock paper was used, but it was the best decision for me to do the printable stuff because I was able to personalize so much of it.

Here are some of my First Trip Around the Sun birthday ideas!

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First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas: Invitation

We used an awesome Etsy printable decorations bundle by PaperMinxPrintables and it included a regular printable invitation and a digital option. We decided to go with the digital invite and we just texted/emailed our guest list the invitations.

It is very unlike me to do digital invitations, but it was perfect for M’s first birthday since the guest list was mostly just family. We were able to edit the text and the colors of the invitation, but we didn’t change the colors. They matched with our theme already.

First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas: Outfits

For M’s First Trip Around the Sun birthday, I decided to get cute “Mom” and “Dad” space-themed shirts. I got them on Etsy! I also got M a shirt that said “One” on it. They turned out adorable.

M also had a long sleeved onesie under his tee because it was pretty chilly that day! I got the onesie in a pack of space-themed onesies from Hudson Baby. Here they are on Amazon!

First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas: Decorations

Like I mentioned before, we bought a bundle of printable decorations on Etsy for M’s First Trip Around the Sun birthday. Everything in the bundle was editable, which was awesome!

We designed the poster using the printable decorations bundle we got, then we had it printed at Staples. The ONE balloon boxes are from Amazon. You have to do a little assembling for the boxes, but it’s overall pretty easy!

The cute rocket balloon is also from Amazon. I had seen it in some images on Pinterest and on Etsy, and I became somewhat obsessed with obtaining it (😂) because I thought it was too cute.

I bought this balloon arch on Etsy and assembled the whole thing myself. It was quite an experience! Blowing up the balloons was the hardest part, and I’m glad I got an electric balloon inflater (like this one here) for that part. Putting the actual arch together was fun for me, but I might just be a weirdo!

The number 1 balloon is from Amazon and so is the spaceman balloon. I also added in the star & moon balloons throughout my decor.

The high chair banner is from the printable decorations bundle we got. Then I just tied some streamers onto the sides in the theme colors.

The cute little first trip around the sun birthday crown is also from Etsy! My son hated wearing it, so it didn’t get much use, but it’s definitely super adorable and well made!!

I used M’s monthly photos to create this milestone banner and then I hung it on our fireplace mantel in the living room. The design for the banner was part of the Etsy bundle we got, so I just went in and added the photos on my computer, then printed out the finished banner. Super easy!

We had this cute milestone poster that I made using the Etsy decorations bundle. I got it printed at Staples and then had to back it on actual pasteboard. I tried to use this little easel I got from Dollar Tree to hold it up, but that idea was pretty unsuccessful (as you’ll notice in some other photos!). Ya can’t win ’em all!

The Happy Birthday banner was in the first trip around the sun birthday decorations bundle from Etsy. I also used the planet images in the printable decorations bundle, enlarged them on my computer, and printed them out to use as decorations. I love how the planets turned out looking!

First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas: Cake & Food

In an attempt to save a little money, I decided to go ahead and make M’s cake and cupcakes for his first trip around the sun birthday party. This is very unlike me, because I am really NOT a baker. However, they ended up turning out great, and making the cupcakes made me discover that I actually like baking. I started baking some other tasty stuff after this and now I have a new hobby that I have no time for!

Full disclosure: the cake definitely ended up leaning a bit, so it was far from perfect. But for my first cake, not horrible! I used 3 4-inch round cake pans and made the cake 3 layers (hence the leaning!).

To make the cake and the cupcakes, I just doctored up some cake mix! I started with funfetti cake mix. I added one extra egg than the directions call for (the directions said use 3, so I used 4). Instead of oil, I used melted butter and I used twice the amount (the directions said 1/2 cup oil, but I used 1 cup melted butter instead).

I used Satin Ice Buttercream Icing Mix to make the icing. I iced the cupcakes using an icing bag and a star icing tip. Then, I added some gold sprinkles!

The cupcakes were absolutely DELICIOUS! Everyone loved them and they were slightly shocked to hear I had made them!

The cake topper is from Etsy and the number 1 candle is from Dollar Tree. I got the edible stars on Etsy as well!

The cupcake toppers were also a part of the amazing first trip around the sun birthday decorations printable bundle on Etsy! The tiered tray for the cupcakes is cardboard and I got it on Amazon.

I have a tiered tray that I made, but I ended up using it in the other room for the party and somehow I took exactly zero pictures of the area where the actual food was. If you’re looking to use a more permanent tiered tray (and you’re feeling a little crafty) check out my post on making a Dollar Tree tiered tray!

I was having wayyyy too much fun setting up all of my on-theme snacks on the dessert table 😆. The labels were part of the decorations printable bundle, I just edited them to say what I wanted them to say.

We got these adorable planet cake pops on Etsy as well! Perfect for a first trip around the sun birthday theme! And they were also delish.

Here’s your reminder that it really doesn’t matter what the birthday baby’s cake looks like, because it’s going to get destroyed in a hot second!

First Trip Around the Sun Birthday Ideas: Activities

We had a few activities to try and keep people somewhat occupied! I made this personalized box for M and we used it as a time capsule for his first birthday. We had everyone write him a letter and fill out a cute little questionnaire making guesses as to what he will be in the future! We put them in the time capsule box for him to open when he turns 18.

In addition to the letters, we also put all of his birthday cards in there, his shirt that he wore, and all of his birthday decorations that would fit in there. I also had a few things from his baby shower that I put in there as well. I had planned to make a little newspaper telling about current events to put in there as well, but I haven’t gotten a chance to do it yet. Maybe my next project??

We also had a moon bounce (on-theme!) in our backyard for the kids at the party! It was a little chilly that day, but everyone still went out there and had a good bounce. My little one year old LOVED it!

My sweet little baby is growing up! He had such an awesome time at his birthday party and I’m so glad he loved it so much.

It was definitely a lot of work planning and decorating and making things for M’s first trip around the sun birthday party, but it was all soooo worth it! After the party was over I was kind of like “Okay, what do I do now????” 🤣

Time to get moving onto my next craft project, I guess!