rnlMusings: Jungle Safari Themed First Birthday {Decor}

Today I'm sharing the detail behind the decor from the little Man's safari themed 1st birthday. Don't forget to enter to win a fabulous Etsy prize pack giveaway featuring all of our Etsy designers over at The Wise Baby.

Starting with one of my favorite details from the little Man’s first birthday were the amazing invitations created by one of my incredibly talented friends at PS Paper Couture. She pulled together beautiful details to create a passport style invitation, including the customs stamp from our most recent trip. And the boarding passes are amazing, check out all that detail.

As the little guests entered their jungle safari adventure, their first stop was base camp. Here they gathered their supplies like binoculars, safari hats, and picked up their safari passes. The back of the safari passes had a fun safari adventure itinerary that included: a photo in the safari jeep, searching for a herd of zebra, a romp in the quicksand pit. For slightly older safari adventurers, I created a custom activity book.

Safari supplies for our little adventurers. Safari hats, binoculars, & their safari passes.

I wrapped a few cardboard boxes in contact paper, and stenciled in a few stats about the little man, and included the usual shipping terms. I also created a cargo manifest and altered it for 'live cargo' and added washi tape in the par avion pattern to finish it off.

The guest book, a copy of Disney’s Jungle Book, and favors were also featured at “base camp”. I know guest books aren’t typical for first birthday parties, but I love the idea of the little Man reading his signed copy in years to come, and it’s another wonderful addition to his library. The favors, stuffed animals from the Kohl’s Cares collection, were housed in a vintage crate. I love that they doubled as favors and were a great way to give back.

The centerpieces consisted of a safari animals that I spray painted gold, and a framed picture of the little Man throughout his first year. To add some texture and add a more safari feel, I added burlap runners to each table.

One of my favorite details from the party was the favorite things poster by Moulage Collection is one of my favorite party details. I love how it turned out, and we received so many compliments on it. I can’t wait to frame it for his nursery; it’s the perfect way to capture his first year.

We created several play areas for the little ones, which included a 'quicksand pit', a safari jeep photo booth, and a floating zebra herd. The safari rides photo booth came to life with several yards of burlap, the safari jeep, and a few jungle friends from the little Man’s nursery. The Mister built the safari jeep using a cardboard box, and after several coats of spray paint and some quick glue gunning, we had ourselves a fun photo prop. Using an inflatable pool filled with plastic balls, we created the “quicksand pit”, which was by far the most popular play area at the party. The “zebra herd” consisted of several inflated mylar zebra balloons, the inspiration behind the zebra herd was this Land of Nod design photo. With several floating zebras around the party, our little guests could spot them with their binoculars, or take them for a walk.