Boy Girl Twin Party Themes for First Birthday
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I told myself Iād have my boy girl twin first birthday theme posts up before their half birthday; however, they turned 1.5 earlier this month and this went unwritten. To be fair to myself, my twins actually had 2 different birthday parties - one here in LA that was lemon themed. ( At least I posted that one well before they were1.5!) We also had one in Dallas and that party is what this post is about. The date and time were the same for each twin; however, I had 2 different themes. Yes, I had a total of 2 parties for them and 3 different themes. Hah! For a quick peak, you can see this video I made from the day here.
Keep reading to see details of the party and garner inspiration for an upcoming party!
A friend asked me the other day the reasoning I had behind two separate themes and if I had read it somewhere. It honestly just comes from experience. I have one sister and our birthdays are literally back to back, though three years apart - August 2nd and August 3rd. We always had the best birthday parties, our own themes, and on different days. It helped make us feel special even though they were so close to each other. Not that they will remember, but I didnāt think it was fair to box the twins into the same theme, as they are two different people with their own likes, dislikes, and personalities.
I love a good party theme, so I actually keep a running note on my iPhone with ideas for them! For Olive, our little girl, the theme was The Good Ship Ollipop, like Shirley Templeās The Good Ship Lollipop. It is a cute play on Oās name and sassy-sweet just like her. I also love that Shirley Temple puts her pointer finger up, which was very fitting for a first birthday. The main color in Shirleyās dress is red, so I went with a pinky red for Oliveās pop color. For Cyprus, our little boy, his theme was Number One Cype Man, like Number One Hype Man, but again another play on his name / we often call him Cype. He gets so excited and happy and pumps you up, so I thought it was the perfect theme for him. I was kind of thinking Jump Man / Nike / Sportish if the theme doesnāt make sense to you. This concept was a bit harder to create, but I love how it turned out. Since I was thinking sporty, the pop color I used for this was green, kind of like a turf green. To bring both themes together, I used black. It wasnāt my first choice as the neutral, but it was fall and I think black worked really well.
If youāre stuck on a theme and canāt figure out any workable ideas, I would start with what they like. Do they have a favorite food or book? Are there any plays on their name you can do? Once you consider these things, youāll likely have at least one good idea!!
INVITATIONS
Canva is my best friend! Once I chose the themes, I went to work on their invitations. Like I mentioned on their other first birthday party, I really wanted mail invitations; however, I didnāt have time. I created these cute images and texted them out to friends and family. I will print copies out for their baby booksā¦ which clearly I have not done yet either. Hah!
Oliveās invitation was fairly easy, as I took the actual Good Ship Lollipop font, as well as the pattern from Shirley Templeās dress to make the background. I already had the photo of her with her finger, so I removed the background (on remove.bg) and found a life preserver image I liked and went from there.
Cyprusā was simple once I figured out what to do. I was at a loss, but then I decided a grassy background would be perfect! I found a foam finger photo I liked, removed the background on the image I chose, and went from there.
Itās always a fun idea to have the invitation on display at a party, to really bring the theme to life!
OUTFITS
My favorite section!! I wanted Olive to look like Shirley Temple, so I found her dress at Gap. Itās sold out now, but if you want to search for it, the name of it was Baby Flannel Tiered Dress. Alsoā¦ I have two because I thought I lost one? So let me know if you want the extra! I bought this collar (yes it is adult size, but it worked!) on Amazon to make it more Shirley Temple-esque and then added a black ribbon for the final touch. Oh and of course a big black bow! Her headband was a gift, so Iām not sure where it was from, but she also has these clips and they are perfect. I loved this look because it easily re-wearable. She actually wore it around Christmas and Valentineās Day, sans collar!
For Cyprus I kept with the red / black / green color scheme and he wore black jeans he already had, but I made him a special shirt. I had seen similar designs elsewhere, but I didnāt want to shell out the cash to cover it and I knew I could make it myself. It has a cute little number 1 hand and his name, which I love! He gets a lot of wear out of it as well. I think I will make him a ā2ā one too! I didnāt want Olive to be left out, so I actually med her one as well. If you want to buy one instead, they have these at Maisonette and these on Etsy.
For Nick, I actually made him a āPapaā version of Cyprusā shirt and then I just wore an old, black, Topshop dress I had with shorts underneath it so I could move around easier and it was perfect. Iām big on re-wearing things for as long as I can, so I felt really good about these party outfits.
DECORATIONS
Lollipops (We lined the grass with these and also hand them randomly around the house / in vases.)
Balloon Arch (I wasnāt sure what color to do, but I like how the black and silver set turned out!)
Turf (We put this under the chocolate cupcake tiered tray, basically as decor, no real use, but it tied everything together.)
Foam Finger (We used this as a photo op prop for Cyprus.)
Life Preserve (We used this as a photo op prop for Olive. I bought the preserve as is and my mom put sticker letters on it to say āGood Ship Ollipop.ā
Tableware. (We had black and white buffalo plaid plates and then plain black cups, and black napkins. I was worried it would be too dark, but it was our perfect pop color.)
Burlap Swag - I brought this with me because we used it at the LA party and stenciled āoneā on them, but I forgot to hang them up.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Sallyās Baking Addiction Strawberry Cupcakes
Sallyās Baking Addiction Chocolate Cupcakes
Sallyās Baking Addiction Sugar Cookies (listed in the āparty activitesā section)
Lemonade
Water
Cheese Quesadillas (cut into strips - these went so fast!)
Vegetable Tray (This was kind of intense, but I had Nick make a ship to put in front of the veggie tray. You can see from the photos, but there were little cucumber boats with a bell pepper/toothpick pole and a cucumber slice sail. Thereās a little mozzarella flag and then ranch in the boat, topped with a red lifesaver gummy. These were next to the veggie tray, along with homemade ranch dip.)
CAKE
I love chocolate cake, but we donāt plan on introducing chocolate until the twins are 2+ years old so both of the cakes were more of a vanilla flavor. I shared the refined-sugar free and dye-free cake recipe I used for the twins here and it was delicious! Iām very happy with how they turned out. Would 100% do again! You can check out all the details on the cake specific post, but they each had their own cake and had different color (natural) frostings. Cyprusā was green and Oliveās was pink. They were three layered / 6ā cakes, so dramatic like a smash cake usually is, but also kid friendly and on the smaller side. I
Side note, I took off their clothes while they ate cake and just put these mushie bibs on them to make clean up easier.
FAVORS
I like favors that people will actually enjoy / are fun! I went with an easy snack grab bucket by the front door, filled with themed Cyprus and Olive treats. Because it was mostly adults, with a handful of children, there wasnāt really a point to have baby / kid friendly items.
I bought boxes of Cracker Jacks for Cyprusā favor and Organic + Dye Free Lollipops as Oliveās favor. I grabbed printable round stickers to print their faces on to make them personalized. I chose the photos, then removed the background by uploading them to remove.bg (free website), then created the sticker file on Canva (free version) and printed via Word. I loved how they turned out!!
THANK YOU NOTES
This was the exact same as the other first birthday party I threw them. While the twins obviously couldnāt write their own notes yet, I did want them to participate. I bought blank mailable sized folded cards and some non-toxic crayons. They literally tried to eat them, so thatās why I went with a ācleanerā brand. They are also chunky and easier for a little hand to hold! I wrote THANK YOU on the card, then let the twins color on them. I of course wrote the note on the inside; regardless, people eat this up and it feels really special. And they should! In todayās day and age, people are incredible flaky, so I personally was very thankful for those who made my twins a priority.
PARTY ACTIVITES
While we didnāt have any kids at our LA party, we did have some children at our Dallas party! There werenāt a ton, so I didnāt feel the need to do a soft play feature or ball pit; however, I wanted something for kids as well as adults to do. Social anxiety can be crippling, so I wanted an activity for people to do where they could use their hands and relax. I decided a cookie decorating station was the best bet! I used Sallyās Baking Addiction sugar cookie recipe and purchased themed cookie cutters. I bought a lollipop shape for Olive and a foam finger shape for Cyprus. I thought I had alphabet cookie cutters, but couldnāt find them. It was my plan to do one set of each of their names in addition to the fun shapes; however, I didnāt realize they were missing until it was too late to order a set. I used leftover frosting from their birthday cakes and the cupcakes I made for people to frost themselves and provided toppings like dye free sprinkles and candies like Unreal Chocolate Gems to decorate with.
I hope this inspired you for your party!! Birthday parties can be stressful, but personally I have such good memories of mine. Youāre doing a great job and even if your child doesnāt remember it, you will. Make the memories! Just donāt stress too much ;) XOXO
If you liked this post, you may enjoy these:
Refined Sugar and Dye Free First Birthday Cake
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