My son celebrated his first birthday this weekend in Panda style! The color scheme was black and white, and the theme was panda in honor of this stuffed panda E got for Christmas and instantly fell in love with. I got the party supplies (black table cloth, napkins, plates, plastic silverware) at the dollar store.
I like to have a dress-up component to the 1st birthday party (my first son’s 1st bday was a pirate dress up party) and so dress code was black & white and I purchased striped black and white scarves for all the party attendees at the DS too. We also provided panda badges for party goers to wear.
I wanted to make most of the decorations and try to use what I had on hand, or find what I needed at the dollar store.
My sister and I made the panda badges out of felt. We hot glued the features on, and used fabric paint for the white panda eyes. It cost about $1 to make them all, as felt squares are about 25 cents at the local craft store.
I made some black and white birthday pennant-style flags to hang up as decorations. All the fabric for these was already on hand (the gingham was from a reycled shirt, the white fabric was from old curtains). I sewed the pennants onto a candy garland I crocheted for holiday decorations.
Since my two boys were the only kids attending the party, we made a simple game appropriate for a 2-1/2 and 1 year old to play: Pin the nose on the panda. I used recycled diaper tabs on the back of the noses to make them stick to the felt. Both boys enjoyed the game, but E played it multiple times. We didn’t bother with blindfolds since the boys are so young!
I made panda cupcakes (actually not cake – no bake Oreo dessert) with mini oreos.
And panda rice balls with sushi rice and olives.
There are some more party photos in the gallery:
12 Comments
Vone
Very cute – I love themed parties.
katy
a panda party – such a clever, refreshing theme from Elmo, little buckaroos or pirates! Love the Oreo dessert, black and white attire and bunting. Well done!
Lauri
Thanks for the ideas! One of my sons loves pandas.
Tonggu Momma
My daughter and I are panda obsessed! Thanks so much for sharing your party ideas. I am filing them away.
Kolonie
OMG that is is great I am actually doing the exact theme for my daughters 1st birthday this Saturday!!! She got a stuffed panda for xmas as well that she completely feel in love with so that’s why me and the DH decided panda theme!! very awesome!
tango
So cute! I love-love-love that this is an adorable theme yet still feels comfortable, approachable, achievable… What a great party! The color-coordinated guests is a cool idea and makes for great pictures! My panda-obssessed daughter’s party is next weekend. I wish I would have found this sooner, I’d have incorporated these ideas.
Jana
I’ve been searching for ideas for a Panda Party for my daughter who is turning one in 2 months. I decided to go with Panda since I have called her my little panda bear since I was pregnant. Thank you so much for posting these ideas. I have pinned it so I can easily come back to it. Such wonderful ideas.
kedspandalover
Thanks so much! I’m throwing a panda birthday party in two weeks, and was at a loss for ideas. I really love the rice cakes, they’re so original! I am obsessed with giant pandas and I’m sure I will use these things more than once.
kedspandalover
? how do you make the rice balls? just roll ’em up?
heather
@kedspandalover, I just used a measuring cup. I used sticky rice (calrose) and prepared it according to directions, then I scooped it in a measuring cup and unmolded it onto a tray.