Rookie of the Year Birthday Party

A baseball-themed 1st birthday party for our little MVP!

This was such a fun party to plan! My husband is a huge baseball fan, specifically the Yankees. His cousin, our son’s godmother, is a big Yankees fan. She gave us a baseball rug and monthly onesies for my sprinkle, and that is when I knew Joey’s first birthday party had to be— baseball-themed ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!

I was flooded with ideas for this party, so I knew I had to get organized. Tons of crafting, lots of prepping, things that take some time. First thing I did was walk our house and map out the party. This layout would serve as the basic setup for all of our future parties. Once I had a plan, the crafting can begin! Let get into this amazing Rookie of the Year birthday party!

The balloon arch was from Amazon, and the first one I had ever made. The kit made it way easier then I thought it was going to be.

I wanted to create a big entrance. I purchased the arch cut files from the Etsy shop Vector911.

This took some planning and work. I had to design the cut file like a puzzle piece and then put it together on the wall. But it came out looking great and was a big hit with guests.

To give more of the stadium illusion we put up this photo back drop I found on Amazon here. Everyone had a lot of fun taking pictures on their way into the party!

These were the most adorable favor boxes! These I crafted out of card stock. They took a long time, but seeing my guests faces of amazement made it all worth it!

I purchased the cut file from Tailored Vectors on Etsy. This file was easy to use and came with assembly instructions! I wanted to customize these even more with changeing the logo out on some hat boxes. Some hats got the Yankee logo, some got the number 1 and some got the word one. The sticker on the brim had each child’s name on it too.

My family and I wore matching tee shirts. These were easy to make. I bought the files from EMGraphix; they made the perfect tee shirts for us.

I wanted some vintage baseball elements brought into the decorations. My husband’s cousin knew a high school baseball coach who gave me a bucket of used balls which turned out to be a perfect added touch.

A little special touch I added, was digging out my husband’s old baseball trophies and adding them around and decorations.

For our menu, we wanted to keep it traditional stadium food! We bought a retro-style popcorn machine from Amazon, which has come in handy for our movie night parties. Borrowed a hotdog tabletop cart, Pretzels from Philly Pretzel Factory, pulled pork sliders, and sides. Cracker Jacks were a must to have on the table as well.

We made the pretzel wall out of 2x4s and wood dowels.

The signs were the easiet thing I crafted for the party. Using Canva (if dont have Canva but love to create you should download it now!) I made all the signs and glued them to canvas from the dollar store to make them sturdy.

Joey’s birthday is in June, so we thought this was a cute party activity for the kids, “sliding practice”!

Another cute idea was “batting practice”, we set up a child’s baseball tee and a tub full of water balloons and the smacked away at them.

The cupcakes and smash cake were all made by my talented mother!

Rookie of the year was the best way to celebrate our little man turning one. Our little rookie had the best 1st birthday party any MVP could ask for! We really hit this one out of the park!