For my son's first birthday, we wanted a sweet party theme that wasn't commercial, so we had a Royal Celebration. The invitations read "Prince Pablo Turns One, Hope You Can Come" on the outside with drawing of a knight and dragon. On the inside they read, "King Roger and Queen Elizabeth hereby invite you to join us to celebrate the first birthday of Little Prince Pablo... Sunday the tenth of December from three to four-thirty in the afternoon at Castle (Last Name)... Please respond to the Queen Mum by December 3." We decorated the house with blue, purple and pink balloons and streamers and a huge mural I drew of a castle, cute fire-breathing dragon, knight and princess. I mixed an audio cassette tape of Fairy Tale Music (classical pieces mixed with Disney-type songs such as "Some Day My Prince Will Come" and "When You Wish Upon A Star") and played it in the background throughout the party. Upon arrival, older children were invited to decorate pre-cut construction paper crowns which they then wore as party hats.  I took a photo of each family in front of the mural and included prints in the thank-you notes. We had a beautiful castle cake which a friend made and a separate cake for my son to demolish. Older children played "Pin the Crown on the King" and the babies/toddlers played "Knock Over the Castle Tower" with their parents (adult builds tower out of blocks and tries to finish it before child knocks it over).  This was a great game for little ones and the adults thought it was cute and funny. For prizes, each child got a Fairy Tale storybook to take home. We had older children act as Royal Helpers while opening presents.  The girls wore party dresses and one even came in a tiara. It was simple and sweet, and the perfect amount of "party" for a one-year-old to handle.