The first birthday is so special, and I felt my son Cullen should be the star, the center of attention, so since he turned 1 two days before Valentine's Day, I decided to do an Everybody Loves Cullen theme, a play on the popular TV show and on Valentine's. It was a celebration of the end of his first year as the star and the start of his second "season". It started with the invitations that were part of a "promotional packet". I am very experienced with computer programs, so that helped, but they could also be made by actual cutting and gluing and taking it to a local copy shop to have printed. I used clipart and Powerpoint to do mine. The background was faded hearts. On the front was an old fashioned TV with his picture as the "show" on the screen. It said Everybody Loves Cullen. Then on the inside it said "Cullen's first year wraps February 12, 2004 and we'd like for all who love him to join us in celebrating as his next year premieres. Please be sure to wear the enclosed promotional t-shirt to the party. Be sure to bring your VIP pass. This is an invitation-only event. Brough to you by CBS, the Cullen Birthday Station" On the back, I put a clapboard and I found a chalkboard font and imposed the appropriate words onto the clapboard..Everybody Loves Cullen, Second Year Premiere, February 12, 2004, 6:11pm (his time of birth), A CBS production, in association with the Justice (our last name) family. Since he's only one and we live out of state, only grandparents were invited to the party. It was very intimate. I made shirts by printing out iron on transfers on my printer and transferring them to white tshirts. Everyone had a shirt with Cullen's picture inside a red heart on the front. His Nana's shirt said Nana Loves Cullen around the heart, Papa's said PaPa Loves Cullen, etc…I also made a onesie for Cullen to wear that had a star in the middle saying "I'm one today" and around the star said "Everybody Loves Me". The font I used for his shirt was a kid print type font so it looked to have been written by a child. I also made the VIP passes. I looked around online to get an idea of how these things look. In the background was a black and white picture of Cullen. Then, over top of this background I put "VIP PASS, Premiere Party, (then a picture of the person attending was placed below this), February 12, 2004, Please show pass at the door." I laminated these and punched a hole at the top. Then I placed a white lanyard with red hearts though the hole so these could be worn around the guests necks at the party. These combined with the shirts made for really unique and memorable pictures, especially seeing the grandpas in them! I made 2 "dressing room stars" with Cullen Justice written on them..one I placed on his bedroom door and the other on the back of his highchair. I also made two promotional posters to hang at the party. I did these on my computer and enlarged them by using the option to print them out 2 sheets by 2 sheets. This spreads your image out over a 2x2 sheet poster. Then you can fit it together and tape it in place. Having a photo printer is a must for this. This is probably something that can also be done at the copy shop. One poster was a promotional for Cullen's "show". It had his face in the center with a sunburst around him and Everybody Loves Cullen in 3D lettering at the top. Below his picture, it said "Starring Cullen Justice, Another Year of Everyone's Favorite Baby! Premiering February 12, 2004, Airing all day, every day!" Then below that were the credits. "Also featuring: Mom, Dad and Big Brother Caleb; Created by: Mom and Dad: Written and Directed by: The Justice Family; Special Assistants to Mr. Justice: Mom, Dad and Caleb; Wardrobe by Baby Gap; Catering by: Gerber and Enfamil." I also copy and pasted the CBS logo from one of their affiliate's sites and put that at the bottom. The background of this was tiny red hearts and then there were large red hearts down the left side. I placed red ribbons made out of 35mm film at the top corners of the poster. The other poster I did was a "Got Milk" poster. Since age 1 is the official time to start drinking whole milk, I thought this would be appropriate. This feature him wearing sunglasses and the background was plane gray..I found the actual Got Milk? font on the internet, so that made it look even more authentic. At the top, it said, "It takes more than being loved by everyone to make this little star big and strong. And now that I'm one, I need the real deal. That's why I drink whole milk. Formula is for babies!" In the bottom center, it said "Cullen Justice, star of Everybody Loves Cullen and official milk-drinker since February 12, 2004," and the below that it said the infamous "Got Milk?"  I gave him a milk mustache by using the paint program on my computer and whiting out above his lip. These were a huge hit at the party! The entire party was themed in red and white. I think the simpler the colors, the better the impact. I hung different sized hearts that had his face glued on from the ceiling. All the pictures were from different ages, so this was a nice look back over his first year. I made his cake in a heart shape, no less. I gave each of the grandparents a beaded heart-shaped ornament that had a picture of them with Cullen in it. These were the placecards for the table. I also made placemats with white paper, a red doily and picture of his face cut out in a heart (also all different ages). The centerpiece was a heart-shaped floating candle with heart garland wrapped around the dish it floated in. Red tablecloth of course. We played a game called Who Know's Cullen Best? and the prize was a framed 5x7 b/w picture of him. Questions about his favorites, details of his birth, etc...This was also a big hit! The food could be anything..we had fruit trays, veggie pizza and deli sandwiches...the dip for the fruit was in a heart-shaped bowl, as was the fruit on a heart-shaped tray. I also made stationery for everyone and gave it to them to write Cullen a "love letter" for a keepsake, which I placed inside a Hollywood reel tin for safe keeping till he's old enough to look back. The last event of the evening was something special I did for the grandparents. Since it was a premiere party, I made a compilation video (also on the computer) of his first year. It actually began with a title screen "The Story of Cullen", then with video of me going to the dr and hearing the heartbeat for the first time, to his ultrasound, to his birth and pictures and video of him from that time forward. I added music to this...2 songs, one was Love of My Life by Michael W Smith (such a beautiful song) and then These are the Days by Van Morrison. At the end, a screen shot said Congratulations Cullen on a very special first year! When I showed this, I turned out all the lights. We have a flat screen computer panel, so it made viewing a little better. Many DVD players will also play these kind of CD's..you just have to save it in a specific format..a VCD, I believe. Unfortunately, our DVD did not do that, so I had to use the monitor. I made the grandparents a copy of this video CD, and also made a cover for the CD case...again, with his picture in a heart and Everybody Loves Cullen and February 12, 2004. This capped the party off so well, and it made a fantastic, emotional keepsake for the grandparents. Since we didn't have other children at the party besides our other son, it helped to cater the party more toward the adults. But many of these ideas can be used even in children are going to be present as well. And actually, you could introduce many more creative games that the kids would enjoy. This could be a theme not only at Valentine's, although it did help in finding decorations! It's really universal and I felt something different from the ordinary themed parties. I absolutely love theme parties and I believe if you're going to do them, you have to do it all the way!