Birthday Party Ideas for Kids: Themes, Decor & DIY Fun
Balloons, cake and chaos- birthday memories I never want to forget.
We’re a week away from July 1st — which, in our family, kicks off a whole month of nonstop celebrating.
July starts with the 4th, a few days later it’s my oldest daughter Lydia’s birthday, then my birthday, then our youngest, Blakely’s, the day after mine — and Jackson’s is the first week in August. Add in two family reunions, a few quick trips to Bear Lake, and Pioneer Day on the 24th… and that’s just how July looks for us every year. It comes raging in with confetti, chaos, and so much fun — and we truly love it.
If you didn’t know, I spent about five years running my own balloon garland and event business before selling it in 2023. I know the ins and outs of over-the-top parties, fancy setups, and how to DIY my way around a balloon arch. Planning my kids’ birthdays has always been one of my favorite ways to tap into my creativity and make their day feel truly magical. I’m fully aware they’re a bit over the top — but when you know how to DIY most of it and have talented friends to help where you fall short, it’s just too fun not to.
So if you’re looking for a little real-life, Pinterest-worthy birthday inspo — here’s a roundup of our parties over the years. Some big, some simple, all full of love (and sugar).
🎉 2024: Lydia’s Golden Birthday
If you’ve never heard of a golden birthday, it’s when you turn the age of your birthdate. Lydia’s is July 7th, so she turned 7 — and you better believe I embraced the “golden” part because, if you know me, you know my love for gold.
I strung gold and champagne ribbon from our patio string lights, layered a gold sequin runner over a soft cheesecloth runner, and added pink and gold tableware with bud vases of garden flowers. Gold candlesticks topped it all off — so golden, so magical.
🍦 2024: A Laid-Back Birthday on the Lake
Blakes and I shared an ice cream cake with family after a full day of boating. Honestly? One of the best ways to spend a birthday. Not every party is over the top — just the ones I have the energy for. Proof you don’t need much more than family and cake!
🚀 2024: Jackson’s Space Cake
We happened to be on an adults-only vacation during this little guy’s birthday. When we got back, we grabbed a space-themed cake from our local grocer, found a few balloons, and celebrated just the five of us. Simple, sweet, and easy.
🌙 2023: Our First Year of Three Parties
Had to be one of our busiest summers yet! Lydia’s “space” party was super chill — slip ’n slide, snacks, and cake.
And how could I not include this photo of her brother enjoying his cake :)?
🧁 2023: Blakey’s First Birthday
A small family gathering to celebrate the first full year of our sweet caboose. I built a balloon backdrop, added floral touches, and had a friend bake the cutest coordinating cake.
⛳️ 2023: Jackson’s Golf Buddy Party
Quite literally the only photo proof we have that this party happened — but how cute is that golf cake? Sometimes, that’s all you need.
🐰 2022: Some Bunny’s 5
It is not easy to find bunny decor after Easter, but we made it work!
A balloon client-turned-friend built the sweetest bunny backdrop
I had help with all the desserts, and had my very talented friends help with macarons, and her birthday cake.
can you even, with the bunny macarons, SO CUTE.
This cake… It tasted as good as it looked too.
Yes, I was nine months pregnant at the time — bless my balloon crew for helping set everything up with me!
I added pastel gummy bears and fresh florals to the tablescape, and tucked flowers into the balloon garland for extra magic.
One way to really dress up your balloon garland is to add in florals. I love the dimension it adds to them.
🦕 2022: Dinosaur Party
About a week postpartum, so we kept it simple: a balloon backdrop, Coldstone ice cream cake, and dinosaur figurines.
Cake, ice cream, dinos — that’s kid heaven.
2021- Fairy Garden Party
This may have been my favorite, of all the parties. Fairies bring out the little girl in me who still wants to believe in the magic of fairies, Tinkerbell, polly pockets, and all things whimsical and mini.
I ordered a ridiculous amount of white string lights, and my MIL helped put together the PVC poles to hold the strands above the little picnic table. I ordered paper butterflies off amazon, and connected them to fishing line, to hang down from the lights to sway above the girls. A lot of these props came through marketing shoots and friendors. The AGLOW candle holder, the cute bud vases and florals, and all the fairy paper products came from Meri Meri.
The real magic came alive at night, and its a bummer it takes so long for the sun to go down, because this was hours after her party ended. But it was dreamy, magical, and about broke my heart to take it all down.
2021- Baby Boy’s First Birthday
I had made up my mind, for our little guy. I loved the look of the blue ombre birthday, haha and that’s exactly what we did.
This little guy loves throwing balls, catching balls, and renting a mini ball pit was the perfect little activity for him .
Stop… how do I turn back time?
these cookies, are so cute. I wish I had taken more pictures of them
2020- Rainbow, Unicorn (every 3 year olds dream right?)
I actually went quite over the top with this once, considering how incredibly pregnant I was at the time. I started the day off with rainbow pancakes for her, and just kept adding to it.
I DIY-ed rainbow tablecloth fringe and made a little white balloon garland to cover the top of it.
We had her party a few days later, and moved everything outside again. Rainbow balloon garland and I spray painted over small silver foil letter balloons, to make them look like a rainbow too.
a very talented friend made her unicorn cake
and how cute are these unicorn macarons a friend of mine made too!
2019 - Coco
My daughter was obsessed with Coco, we watched that movie at least 100 times that year. My husband’s cousin made this incredible cake, and it was the star of the party. I bought faux orange rose petals, to look like the marigolds that are used for the pathways on dia los muertos.
DIY fringe around the fireplace, I spent way too much on large cardboard cutouts of the characters and placed them around the house.
I hung papel picado banners across the ceiling, and we had a huge slip in slide in the backyard, orange tarp of course ;).
I even ordered mini guitars spray painted them white and drew on them with a sharpie to mimic the look of Ernesto De La Cruz’s guitar.
I can’t believe I finally got all of these in one place — and that we’re about to dive into another party month!
I’ve linked what I could still find below — plates, runners, cute bunny backdrops — so you can recreate the bits you love. If you end up using one of these themes, tag me or leave a comment — it makes my day to see the magic live on in your families too. 💛