Oliver’s Bookish First Birthday Party: Celebrating “One for the Books” (under $100) + Free Printable Party Bundle

Oliver’s Bookish First Birthday Party: Celebrating “One for the Books” on a Budget

There’s something so tender about celebrating a first birthday. It’s not just about your little one turning one—though that milestone is worth celebrating in itself—it’s also about everything you, as parents, have experienced, endured, and accomplished in that first whirlwind year. Those first twelve months are filled with sleepless nights, belly laughs, first steps, unexpected tears, and a thousand little moments you never want to forget.

That’s why, when Oliver’s first birthday came around, we knew we wanted to gather family and friends who had loved him (and us!) so well over this past year. Oliver didn’t quite understand that the party was for him, but he was surrounded by people who had prayed for him, cheered for him, and celebrated with us since the day he was born. It became as much a celebration of his first year of life as it was of our first year as his parents—a joyful moment to pause and reflect on God’s goodness in this season.

The Theme: “One for the Books”

Since we’re a book-loving family, we chose a literary theme for Oliver’s big day—“One for the Books.” I designed the invitations using a vintage Little Golden Book–inspired template (in case you missed it, here is my original inspiration and planning post), and from there the theme just took off. I kept the décor and food simple and budget-friendly, but with just enough bookish charm to make it special.

I found that this was a theme that was surprising very flexible. And it, thankfully, lent itself to being very budget friendly. I purchased so little for this party! The primary cost savings was in designing my own decorations using bookcovers in Canva. I’m sharing the entire canva template with you — it includes cupcake toppers, book bunting, “chapter one” bunting, food signs, an invitation and thank you sign, and more!

If you want to just cut to the chase, you can grab my template here. (To use this, you’ll need to sign up for a free canva account, but it’s easy to use and, of course, free!)

Because the decor was so DIY and affordable (just some printing and craft supplies I had on hand), the whole party was very affordable. Including the food we bought, we spent under $100 on the entire party. Spending a little on a party helps it feel just so much more fun to me; I don’t have that panic that we won’t enjoy it enough because we spent a lot. By being budget friendly it somehow helped me enjoy our friends so much more! It just might help you, too. Here’s what we did!

Decorations

All the designed elements in Canva I mention below are in this template link.

Cupcake toppers: I designed these in Canva, printed them at home, and glued them to toothpicks I already had.
Bookworm party favors: $4 cellophane bags + bulk gummy worms + a “Bookworms” label I designed in Canva.
Textable invitation and thank you sign: I displayed them with a sign that read, Thanks for coming—take some bookworms!
Felt party hats for stuffed animals: A fun, whimsical touch that made the room feel playful and kid-friendly. Tutorial here.
Book cover bunting: Using my Canva template, I printed “book covers” on medium-weight cardstock and strung them together with yarn that we had on hand.
Balloons: The one actual décor purchase I made! These balloons pulled in the theme colors beautifully and instantly made the space feel festive.
Chapter One banner: Because every first birthday is truly the beginning of the story!

Food & Book Pairings
We had so much fun matching snacks to some of our favorite children’s books:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Watermelon slices
Peter Rabbit: “Mr. McGregor’s Garden” veggie tray
Goodnight Moon: Mini Moon Pies
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site: Dirt cups (instant pudding + crushed Oreos)
The Giving Tree: Apple slices with cream cheese dip
Where the Wild Things Are: Bugles “claws”

We displayed each book behind the food it inspired, which tied the theme together and made guests smile as they filled their plates.

The Sweetest Moments
The kids played outside and upstairs while the adults mingled, and at one point, we gathered everyone to sing “Happy Birthday” to Oliver. He dug into his very first cupcake with pure delight—frosting on his cheeks, sprinkles in his lap. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly simple celebration.

The best part? We hosted a party for our family and friends for under $100—proof that a meaningful, themed celebration doesn’t have to be expensive. I’m so thankful we kept it simple and book-centered.

If you’d like to create your own “One for the Books” party, I’m sharing my Canva templates for invitations, cupcake toppers, bunting, and party favor labels here so you can adapt them for your own celebration.