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My son recently turned one so I threw him a “One Happy Camper” camp-themed first birthday party. His dad and I love the great outdoors and we are pushing our interests onto him before he can speak for himself. Hopefully, something will stick!

Read on to see how I threw a no-fuss, easy “one happy camper”, camp-themed first birthday party for my son.

Our camp-themed first birthday party food

First things first – the food! I love a themed party and coming up with food to go along with is one of my favorite things.

Camp foods are no fuss and easy!

We ordered sliders from a nearby spot called Son of a Butcher. Luckily for us, they came prewrapped and had veggie options for the vegetarians at the party.

When we go camping we like to make, what my husband calls, “camp sandwiches”. They are basic with meat, cheese, and mayo or mustard. Of course, we had chips and trail mix to go with them and what is a party without a veggie tray?

My saint of a mother made the pasta salad and potato salad. Together we made ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), an old Girl Scout fave!

Speaking of Girl Scouts, instead of worrying about toasting marshmallows with lots of children around I discovered Girl Scout S’more cookies. We also purchased mini cinnamon rolls at our local grocery store in lieu of cupcakes. I added little campfire toppers for fun. These I printed, cut and taped from Canva.

One happy camper campfire cake

Inspiration from Pinterest coupled with lots of patients and love, I made the cakes for the party. The hardest part was the multiple layers and tiers of buttered yellow cake and easy-to-spread icing.

To toast the marshmallows I added them to the oven with the broiler on. Watch carefully. It only takes about a minute or two.

Next, I melted yellow and red hard candies in the oven on a foil-covered baking sheet. After they melt, swirl them together, let them cool then break the sheet into shards. I used pirouettes to help balance the “fire” and to look like the wood of the campfire. Such a fun cake for a camp-themed first birthday party!

Camp-themed first birthday smash cake

I love plain and simple. So my son’s cake was just that. It featured a cute little national park-inspired sign that said “Lenox is One Happy Camper”. This cake topper, along with our shirts, were found and customized on Etsy.

I found this cake topper, cup cake toppers, and banner similar on Amazon.

One happy camper easy decor

Throwing him a first birthday party was important and special to me, but I don’t enjoy being wasteful. I repurposed (or intend to) most items I purchased specifically for the party.

To add to the fun, we purchased a toy tent that came with camp-inspired toys. This included toy bugs, pocket cutlery, and a canteen among many other things, that I scattered around the food. We also purchased a felt campfire with s’mores and a hatchet. With these, we could decorate the party and have some toys for Lenox to play with.

I used wooden cheese boards and chopped log chargers to elevate bowls and give an outdoorsy feel. Then served some food in cast iron skillets. I also already had a plaid table runner, similar to this one, I laid across our peninsula where we serve food.

Lastly, I purchased this sign, which I may use on Lenox’s door in the future and his highchair banner from Etsy.

Other things we used were:

Birthday Balloons, napkins, and a One happy camper balloon banner

Camp-themed first birthday s’more crown

My epically crafty sister made me the most precious first birthday crown. I saw this particular one online but it was no longer available. As I was searching for how-tos, my sister declared she’d make it herself. Anything my sister crafts is pretty impressive, so I let her go for it and sit out the experiment.

If smores are your vibe this “It’s s’more fun to be one” banner is super cute.

However, this is the tutorial I found that I would have used if I didn’t have my amazing sister: DIY Felt Birthday Crown

Here is a different look, but just as cute on Amazon.

Monthly photo display

First of all, what a fun but challenging task monthly photos can be. Monthly photos might be a whole blog in itself. Naturally, I couldn’t have this party without displaying them somehow.

I found this template on Etsy and added my photos. Here is a similar banner on Amazon where you can cut and paste your photos or this one is a much nicer wooden board display.

We made a banner and put it on the fireplace – even though it wasn’t really near the focus of the party. For my personal needs, it was at least displayed, but of course, I do not have picture proof – so you’ll just have to believe me.

Since I have slacked on his baby book I will be repurposing these monthly photos into his book! Lucky for me nature has been an ongoing theme and will fit in perfectly.

One happy camper camp sign-in

Traditionally, I’ve seen some sort of sign-in for first birthdays. My sister once had us sign wooden blocks for her son. I wanted to stick with the theme so I just did a simple camp sign-in sheet.

To make it feel a little more authentic, I left name tags with “camp names” on a clipboard for those who wanted to participate. It made for a silly joke for kids and icebreakers for those who needed it. Since there were many people that may have been meeting for the first time. (Many of our life celebrations have been canceled due to covid so it has been rare for us to gather our friends and families together as a group).

I intend to keep the sign-in sheet in his baby book.

Camp-themed party favor bags

I made goody bags look like campfires by using brown gift bags with orange and yellow tissue paper. I displayed them in an old picnic basket.

The stuffers included survival kit-type toys like flashlights, whistles and a compass. We also included toy binoculars, bug spray labeled silly string and camp-inspired stickers.

Lastly, I threw in a coloring sheet I made on Canva for the kids to color at home. You can edit the One Happy Camper Birthday Coloring sheet here for free. Here is a link for the bug spray labels for silly string cans.

I had an amazing time putting together his camp-themed first birthday party. Hopefully, this post has been of some help if you are looking to throw a camp-themed birthday party yourself! If so, please share on Pinterest or