Throwing a kid’s birthday party is a LOT of work, hopefully this post makes it a bit easier. If you’re throwing a unicorn birthday party, save this post for the cutest decorations from my daughter’s first birthday.
As usual, I was able to scoop up most of my necessities on Amazon, truly making life easier. Even with just one little one getting things like planning a big party done is quite the task! Not having to go to too many stores was super helpful.
Unicorn Birthday Dinner Ware
The key to keeping the unicorn birthday theme classy and cute is to not overdue the unicorn print. It’s adorable, but keep it in key locations and off things like plates, napkins, etc.
For dinner and dessert, I kept the plates and napkins on theme with solid colors and used clear plastic cutlery. Same with the tablecloths. While I love color and everything ‘extra’, I tend to lean towards a minimalist approach. I don’t like pattern or word overload on prints, it’s how I enact some balance to my ‘extraness’.
Pro Tip: Whether your tables are inside or outside (or both) I recommend table cloth clips. Little ones will accidentally grab and drag them, or the wind will move them around. But if you have them clipped down you’ll be set!
Unicorn First Birthday Onesie and Tutu Outfit
Being that Alexis’ birthday is in April, the weather isn’t fully warm enough yet for a one year old to be in short sleeves. Lucky for me I found the perfect long sleeve unicorn birthday outfit for her! It’s on theme and warm enough for her to wear all day without any layers, even when outside for a few minutes.
As for mom and dad, we rocked my homemade shirts (more all-family pics throughout the post). I got this two pack of pastel shirts and bought this Birthday Squad shirt Cricut template from Etsy. And because they’re my all-time favorite, I’m linking my minimalist white sneakers that I wore all day.
Kid’s Birthday Party Activities
We had a bunch of fun things planned for the kids! But as you know, we live in Chicago and April is a real weather wild card. While it was clear out for most of the day, it turned out to be pretty windy, making it feel chillier.
Pink & Purple Bounce House
Thankfully, it wasn’t too windy to set up the bounce house! The kiddos get so warm jumping around anyway, so we decided to set it up despite it being a little chillier outside.
A good handful of the kids still used so we’re glad we kept it. We even took Alexis in there for her first bounce house experience once things calmed down! Sharing more details about our bounce house in the vendor section at the end.
Indoor Kid’s Party Activities
Did you know they make kid sized folding picnic tables? Because they do, and they’re amazing! Alexis asked for this kid’s picnic table on her birthday list and since grandma got it for her we asked if we could set it up in advance for the party. It was the perfect coloring station for kiddos who were hanging indoors that day.
I printed some free coloring pages and bought this sturdy pack of crayons to complete the setup. Easy peasy!
Other easy, fun indoor kid’s party activities are ride on and push toys. We cleared pretty much all of our smaller toys out of the main areas but left these for play time. We have this ride on horsey, and our unicorn bouncy was perfect for the theme! The walk assist toy was also great for the Alexis-aged littles we invited, and all of these got used!
Another on-theme activity would be this unicorn ride on toy. This was a gift she got, but if we’d had it before we surely would’ve had it out for the guests!
For a snack, we had our fan favorite vintage popcorn machine (we use these popcorn packs) in the garage (you can peep it in the back of the next photo) for freshly popped popcorn, but my unicorn popcorn containers didn’t arrive in time! They were delayed for days, arriving in the very middle of our unicorn birthday party. The containers are adorable and I recommend them, but with the late arrival they had to go back. Order these early for your party and you’ll be thrilled at how cute they are!
Outdoor Kid’s Party Activities
Our pink push car isn’t specifically ‘unicorn’ themed but the colors are on-theme and it’s something easy and fun for kids and parents to do! Plus, you’ll get tons of use out of it after the party for years to come!
In addition to the bounce house and ride on toys, I also had these big bubble wands and sidewalk chalk. While compiling my ideas I also ran across these fun unicorn bubble wands that would be perfectly on theme, too!
Unicorn Themed Gifts That Double as Activities
These are on-theme gift ideas that I either came across or we own, all on Amazon!
- Fairy Cozy Coupe
- Unicorn Rocking Horse
- Unicorn Tricycle
- Prance & Rock Unicorn
- Unicorn Blow Up Ride On Toy
Unicorn Birthday Decorations
The unicorn birthday decorations were one of my favorite parts of the day. They turned out so cute, even if it was chilly and we weren’t out in the garage as much as I’d planned. There were tons of cute things to choose from basically everywhere I looked (mostly Amazon), but here’s what made the cut.
Firstly, when each kiddo arrived they got to pick one of these nice unicorn headbands. They came in a bunch of colors so everyone could pick their favorite! I searched high and low for the best ‘nicer’ looking headbands that didn’t break the bank, these were the winner by far!
These are the “decor only” items you’ll see featured throughout the blog post.
- Purple Irridescent Tinsel (listed as Multicolor on Amazon)
- Balloon Arch (with fairy string lights) and ONE blocks (more in the vendor section later)
- Gold Star Balloons in Arch (happened upon these on Amazon, very similar if not exact!)
- Similar/Exact ONE Blocks (but if you’re interested in my vendor they’re included in her price!)
- Unicorn Birthday Banner
- Large Unicorn Balloons (similar at a better price)
- Mini Unicorn Pinatas (used as table toppers; similar Amazon alternatives)
- Unicorn Table Cloth (extremely similar)
Unicorn Birthday Party Favors
What kid doesn’t love getting a goody bag from parties? I made sure I had some intentionally fun goodies in these and not just random knick knacks you can buy in bulk, but still kept to a reasonable budget.
Before I even found any of the favors, I found these unicorn party favor bags on Amazon. HOW CUTE?! They were perfectly portioned based on the number of boys and girls I had attending too, it was fate!
My Unicorn Birthday Party Favor Bag Goodies
While not everything was exactly on-theme with a unicorn birthday, I thought these items would get more use and/or be a bigger hit with the kids. As a parent myself, I know how fast stuff accumulates, so at the very least I’d prefer if it’s useful stuff!
- Bottle of Bubbles (found unicorn bubbles later that would’ve been PERFECT)
- Unicorn Fidget Bubble Poppers (other bubble pop idea)
- Unicorn Slap Bracelets (also saw these fancier light up, on-theme bracelets)
- Light Up Spiked Bouncy Ball (these were a HUGE hit, 97 cents in Walmart’s party favor aisle, but can’t find it online)
- Small favor baggie of jelly beans
Unicorn Birthday Cake and Desserts
You are never going to believe who made my cake. Seriously, take a second and make a guess. Got it?
The answer is… my grocery store! Would you believe it? It looks like a boutique bakery made it, it’s so detailed and perfect! It’s where my mom got my baby shower cake, so props to her for pointing me that way. More about this grocer in my vendor section.
A local stand alone bakery wanted over THREE TIMES as much for this same cake; I was floored. Who can justify spending $250 on a one year old’s birthday cake?!
My unicorn cake topper is a set from Amazon for under. All I had to do was get it myself and drop it off a few days before the party. The whole thing cost me $90, which was worth it for the level of extravagant I was looking to achieve.
Shout out to my sister and her boyfriend for making these homemade unicorn colored rice krispies treats for the big day! They were a big hit and so, so cute.
Next, I needed a smash cake. I know my daughter, and I wasn’t sold on the idea of her really embracing the smash cake spirit. As such, I wasn’t interested in spending a ton on it. The solution? I made the cutest abstract unicorn cake myself with Funfetti and this delicious pink Wilton frosting (which I will be using again and again, it was SO good).
The rosettes were super easy to make and matched the unicorn hair on the main cake. I used a 1M sized frosting tip and made little lowercase ‘e’ shapes one after another to achieve this look.
My cake topper was a set of unicorn birthday candles for under $3.50, couldn’t beat it! Here’s a similar set from Amazon, just in case mine sell out.
Custom Unicorn Birthday Cookies
A HUGE shout out to one of my best gal pals for making these custom cookies for Alexis’ first birthday! She is incredibly talented and we were lucky to have her help us make the dessert table really shine with her work.
Sharing details about her cookie business in the vendor section towards the bottom, be sure to check it out!
Unicorn Birthday Dessert Table Details
Even aside from the cakes and cookies, there was a lot of dessert table detail. Below is a comprehensive list of what you’re seeing in photos (plus a few other touches you might like for your party).
- Pink Cake Stands (similar)
- Unicorn Dessert Napkins (similar)
- Unicorn Sprinkles
- 8″ Springform Pan use to bake smash cake
- Clear Sugar Sprinkles used on smash cake and cupcakes
- Unicorn Cupcake Toppers (alternates from Amazon)
Chicagoland Birthday Party Vendors
As a disclaimer, none of my vendors were sponsors. These are all local artisans we hired for their amazing work and I wanted to shout them out. If you’re in the Chicago suburbs these are great people to contact ahead of your next birthday party!
Sprinkled Sweet Bakery
Val is a mom of three girls who somehow finds the time to make these GORGEOUS custom cookies for her business, Sprinkled Sweet Bakery. I’m constantly talking up her cookies not just for their looks but also their taste to anyone who will listen. Seriously, they’re amazing!
We were so fortunate to have her make Alexis’ birthday cookies and they turned out absolutely perfectly. Thank you again, Val!
Lindsay’s Balloon Arches
While it’s a newer business venture for her, you’d never know it by looking at the incredible arches she creates! Lindsay is a local Insta friend of mine who creates gorgeous balloon arches for celebrations and is always taking on new jobs.
She’s super creative and will truly make your theme come to life. She also does centerpieces and includes the ONE blocks with mini balloons in them off to the right of this photo for firth birthdays. Check out her Instagram feed to see some of her past work and DM her ahead of your next party!
Mariano’s Grocery Store
Marianos is a local grocer (a Kroger banner store) in my area that has an awesome bakery. Their staff is super professional and very talented. I worked with one woman from start to finish and you could tell she was very concerned with ensuring the cake was just right.
A huge shout out again to the Frankfort, IL Mariano’s bakery for their amazing job on this cake!
Happy Bouncer Rentals
Kevin found Happy Bouncer Rentals through a Google search for area bounce house rentals. They’re very reasonably priced and super easy to work with; very relaxed but still professional. The weather was looking questionable that day so he was in communication with Kevin via text for 24 hours beforehand to play it by ear.
We opted to go through with the rental of their Pink Arched Castle. It’s 15′ x 15′ and they rent it to you for the whole day, so we had it even after most of the guests left and even up until around 10 a.m. the next morning. They brought everything and did every last bit of work for the all in price of $155. Excellent deal if you ask us!
Check out the full Amazon Unicorn Birthday Idea List
Planning your own unicorn birthday party? Visit my extended Unicorn Birthday Idea List Amazon List for even more on-theme finds from invitations to activities and favors! Follow me on Amazon while you’re there; the finds never end in-app at my Amazon Storefront!
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Questions? Hit the comments, I’m happy to share additional links or tricks of the trade.
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