Shane has always been our little monkey since the day he was born. The first morning they met, his big brother Nathan had placed his gift of a sock monkey doll into Shane’s isolate at the hospital, and we have loved those little iconic monkeys ever since. We had so many cute photos of Shane with his beloved sock monkey that it seemed to the be obvious choice for a theme for his first birthday party!
I went with a color theme of red, white, light blue and brown and tried to incorporate a monkey theme into as much as I could. We had a build-your-own sock monkey puppet station where the kids could make puppets and play with them in the little door theater I made. There was also a sock monkey photo booth, a Pin the Tail on the Sock Monkey game, sock monkey coloring book pages and of course tons of sweet treats to keep the kids entertained. The monkey themed food included “Monkey mix”, banana chips, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, Jungle Juice, and Monkey vine licorice ropes.
Each little guest got a party hat that I made for them as well as a sock monkey stuffed animal with their name on them! They could also stock up on treats from the candy buffet One of my favorite parts was having a sign near the photo booth with our own party hash tag for our friends and family to tag all their Instagram photos to. After the party was over it was so much fun to look through all the photos that everyone posted! Especially the ones of Shane devouring his entire smash cake handful by handful!
There was also a surprise guest! For our other son’s first birthday Daddy surprised everyone (including me) by dressing up as Elmo. This year he fooled us all again and came dressed in a giant turkey costume! I know you’re thinking that has nothing to do with sock monkeys, but Shane was born the day before Thanksgiving so we all thought it was pretty funny!
Shane was all smiles his whole party and was so happy all his friends and family were there to monkey around on his very special day! We had such a memorable time celebrating our Little Monkey’s first birthday!
such a fun theme!! love all the dots, stripes and bright happy photos! shane’s outfit is super adorable.
Thank you so much!!! xo
cuuuuuuuuuuuuuutttttttteeeeeee. don’t these parties just kill you. everytime I throw a party it is a nightmare
haha! But you keep coming back for more I bet! I enjoy doing them…the morning of is always hectic though that’s for sure!!
We love that little monkey!
Love this!! Where did you find the small sock monkeys that you used for favors?
Thank you!! They were actually from Kohl’s for only $5 each and all proceeds went to charity. I’m not sure if they have them anymore though. I did see Micheals has a whole sock monkey section in their $1 bins which could also be great favors!
Also, I’m planning my sons 1st bday now, are you looking to sell any of your supplies from your party?
Unfortunately I don’t really have much of anything to sell. Mostly everything was handmade and either given to guests or thrown away. Ill look through my party supplies though and see of I have anything that would be worth reusing and let you know. Have fun planning!
Hi Melissa, I actually just went though the supplies I still have from Shane’s Sock Monkey party and have some really good stuff left. Please email me at heylaurenrene@gmail.com if you are interested and I can list what I still have. Thanks!!
Adorable! (I love sock monkeys!!!) Party hashtag for instagram is genius!!!
Love this. Where did you get his outfit?
Thanks Dana! I ordered his hat and onesie on etsy. Here is the link to the seller I used:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetlilytutus?ref=seller_info
Hi Lauren! I just started planning our son’s first birthday party and I have called him our lil monkey since the day I found out we were expecting. I absolutely love this theme and am using it for his. Could you tell me the vendors/websites you ordered from (invitations, water bottle stickers, etc.)?
I am very excited and also would love your thoughts on cake ideas!
Thanks a million!!
How fun your little guy is turning 1 soon. You will definitely have fun with this party theme. I made mostly everything, but the printables were from here on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LollipopPrints. Good luck with the party planning, let me know how it all turns out!
Do you have any supplies left from your party that your willing to sell? I’m having a sock monkey party for my son in a few weeks
Hi Brittany. Unfortunately I don’t have anything substantial left anymore. Have a great time at your son’s party…it’s such a fun theme! Happy Birthday to him!
Love all your stuff!! Where did you get the yarn balls for the hats and puppets?
Thank you!! I made them! Just look up tutorials on Pinterest how to make DIY yarn pom-poms. They are actually pretty simple to make and so cute!