Madeline is an irrepressible and extremely precocious little orphan girl that lives with her “sisters,” her dog Genevieve, and Miss Clavel in a home in Paris. If your little one year old is just as precocious, this would be a wonderful 1st birthday party theme!
Set the mood and theme with your invitation. While there are plenty of Madeline themed invitations available, you can also make your own. You can download images of Madeline over the internet and use those for the cover of your invitation. A pretty variation is to print the details of the party on golden yellow paper and use royal blue ink. Attach a sticker of Madeline to the side and on top, use a 2-holed puncher to make holes for a crimson red ribbon to weave through; tie in a bow.
The perfect color scheme here that represents Madeline herself is blue (for her cape), red (for her hair and hair bows), and yellow (for her straw hat). A key point to remember here is that you are aiming for a French/Parisian mood, so don't over decorate! Hang the French flag at the entrance and a yellow straw hat with black streamers on the door to welcome your guests. Inside, have about three bunches of balloons in red, yellow, and blue. They would look very pretty in the corners of the room, especially if they are tied with red ribbon instead of string. On the ceiling, suspend tissue paper pompoms in the same colors, especially over the kids' and cake tables.
Cover the kids' table with a golden yellow cloth and top it with a royal blue one. Use a pretty acrylic vase at the center and fill it with red flowers like peonies or gerberas. Set the table with red plates and tableware and tie a golden yellow napkin with ribbon in all three colors.
Decorate the cake table in the same way. After topping the table with the yellow and blue cloths, set the birthday cake on a pedestal. If you can make Madeline's hat, it would really beautiful. Just use a pizza pan and a pyrex bowl that's about 6” in diameter to bake the cakes. Iced with golden yellow frosting and trimmed with a black cloth ribbon, it's sure to elicit an “oooh” from the children. Surround the cake with little hats made of purchased sugar cookie rounds and iced with a golden yellow frosting. Topped with a large yellow gumdrop and finished with a black licorice whip, this is a perfect Madeline hat.
The food to be served has a simple French influence. Croque Monsieurs, French fries, and fruit chunks and whole berries with a honey-yogurt dip is a simple but wonderful meal. Let the kids enjoy with white grape juice served in footed acrylic glasses.
For the favors, give each child a hat – a boater or bowler
for the boys and a wide straw hat for the girls. This creative birthday
party theme will definitely be one to remember.