Is your little one turning 1 this year? Looking for a fun party idea to celebrate this milestone? How about a 1st Birthday Circus Party complete with a Milk & Cookies Bar—a perfect alternative to the popular candy table trend when you want the wow-factor, but want to serve other sweet treats besides just candy! This fun first birthday party theme perfect for little ones with all the bright colors and cute circus animals. I’ll show you how to set up this Milk & Cookies Bar including my Mini Monkey Bread Muffins Recipe and more circus party ideas like DIY Spiral Tassel Balloons and Make Your Own Party Hat Craft Activity the kids will love!
Set The Scene! First things first...you'll need a backdrop and table linen to set the scene for the Circus Milk & Cookies Bar. Here I used a bright blue rosette textured table linen and hung it from a backdrop stand then strung the 1st Birthday Circus Pennant Banner along the top. Then, to balance the brightness of the backdrop, I decided to use a darker blue denim table linen. To bring in pops of color to the table linen, I took the 1st Birthday Circus Spirals—which are supposed to be used hanging from the ceiling—and instead attached them to the front of the table linen with double-sided tape to create my own table garland. How cool is that! Double-sided tape is one of my must-have items in my Party Planning Toolkit (see the full toolkit here) 
Serve Circus Themed Cookies! Bring in some eye candy to the table by serving delicious and gorgeous circus-themed custom iced cookies. This circus assortment of cookies were made by Auntie Bea's Bakery and were inspired by the circus animals found on the 1st Birthday Circus Partyware! Fabulous, right! In keeping with the circus theme, I created a Circus 3-Ring Centerpiece out of three round clear trays filled with the cookies and Milk Bottles with Red Striped Paper Straws and topped with donut shaped cookies! Be sure to offer a variety of flavored milks in pitchers for guests to enjoy with their cookies. Here I served white, banana, strawberry and chocolate milk. 
Use Circus Themed Dessert Holders! Towering above the 3-rings is a Big Top Circus Cupcake Holder that I instead used to hold macaroons. In keeping with the circus theme, I whipped up a batch of my Mini Monkey Bread Muffins which are perfect for parties as guests can eat them easily in individual portions. Here I displayed them on a carousel cupcake holder. Don't forget to have plenty of these super cute 1st Birthday Circus Dessert Plates and Beverage Napkins on the table as guests help themselves to the cookies and desserts! A circus isn't complete without popcorn & taffy! Fill up these Mini Popcorn Boxes with popcorn for guests to enjoy. For party favors, fill these party hat Circus Favor Boxes with Salt Water Taffy for each guest to take home with them. 
Decorate Party Hats! When guests arrive to the party, have them visit the Party Hat Decorating Station to grab some craft supplies to decorate their own party hat! See the tutorial here on how to make these. I repurposed this Inflatable "3 in a Row" Carnival Game as a holder for the party hats and craft supplies. Simply place Metallic Cone Hats in the openings and place three round containers in the front three openings and fill them with craft supplies like Pom-Poms and Cotton Rickrack Trim. Give the table a circus feel with an Inflatable Jumbo Monkey sporting a decorated party hat and DIY Spiral Tassel Striped Balloons that are simple to make by inflating the balloons and tying a Circus Spiral to the bottom of the balloon. 
Give the table a circus feel with an Inflatable Jumbo Monkey sporting a decorated party hat and DIY Spiral Tassel Striped Balloons that are simple to make by inflating the balloons and tying a Circus Spiral to the bottom of the balloon. 
Be sure to check out my step-by-step tutorial on how to make DIY Party Hats and my recipe for Mini Monkey Bread Muffins.
