Lego Ninjago Birthday Party

My son is turning nine at the end of this month and it is all about Lego Ninjago this year! Now, I am in the process of planning a Ninjago party. I have found that it is not the easiest party to plan. I have been looking online for some ideas, but haven't seen tons of them out there. I will be posting our party preparations to hopefully give all the die-hard Ninjago fans out there, some ideas. The first thing I did was buy some white foam board. I used a projector and blew up some pictures of different Ninjago figures. I traced them onto the foam board and colored them. I thought these would make a BIG impression at the party!

We also printed off some yellow eyes to add to different Ninjago colored balloons.

 

I printed off some Ninjago eyes to use for different decorations and things (take home bags, balloons, etc.).  For the take home bags, I just cut out the eyes and glued them on the front. I bought these little green sacks (my son is really liking the new green ninja) for 25 cents at Toys R Us. I liked them because they weren't too big so I don't feel like I have to buy so much to fill them!

There was also an empty Ninjago display at Toys R Us. I asked the manager if I could have it and he said yes! Score! It will come in handy for some tabletop decor!

For the take home bags, I had to get a little creative. We headed to the $1 store to see what we could find. The first thing we found were "jointed" snakes or "Serpentines" as we were going to refer to them for this party (there were 4 in a bag). We also found bags of rubber "Serpentines". We also got swirly straws because I thought they looked like snakes. To make them even more "Ninjago" related, I printed off these snakes I found online (web address is below the picture) and put them on the straws.

http://zoltybalonik.blogspot.com/2011/07/ninjago-zoty-balonik.html

We also found these "discs" on clearance at Michaels. We thought that they looked like Ninjago Shurikens. SCORE! We also wrapped Hersheys bars with green construction paper and glued some of the yellow eyes to the outside (I forgot to take a picture of that).

My husband printed off this cute "Happy Birthday" banner! He laminated them so they looked like I bought them somewhere. Many of the parents asked where I found the banner.

We made a laminated "place mat" for each guest. They took these home at the end of the party.

We hired a karate instructor to come in and show the boys some ninja moves. This was a huge success!

We also had a huge blow-up joust. The boys picked a Ninjago character to be and "battled" each other on the joust.

The boys were able to use these huge gloves, or they had long, padded "jousting" sticks to use. The boys loved this activity.

Some Ninjago food ideas:

Fushi (fake sushi) - the base is Rice Krispie Treat cut into an oval. On top, Sweedish Fish and they are wrapped with Fruit by the Foot Roll Ups

For this party (since we are having it outside our house), I wanted to make cupcakes. This cupcake design was the easiest thing ever. Out of all the cakes and cupcakes I have made over the years, this one was the best - so EASY!

 I made chocolate and white cupcakes. I frosted some blue (Jay) and some green (Lloyd). I then took yellow fondant and rolled it out and cut oval shapes out of it. I took a black writing frosting tube and created the black eyes on the fondant. So easy! Viola - Lego Ninjago cupcakes.

 

I also made some white chocolate covered pretzels to represent the bones of Bonezai.

I hope some of these ideas help with your NInjago party. I would love to hear about your parties as well!!

Ice Age Birthday Party

When Landen turned 5, he really wanted an Ice Age/Mammoth birthday party. I searched and searched online for some ideas and there wasn't anything out there, so I came up with my own ideas and know they will help you plan your Ice Age Party.



For the invitation, I thought it would be fun to send some symbols that the guests had to "decode" to find out the party information. The invite read like this: Landen is turning 5 and he wanted to travel back to the Ice Age with Mammoths and Saber Tooth Tigers! Cavemen have inscribed Landen's party information inside the cave walls. We chipped away the rocks that held the important details. Use the information above to decode the message."

I made a chart with different symbols I found on the computer. Each symbol represented a different letter and then I just "spelled out" the parties details with the symbols. (For example a *stood for a "T" and so on).

For the games/activities:

I froze little "Ice Age" animals that I found at Target in ice. I filled Styrofoam cups with water, put the toy in the water and set the cups in the freezer. The kids had to use their handmade "spears" to free the animals. We made handmade spears from sticks and triangle rocks that the kids found on a "spear hunt". These "spears" were also used to "fight the Mammoth" (to wing at the pinata I made).

How to made the Mammoth pinata: I blew up a regular size balloon and covered it with strips of newspaper and homemade glue (I have basic pinata step by step directions on another post). I let that dry and popped the balloon. I painted the pinata brown and added a long nose with a paper towel roll and then added the tusks with just white construction paper. The ears were cut out of brown construction paper and added googly eyes. I wish I still had a picture on file for this, but I don't. I filled him with candy and little toys.


We also had an igloo/cave in the yard. We used white Styrofoam coolers that I found at a garage sale and stacked them up around the sides. We then used large sized paper to fill in the sides. The kids were able to write on the "igloo/cave" walls just like the cavemen did in the Ice Age.

For the cake, I made a 12" round cake for the base and then I made a "mountain" by chiseling a stack of 3 - 8" round cakes that were placed on top of the base. I frosted it all white except for a little "stream" of blue going down the mountain and spilling over the base. I then placed Ice Age characters around the cake.

I hope this helps you with an Ice Age Party!

Six Year Old Princess Party

Gabrielle turned 6 on November 29th. She wanted another Princess Party (we had one a few years ago for her). For the invitations, I printed them out on 11x17 paper. The invite read:

King Matt and Queen Lindsay
Request your appearance at
A Royal Celebration

Princess Gabrielle’s
Sixth Birthday

To be held on the 20th day of November, 2011
Drop Off: 2 PM
Pick Up: 4 PM
At Castle (then our last name and address)

I rolled them up and taped them shut. I put them inside a paper towel roll. I took some scrapbook paper and rolled them up on a diagonal and folded in the ends so the invites couldn't fall out. I tied a pink ribbon around the middle of them and wrote the guests names (Princess Madelyn, Prince Ethan, etc.) on tags tied to the ribbon.

For the games/activities:

As soon as the guests arrived, I had them come to the table and decorate a crown. I bought jewels that had sticker backs so they didn't have to wait for glue to dry and could wear them right away.

Game #1: I bought a princess crown pinata this year because I found one on clearance for $8! I got the candy on clearance from Halloween and filled the pinata with that. We made a "wand" to hit the pinata with. We took our child sized broom and unscrewed the handle from it and wrapped it in pink fabric. On the top, I attached a star cut out of strong construction paper (I put silver glitter all over the star so it wasn't just cardboard).

Game #2: Find the Lost Princess so she can get to the ball. I found Cinderella "wall decorations" at the card outlet store for 50 cents! They were perfect because they were only about 8" tall and there were 4 in a package so there were 20 princesses hidden around the house to find. You could easily replicate this game with pictures of princesses printed off the computer.

Game #3: We played Poison Apple. I took an apple out of Gabrielle's play kitchen and wrote "Poison" on it. I had all the guests sit in a circle and I started playing some princess music. The one who had the apple when the music went off had to lay down and "sleep". At the end of the game, whoever was still "awake", had to go around and wake all the other guests by giving them a kiss (a Hershey kiss that is).

Game #4: We drew a picture of a princess on poster board and printed off some tiaras that we laminated. The guests had to "pin the tiara on the princess".

Game #5: Princess Bingo! We made our own Princess Bingo cards with pictures like crowns, castles, wands, dragons, carriages, etc. For the markers, we used purple coins.

Take Home Bags:

Throughout the party, we listened to Gabrielle's favorite songs from her favorite princess movies. We downloaded the songs and gave each guest the "Soundtrack from Gabrielle's Sixth Birthday Party". I also put in the bags princess erasers, bracelets, lip gloss, wands and lotions. They also got to pick things from the prize baskets after the games and those were added to their bags.

The Cake:

For the cake, I made three round cakes. The bottom one I made in a spring form pan and the top layer were 2 - 8" round cakes. For the base cake, I covered it with white fondant and then made a quilted pattern using a straw. I added pink edible pearls to the corners of the quilt pattern. For the top layer, I frosted it pink and then added pink glitter sprinkles to it. I topped it off with a crown and a wand and her candle. She loved it and it was pretty simple.

I hope some of these ideas help you in your "princess party" planning! May your party be pink and perfect for your little princess!!!

Priceless Birthday Gift That Keeps on Giving

I started a tradition each year on Landen and Gabrielle's birthdays. I sit down and write a letter to each child. I write things that happened that year, things they are doing at that age (crawling, playing soccer, first sleep over, etc.), friends they play with, favorite toys, funny things they say, etc. Anything that would tell them a little bit about what they were like at that age. I started this because when I would ask my mom questions about what I was like (especially after I had my own kids) or what I did at a certain age, she would have a hard time remembering (who wouldn't after all these years). So, I thought this was a great solution and thank goodness because my kids are already asking me things like: When I was a baby, did I cry a lot? What did I play with when I was two? Who were my friends? How big was I?
These letters are an extra special gift (that costs nothing, but is worth so much) that I think they will cherish when they get older and especially when they start having their own kids.

Wizard of Oz Child's Birthday Party

Last year, Gabrielle turned 5 on November 29th and she really wanted a Wizard of Oz birthday party. She was Dorothy for Halloween and wanted her party to be the same theme. She wore her costume for the party and I dressed up as a scarecrow. I looked online for some party ideas for this theme, but there just wasn't much out there. So, I sat down and thought about it and came up with the perfect party idea! The kids will follow the Yellow Brick Road to earn a heart, brain, home and courage - just like in the movie!!!! I set up different stations/games around the house and at each one, the kids had to earn one of the things. To save money, I made most of the stuff on my own. This is what I did:

For "courage", like the Lion earned, I got plain badges at the craft store and wrote "courage" on them and spruced them up a little bit. At this station, the kids earned their "courage" by melting the witch. I had witch hats on the floor and put blocks of wood in them so the hat stood up and the kids had to throw rings around the hat to melt the witch. When they did this, their "Badge of Courage" was pinned to their shirts.

For the "heart", like Tin Man earned, I made big red hearts out of craft foam sheets. I then punched holes at the top so I could string red yard through it so they could hang around their necks, just like it happened to The Tin Man in the movie. He also had a clock on his heart so, I printed off the face of a clock and glued it on the middle of the red hearts. To earn the "heart", the kids had to stick 30 heart stickers around popsicle stick frames. (I used these frames to put a picture of the kids in for them to take home).

For the "brain", like the scarecrow earned, I made diplomas on the computer and rolled them up with some ribbon. Each one said: (Child's name) has successfully earned his/her "brain" on the Yellow Brick Road Journey at Gabrielle's 5th Birthday Party on (date). To earn their brain, they had a Wizard of Oz maze worksheet to do and they also had to guess how many Skittles were in a jar. I used Skittles because of the rainbow colors. (The winner got to take home the Skittles too).

For "home" like Dorothy wanted in the movie, this was the end of the party when it was time to go home. They got to take all their loot and things they earned back home with them.

I had some left over Halloween witch costume "stuff" (green nose, broom, hat, etc.) that I hid around the house. The kids had to be careful not to get caught by the witch, but when they saw "witch stuff" they needed to look around for a clue that would lead them to their next stop on the Yellow Brick Road.

I made her cake. I looked online for little figurines to put on her cake, but they were expensive so I printed off pictures of the characters online, laminated them and then glued them to a toothpick to stick in the cake. I frosted the entire cake green and then I used yellow fondant to create a yellow brick road. I used a toothpick to make the brick pattern in the fondant. I put little pink flowers around the rest of the cake for the flowers they fell asleep at in the movie.

I used yellow plastic tablecloths to make a yellow brick road all over the house. I taped them to the floor and drew a brick pattern on them with a black permanent marker. I also used every color of the rainbow in streamers to make a rainbow in the archway between the living room and dining room. This was my daughter's favorite thing! She loved it.

For the party favors, I got little baskets for each child. They carried these on their Yellow Brick Road journey and also to put all their goodies in from the party.

This party was a huge success and one that really stuck to the theme. I hope this helps you plan your little one's Wizard of Oz party! Happy Partying!!!