“What would you like to do for your birthday this year?” I asked.
He thought for a moment. “I think I’d like to have some friends over here to watch a movie,” he answered.
I froze.
I’m not the party-throwing mom. I thought he was going to suggest our family visit the Space Needle or ask to bring a couple of friends to a trampoline park.
Anything but a party.
But it’s not about me, so I took a breath and smiled. “Sure, we could do that. How about if you choose five friends (our house is small) and we’ll make it a pizza and movie night? What would you like for the theme?”
And that’s how it began. Since he hadn’t seen Despicable Me 3 yet, he opted for a Minions theme. So I set him up with a Pinterest board on my account and had him start pinning ideas he liked.
And me, the anti-party mom, actually had fun pulling this little gathering together.
So today I’m sharing some of the simple things I did to make this party happen. Because if I can do it, anyone can.
DISCLAIMER: Amazon links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that when you purchase an item through a link in this article, I earn a commission on the sale.
PLATES, CUPS, AND NAPKINS:
The color scheme was obvious – blue and yellow. Instead of splurging on Minion merchandise, I went with plain blue plates, yellow cups, blue forks, and yellow napkins. I wrapped the napkins around the forks and tied them with a blue ribbon.
And the cups were the cutest part.
I saw this on Pinterest where they used a Sharpie to draw the goggles. Instead, I cut strips of black scrapbook paper and used a circular punch (3/4 inch like this one) on metallic silver paper to make circles for the goggles (actually, my 5-year-old did this for me). Then we glued them all together with googly eyes (15mm size found here) and used a Sharpie to draw hair and a mouth.
FOOD:
Pizza, a veggie tray, and a fruit platter. Super simple and not too unhealthy. Bananas would be the obvious choice for a “Minions” theme, but since my son doesn’t love bananas, I opted for some of his faves. Fresh pineapple and blueberries fit the color scheme.
Lemonade to drink. Because, yellow. And also because his love language is sugar.
CAKE:
The little dude wanted cake pops, so I made these super simple no-bake 2-ingredient cake pops and decorated a mason jar to display them using three-inch googly eyes, an old canning ring, and paint. I also trimmed several of the cake pop sticks so they were all varying lengths which allowed them to look more like a bouquet.
But if you’re using cake pops, how do you blow out candles? Simple – I decorated a second mason jar, inserted a sparkly table-top decoration, and glued a cake pop stick to a numbered candle for a custom solution.
FAVORS:
I hate favor bags. Loathe them, actually. They’re wasteful and full of clutter and filled with candy that’s not even worth stealing from your kid.
So I kept them simple – I found these decorated Twinkies online and they were super simple to do. In fact, I used the same eyes and silver circles I used on the cups. The only problem I ran into is that they said “HOSTESS” all over them so I had to decorate the backs of the Twinkies instead of the fronts.
Then I ran into these at the store. Each had a little figurine inside. DONE and DONE. I don’t see them available anymore but there are these adorable keychains that would make a fun favor.
DECORATIONS:
Decor was pretty simple, especially since most of the food, plates, and cake reflected the color scheme. I put up streamers and bought a balloon bouquet. And that was pretty much it.
ENTERTAINMENT:
I had a group of boys in my house. Who needs to plan entertainment? They played outside, then we ate, then we watched the movie. The end. No need to make things complicated.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Mamas, I survived. This was SO not my jam but it was worth watching my son feel celebrated. And as I worked on my little birthday-related crafts throughout the week he’d come up to me and say, “Mommy, I really like that! You’re doing such a good job!”
Yup, totally worth it. {Though I’m still crossing my fingers for the Space Needle next year.}
Are you a party-planning mama? What’s been your favorite theme so far?
RELATED:
I Don’t Throw Birthday Parties for My Kids (But I Do This Instead)
A Lego Themed Birthday On a Budget
Five Birthday Party Ideas that Require Minimal Planning
Budget-Friendly Unicorn Birthday Party
Alternatives to Birthday Candles
