Kids Birthday Parties,Cool Birthday Party Ideas,Cool Birthday Parties,Cool Party Theme,Unique Party Ideas,Custom Party Games,Party Supplies,Video Game Theme,Party Tips,Making a Piñata,Cool Party Elements, Party Themes,Nintendo Birthday,Mario Party theme

Simple Birthday Party Balloon Decorations

2010-02-03T09:21:56-08:00

A nice touch to any celebration is Balloons. Decorating your party area with Balloons can enhance the happy party atmosphere. Now you might first think of helium filled ones, the latex kind or the Mylar type, either way helium filled balloons can be an unnecessary cost that you needn’t spend. Besides, remember what a pain in the tushie it is to drive home from the party store with a dozen (or more) helium filled balloons in the back seat of your car. The balloons, well they are bobbing around while blocking your view of the road. They almost taunt you as they bop you in the head with every turn you make. Instead, this is what I like to do. I get a few of those nice Mylar balloons that coordinate to my party theme. Those are the few special balloons that are for the birthday child. For the other balloons, I go with a more economical solution that makes a rich party décor look.

Supplies you will need:

- Few packages of latex balloons ( match your party colors)

- Curling ribbon ( match your party colors)

- Scissors

- Heavy duty tape

- Oh and a good pair of lungs, or an air pump will do.

If at all possible, I like to decorate the night before my parties. And sometimes it is not always an option, depending on where I plan to have my parties. But if it is not an optionI like to at least make my decorations prior to the party, then I can quickly hang them around. You can prepare your balloons the night before too. Just group balloons in sets of three (your color choice) and tie the ribbons in the centers. Then when you arrive at the party destination, simply hang up using clear tape. Happy Decorating!

Halloween Costume Up, Up & Away

2009-11-03T01:58:00-08:00

This year I had a cute idea for a costume, except my kids had already picked out whom they wanted to dress up as so I offered the idea to my friend for her little boy.

A quick trip to the store is where I acquired a large white cardboard that the store was throwing away. My friend and I were able to utilize the cardboard for the main part of the costume. We outlined a house onto the cardboard, painted it using tempera paints, then cut it out. Russell (the boy scout from Pixar’s movie Up) and Carl (the old grumpy man from Pixar’s movie Up) were the two characters that I printed up from my home printer. I used packing Tape as a makeshift laminate to cover the printouts so they would be protected from the ink running. Russell was positioned in the window of the house and Carl was at the front porch. Once the house was cut out, two strings were strung through the roof part like overall straps so that my friends’ son could wear it. For the finishing touch, we filled two dozen helium balloons and attached them to her sons’ belt loop.

The costume was a B-I-G hit! Everyone was commenting what a cute costume. Every house we went trick-r-treating to had something great to say in reference to this costume idea, not to mention a few extra pieces of candy tossed in the candy bucket for our efforts.

How To Create Custom Mario and Luigi Lollipop Favors

2009-10-01T05:42:26-07:00

Here is a way to add some unique elements to your Mario Party or video game theme celebration. Give away these cool lollipops as party favors, prizes, or inside loot bags. However you plan to give them, the party guests will love to receive them. I have put together a how to video plus step-by-step instructions so that you can see all the steps taken to create these cute favors. If you used my templates to make your own Reversible “M” & “L” Party Hats, then you kind of already know the steps. Plus you can use your scraps that were left over from the Reversible “M” & “L” party hats. This template works just like the template from the Mario party hats. With one slight difference, they are much smaller.

Before you begin, I recommend making all of the print out templates sturdier. To do this, you don’t need to use any nice poster board, instead look to your recycling bin. Find cardboard from packaging or products, like an empty cereal box. That type of cardboard is sturdy yet it can still be cut through with little resistance.

You will need all of the following:

Exclusive Template (Click Here to Print)
Foam adhesive dots ( 1/4” & ½” widths)
Scissors (I recommend a pair that can cut around small corners nicely)
Embossing/ Scoring Tool
Glue
Super Blow Pop lollipops *Note- These templates are designed to fit Super Blow Pops, so if used on a regular size Blow pop/lollipop they will seem to be disproportional in size.

You can choose to use red colored poster board for the Mario Lollipop hats and green poster board for the Luigi ones, but I ended up just using my scraps that were left over from making my reversible Party Hats. So below you will notice that the poster board I am using is red on one side and green on the other. This is a really great way to cut costs and use up some of those scraps.

So let’s get on to the fun stuff. First trace template one onto your poster board.

Next, take template two and line up with your trace lines from template one. *Note- Use the “Top of Hat” printed area on the templates as your guide. Use the scoring tool to score along the flat side of template two.

Now take template three and line it up with your original trace marks. Use the Embossing/ Scoring Tool to score along the curved edge of template three. When finished scoring, remove template. Your traced off area should have two score marks running through (see image). Cut out the hat from the poster board by cutting along the traced lines.

Once you have it cut out, you can then gently fold in half along the straight scorned line. Then use your thumb to help as a guide along the curved scorn line while folding the front part of the fold down toward you.

After the curved scorn line is established, you can then use both of your thumbs to pinch and bend the mini hat backwards to help form a curvature. Since these are such small hats, you kind of need to use your fingers to work it along. The end result should be a smoothly curved piece of poster board (see image).

So now we need to cut out a letter patch from the exclusive printout to place on the Mini hat. Use a small amount of white glue on the backside of the letter patch. Place the patch right at the base of the visor area of the mini hat. Set aside, let it dry.

Also just as important, is the noses and moustaches. Cut out a set of those from the exclusive print out. Be sure to try to cut as close the printed edges as possible for a crisp look. *Note- if you have some tiny white paper areas showing around the moustache area where you cut, you can use a black marker for minor touchups.

Once you have a nose and moustache set cut out (1 set = one nose by itself & one nose attached to a moustache), your going to want to use an 1/8” foam adhesive (which ever are available to you, adhesive squares and circles will both work fine). Apply the 1/8” foam adhesive in the center of the nose that is attached to the moustache. Now take the nose that is by itself and stick that on top of the foam adhesive. *Note- Be sure to line up the placement of the two noses.

Now take a ¼” foam adhesive, and apply that to the back of the nose & moustache piece. Peel back the paper, and stick it in the center of a Super Blow Pop. *Note- These templates are designed to fit Super Blow Pops, and so if used on a regular size Blow pop/lollipop they will seem to be disproportional.

To finish it off, we need to adhere the mini hat to the Lollipop as well. To do this I used clear adhesive dots. You can find these in the craft store, most likely near scrap booking supplies. Apply two adhesive dots, one to each corner of the mini hat on the back. Then stick the hat onto the upper portion of the lollipop. Be sure to center the hat with the placement of the nose & moustache.

And well, there you have it. Make a bunch of them, and give them out to all your party guests. They are sure to compliment the custom creation you made. When I make them, I especially like color coordinating all the red cherry flavors with red “M” hats, and the sour apple greens with the “L” hats. :o)

To see a visual demonstration of how to create custom Mini Mario & Luigi Lollipop Favors see below.

Golden Birthday Wishes

2009-09-18T06:49:16-07:00

There is something about a wishbone that illustrates wishful thinking for people of all ages. I decided to take that well-known idea and shine it up a bit…literally. I made the golden wishbone pictured above for my son on his birthday, and he thought it was super cool. This fun birthday idea only takes minutes to produce, but brings lasting memories for that special birthday person in your life. With a couple sprits from a can of gold spray paint , a plain wishbone becomes shiny and golden. Once dry, tie a small tag to the bottom of the wishbone and write words such as “Make a Wish” on one side and “Happy Birthday” on the reverse side. Present the wishbone as a topper on a gift or right after they blow out their candles. No matter whose birthday it is, this little birthday detail adds magical fun to anyone’s special day.

Bakugan Brawl Birthday Party

2009-09-16T07:19:15-07:00

This past weekend I threw a Bakugan Party for my son’s 10th birthday. The majority of the party theme was coordinated with the idea of Bakugan cards in mind. The Invitations were created to look like a couple of Bakugan game cards piled ontop of one another, except they were customized with my son’s birthday party details thoroughtout. The frontside of the invitations contained all the party information (When, Where, Time, Place and R.S.V.P). The backside of the invitaion contained a Map and a google map image of the party location, so guests had a visual clue as to where the party would be held.

The invitaions were created on the computer by first scanning in a couple Bakugan Cards, adding in the personalized detail, then printing them out on glossy photo paper . To save on printing costs, I just went ahead and printed from my home printer. Since my home printer is an inkjet, I had to protect the ink from running/smudging. My simple remedy was to laminate the invitaions using my Xyron Laminating Machine . The lamination added a wonderful high gloss finish to the party invitations. The glossy outcome resembled the actual Bakugan game cards; which also have a glossy/shine finish.

The front side had an extra added touch, whith the Bakugan Ball actually popping off of the card. When viewed straight on from the front it appears as though the Bakugan ball is coming off the card out toward you. To do this I created a small spring-like piece made from black strips of paper. Then I adhered it to the invitation and the separate cirlce piece that was a Bakugan ball. The Bakugan ball read “ If you got them, Bring ‘em, There will be Bakugan Battle Brawls”.

Here you will see the cake how I ordered it from the local bakery and the cake after I altered it to match the birthday party theme. With some Wax paper, and a couple of Wilton Color Mist food-coloring cans, I was able to make the cake match the party theme.

I am not the cake decorating type…Even though I secretly watch “Ace of Cakes” in absolute amazement, wishing I could do awesome things like they do. I usually just try to order the cake from the bakery in the coordinated party theme. This doesn’t always work though. Since my children have a knack for requesting hard to find birthday party themes I am accustom to putting my creative thinking cap on and trying to pull of a themed cake while also staying within budget.

I printed the Bakugan logo and a few different colors of the Bakugan balls onto Inkjet Printable Transparency Sheets, and then I laminated the entire sheet. Each piece was cut out and later used to place around the cake as added decoration. Once it was time to cut the cake, I only removed the Bakugan logo from the top. The other Bakugan balls I left on the cake for the kids to enjoy pulling off and licking off the frosting themselves.

Ok, so I will admit the cake decorations would have been pretty cool if they were edible, but we all have our limits ;o). I admitted mine. However I will state the proud fact that the cake was approved “Cool” from the birthday boy and it only cost me $14.99. So all in all, mission accomplished! :O)

Bakugan Battle Brawl tournaments were the idea of my son. Originally I looked into purchasing several of the Bakugan Bakubowl circular tournament mats or even the Bakugan Battle Arenas, however I didn’t want to spend too much. Instead I bought a red plastic tablecloth and a couple rolls of electrical tape. I covered the entire table with the red plastic tablecloth, then using black electrical tape ; divided up the table into three sections. Switching to the yellow electrical tape, I taped off rectangle areas big enough to lay Bakugan cards on top. I labeled the yellow areas with black permanent marker "Used Pile". Just to put the finishing touches, I printed several Bakugan logos out and taped them in the center of each of the three brawl sections. To reference battle layout of Bakugan Battle Brawls I referenced to the Game instructions manual that comes with the toy/card packages. If you don’t have one or want to look up the game rules, you can always go to www.bakugan.com to see all the game information.

I designed and created some really fun colorful party hats for my son’s Bakugan Party. These hats were very cool and had a fun twist. Not only did the party guests get to choose their Bakugan party hat color but also these hats could be transformed from a Bakugan Ball hat into a Darkus Bakugan hat. When I designed the hats, I incorporated movable parts into the design. When the hats movable parts were in the open position they transformed into a whole other hat while revealing their G-Powers. The one pictured above had 850G’s. Each color was assigned a different amount of G-Powers. To see this party hat transform, I recorded the way it works for you to see.

This year my kids were eager to help with the party decorations. I really enjoy using my projector unit to create party decorations. It is a simple solution for me to creating large-scale prospectively correct party decorations. Then I just have to spend a little time filling in the traced outlines with some color, in this case it was my kids who did the coloring. Boy, were they proud of the final outcome. They had worked diligently coloring for several days. They really enjoyed adding in their creativeness into the birthday party. Once the party was over, the piece of art was transferred to my son’s room, where he displays it proudly on his wall.

Above, placed in my hand, you will see the Ventus Bakugan that I used as a reference for the papier-mache piñata that I created for the Bakugan Birthday Party. This is one of the most challenging piñatas that I have ever created. Of course my son didn’t request a closed ball Ventus Bakugan piñata…no, of course not. :o) I think after all these years of creating party piñatas for my kids, I may have set my self up…LOL!

The piñata was a “Big Hit”! The body portion was where the piñata goodies were contained. The head and neck part contained colorful confetti. I got a great shot of the piñata head getting knocked off, while confetti busts out from the piñata. I always love adding in confetti to all my piñatas just to add that little extra fun. To see other piñatas that I have created click here.

There were several party games that I planned out, many of which were team oriented. For the first game, I covered two separate boxes with white paper and stuck a Pyrus Bakugan Symbol on one and a Darkus Bakugan symbol on the other. Inside each of the boxes I placed five Bakugan Balls, then filled both boxes half full of packing peanuts. The object of the game was to run to the boxes and search for a Bakugan Ball while keeping the Packing peanuts from falling outside of the box. For Each bakugan a team member found and brought back to the starting line, they earned 50 points, however 5 points were deducted for each packing peanut that fell out of their box. So the teams had to work swiftly but carefully.

Other party games consisted of a Bakugan Frisbee flight and Bakugan Sponge Toss. For the Frisbees I used my projector unit to trace Bakugans onto these Circular foam disks that I had from recycled shipping supplies. The Bakugan Sponge Toss was a game that the kids seemed to enjoy. Also with the help of my projector unit I traced out Bakugan Balls onto thick cardboard, cut them out, each one having different point values stated on them (100G, 50G, 20G, etc.). The teams worked together to get the most points. One fun detail of the sponge toss that the kids found to be fun was that the Pyrus team had red tinted water inside their buckets, and the Darkus team had blue tinted water. To do this I just added a few drops of Tempra washable paints to the buckets before filling up with water. I was sure to use a water-based paint and not a pigment dye based paint, I didn’t want the kids to go home with colored hands.

One of the outdoor games that my son enjoys playing with his friends is called four square. So I decided to have it as one of the side game party activities, except with a bouncy Bakugan Ball. This ball was actually one from my son’s collection, except I covered portions of it with the left over electrical tape I had. Then I put a small logo that I printed out and taped on using clear packing tape. I made sure to adhere the clear packing tape over the electrical tape, otherwise it wouldn’t stick directly onto the ball, but the electrical tape does without any problems.

Here’s another side party game activity that I had setup for the kids to play. Basically I just put a fresh face on my kid’s floor checker game set. I printed out Pyrus Bakugan and Darkus Bakugan symbols, covered them with clear packing tape to protect the ink, and then adhered to the checker piece with hot- glue.

Red Loot Boxes were given out by the birthday boy to each of his guests at the end of the party. I was fortunate to find these prismatic red boxes with handles at the dollar store. Inside each loot box I stuffed in some candy, lollipops, Rice Krispy treats, a Bakugan Card Booster Pack and a Bakugan button. For the buttons, I printed up two designs on my computer, and then used my little nifty Handheld Button Maker to clamp it all together. The outcome looked very nice, I was happy to see. Some of the kids couldn’t help but open their loot boxes as soon as they received them. I remember hearing little voices throughout the room "Oooh Cooool !!!"

So there you have it, another cool party that was a success without spending a small fortune, instead I choose to spend creative time to make it a memorable one for the both birthday boy and his party guests.

Looking for items to coordinate with your Bakugan Party? Below are some cool, fun goodies that are great for Loot Bags, prizes or pinata fillers. Don't see what your looking for, Try Searching your Party Theme.