Each Party begins with an invitation and Lisa from The Little Things was just right to take on designing Zach's Star Wars Birthday Invitation and more!
Invitations...
Lisa designed an out of this world Star Wars Birthday Invitation for Zach's friend's and family. I sent Lisa several invitations I enjoyed the look of; I prefer a simple and sweet look... With each invitation, I make a request on the back panel for a book instead of a card... We come from a teaching family, books are everywhere in our home and we enjoy reading the new books from friends and family. We also LOVE when friends and family sign the inside of the book, reminding us of the party and friend as we are reading bedtime stories.
Party Favors...
Party Favors are too much fun to create for kids. For Zach's Star Wars Birthday Party, Lisa designed a round "Thank You Note" sticker for our treats. I purchased bags of Honey Maid Star Wars crackers in FUN snack package sizes. I printed the stickers and placed them on each of the Honey Maid Star Wars crackers packages. They were super easy to make and kids loved having a little snack... or maybe for a snack on the ride home before they fall asleep.
Party Decorations...
We always decorate with balloons; we bought a helium tank w balloons from the local wholesale store... I put Andy in charge of blowing up all the balloons, arranging them through the yard and house. Andy even found giant sized Chewbaca, R2-D2, and Star Wars balloons, they were a perfect addition to the party!
Personalized Water Bottles are uber fun for a party... Until they get wet! I get frustrated after spending the time to laminate the paper, cut it, and tape it into place, only to see all the ink running into the ice bucket making a mess! I do not even have a picture of a runny water bottle label because they ruffle my feather so very much.
Then I found this... Avery Durable Wrapped Labels and they are Water Resistant!! WHAT?!? Why was I only hearing about these amazing stickers now?? I sent Lisa the measurements for the label, she designed an adorable personalized water bottle label just for Zach!
I printed each image onto the label paper, wrapping it around the label already on the water bottle... This is WAY easier then printing, laminating, cutting and taping regular paper! I saved myself a MAJOR headache by buying the labels. They came out wonderfully - and there was NO runny ink in the ice!
Mom's Side Note: When passing the measurements of the label size to your designer, be sure to accommodate for overlap. I forgot to think of that, so I just adjusted how I put each label on.
Star Wars Party Games...
There are far too many Star Wars Party Games on Pinterest... as a Mom who knows nothing about Star Wars, I was a little overwhelmed! I decided to leave it up to Andy, with a little creative help from Yours Truly! I made Lightsabers out pool noodles while Andrew designed a Jedi Training Camp!
How to Lightsabers:
Supplies:
- Pool Noodles
- Grey Ducktape
- Black electrical tape
- Butter knife
First, do not buy the wrong pool noodle - like I did! This is the pool noodle I bought, which would have been GREAT if I was using it for lounging in the pool, but I was making Lightsabers here, not swimming, lol. I was all set to ship them off to someone who could use them for their pool and buy NEW pool noodles, until I realized the party was only 5 days away and it was October! In this case, extra wide pool noodles are OK, lol.
I chopped the pool noodles in half w a butter knife... I asked Andy for a little help with this easy part, but then we started getting crooked knife cuts and I put a halt to the helping.
Once each noodle is cut in half, wrap the end in grey duck tape with stripes of black electrical tape on the end which was cut... And that is really it!
I placed them into a large black drink bucket, put the bucket next to the swing set for the kids to grab.
Then Dad was in charge... He planned a Jedi Training Camp. Beginning at the slide, each kid zipped down the slide, grabbed a lightsaber, ran around the yard circling multiple trees, and shot Silly String at Bad Guys (printed from online), then hit a pinata at the finish. Andy stuck a parent at each Bad Guy picture to make sure the kids ran in the right places. Nothing too elaborate because the kids don't need anything over the top... they just want to play, laugh, and run!
Mom's Side Note: Ask 2 parents to be at the pinata. One to stop the kids at the pinata to begin a line far enough back to prevent them from hitting one another, one to stand at the pinata helping with the swinging. Also ask a parent to hand baggies to the kids to put all the goodies into when the pinata finally opens... Before filling the pinata, put aside 2 or so of each item. This is in case a kids breaks of loses their favorite treat, there is a replacement.