Birthday Party Tips and Tricks Plus Theme Ideas

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Twice a year I get to do one of my favorite things-Throw a birthday party! I have thrown 7 birthday parties for my 2 kids and each time I learn a trick that makes throwing the perfect party easy and fun. Today I want share some of my tips and tricks with you.

Use What You Have

Train BirthdayI always like our kitchen table to be “birthday party central” and use it to set the whole theme of the party.  For my son’s 2nd Birthday my husband did chalkboard art (he include a picture of the theme of the party and Charlie’s favorite things list) on a chalkboard we already had. If you do not have a chalkboard I highly suggest getting one. I can’t tell you how many time we have use it as the centerpiece for an occasion we are hosting.  Since his theme was trains I set up a train track from our train table around the cake. I always buy a bunch of balloons to finish off the table.

I also love using pictures in my decorating. For my son’s 1st birthday I printedCurious George out all the monthly photos I took of him and hung them up on a piece of twine with clothes pins. For the same party I made tissue paper pom poms that found a new home in his bedroom after the party.

Tip- Instead of buying the expensive themed plates, napkins, etc just buy plain colored plates that goes with your theme. So much cheaper!

 

Invest in the Cake

Cars cakeI think if there is one thing you want to spend money on for a birthday party it is the cake. I love a cake that doubles as the centerpiece. I am also very picky on how the cake tastes. The cake can look stunning, but if it is dry and taste yucky, that is all that your guests will remember. I usually spend between $40-$60 on a cake and I really think it is worth every single penny.

Tip- I love having a little element of surprise when it comes to the cake, so I usually just tell our cake lady the theme and let her run wild with how she wants to design it. I have never been disappointed and love opening the box when we pick it up.

Theme Ideas

I have used all of these themes for my boys:

A Puppy Party

This has probably been my favorite party I have done. I had “dog food” snacks (puppy chow and coco puffs) in dog dishes, handed out puppy partydog shaped cookies as favors, dressed my son in shorts with a dog pattern and served a dog themed menu (hot dogs, jumping puppy jigglers, etc.) and had a slideshow of pictures from his first year playing on a laptop on the food table.

Cars

Simple party. I used lots of Cars we had around the house as decorations. Favors included Cars fruit snacks and matchbox cars.

Avengers

We held this party in the morning at a park and served donuts instead of cake and it was a huge hit! I packed up a bin of all our superhero masks and all the kids loved pretending to be their favorite superhero as they ran around the playground.

wildthingsWhere the Wild Things Are

Another favorite party of mine. I printed off Wild Things mask from the internet and used them as part of the favors. I also found Wild Things printables of famous quotes from the book and printed them off and framed for a quick and easy decoration. We read the book to the kids to kick off the party.

Ninja

This was probably the most low key party I have done. I found ninja accessories in the party section of Target that worked perfectly for party favors. I love doing big parties, but some years it just doesn’t happen and I’m perfectly OK with that.

Curious George

This was such a fun party! We served chocolate covered bananas and collected all the stuffed monkeys we had in our house to hang different places. I used yellow, red and blue to really make the party bright, cheerful and fun.

Trains

The chalkboard and train tracks were all I really need for decorations. We kept the meal simple and ordered pizza. I have learned that not serving a big full meal makes the party run so much more smoothly and is much less stressful. Never feel guilty about just doing an afternoon party with cake or ordering pizza, BBQ, etc., for a lunch or dinner time party.

What is your favorite birthday party tip? Leave a comment and share with us below!

6 COMMENTS

  1. For my oldest son’s first, our theme was from “If You Give a Dog a Donut.” It was a morning party, we served apple juice and donuts, plus a yogurt parfait bar. I spray painted an inner tube to look like a donut and made little donuts out of socks and felt to toss in the big donut. I had donut seeds (cheerios) for favors and also had a make your own snack necklace (cereals that were loops on yarn).

    For his next party, the theme was “The Wheels on the Bus.” We took a city bus ride from Valley West to Jordan Creek with our guests. Then, we played in the playplace and had lunch in the food court. I pre-ordered a cookie cake so we picked it up right there! Favors were wheels (oreos), horns (bugles) and then some of his favorite things (bubbles, balloons). Oh how I love a theme party!

  2. I hate party favors (trinkets), so I always try to make one of the activities the kids do something they can take home as the favor. I hate spending money on something I know will just end up in the trash, you know?! Love the ideas!

  3. I probably called DART six times beforehand to verify things but for a group of ten kids and five adults, it went really well! Plus, fare is FREE for the little ones! We even went so far as to sing the song and the other passengers were good sports 🙂 I should note that we rode on a Friday midmorning and afternoon so it may have been less busy than a weekend. My friends have given me a hard time for picking things that are round, haha, so who knows what the third birthday party theme will be! 🙂

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