A STAR WARS 5TH BIRTHDAY...

Two years ago, my oldest son turned 5, and I went ALL OUT and planned an Over The Top Fishing themed party for him.  As soon as it was over, I knew that 20 short months later, I would have to plan another party for my youngest son, who would then be turning 5.  Well that 20 month deadline arrived a week and a half ago, and because I am my mother, who always did everything Even Stephen for me and my sister, so I do everything Even Stephen for my boys, I went ALL OUT again, and planned an Over the Top Star Wars party.

After two months of planning, it all came to fruition....

I kept a notebook so I could keep organized and on track.  These are pages 2 and 3 of twenty pages of notes.  The first page was the guest list, and these pages were my brainstorming ideas.  Once I had a clear idea of what I would be doing, then each category had it's own page.  Then there were pages of To Do Lists.  Then pages of shopping lists.  The last page was the Order of Events for the day.  All Organized, and Everything got crossed off.  

I know.  I'm crazy!

A month before the party, I pretty much had everything figured out, but couldn't get started on anything because we were about to spend Spring Break in New Orleans.  And I had a lot to prepare for that trip (15 hour road trip (one way) with two boys 4 & 6 - that Post coming soon.  So, as soon as we got back, I got to work - first, on the Invitations.  I found lots of inspiration on Pinterest - from basic postcard invites to Light Sabers, but I really wanted to design something original.  

I decided to go with the Death Star.

From the inspiration I collected, however, I did word the invitation using Yoda language.

Whenever I make invitations, I always have all my parts and pieces first, and then I have an assembly line type strategy for putting them all together.  I made 18 of these, and they went out in the mail three weeks before the party.

After checking The Weather Channel every day for the previous week, and worrying about the possibility of rain, the day finally arrived - we were blessed with absolutely Gorgeous weather.

I couldn't sleep, so I was up early doing one last crafty thing that I didn't think I would have time for, but due to insomnia, I did - YAY!.  Then my Mom and I set about getting all the food ready (mostly just assembling - no cooking) and setting everything up.

So here it is...

A STAR WARS 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

First, the Cake.  I always seem to do cupcakes rather than an actual cake.  It's way easier for me, and easier for the guests.  So three Light Sabers it is.  This is the cake table.

The Birthday Boy LOVED it!!

I baked two batches of cupcakes, because I needed 33 cupcakes for the Light Sabers. So, I had to do something with the other 15 - Storm Trooper Guards.  I had also made a batch of these earlier in the week for the Birthday Boy to take to school to share with his classmates.

My one and only original idea... Tie-Fighters.  These are what I got up and made at a@*-o-clock in the morning the day of the party.  I wanted to hang something over the cake, so I came up with these - just balloons with some chipboard attached to them.  I cut out the shapes, drew the details with chalk and then stuck them to the balloons with double-sided tape.  They were hung from the ceiling with fishing line.

The Snack table...  Notice the photo bomber to the left?  That's the Birthday Boy!

I really wanted to make some type of bunting for hanging over the table, but because of how our house is positioned on a slight hill, the possibility for a lot of wind is high.  Bunting, or anything hanging would have been all over the place.  Luckily, we had really no wind that day, but I didn't take any chances.  I created this sign using a sheet of plywood, a black plastic tablecloth and some letters I cut out with my Cricut.

The Darth Vader mask was borrowed from a friend, and the "5" is paper mache from Hobby Lobby.  I used Mod-Podge to adhere the star paper, from which I had cut out the "Star Wars" with an exacto knife.

This was my most favorite thing that I found on Pinterest, and knew as soon as I saw it that I would be doing it for this party - Hans Solo in Carbonite Jello.  

However, from all the photos that I saw of this online, all the figurines were suspended in perfectly smooth Jello.  I could not for the life of me figure out how they did that.  Every time I tried to place Hans in the Jello, he would float to the top.  I kept trying at different stages of solidity - but ended up waiting too long.  When I finally got him to stay under the surface, the jello around him was no longer smooth.  So, I went with that concept and roughed up the entire surface.  To be honest, I think it looked better and more like the Carbonite - just sayin!

Along with the Jello, there were also Tie Fighters - tortilla chips and cheese cubes, held together with cream cheese...

Edible Ewoks - Teddy Grahams...

and Kenobi Kabobs - fruit skewers.  I was quite shocked that these were probably the most popular snack item.  I mean, they're healthy - whaaat???

The drink table included three tasty beverages.  First, Yoda Soda - 7-Up and Lime Sherbert...

Vader-Ade - Blue Koolade...

and of course, Blue Milk!  As yummy as this looks, no one was adventurous to try it :( LOL!

Despite the Blue Milk, the snack and drink tables seemed to be a hit with the party guests.

Adjacent to the gift table, I arranged this little Galactic vignette.

The "Piece de Resistance" of this display was this adorable drawing.  A few days before the party, Grey did this drawing to "add" to the party "decorations".  As soon as I saw his cute little rendering of R2-D2 and Princess Leia (or Layr as he calls her), I knew I had to showcase it somewhere.

I displayed the Invitation and a paper R2-D2 that I made.  The "May the Force be with You" is my son's t-shirt that I put over a pillow form.

The Storm Trooper Eggs were set here, awaiting their game to take place.  The Birthday Boy just loved that each Storm Trooper had his own "gun".

These were the Party Favors that I had for all the guests - Light Saber Icee Cozies.

On the gift table was a photo of Grey when he was Darth Vader for Halloween when he was 18mos. old.

Now for the FUN....

When the guests arrived, they each received a tunic, so they would be properly attired for the Academy Training in which they were about to participate - brown for the boys and white for the girls. 

All the girls also received a pair of Princess Leia Buns.

I had a craft station set up for the Jedis to do while we were waiting for all the guests to arrive...

Once everyone had arrived and had a chance to Build their Droid, it was time for the "Training Course".

The course entailed climbing a rock wall, going down the slide, running through the Wall of Fire, weaving through the chairs, crossing the Hot Lava, a little Corn-Hole, and then keeping their balance across a couple of 2x4's.

Once they had completed the course, they received their Achievement Badge...

and, their LIGHT SABER!!!

All the young Jedi listening to the instructions.

And they're off....

The "Hot Lava" was the favorite part of the course.  Who knew a red plastic tablecloth and two pieces of cardboard could be so entertaining?  The idea was that they could cross the "Lava", only one "Stone" at a time.  After they set down one stone and stepped on to it, they had to pick up the previous stone to use as the next step.

The final obstacle...

 After the Training Course, it was on to Light Saber training with Jedi Master Marc.

Then it was time for "Do Not Drop the Storm Trooper" Egg Run Relay.

Finally, much to the joy of all the guests, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat some cake.

After their bellies were full, and the Birthday Boy had opened all his gifts, the guests were in for a Very Special Surprise...

DARTH VADER!!!!  The one surprise I was able to keep hidden...

My husband was SOO Excited to do this for his little guy.  I looked into renting or buying a costume, but in the end decided I could just make one.  I did buy the mask, which came with the red Light Saber, but everything else was made.  Marc had a black sweatshirt that I added the grey detail with duct tape and made the chest plate out of chipboard.  On the chipboard, I Mod-Podged some paper to create the "buttons" and then spray glued some fleece on the back so that I could pin it to the sweatshirt.  The belt is   made from a piece of poster board with the buckle detail made from paper and Mod-Podged to it.  I then left it extra long, so he could just wrap it and staple it to where it fit him.  The cape is a black twin sheet that I cut in a triangular shape and then he just pinned around his neck with a large safety pin.  I wanted him to wear his black dress pants and shoes, but at the last minute - the night before the party, he remembered he still had all his motorcycle gear.  So glad he remember that, because it was Perfect.  He had black gloves and a black head mask, which covered his hair - that way, the boys would have No idea it was him.  

When the opening of presents was just about over, Marc went in the house and got changed.  While he was doing that, and I was awaiting his text that he was ready, I had all the kids in the front yard practicing their newly acquired "Light Saber" skills.

Then...

Darth Vader arrives...

The Birthday Boy is the first to run to do Battle...

then all the Jedi Knight's joined in...

DV running for his life!!

This was definitely the highlight of the Party!!

And last but not least, the Falcon Millenium Pinata.  This is the most expensive thing I bought for the party.  I really wanted to make a Death Star Pinata, but I just didn't have enough time.

The best way to end any party, in my opinion, is with a Pinata.  All the kids love them!!  The Birthday boy was the first to go, but amazingly, every guest got a chance to take a whack at it.

I truly hope this will be a day that he always remembers.  I know we will.

The whole time I was working on and making stuff for the party, he kept saying... "Mommy, thank you for making all this stuff for me and my party.  I love you!"

I love you too, Grey!!  Mommy would do it all again in a heartbeat, just to see that sweet little smile.  Happy Birthday Porkchop!!!!

Please visit the Pinterest board I created for this party so you can see where all my Inspiration came from...