Matthew’s birthday party is now over a week behind us. All the organisation was all worth it and the party went smooth enough. It can be hard when you have kids ages ranging from three years to fifteen years. It’s not always easy to keep everyone happy.
However having a Super Mario themed birthday party I think I made the right decision. All kids these days are into games and Mario is a very bright character and so attracts any aged kid. I didn’t want to go over the top, particularly when it comes to the food situation. I made it as simple as I could and got some inspiration from Pinterest. As the main meal for the kids, I decided to order two large pizzas from our local takeaway which hubby collected a few minutes before the guests arrived. It was just way simpler and less stressful for me than having to stand in the kitchen all day.
The party kit itself which included eight cups, plates, plenty of napkins, table cloth, the banner, candles, party bags and balloons I ordered on the Woodies website. Seperate to that I also got Mario themed party bag fillers as well as tiny little problem solving puzzle and colouring books. Last but not least I added a few sweets and smarties to the bag to make it more interesting to them.
Once all the guests arrived, we all digged into some Pepperoni and Magherita pizza. I also made some pasta salad and sausages. This was more for the adults but in conclusion the adults wanted pizza too so for next time I am ordering more pizza. There was still enough for everyone so no one was going home hungry. The cute little prints I placed on the table were free printables I found on a Pinterest page. Very handy and a lovely decoration to the table. The frames were from IKEA and only cost €1 each. I decided to make my own cake toppers. So I picked up a bit of craft paper from the local craft shop, printed off all the different Mario characters and glued them onto each paper. At the back I super glued a tooth pick each and tada I had my inexpensive cake toppers.
The plan originally was to have maybe two or three games but because we had such lovely weather that day everyone was occupied in their own way and the boys all went onto the big green to play some football. However because I spent a lot of time painting twelve Yoshi look-a-like eggs I wanted to at least do the egg and spoon race. The kids had an absolute ball, particularly when one of the eggs cracked. As we did this race on the grass, thankfully the eggs didn’t break all the time which meant it wasn’t such a big mess. The prize for this game was a Mario themed PEZ. We played until every child had a PEZ.
Finally the cake… Again I am making it easy for myself. I picked up a Betty Crocker chocolate cake kit from Tesco for €2.99 and of course the Tempting Chocolate icing. Like every year I always buy a custom made icing for the kids birthday. The company is called Edible Cake Toppers and they never fail me. You can get anything made. The sheet I normally buy is pre-cut and for an eight inch cake which is only €7.50. We all gathered together for the birthday cake and had a big slice each. The adults sat down to have some tea with it.
Overall everyone had a great time and the party lasted a bit over two hours. I think that’s a perfect length considering parties in play centres would be just the same amount of time.
How do you prepare for your kids birthday party?
