Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Luke's Minecraft Birthday Party

I'm not going to lie, when Luke told me that he wanted his own party this year and he wanted it to be "Minecraft" themed I panicked a bit.  I know that Minecraft is about building stuff with squares, but that was about all I knew.  I immediately hit up Pinterest to start pinning other people's ideas :)

Normally I'm all "over the top" and crazy crafty, but I think that the time for those parties may be behind me.  Luke had his own opinions and ideas of what he wanted and, unfortunately, he's not impressed by handmade banners or cute little tent signs announcing how cleverly I matched food up with Minecraft objects :)  Dang it.

So, he and I got on Amazon and searched "Minecraft party" and ordered a few things to decorate with and that was pretty much the extent of the planning before the day of.

I made the banner in Photoshop and had it printed at Sam's (and then Luke informed me that the "grass" was upside down... the dirt is on top). hahaha  The balloons we picked up at the grocery store and I drew the creeper faces on them with permanent marker.  The cardboard heads I found HERE and the tissue paper grass I found HERE.




Typically I make cupcakes for the kids parties, but this year I opted to order them from Market Street (a local grocery store) and NOT feel guilty about it :) hahaha

Luke set up a little "scene" using a Minecraft Steve toy and some blue jewels


I printed out some "creeper faces" on photo paper and I let Luke just "stick" them in the icing :)


The cake stand I found at Homegoods before Christmas.






About three days before the party I found Rock Chick Cookies through a friend on Facebook.


She came through in a TOTAL pinch for me and her cookies were SOOOOOOOOOOO cute!  Since we had cupcakes during the party I ended up putting these in clear favor bags and letting each of the boys pick one on their way out of the party.  Not only did they look great, but they were DELICIOUS!!!  If you're local, you should totally check her out!




Luke and I saw a "Creeper Toss" game on Pinterest and so Friday morning we picked up a piece of cardboard and I cut out the face and Luke got to coloring :)  "Perfectionist Andrea" would have spray painted this and put point values and stuff on it, but "Let it Go Andrea" let Luke do is thing...


... and it turned out perfect.  ;)


Party guests started to arrive and we ushered everyone out to the backyard.  We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather and (despite the leaves not being picked up - hahaha), the boys had THE BEST time running around, digging and being crazy out there :)


... except for Nixon who wanted to stay inside and hang out with Jack Bauer :) hahaha

Erika!!! GET THIS BOY A PUPPY!!!

I have no clue what is happening in most of these pics - other than a whole lot of fun!








We had a fun mix of "school friends" and "church friends" and I love how boys just fall right into "play mode" without any formal introductions. 


We did a few organized activities including Luke's "Creeper Toss"...






I think the biggest hit of the party was when we did the Mentos/Diet Coke experiment (like TNT in Minecraft).  Their little faces were PRICELESS!!!  (Sidenote - Sheaffer.... make sure you look at Carter and his shorts! hahaha)



Luke's bestie, Lincoln, chugging the leftover diet coke :) #wildparty


It was such a hit we did it with a second liter.  If you haven't ever done this experiment before, it's crazy easy.  Just drop a bunch of Mentos (we did 6) all at one time into a bottle of diet coke and then stand back!



After we exploded the TNT they lined up to wash their hands and then we had square pizza (because everything in Minecraft is in squares)


I loved getting to hear their little conversations around the tables.  There MAY have been a serious discussion about farts and burps :)  #boys




Then it was outside for more shenanigans...





One of my former students (she's a freshman now and I miss her so much!!!) came and watched GG so Dave and I could focus on the boys.  G ATE UP all the one-on-one time :)  
(PS - she's stripped down because she is the messiest eater EVER and the chorus of "ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwws" we heard when we pulled her shirt off was hilarious!)


Cupcake time!!!  We went to get the cupcakes ready and in that moment I realized that I had TOTALLY forgot about candles.  I had a random "3" candle in the junk drawer and the boys thought it was sooooooooo funny that Luke's birthday is April Fool's Day and we were playing an April Fool's Joke on him :)  Not planned, but apparently epic.




This pretty much sums up our 4:00 - 6:00 :) 







We came inside and did presents...



... and then busted out my SUPER awesome Pin the Tail on the Pig game :)  I put this together while the boys were playing outside. hahaha


We put the minecraft heads on the boys, turned the heads so they couldn't see out and handed them a "tail" with their name on it...






Back outside!!!






As the boys left, they each grabbed a green treat bag and put a gold bar (that Luke and I had filled with M&Ms), a cookie and a "hanger" (some Minecraft keychain thing they all went crazy over) in it as their goody bag.




This pic was pre-party when Luke and Mason were sorting the keychains and discussing which one(s) they wanted :)



It was two hours of total chaos and mayhem, but we had the BEST time!  Luke said it was "the best day EVER" and I don't doubt that one bit :)


I had so much fun doing this party for Luke and his friends and making it something that HE really wanted and had input in.  I think it was our best birthday party to date :)  

If you want to check out past birthday parties I've linked to them below...




40 comments :

  1. Nixon had a blast!! He told me that he didn't stay inside the whole time....when Jack Bauer went outside he did too. Hahahahaha!!

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    1. That's true :) He LOVED him some Jack Bauer! He can come over and have a playdate with Jack any time!

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  2. This party looked so fun for the boys-and tiring for the parents! Look how many things they did in just two hours. Yikes! I bet everyone slept well ;)

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    1. We totally did! And I give Dave MAJOR props because he worked all day, came home as kids were arriving, and then went back to work to do the dinner rush and a private party. hahaha That man is AMAZING!!!

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  3. You know what this post tells me? That I do a horrible job taking pictures at my kids' parties. I suck at it. On the other hand, Smith had the best time!!!! Thank you so much!!

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    1. You take fabulous pics!!! And I'm so glad Smith had fun - we love having him!

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  4. Yeah. Even your "I didn't really do anything or plan anything" birthday parties are AMAZING. You've got a gift friend!!!! Carter has so much fun....but I've gotta say.....he wants to go over again soon so he and Luke can play Legos. COME ON SUMMER!!!!!

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    1. He can come over anytime! It's supposed to be rainy and ick all weekend - let's plan something for Saturday :)

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  5. I thorougly enjoyed this. Those cookies are awesome. My students that are minecraft crazy would love them. My favorite are the boxes on their heads, too cute. AND I love your decor in your home, I couldn't stop admiring the backgrounds. You did a great job-maybe you should consider party planning!!

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    1. Thank you so much!!! I love love love making special events, but not sure if I'd love doing it full time :) Maybe!

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  6. What a fun day! My third trimester hormones and impending boy mom life have got me soaking up posts like this. Boys are so fun!

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    1. Awwwwwwww!!!! Boys are AWESOME!!! They're super fun and you're going to have a BLAST being a boy mom! :) Congrats!

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  7. You should have been a professional party planner :)

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  8. Luke had a great time! What a fun party!!

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  9. Perfection!!! It all looks so fun and I, for one, am glad to see you had Luke open his gifts and thank his guests in person. That is a HUGE pet peeve of mine but it seems I am one of the only moms who does that lately-thanks for the company!

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    1. Thank you! For us, gift opening kind of depends on the size of the party. In the past - when I've had all three of their parties together we've opened gifts later just because of the craziness of having three kids opening them all at the same time. But yes, it was so fun to get to see him open the gifts and then have the boy who gave him the gift get just as excited. :)

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    2. Melissa, M and H did this at ther last two parties (M was only 3!). I think once they're school aged it's totally the way to go. Seems that's the trend where I'm from- all the kids 5/6 and up open at the party.

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  10. Would you mind terribly if I copied most (if not all) of this party? My son turns 9 at the end of the month and he and his friends are MINECRAFT crazy! Thanks for sharing and I am glad Luke had a fun party!

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    1. Not at all!!! It was so easy and the boys loved it! Copy away!!! (PS - if you're local and want the Minecraft heads let me know.... I'm giong to post them on Craigslist (because we have no use for two giant cardboard Minecraft heads on a daily basis. hahaha)

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  11. Such a fun party!! We are quite a few years away from our little guy helping plan his party but this makes me excited for when that time comes! Way to let him be a part of creating his best day ever! :)

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  12. This is such a cute party! My Jagger is wanting a minecraft party for his next bday! It looks to be a pretty easy party to put together! ;)

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  13. What a great party! And that is awesome that Luke had a say in things :) For Xavier's 3rd birthday I went store bought, less decor, etc. and never looked back! It turned out great! And so much less stressful :)

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  14. Hehe I'm a long way from having kids but this makes me excited!! Such an awesome day.
    P.S G will probably see that pic one day and giggle about it with the boys! So cute :)

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  15. Oh my! That party looks like it was a total success. Love all Minecraft decorations! Well done!

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  16. I am totally biased and know that because I am a boy momma, but those little guys are precious! Love their faces during the Mentos experiment! I just love little guys- girls terrify me! And amen to the no need to introduce mixed groups of friends when they're all guys!

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  17. Great party!!! I'm excited to check out past birthday posts. You are amazing at throwing parties. I love doing it myself! So funny the "grass" was upside down. I would have never known. :)

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  18. What I love about this is that you listened to Luke and gave him the party that he wanted I think a lot of moms get caught up in a competition with themselves and one another to make the parties bigger and better, when in reality their kids would be happy with less. So to me what made this a special party is that you let Luke be part of the planning, you didn't stress yourself out trying to make it perfect, you let the boys just be boys with lots of outside play, and you ensured that you and your husband could be present and available. High five to you!

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  19. I'm in awe of your talents! I have two boys and both of them would FLIP for a party just like this! Perfection. Aren't the "lower key" parties the best? (except your "low-key" party outshines my "all-out" parties by a mile! Haha) The happiness shining out of Luke's sweet face in every picture makes me giddy. Luke, Mason, and Griifin are lucky kiddos to have parents like you and Dave.
    Thanks for sharing this with us!

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  20. First of all the minecraft heads are awesome! What a great idea! I am totally showing all of this to my bff that is planning her little boy's 6th bday Minecraft themed! Everything looks fantastic and although crazy with 12 little boys, I am sure Luke will never forget it! xoxo

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  21. Oh man! My son is already requesting a Minecraft party for his next birthday party... in September! hahaha You did a great job! If we go through with this theme I'll definitely be stopping back to borrow some ideas. :)

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