The Power of the Printer

I made a party game today in about two minutes.   How did I do that?  I used what I already had. Now I always try my best to use what I already have but very often that involves cutting up boxes, gluing, rearranging, etcetera, etcetera.   Sometimes though with just a little help from your printer you can instantly match a game you may already have to your party theme.


             The first game was extremely easy to do.   I already had these lawn darts -

To make them into a party game I just printed out Sonic and Knuckles heads and taped them on.
           Here is "Sonic Shuttles" - games are always better when they have a fun name.

Look around your house at games you already have.  Do you have a bowling or basketball set?  Maybe lawn darts or toss across?  Add characters to any games you already have, give them a fun name, and you can quickly, easily, and very cheaply (or even free) make a party game.

Try to look at objects you have that aren't already games but could quickly be turned into such.

Below is "Mario Ball Brawl".  I already had this Mario ball and lots of empty clear plastic frames (which I picked up at the the thrift store for 10 cents each!).  I printed out Mario "bad guys", added them to the frames, and wrote on point values with a dry erase marker.  That's it!

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook

Another Point Collecting Mario Arrival Activity

The perfect arrival activity for any Mario theme is making and/or decorating coin collectors.   It is not only a simple craft to prepare but it has the added bonus of being something the guests can actually use during the party.

You could make this as simple as decorating paper sacks to collect the coins in or go all out and make coin blocks for each guest to assemble or anything in between.   Just be sure it is easy enough for them to carry around from game to game.

*If you decide to make coin blocks you can click here for a link to a free square box template or Google free square box templates for more.

*Click here for a the link to the coin collectors we made for our last Mario Party theme

We are preparing for a Mario Party 9 birthday party for my middle son's upcoming birthday.   One of the small differences from the previous Mario Party games is that you collect stars instead of coins.   So we will be decorating star collectors instead of coin collectors but the idea is still the same.

I decided to create star collector medallions for our guests to wear.  Leftover star confetti will be used for the stars.  Here is what the finished product looks like.  After they are decorated they will have a hole punched in the top and yarn added so they can be worn like medals.  Scroll down for a complete tutorial.

This is everything you need: glue, scissors, two objects for tracing circles, a pencil, and some sort of small container.

*I had these old Crystal Light containers saved up but I don't think they come in these type of containers any more.  You could cut any other kind of small tubs like this, cut down dixie cups, the bottoms from Easter eggs would work but you'd probably need to use hot glue if you go that route.  Keep your eye out for empty containers at stores.  The empty containers I have from Pop Rocks eggs would work really well and provide more area to decorate.   If I didn't already have plans for a game with them I would have used them.

Things you don't need but are pretty handy: labels and an ink pad

Now for the tutorial ...

The first thing I did was cut out the slot for the stars to go in.

Just pinch the container like so and cut to small parallel lines.  

Then let the container go back to normal and make two small cuts

on each end of the other two lines making a small rectangle.

Don't worry about getting it perfect, just be sure it's big enough for the stars.

Next using an object just a bit larger then your container 

trace out a circle for each star collector

You can either trace your smaller object on top of the large circles

or make it easy and use an ink pad to just stamp the circle instead

Then put glue around the edge of your container

Put the containers face down in the center of your larger circles

Be sure the star slot is lined up with the top circle

Let them dry and then cut them out and that's about it

If you happen to already have labels you can add one

onto the bottom edge.  If not just be sure to write names on them

That's all. They are ready to be decorated. 

Then holes will be punched and yarn added and they 

will be all ready to wear and collect stars.

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook

Let Them Drink Up!

One of the best ways to bring your theme to your place settings is with personalized drink labels.  It is also normally one of the first things I do to get ready for a party.  Unlike a lot of other things I do, it does not involve dragging a bunch of craft supplies out and you can easily start and stop as you need to.

To quote a previous post...

"A great way to personalize drinks at your party is to make labels for individual sized drinks.  A favorite amongst my children (and probably every other child I've ever met) are Little Hugs.  You can find them at most grocery stores.  I purchased mine on sale at Walmart for $2.89.

If you haven't seen them, here is what to look for -

Besides the fact that children love them, they are also a great way to prevent spills.  When I buy them we poke a straw through the top instead of removing the lids."


* Side note - I just bought a box of Hugs last week and it came with straws!

Below is a link to the Mario Party labels that accompanied that post (click on it to go to the page with the rest of the flavors) and below that is a template with just a border for anyone that wants to create their own.  I print these out as wallet size to make nine per page.

I am in the (somewhat slow) process of opening up an etsy shop where I will have labels for sale.  In the meantime, if anyone is in need of personalized labels feel free to contact me.  Even if you don't need labels right now I would love to hear your theme suggestions.

*I will make a personalized set of labels for the first person that contacts me!*

Right now I am working on two parties for my May Birthday Boys - Mario Party 9 and Skylanders.  Below are the Hugs labels that I created for them.

~ Building two different birthdays at once is...interesting! - Lisa

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook

Hippitty Hop Hop Hurry Up

I thought I'd post some quick last minute Easter party ideas in case anyone hops on by looking for some...

Pin The Tail on The Bunny - So simple and so cute.  Just draw a bunny and use cottonballs as the tails.

Get the Sheep Back to Sleep - Since you've got those cotton balls out how about using them as little sheep in another simple game.  Tape a picture of a barn on the front of a cardboard box and cut a hole out for the door.   Lay your little cotton ball sheep on the floor or table a small distance from the barn and have the children blow them back into the barn.

Throw the Egg in the Basket/s - Yes, that's it.  Throw plastic eggs into an empty basket.  You could even line up three or four baskets one in front of the other and play "Grand Prize Game" style.

Feed the Bunny - Tape a bunny face onto a box and cut out a hole for the mouth.  Feed your bunny baby carrots or jelly beans.

Egg Match - Either draw eggs in matching pairs or hide matching objects inside plastic eggs.  If you use the plastic eggs you can put them in a couple of empty egg cartons to keep them in line.

Musical Eggs - Cut egg shapes out of paper and use them instead of chairs to make Musical Eggs

Eggtionary - For somewhat older kiddos put slips of paper with everyday objects into plastic eggs.  They take turns choosing one, drawing what the paper says, and getting their team to guess what it is.

Silly Eggs - or how about just putting silly things to do on the slips of paper (act like a monkey, hop backwards, etc.)

Bunny Bowling - put pictures of bunnies on empty water bottles and bowl away.  I'm honestly not sure if an egg would work as a ball but if not you could always just draw or tape a picture of an egg onto a ball.  Better yet, how about calling it Scrambled eggs and putting pictures of eggs on the water bottles or even perch plastic eggs on top of the bottles.

Bunny Bingo - Guess what, Bunny has the same number of letters as Bingo and you can print out your own Bingo cards for free at dltk-cards.com

Bunny Hop - get out your pillowcases and have a good old fashioned sack race

Happy Easter!  ~ Lisa

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook

Build a Birthday - Getting Started

There is another birthday party (or two) on the horizon at my house and it's time to start the planning. I will of course be posting all the games and everything else that I make along the way but I've decided to add a bit more this time around. I'm hoping as you read the entire Mario Party 9 party planning process it will give you ideas and tips to help you in the planning of your own party, whatever the theme may be.

Speaking of themes, choosing one is the first step in planning your own party. Obviously you will want the theme to be something your child enjoys. Think about what they like to do, play with, and talk about. Do they have a favorite game, show, or toy?

If they are old enough, ask them what theme they would like. They will surely have at least one idea, maybe many. Do be wary of new interests though. If your child just saw A Bug's Life last week and says they want a bug party be sure to give it some time before you invest a lot of time or money in the theme.

If you need a few theme ideas there is a Big List of Party Themes here.

Once your theme is chosen it's time to do some researchG. If you are planning a party around a certain theme you will need to know all about that theme.

Sometimes this is a very simple step. You may even be able to bypass it altogether. For a 2nd birthday party with a bug theme I didn't need to do any research at all. I already know enough about bugs to plan a bug party.

For a Barnyard (the movie and wii game) party I sat down with the birthday boy and took notes while we rewatched the movie and played the wii game. I jotted down things like "Otis gets missions on phone" and "give ingrediants to Pig to make recipe". 


Those two particular notes later turned into the "phone"  which included messages to be read before each game and this game which had rhyming clues to find silly ingredients for a "peppermint pie".

For the current theme I'm working on, Mario Party 9, my boys have been thrilled to have several game playing/party planning sessions.  They play the game and I take notes.  While you watch the movie/read the book/play the game take notes and be thinking about party games you have seen or played in the past.  How could you change those games to fit your theme?

Make note of favorite parts of the movie/book/game and try to imagine how they could turn into a game.  For example my boys think it's hilarious when Rapunzel hits Flynn with the frying pan in Tangled.  When we were toying with the idea of a Tangled party for my four year old we planned on playing a game where we would throw toy frying pans at a cardboard Flynn.

If you are having a hard time getting ideas, have a look at the  Basic Games section.  And remember to ask your little one for ideas too!

Happy Party Planning!  ~ Lisa

p.s.  It is my intention to start posting every Tuesday so be sure and check back then!

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook

Parties - Past, Present, and Future

It's been nearly a year since my last post *yikes* but I am determined to get back to it and on a much more frequent basis.  With yet another Mario Party Party under way there should be plenty to post about!   

I do have some really great (although at this point also old) news to share first....

I won the grand prize ($500!) for 2011's Party Tales contest over at one of my favorite party sites Coolest Kid Birthday Parties!

"Our Grand Prize $500 cash winner is Lisa from Texas who threw a joint birthday party for her two boys aged 3 and 7.  The two brothers share an obsession for Mario, hence Mom chose a "Mario Brothers Birthday" theme.  The party was thrown on a budget and everything was homemade which was a very important factor in our decision-making.  It's a "do-able" party with lots of original party planning ideas.  A lot of thought and hours of research were put into keeping with the Mario theme and Lisa (aka Professor Mario) actually invented real party games based on the virtual Mario Brothers games."

"Professor Mario" :) I love it!

You can read my Party Tales entry here or look around in the archives for more thorough info on every last detail of the party.

Stay tuned for lots more Mario Party games (and other party planning/game ideas) coming up soon.   And remember even if you're not having a Mario Party you can always change up the games to fit your own theme.

Happy Birthday Building!  ~ Lisa

Become a fan of build-a-birthday on Facebook