Star Wars Birthday

Dallin loves Star Wars. He wears his Darth Vader shirt all the time and is always asking to watch the movies ("A New Hope" and "Return of the Jedi" are his favorites). So I was not surprised when I started planning for Dallin's fifth birthday and he asked for a Darth Vader cake. I went beyond the cake and planned a whole Star Wars themed birthday party for him.

The invitation:

I love how this turned out. Dallin recognizes that this is a Star Wars font. He doesn't know letters of the Alphabet yet, but he knows a Star Wars font when he sees one...

The inspiration for the invitation and a lot of the other party ideas came from Homemade by Jill and the Star Wars party she threw for her 5 year old boy. Something about Star Wars must really resonate with the 4-5 year old crowd.

I made a few simple decorations to go with the theme.

Tie fighter balloons hung over the piano.

And to keep with my tradition from years past of making themed bunting, here is my Star Wars bunting.

It's made from felt. Dallin can keep it as decoration in his room now that the party is over.

It was a little time consuming to make, but the skill level is easy and felt is cheap, so this banner is a definite win.

One day while working on this project, Dallin helped me put some of the storm trooper heads together by putting the black felt pieces in the correct place. Can you tell which one Dallin did?

Stormtroopers really weren't meant to smile.

I dressed up for the party.

I was "Mom Solo." And Connor was "Con Solo."

We were hoping that with it being spring now, it would be warm enough to have some party festivities outside. On the morning of the party, we woke up to snow on the ground. So it was an all indoor party! We had a backup plan in mind so everything worked out great.

Guests arrived, hung up their cloaks and were given a foam lightsaber. I "trained" them in the rules of lightsaber use (no hits to the face!) and then we practiced by popping bubbles with the lightsabers.

Then I read a quick book that introduced everyone to the Star Wars world and characters. Most of Dallin's friends are younger than him and weren't familiar with it yet. I told them about Darth Vader and the death star, and then Mckay came out of hiding wearing a Darth Vader mask and carrying a death star pinata. Only a few children cried at the sight of the mask...

Making the death star was a joint effort. I did the paper mache work. Mckay painted and decorated.

Everyone got a turn to hit the death star.

The kids were young enough that I didn't think they needed a blindfold to challenge them. Also, I wanted Mckay to have both of his legs intact still by the end of the party.

Dallin wanted to wear the Darth Vader mask while he hit.

The pinata withstood several hits from everyone, so Mckay finished it off so the kids could get the candy/goodies inside.

The death star was destroyed and the jedis saved the day! (Mckay's outfit is Luke Skywalker. He's the only one who can really destroy the death star.)

To reward the jedis, we ate lunch. Our menu was based on Dallin's favorite foods, with some Star Wars twists.

The Leia buns were pizza sandwich roll ups filled with pepperoni, olives and mozzarella. Dallin inhales these.

Obi Wan Kabobies were mini corn dogs. And don't forget the Bobba fruit.

Even Darth Vader eats his veggies.

To drink, we had Jabba juice and Watto. (Funny, right?)

The kids chowed down and put olives on their fingers.

I found these cups on super cheap clearance at Target, so everyone got to take home a party souvenir. 

Dallin got some awesome gifts.

Our friends made him a crocheted R2-D2 doll. This picture is blurry but I love the look on his face.

Here's better detail on R2.

I love it!

 The kids took turns being Darth Vader.

Then it was time for cake.

 This was another joint effort. I baked the cake, Mckay decorated it.

I really couldn't have done this party (or any of my parties) without Mckay. He is so helpful and will do what ever I need him to do. And when I started to freak out over little things that didn't go right, he would remind me that everything was still great, and all the kids would have fun no matter what. And all Dallin asked for was the cake anyway, so everything else was a bonus.

Here's a look at what I got/made for Dallin's presents.

My annual homemade gift was some pajama pants and t-shirts that I painted using freezer paper and fabric paint. Also, thank you Old Navy clearance for the lunch box. That will come in handy for Kindergarten this fall.

Since his love for Legos is still strong, I made him some Lego t-shirts too.

I got the idea from here.

I love how they turned out. Mckay does not love that there is still some paint stuck on the Legos I used for stamping.

The party was a big success. Everyone had a great time. Dallin loved everything about it. Both boys really got into their roles and had blaster/saber battles all day.

On Dallin's actual birthday, he took some Star Wars cupcakes to preschool to celebrate with his class.

I loves these cupcake liners and toppers from Williams-Sonoma. Thanks for sending them, Mom!

I still can't believe that Dallin is five and that he's old enough to know about Star Wars. He is growing up into such an amazing little boy.

Happy 5th Birthday, Dallin! We'd fight an entire army of stormtroopers for you!