Magic Show Birthday Party Table Scape

Often we have parties at these large facilities or at a park or at home and it’s extremely hard to decorate the whole place to fit your theme. That is unless you totally want to blow the budget!!! So, pick a place and do it up! The eating table is a great place to start. You could also chose the serving table. It doesn’t really matter where, but concentrate some personal touches in one area and that will make more of an impact than trying to decorate and entire gym….for example.

Here the hostess, purchased some fabric yardage at a local store to use as the table cloth. So often the table cloths you buy are either not original or are just not what you want. But, especially now that quilting is so big, there are tons of fabrics to chose from. And the designs range from Disney to very sophisticated. And really you don’t even have to hem it. No one will ever notice. For the magic show theme, blue fabric with stars was perfect.

Simply cut the fabric the size you need for the table and lay it down! Nothing could be easier or more impactful. It really won’t take long to find what you want and add some solid plates and cups and you are done! No matter if you are doing a magic show theme or really anything else, there is something out there for you.

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Magic Show Birthday Party Centerpiece

This birthday party revolved around a Magic Theme. In the center of the table was a magician’s hat with a group of helium balloons nesting in it. The hostess, aka mom, pulled the whole party together with a few simple colors which I thought were perfect. Blue, White and Silver with punches of red made the party really come together.

Remember that great ideas don’t always have to take you a lot of time to put together. Some of the best ideas are simple and easy to pull together!

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Birthday Banner

Birthday banners are fun to hang up no matter the party theme or no matter if the party is outside, in your home or on location.

The paper ones out there are so completely hum drum. I’ve even tried to make paper one and they can be very personal and cute. The party where I photographed this had a paper banner as well.

But I really liked this idea. This is a purchased banner. It was cut in triangles with seams 1/2″ in from the edge so keep it from raveling. And then the top is sewn on to some seam binding or fabric folded over that resembled seam binding. You could totally make this yourself. Use left over fabrics or a specific theme of fabrics for the banner. With quilting at an all time high in popularity there are an unlimited number of themed fabrics out there. No matter if you are planning a vintage, outdoor, bug or halloween birthday party, this idea can be transformed to work.

Now, if I were making this myself, I might sew the seam binding on as it would be the fastest way of doing it……. But, if you don’t sew, you could make this birthday party banner by simply using hot glue or fabric glue to glue over one of the edges of the banner. I don’t have a template for the triangle but I plan to make one of these for one of my kids parties and when I do, I’ll certainly offer the pattern.

Just another way to let your creative juices go. Have fun with your birthday party banner and add some color to your child’s birthday party.

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Vintage Children's Chairs

These vintage chairs were brought out for the kids to sit on while at an outdoor kids birthday party. When you have enough to provide adequate seating for the kids, please use these items. They really set the tone and make the party stand out. And if vintage is what you are going for….anything beaten up will look vintage even if it’s not truly vintage.

Don’t have these items yourself? Know someone who does have them? Don’t be afraid to ask to borrow items. I just loaned 3 table cloths to a friend who needed them for a party today. I loved it as I want the items to be used and enjoyed and in my closet, no one will enjoy them. So, crack out those special – vintage items or borrow them and you will not regret it!

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Birthday Pinatas don’t have to be traditional! It is much easier to find a pinata that matches the theme of the party you are having. But if you can find a unique decoration like this one, go for it.

The mom of the birthday girl found this decoration that a local store was about to discard. She took it, filled the center hole with candy and put some plastic in front to secure the candy. This party was for 4 year olds so she knew that her pinata wouldn’t be torn up that much. Even if it was, it didn’t really matter.

So, when thinking of having a birthday party pinata, think outside of the box and don’t feel like you can only use a pre-made pinata. Or even have your kids make one…….who knows.

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Outdoor Birthday Gathering Spot

When you choose to have a party outside, decorations can be important to anchor where the “party” central is going to be. Another great way to designate the gathering spot is by throwing out a blanket or two. Blankets can add color as well as provide a space for the kids and moms for that fact to sit and enjoy.

I don’t know what it is but putting out a blanket provides a natural gathering spot. If you don’t own a “picnic” blanket, don’t worry. Use a colorful quilt or even a colorful sheet. I will say that a light sheet may be a bit pokey to use a term my daughter likes to use. Enjoy your party and be aware of the items you use to make your outdoor party cohesive.

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Happy Birthday Lanterns Idea - Candle

Key ideas of note: I used felt pads under the candles to insure that they wouldn’t stain the mantel but in hindsight, I would use the candles that float in glass jars and place a glass jar with water inside each ghost lantern. To make it interesting, I used 3 different ghost templates and you can see a link to those below.

Materials:
Cut 12″X12″ Heavy Scrapbooking Paper in two – Each lantern used a 6″X12″ piece. You’ll need one each of these per letter. Mine had 17 or 9 sheets of 12″X12″ Paper.
Cut heavy velum paper in 2 3/4″X5 1/2″ pieces. Again, 1 for each letter or lantern you will have.
Ghost Templates
Tape (painters tape works best if the color works), Scissors, Glue, Black pen for letters.

Happy Birthday Lanterns

Resources:
Ghost Templates
Craft Stores or Scrapbooking stores will have the 12X12 Scrapbooking paper.
Some craft or scrapbooking stores as well as stationery shops will have sheets of velum.
Use a permanent black market for lettering.
Painters Tape found at home depot or local hardware stores and often in many colors.

Light your lanterns right before the party and you will love them. Be sure they aren’t in an area that can be bumped. Even using a candle inside a glass jar, it can get hot and the velum and paper is extremely flammable. Loved this Halloween Birthday Party idea!

Photos taken by Amy Hall of Amy Hall Photography, Portland, OR.

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Colorful Happy Birthday Banner

Soooooo, I present the colorful Happy Birthday Banner. I love this one. It’s not something you see everywhere and it is truly vibrant with colors. I’m sure my friend who had this one purchased it and after doing a quick search myself there are all kinds of banners out there that you can purchase that are quite colorful and unique.

Don’t find what you are looking for? Make it. All this one would require is some felt, a string, scissors and glue. Cut out small shapes for the background. Even cut one a bit bigger to make the colors 3 dimensional. Then cut out your letters from a stencil and glue it all together and onto a string of your choice.

Or, don’t want to cut and glue. Paint one on some butcher paper. There are tons of paper places around now where you can buy butcher paper in all kinds of colors. Paint a Birthday message on it or let one of your children lose with the project. Just make sure it’s not the birthday girl/boy. Depends on how controlling you want to be in the way that it looks!

I do agree that once the kids start reading (kindergarten) would be a great time to start having a banner welcoming the birthday kid or even adult for that matter!

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Colorful Balloons

To this party, the hostess actually had sort of a balloon theme. You’ll see when we write about the cake they had, you will see balloons on the cake and may have even been on the invitation.

But just look at these colors. Don’t they make you smile??? Another big key to having balloons is that they give height to your decorations. Most of the time we have birthday parties at places where the ceiling height is so high, the kids feel wee little. When you add balloons to the decor, they bring the scale back down to the kids level and can really set a “room.”

Colorful balloons. Go crazy. Pay to have someone else blow them up for you or rent a tank for a fraction of the cost from a local party supply store and blow them up yourself!

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Colorful Birthday Party

When looking to do a “color” or simple birthday party, simply use a palate of colors throughout all the details of the party. Take a primary palate or maybe a soft color palate. Maybe all pink and red……or Pink and Green. There are endless combinations that could be used.

Another great thing about colors is that it makes for very nice party pics.

What contains the color? Start with your invitations, continue with the party decorations and if you can’t include the colors in the favors at least wrap them in paper that’s made of the colors of the party. Pretty simple? Not always. When you don’t pick out a specific theme and go for a “color” theme it actually gives you more options and thus more decisions to make. So, if you have a hard time making decisions on the details maybe you would be better suited to pick a specific theme.

Color effects your most important sense….your sight. The sky is the limit for planning your colorful birthday party!

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