Ezra and Libby's Superhero Party

This year since the kiddos birthdays are so close (and Libby's too young to object) we did another joint birthday party and the theme was Superhero/comic book/pop art. As per usual I spent months planning and creating and still couldn't pull it all together before the guests started to arrive. Luckily I had my sister, mother in law, father in law, and sisters in law there to help me scramble at the end. Unfortunately I didn't have time to take photos of everything before the party started and as "master of ceremonies" I didn't get time to take photos during the party sooooo here is what I did get, but lots of the little details that I agonized over like creating the facades of the buildings and the sweets table were missed. Not to mention that I didn't even have time to put out the giant sky scrapers we made from refrigerator boxes or build the laser maze that is still sitting in my garage a week later BUT the kids had fun and Ezra kept thanking me for his "awesome party" so that made it all worth it. At the end of this post I'll have LOTS of freebies of all the digital files I made that you can edit as you see fit so enjoy!



This is the yarn wreath that I made for the front door.  Let me tell you that I did not have any idea how long it would take to cover this think in yarn!  I think I worked on it for about 4 nights just for the yarn portion. 

I used a digital scrapbooking superhero kit to add the digi masks onto the kiddos to include their photos onto the wreath.

I was really happy with how the cake came out.  Unfortunately it did undergo some damage during transport from the bakery to our house so the buildings look like they've endured an earthquake but I was really happy with it and it tasted delicious.  I had it made at Leah's Sweet Treats off of Camp Bowie in Fort Worth. 

The party started at 11o'clock and it was my plan to feed everyone lunch so I had all of the place settings set for the kiddos ahead of time.  There was another table in the living room that I didn't get to photograph.   Each child had a favor box with a balloon tied to it which contained a Superman ring in a gumball machine container with a bag of chips and a pack of markers wrapped around a little coloring card with a  thank you message from the kids that you will see later on in the post.  It was my intention to serve the kids lunches in the boxes like a McDonalds kids meal but I didn't check the dimensions of the boxes before I ordered them and when they arrived they were too small but it all worked out.  Each child also had a placemat to color with their new markers.  They also had a Jones Blue soda with a stripey straw with a "POW" flag which you'll see below as well.



My plan was to have the kiddos eat lunch and then go through their Superhero training camp.  I had each of the kids get a superhero kit (the colorful bags you can see some of the adults and Ezra holding in the picture above) which contained the things they would need for their training like capes and masks, a Kryptonite catching stick (a wooden dowel painted green), a can of Villain Vaporizer (silly string), and a little handout for them to fill out after they received their diploma that asked questions like "what is your superhero name", "what is your super power", "do you have a sidekick", etc.  In the photo above you can see the table with the superhero training sign above it.  On it I put the superhero kit bags with the diplomas.

The first training exercise we did was a game called "Capture the Kryptonite".  Basically you take lots of  loosely balled up bits of aluminum foil and dump them at one end of the yard, and the kiddos have to pick them up using ONLY their sticks and then run with it to the other end of the yard to dump them in the trash.  The first person to get 3 pieces wins.

To practice their hand to hand combat skills we had a "power punch" wall.  Basically it's just a tri-fold white board covered in hot glued paper bowls that I stuffed with a prize then covered in 2 layers of tissue paper.  Each child got to choose their bowl to punch and received the prize inside. 

To practice their shooting skills the kids got to "vaporize a villain" with Silly String.  I used scrapbook paper to cover the cans and created a little printable label that said "Villain Vaporizer".  My brother was sweet enough to be my villain and the kids LOVED it.

As you can see they were pretty ruthless. 

My yard is still full of silly string.

You can sort of see the can cover and new label in the picture of Ezra above.

We also had an obstacle course for the kiddos to complete before they got their diplomas.  I only have photos of parts of it but it involved jumping through crepe paper covered hula hoops that we hung from our swing set, then crawling through a tunnel, walking over this beam you see above, then jumping over some hurdles we made from PVC pipe, and finally a slide to the finish.

Another part of the training involved using your super senses to guess different things.  For example in the "mind meld" game I filled a spray painted plastic container with toy cars.  The kids could shake it and hold it to try any guess how many cars were in the container.

I also had this "mystery box" where they had to use their x-ray vision to see what was inside.  They could only stick their hands inside to feel the different objects and guess what they were.

Here are a few examples of the signage I made for the games. 

Unfortunately I didn't get a good photo of this backdrop set up for the sweets table outside :(  I bought the digital files online and had them printed and laminated at Staples then I put them onto a tri-fold board covered in this bright fabric I found at a local shop here in Fort Worth. 

I wanted the diplomas/certificates to sound legit so I based the wording off of my own veterinary diploma.  I also chose different handwriting type fonts for the different superheros.  I also attached a small medal on a ribbon to each certificate. I think I got them at Target or Party City.  You can see the medals in the photos below.

After the kiddos got their diplomas I took photos of everyone behind my little makeshift city.  Unfortunately the wind and uneven ground weren't really conducive to them looking very sturdy.  I didn't want them to just all have black squares for windows so I actually spent a lot of time creating these different windows and doors in photoshop so they'd look like real buildings and have different facades.

Even Libby got in on the festivities and wore her little superhero mask.

We asked the kids that we invited NOT to bring presents and instead to make a donation to either Children's Hopechest, Charity Water, or Operation Smile and I'm very happy to say that most of them did.  Of course the kids got presents from their family members and Ezra especially loved all of his Avengers Lego sets as well as these new Spiderman P.J's!

Here's a closer look at the coloring placemats and favor boxes.

I got these little gum ball machine bubbles from Sweet Shop Lulu and the Superman rings from amazon.com





These are the invitations we used.  This image is blurry as well but you can see it better online at loraleelewis.com where I ordered them from.  She is able to change the skin tone on most all of her invites so she was able to make this Superman like guy brown for me which I love!

 

These are meant to be "tent" folded so they stand up.  I printed them on 8X10 paper.

Sorry for the unorganized nature of these signs I'm just going down the list of files.

 

I framed this sign and just put it on the table with the superhero kit bags.

 

I had these printed at Staples on 11X17 paper I think it was and then had them laminated and cut them out.

These are meant to print out as 8.5 x 11 or 8 X 10

This file is frustrating because different people may want the stripes straw flags to be different sizes so I'd just play with the print size until you find something you like.

I used a 1" punch to cut out these ZAP circlets.  I used them on a cake pop stick and stuck them through rice crispie treats drizzled in yellow chocolate.  But you can use them however you like.

 

Editable training certificate, just add your own text.  For my certificates, I printed them out blank and attached the medals with a paperclip.  Then when I got the RSVPs back I just used FULL PAGE address sticky labels to print the names onto in Edwardian Script font and cut them out and stuck them to the certificates that way if you have someone show up who didn't RSVP you won't be scrambling to print out a whole certificate.  Just print out their name onto the clear paper and stick it on.

You can add your own text to these little superhero cards below. I just printed them onto 8X10 then quartered the page. 







I hope these files work for you guys and someone is able to derive some inspiration from our party.  I had a blast making everything and I'm already planning for next year and maybe I won't be all in a tizzy by party time.