We had a great time celebrating our sweet Kaden's fourth birthday this past weekend! When we first starting talking about his birthday several months ago (excitement building is so much fun!), he decided he wanted to celebrate Ninja Turtle style, so that's what we did! I love that the boys are both at an age where they can pick their party themes!
This year, we had his first friend party and invited all of his school friends plus our neighbors and family. We decided to have the party at lunch so we could serve Ninja Turtle food - pizza!
Saturday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day for a backyard birthday party! I don't have photos of all the decor due to my self-imposed time crunch (I ran a race and got home an hour before the party started), but here's what we did:
- We served pizza, chips, Chex Mix, Velvetta and Sausage Dip and Oreo Balls (Kaden's request) along with Ninja Juice (green Hawaiian Punch) for the kids and soft drinks and water for the adults. We set up a table for the food and used a Ninja Turtle table cloth on it that I picked up in Target along with two large Ninja Turtles that the boys have. We also hung a "Happy Birthday" Ninja Turtle banner on the fence behind the food table.
- We kept with a lime green color scheme and accented with the colors of the Ninja's masks. We used lime green table clothes on the tables where the kids ate and served the food on orange and red plates with purple napkins. Cake was served on Ninja Turtle plates that I found at Target.
- For the cake, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. I love making the boys birthday cakes - it's a special detail for me. Kaden picked out several elaborate two and three tired cakes including one with the skyline of NYC and actual Ninja Turtles jumping out of sewer holes. While I wish I could say I was talented enough to do that, I'm not. I ended up making a three layer chocolate fudge cake (his request) and cupcakes. I made buttercream frosting for each. I used Leaf Green coloring gel to color the icing green. I decided to make the cake's top look like a man hole cover and mixed several colors together until I got a nice silvery/gray hue. Kevin made lines using a knife on the top of the cake to make it look like the man hole. I bought pre-made Wilton fondant and colored it green. Kevin then shaped out Ninja Turtle heads. I colored more of the fondant red, blue, purple and orange to make masks to use on the actual turtle heads and the cupcakes. I bought sugar eyes from Hobby Lobby and used those on top of the masks and finished the turtles with a black icing smile. I was really happy with the cake!
- We had a few fun games for the kids to play. Kevin and the boys made Ninja stars to use for one game. We picked up some plastic bowls in orange, blue, red and green from Walmart and those were targets for the ninja stars. We also put out our corn hole game and ladder ball as well as a tee and some baseballs. We have a nice, wooden play set that Kevin and his dad built and the kids enjoyed playing on that.
- Each child also got a ninja belt at the party. I purchased some fabric in the colors of the Ninja Turtles' masks and Kevin cut it into strips about four inches wide. These were a huge hit and I even had one little boy ask me if he could take the extra one we had home to his big brother!
- Kaden loves pinatas, so when I went into our local party supply store to order the balloons (you guessed it - red, orange, purple and blue plus a "Happy Birthday" Ninja Turtle balloon) and was told they had a pinata in the theme coming in, I went ahead and picked it up. K.C. was a great helper the night before the party and helped me fill it up. He even helped himself to some early treats before we hung it during the party!
- Each child got a treat Ninja Turtle cup filled with candy, Ninja Turtle stickers, a bouncy ball and a few other things before they left. I wrapped them in celophane and tied them up with orange tulle. They turned out great!
Kaden was so excited about his party and we had a great time celebrating his fourth birthday! In his words, "it was the best birthday ever!" Who wants to bet he'll say the same thing next year? He loves his parties and we love him!
Sources:
Invitations: My design based off of a similar invitation I found online and printed at home on cardstock
Ninja Turtle themed cups (for treat bags), plates, napkins, table clothe and banner: Target
Lime green table clothes, plates, napkins, sugar eyes, pre-made fondant: Hobby Lobby
Pinata and balloons: Local party store
Inspiration Board
Labels: birthday, celebration, DIY, family, Kaden