A STAR WARS PARTY | Kaden's 7th Birthday

We started off the morning of his birthday, Saturday, singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy and letting him blow candles out of a cinnamon roll. 

The boys had their last soccer game Saturday morning and when we got home, K.C. gave Kaden his card. He wrote a note in it. It was so sweet!

Kaden wanted his party to be a Star Wars theme this year. He's really gotten into the movies, loved the rides and videos at Disney, and likes playing with figures. It was a really fun theme to use.

We decided to do his party at home because that's what he likes (trust me, we asked him about HiWire, bowling, skating, and more, but this boy loves his "backyard" parties at home!) and let him invite his class and a few other friends. We ended up with 17 kids, I believe.

His requests were a chocolate cake, Oreo Balls, brownies, and a BB8 pinata.

I really enjoy making the boys' birthday cakes, not because I'm talented at it (I'm not), but because it's something I want to do. My mom always made my birthday cakes and I really liked that.

Sometimes, I make the mistake of letting the boys look at Pinterest ideas for the theme they've chosen for their parties. Kaden loved this multi-tiered, elaborate cake this year. I started to attempt to make it, then realized that I wouldn't be happy that it didn't turn out well, so I decided to go with something easier: a BB8 cake. 

I made two chocolate layers for the body and one thick small round cake for the head, which Kevin cut in the head shape for me. I whipped up some easy white icing and iced the cake. Then, I made royal icing for the decorations. To get the circles, I used the rim of cups to make the outline. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Since another of his requests was Oreo Balls and we love them so much, it was a no-brainer to make them. I ran across some cute BB8 cake pops online which gave me the idea to turn the Oreo Balls into BB8's. I wasn't sure how (or if) it would work, but thought I'd give it a try. I made 50 regular-sized balls and 50 smaller ones for the head and let them harden. When it was time to make BB8, I just used a sucker stick to keep both pieces connected and then dipped the whole thing in white chocolate. It was way easier than I anticipated. As I iced the cake, I added icing on the Oreo BB8's. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a better picture of them. With the vicious winds we had, I just took most of the food outside when it was time to eat. On the day of his party, I wrapped the styrofoam with black tissue paper and then stuck in the BB8's. They looked really cute and were a huge hit! 

Another Pinterest idea led to pool noodle light sabers. My husband is definitely the best and indulges most of my ideas! We bought noodles for $2 each at Target. He cut them in half and then used duct tape and electrical tape to make the handles. It was an easy project. The kids each got one at the party and they loved playing with them. They also got to take them home after as a favor. 

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As you can see, they were a hit!

These masks were a hit, too. We had Storm Troopers, Poes, Chewbaccas, and Captain Plasmas running around the backyard. 

For a few parties, I've tried to have organized games, but I've found that most of the time, the kids seem to have the most fun running around and playing in the backyard. We put out corn hole and ladder ball and have a soccer goal in the backyard, so they had a blast. When the party was over, all the kids were still there playing a soccer game. I'm thankful people feel at home at our house.

My cute little birthday boy! When I said it was windy, I wasn't joking. We couldn't even light candles on the cake. Kaden was a great sport about it and pretended to blow out his candles. 

Along with cake and ice cream, Oreo BB8's, and brownies, we had chips and Doritos (which I kept from blowing away by putting a balloon weight in a plastic bag at the bottom of the bowls), strawberries, pineapple, grapes, meat balls, and sausage and cheese dip. I didn't take a picture of the food setup this year because we had to be creative to keep things from flying away. We also had cute ships and BB8's hanging from the tree over the food table. Thankfully, those held up, but the same fate wasn't in the cards for the "Happy Birthday" banner that shredded into pieces.

After the kids ate, they burst the pinata. There are some really cute Star Wars pinatas. Kaden picked out the BB8. The past few years, I've found it works well to give all the kids a bag prior to the pinata being burst and then they can all run up and fill their bags with candy and treats. They had fun! 

After eating and bursting the pinata, we went inside for Kaden to open his gifts. He was so cute reading each card! The kids all gathered around him (really close!) while he opened his presents.

Kaden loves his teacher and invited her to his party. He was so happy she came. We love Miss Thompson!

I still can't believe our baby boy is seven!