Star Wars Lego Birthday Party

My birthdays don't matter much anymore. They all blend together and most of the time I have to pause before I answer the question of my age. My little one is turning five tomorrow. It's a milestone that's freaking me out. When they are 4, you can still call them your baby. At 5, it seems harder to do that, like I'm grasping at straws to keep them little, when time has its own plan for them. I know, they will always be my babies in my heart. But your children have a way of shoving how quickly time passes in your face. And something about this particular birthday has my sensibilities up in arms.

Last weekend we had a little party with his friends. Being into both Legos and Star Wars, it wasn't surprising he decided on a Star Wars Lego party. I love planning my boys' birthday parties. I am a theme queen. I take a theme and run away with it. The first step in the party planning process was to make the personalized invitations. I used to buy these off ebay, until I realized I could do what these people were doing with a photoshop program. I usually print the invitations as 4x6 or 5x7 photos, but this time around Walgreen's had a set of 20 4x8 photocards with envelopes on sale for $8, so I splurged on those. I used the 4x6 picture below, and added the party information in the extra 2 inches on the bottom.

Then I sit down and do my menu planning. If I can match the food to the theme, so much the better. This time I decided on small bites for the adults instead of a meal to compliment the mini figure aspect of the party. Yes, I knew no one else would get this part but me, but completing a theme makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I labeled all the food to match a Star Wars character and attached the mini figure to the card on the appetizer table. I also had heartier fare in crock pots in the kitchen and a couple pitchers of cocktails, also labeled.

For the kids I decided on pizza, but not just any pizza. Legos are all about building. So I let the kids build their own pizzas. I was lucky enough to find sandwich cutters at Pottery Barn in the shape of the Millenium Falcon and Vader's TIE Fighter. I made my pizza dough several days in advance and used the Millenium Falcon sandwich cutter to make the shape I wanted. I baked them on pizza stones for 5-7 minutes at 450 degrees, used a spatula to flatten them back down after puffing up, and luckily they retained their shape!

I cooled them on racks and froze them until the morning of the party when I put them in the fridge. They came out soft and pliable. I was worried about this since I had never attempted homemade lunchables, but luckily they turned out great. Each child got a plate of 2 kinds of cheese, a cup of pizza sauce, and a bag of mini pepperonis. Build your own pizzas was a big hit with the kids.

I did utilize Party City for a few decorations like the table cover, plates and napkins. But I always make my own centerpiece. The boys make it easy because they pick themes they are already into, so we have those types of toys around the house. I use the table chandelier to tie the toys on with curling ribbon and you get a one of a kind centerpiece, free of charge. For the opening activity we put legos in buckets and each child got a base to build whatever they wanted.

I used to have amazing bakeries at my fingertips when I lived in Las Vegas. Now I live in a small town in New Mexico where the only cakes you can buy are grocery store cakes that are overly sweet, which leaves me little choice but to make my own. For the childrens' cakes, I did mini chocolate chocolate chip bundt cakes in the image of Vader's TIE fighter. I used the other Pottery Barn sandwich cutter to make the wings out of chocolate sugar cookies, the mini bundts were the body of the ship, and added a chocolate cookie iced with window panes in the center. I poured chocolate ganache over the mini bundts and added a little cream cheese frosting around the base. I found light saber picks on ebay and put two on my son's cake to make his special.

The adult cake was the same flavor in a big bundt cake, but with less ganache and more cream cheese frosting. I created the Sarlacc Pit eating Boba Fett scene. I made the sarlacc beak from the same chocolate sugar cookie recipe. I wanted to make the little teeth around the inside edge, but time didn't permit that.

The take home gifts were a bag of gummie bears, which I renamed Ewok bears and put a personalized thank you on top, and a light saber bubble wand. I was surprised how hard it was to find gummie bears. I lucked out at Cost Plus World Market and found a three pound bag.

It was a fun birthday to plan. They couldn't care less about all the work I do to make the theme perfect, and that's ok. It's really for me. I think I look forward to their parties as much as they do. One day that may change, I may lose that spark for all things themed. But for now I'm already planning the next birthday party in my head. My oldest has chosen Scooby Doo- mystery themed. Oh the possibilities!

 Happy 5th Birthday Gavin!