Mario Birthday Party
Our Mario birthday party was a hit, and I collected my pictures over the weekend to share with you. We had rain, so we gave up our plans for bike racing and stayed indoors to party. But it was pretty fun having five little Marios running around my house hunting for Yoshi eggs and dodging balloon bombs.
Invitations are my favorite part of planning a party. (Forget the party itself!) We included a gold coin and invited each Mario to come earn more. (I found the question block idea from here and here.)
Toad has got to be my favorite character, so we decided to make the cakes in his honor. Do you like the cloud garland? I’m pretty proud of myself for that touch.
We had invincible Marios fighting our ghosts all party long. (I saw the idea here.)
I went a little crazy and made each boy a hat. I just couldn’t resist. I promise I kept it simple other than this.
In case you were wondering what a Mario hat pattern looks like, here you go. It took me a couple tries to figure out the right pattern, but once I did i was very happy with the result. This pattern also works for an artist’s beret if you leave off the bill. (UPDATE 7.26.10: I’ve added the pattern for you to download if you’re interested. Scroll to the bottom of the post and save each of the 5 pages)
Everyone wanted to give the pinata a Mario punch before we really got serious about picking up the stick and breaking it open. It was filled with, you guessed it, gold coins.
Despite the rain, I think all five Marios had a good time.
Now we’re hard at work pulling together a tea party. Stick around and hopefully I’ll have a few pictures to share. Somehow I get more nervous planning for little girls.
UPDATE 7.26.10: For those of you who requested the Mario hat pattern, here you go! Just click on the link below to download all five pages as a pdf. Or if you have troubles with that, you can right click on each of the five images and save the image.
I used red fleece and a small piece of plastic canvas (if you’ve never used plastic canvas, you can see a picture of it in my fabric mailbox tutorial, you can find it at any craft store) to make the bill firm in each hat.
Tags: DIY handmade gifts, gifts for preschool boys, party favor ideas
March 8th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Are you kidding me with those hats? How cute! When on earth do you find time to sleep? Been waiting to see what was inside your daughter’s pink present.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Love this idea! And how cute are those Mario hats?!
March 8th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Too, too cute.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:24 am
What a cute and creative birthday party! I love doing that kind of stuff, but usually don’t give myself enough time to get it all done. Very fun.
March 8th, 2010 at 8:29 am
All of the details are really amazing. I love the toadstool cakes, the brick pinata the ghost balloons. So yeah, everything.
March 8th, 2010 at 9:10 am
such a wonderfully creative party! the boys look so cute running around in their hats!
March 8th, 2010 at 10:56 am
can’t believe MY son was lucky enough to be there! you seriously are da bomb.
March 8th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I am planning for a Mario birthday this spring. What great inspiration. Thanks for posting.
March 8th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
How cool is that!?!
Fantastic! The details you put into this party are incredible… I only wish I could’ve been an 8-year-old in attendance!
March 8th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Looks like so much fun..you are amazing..I see my little Issac boy..he’s blurry but you can see the joy in all their faces..can’t wait to see the tea party ideas..
March 8th, 2010 at 8:21 pm
i am saving this idea for my sons bday in october I think he would looooove a mario party….this is fantastic and has endless possibilities
March 9th, 2010 at 6:01 am
The hats rock my world. {and the tiny cloud garland.}
March 9th, 2010 at 10:23 am
This is just fabulous! I’m a grown-up and I kind of want to throw a party like this for myself! The brick-block pinata is a great idea, and the Toad cupcakes are adorable. A friend and I were discussing this, and we hit upon the idea of a game of Twister where the colored circles on the mat were turned into Goombas, so all the Marios could stomp them in true Mario fashion. Love your blog, so many lovely and well-executed ideas!
March 10th, 2010 at 8:59 am
What a fabulous party! I love the cloud garland, it’s fantastic! I’ll be linking.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Oh my gosh, Amber! This is fantastic! My daughter is a big Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros. girl. They play every wknd., and someone always has to play with her so she can by Toad instead of Mario. : ) These cupcakes would make her day. And I love all the King Boo balloons too! You’re giving me lots of great ideas for the Mario bday request that I think is coming. Thank you!!!!
March 11th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Michelle! That is so much fun. And how great that she is a Toad fan too. He’s a cool little guy. I’m glad I now know the proper name for the “ghost” balloons. I have to try to keep up.
March 14th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
The 8 year old little girl in me is soooooo jealous! Awesome A++!
March 17th, 2010 at 4:01 am
[...] son would love this Mario-themed birthday party (@ giver’s [...]
March 18th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Super Mario Brothers afmælispartý!…
Awesome afmælispartý!…
March 26th, 2010 at 6:39 am
We’re big fans of the themed birthday parties and this one is fantastic! I especially like the pinata. (I may have to try this one for my twin brothers; they turn 30 this year.)
March 27th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
You’re quite possibly the greatest mother that ever lived. Those kids are INSANELY lucky! Great job!
March 28th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Would you mind sharing a copy of your hat template with me? I’m having a Mario Brothers party for my 4 year old in a couple weeks and would love to have these hats – they’re terrific!!
April 2nd, 2010 at 10:50 pm
WOW! You are amazing…. I love all of it, and hope you take this as a compliment – I’m copying as much as I can for my son Mario’s 6th birthday this year – I can’t wait! You gave me so much inspiration…. awesome to have a Mario party for Mario :)
April 13th, 2010 at 7:59 am
I have a questions about the cupcakes. How do you make them so poofy on top so that they look like mushrooms. I just know mine are going to come out flat and I’ll be disappointed.
April 15th, 2010 at 4:55 am
My son turns 24 this June, and has played Mario since he was 4! He has every game system Nintendo has made(except one that was only released in Japan? or maybe that was a game?) He would flip over this party theme! He has a Mario hat like that, that he won. This is a fab idea, and I can’t wait to do this for him! Thank you so much for sharing this!
April 22nd, 2010 at 11:08 pm
Hi Jessica!
Thanks for stopping by! I actually made the cupcakes by putting two cupcakes together. I used standard cupcakes for the base, and turned a bigger cupcake upside down for the top (I have a pan that does dome-shaped cupcakes, but a mega-muffin pan would work too, it would just need more frosting piled on top). And just to make sure they would still look good for the party, as soon as I had the cakes assembled I threw them in the freezer. I just pulled them out a little while before the party started.
Good luck! I’d love to hear how it turns out!
May 4th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
This is amazing! :)
July 12th, 2010 at 4:08 am
I love the hats I am having my son’s birthday [arty and I would love the make them would be willing to share the pattern.
You are so clever.
July 27th, 2010 at 8:15 am
This is amazing! i’ve been thinking about doing a Mario themed birthday for my son this year, and these are all super ideas! thx!
July 27th, 2010 at 9:10 am
[...] So when I ran across this post I started imagining what fun it would be to have a Mario party. Details for all kinds of decorations, snacks and a Mario hat for everyone may be found at Givers Log. [...]
July 27th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
What a great idea and a lot of fun for those who were there and all of us reading about it.
I kept wondering about Mario. Thought maybe it was the birthday boy’s name. Then read comments and decided it was a game.
Where have I been? Dunno. So clue me in. :)
July 28th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Wow! Greatest theme party ever. The blocks with chocolate coins is just too cute. What a genus idea.