Super Mario Birthday Party!!!

It's a Me! Mario! ...er, Amanda. hehe. This is by far one of the funnest birthday themes I have done! Pinterest had so many clever ideas, I improvised here and there, and Ta Da! A Super cute, Super Mario party!

My birthday boy only had two requests, 1) that the theme be Super Mario, and 2) that he had two cakes(one at his party and one on his real birthday).  He loves Mario Kart on the Wii you see, and he can beat any one of us in a race. Kids these days seem to be born with technological skills. My baby can open my phone! Anyhow, I digress....I planned his Super Mario party, and yes, he got two cakes! The party was a total hit, and the birthday boy had a blast!

Today I will be sharing with you all the links and how to's. Seriously, the easiest, yet cutest party I've done, and it was very inexpensive on top of it! Less that $75 for EVERYTHING! 

The background for the invitation was FREE! Here's the link: http://eng.ohmyfiesta.com/2014/08/super-mario-bros-free-party-printables.html  There are more than one background to choose from too. I used an editing program to add the words. So easy! Printed them out, put them in envelopes, and sent em on their way!

Next, decorations. I apologize for the quality of the pics. They're from my phone!

The decorations were simple and really easy! Here's what made the backdrop/mural:

3 light blue plastic table clothes from Walmart- .97 each
2 packs colored construction paper from Walmart- $1.88 each
2 green, 1 red, and 2 white posters from Walmart- .33 cents each
= $8.32 for the big wall display!

I taped the blue table clothes up on the wall to cover as much space as possible. It was the main part of the background that everything else would go on. I actually used those double sided sticky squares sold in the hardware department. They can hold up picture frames and so forth? I needed a good hold since it had to support other items.

I then cut out the words for Happy Birthday with the white sheets in the packs of construction paper. I just free handed it. I glued the letters onto the yellow construction paper. Then I used brown construction paper and a black sharpie to make the "bricks." I taped them up above where I wanted the food table to go. I just laid them side by side. I should mention, I used duct tape!

Next, I cut out the green poster to make the tube, stem, and leaves of the... flower? Venus fly trap? I never know what these are called. hehe! Then I cut out a Pacman/circular shape from the red poster, and lastly, I cut the lips, teeth, spots of the flower and clouds from the white posters. With a remaining peice of red and white poster, I also made the little mushroom. :) I just glued the smaller pieces like the teeth, lips, and spots to the red poster and then taped the bigger parts together on the wall. Again, I used duct tape so they wouldn't fall down before the party ever got going.

And we cannot forget the Goombas! The brown mean mushrooms. I just cut out brown paper in the shape of a potato and cut out eyes and angry eyebrows. Oh and round feet. SO easy!

These were my little table toppers. I spray painted little terracotta pots green, and then I printed out the characters on cardstock and taped them to lollipop sticks. I placed part of a foam ball in each pot and secured the stick. Then used a little green paper streamer to hide the foam.

The little flower pots I already had on hand. I only paid for the foam and sticks from Michaels. $5 total!

Below is a closer look at the food table.

Some Flower Power!

Don't slip on a banana. Just mini chocolate chips for the eyes.

 I served, pigs in a blanket, cheeto balls as "fireballs," bananas from Mario Kart, a veggie tray shaped like Flower Power, several kinds of fruits, and green Luigi punch! I got the table cloth, plates, napkins, utensils, and cups through Amazon.com in a party pack for $26! It also came with balloons and streamers. It was a great deal! I couldn't find any Super Mario stuff anywhere in the party stores here, so it saved me all around. Just showed up on my doorstep one day! 

 The cake!

Pinterest had so many cake ideas! But I'm zero percent experienced with things like fondant. Maybe its easier than I'm giving it credit for? I don't know, but not wanting to ruin anything, I just improvised. I printed out the characters on card stock and taped to lollipop sticks just like the table toppers. The cake was just a Funfetti box cake by Betty Crocker, but I made my favorite homemade butter cream frosting. You could just use store bought as well. To liven it up, I added rainbow gumballs around the bottom and lots of multicolored sprinkles for the top. Happy Birthday candles to complete! Pretty darn easy as cakes go.

We also played some really fun games! We played Super Mario Memory game. I just printed out the characters in pairs. So easy! We also played Pop the Bomb which was just black balloons. Lastly, we did a Yoshi egg hunt. The kids really loved that one!

Here is the link to free Mario Character printables as well! http://pipgerard.hubpages.com/hub/mario-bros-party

And finally, here are my Pinterest Inspirations:

http://catchmyparty.com/photos/276483

http://www.borealisblog.com/plan-super-mario-brothers-party/

http://sweethaute.blogspot.com/2014/07/super-mario-bros-party-series-food.html

http://aspottedpony.com/fun-for-kids/mario-birthday-party-complete-with-mario-themed-food-and-games/2614/

https://ahappymommy.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/super-mario-party-accomplished/

http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2013/07/super-mario-themed-7th-birthday-party.html