The Challenge
To host the best, most memorable, most fun birthday party ever
My Inspiration
My oldest son Lucas turned 4 on August 25th! One week later, we held his Lego themed birthday party. I was inspired by many, many Pinterest posts and I put my own little twist on some things.
The Podcast
My bestest buddy Catie introduced me to the podcast called “Pantsuit Politics”. It’s a political podcast hosted by two extremely intelligent and thoughtful women who appreciate a nuanced conversation about today’s political events. One lady is from the left and one lady is from the right and they dialogue with each other and some equally intelligent and fair-minded guests about all things politics and current events. It’s awesome. I am politics and news obsessed and I’ve become even *more* obsessed in the last 2 years, so I have found this podcast at just the right time. They have recently started a series on 9/11 and it’s been mind-blowing for me. Check it out!
What I Need
Woo boy.. I needed LOTS of things… I needed more things than I could even list here. Just trust me when I say that I spent more money at Dollar Tree in this last visit than I have ever spent in a prior single visit to the Dollar Tree. I literally had to have a random guy help me carry it all to my car.
Who is Helping Me
I’ve already mentioned the unsung hero who helped me to my car at the Dollar Tree, but I should also give a special shout out to my husband who helped me all throughout this journey, but mostly generously printed all the things I needed printed.
Who is NOT Helping Me
Typically, I use this space in my post to rag on someone or something that has really ticked me off during this process. Instead, I will use this place for sadness and lamenting. The last few parties I’ve thrown/helped throw, my little sis Kristen has been by my side. We knocked it out of the park together for our Prince and Princess Party and we have worked side-by-side in other past parties so I was really missing her this time around. Because of the new school year starting for both our families, we just couldn’t tag-team this one. I missed her input, her creative vision and how honest she is with me. I still feel deeply inadequate when it comes to creative stuff and having her final approval gives me a sense of security. May this be the last party I plan without her help, because without her, I feel lost sometimes!
How I Did It
Like I said, Pinterest was my inspiration. All you gotta do is type “Lego Party” in the search bar and you’ll be inundated with ideas. I’ll be honest, I legit copied many of the ideas I saw. However, I also saw some ideas and hopefully improved upon them to make something better. You be the judge. Lucas loved it. I was exhausted. Our families were happy. Kudos for a job… done. [Seinfeld reference, see below]
Probably the most crafty thing I did was to make “Lego” themed picture frames that would display Lucas’s (very recent) first time experience playing with his Daddy’s Legos. Dollar Tree sells imposter Lego bricks for 48 pieces/$1 and they also sell picture frames for a dollar. I bought $1 craft glue and made 4 frames.
I used the excess blocks to make a letter “L” and a number “4”. I tried my best to edit my photos shot in low light, but they aren’t great. You get the idea..
I used 2 dollar store poster boards to make a Lego Brick to display photos of Lucas throughout the year. I glued cotton balls under the circles to make them look 3D. As you can see, I added the month to the photos in Photoshop and had them printed at Costco.
I used Duplo blocks to make napkin and silverware holders. I also tried my best to draw Lego faces on yellow paper cups. I obviously put my best ones in the front and hid the less successful cups in the back. 🙂
I made Lego brick cakes with a basic GF cake mix in 9×13 and 8×8 pans and then I cut extra large marshmallows in half and frosted them to make the nubbins* that are on the top of a Lego brick.
*What do they call the knobs on the top of a Lego brick? If they don’t call them nubbins, they are doing it wrong.
I made a Pin-the-head-on-the-Lego-Man game by taking a stock image of a Lego man and blowing up his limbs by 300% in Photoshop. I created blank heads for the kids (and adults) to design their own head.
We also played a Ring Toss game with Duplo block towers and rings that I made out of pipe cleaners. It was a little difficult for the kids, so I’m not sure if I’d recommend this game for a 4 year old birthday party.
Here’s the rest of the decor.
And finally.. one of the things I am equally proud and embarrassed about..
I was attempting to mimic a Lego box. I used this as a random poster throughout the house. I know it’s super dorky and not very great graphic design, but I did my best and I’m pretty proud of it. Because for ME, it’s good. For others who are more talented, this is as basic as it comes.
Final Thoughts
I know any good, decent mother would say: “it doesn’t matter how satisfied I am with the party planning, all that matters is that my kid had fun”… and I agree with that in part, but I also think the party planning went pretty well and I feel pretty proud of myself too. All the hard work was 1000% worth it. Lucas had a great day and his family helped him feel super loved and celebrated. I can’t believe my little baby is a big 4 year old KID now. It’s unreal.
1 Thing / 1 Week 