Jack's 4th Birthday Party

On the first of this month, we had friends and family over to celebrate Jack's 4th birthday with a superhero party.  Jack is pretty much obsessed with superheroes, so the theme of his party this year was a no-brainer.  

This party was a lot of fun to put together.  Mark was really excited about planning this party, too, so that made it even better.  We were able to use a lot of Jack's "guys" as decorations, so that helped in the budget department. I'm all about throwing a good party on a budget, so I'll share some of the details as we go. 

Here comes picture overload. :) 

THE DECORATIONS: 

I made a door sign to welcome guests to the party.  

Mark went to a comic book store and bought a bunch of 25 cent comic books. We used them to cover these cardboard letters from Joann's Fabrics (using Mod Podge).  This took me FOREVER (I think THREE hours!), but we are planning on changing his room from a cars/trucks theme to a vintage superhero theme, so I figured this would be something we could also use in his room and not just for the party.  That made the labor of love worth it.  I do love how they turned out. 

Same thing for these frames.  These cost a dollar at Michaels and I used Mod Podge to cover them in comic books.  Problem was, I didn't think about the orientation of the pictures we were printing, so all but one of the frames had the comic books glued on the wrong way.  Oh well, I'll just have to pick new pictures when we use these in his room.  (The above picture was from when Mark took Jack to ComicCon... he met Batman.) 

Blackmail picture for the future... Sissy's dance costume, armbands, a cape, and a Batman mask. ha!

Ahhh, this frame was actually done the right way. 

We were able to use a lot of Jack's superhero guys as decorations all over.  

Superman and friends were flying from the chandelier!

This backdrop has been the best for parties.  It's actually a piece of pegboard.  For this party, I covered it in a sheet I bought at Goodwill.  We used black poster board and yellow cardstock to create a skyline.  We wrapped boxes from Mark's work and others we happened to have in Dollar Tree wrapping paper and used them as buildings.  

I made a banner with my Silhouette machine.  

We used some more 25 cent comic books to make some bunting.  

We bought a scene setter from Walmart to use as the backdrop for photos of each kid.  We added some of the "buildings" in front of it when it was picture time.   

Mark designed these signs for all around the party. 

I saw a banner similar to this on Etsy and decided to re-create it.  This was fun to make! And for the record, Jack knew every superhero that each of these letters was representing.  He knows his superheroes! 

I bought bags from Dollar Tree for each kid to use to hold their superhero gear.  

THE FOOD: 

Hulk Punch (Jack got these Hulk gloves for Christmas and we used them for a decoration and for a game at this party!) 

I bought Avengers duct tape at Walmart (kinda pricey) and used it to cover water bottles bought from Aldi's.  In the past, I have taken off the store label before putting the duct tape on the water bottle.  This year, I didn't even bother with that and they turned out just fine.  

Rock candy as kryptonite. 

Green Lantern likes to hang out by the food. 

This was the spread.  I tried to do theme food.  We had buildings and superhero guys placed around.  I also found superhero wrapping paper at Dollar Tree, of all places.  It was really thin, but it worked perfect as a table runner for the food area.  

I saw this idea for the veggies on Pinterest.  

This was a yummy fruit pizza (idea from Pinterest). 

THE BIRTHDAY BOY: 

Jack was SO excited for this party! 

I love this crazy kid so much! Even on the days when I think I just might throw him (or myself) out the window. Just kidding... kind of.  

THE ACTIVITIES: 

My awesome best friend, Megan, made all the kids superhero capes.  She's pretty amazing.  I gave her all the fabric only a week before and she totally pulled it off.  The fabric was from Joann's and it was a cheap-ish satin.  The stars were actually craft foam.  I think they averaged out to be about $2/kid.  

I used felt to make the kids wristbands.  Oriental Trading had free shipping a couple weeks before the party, so I ordered these masks and superhero stickers.  They were super cheap and I'm a sucker for free shipping.  

I took Dollar Tree red paper plates and glued a piece of elastic to the back of it to make a shield.  The kids each got one and decorated it with stickers.  

Seeing all the kiddos at the table made me so happy.  Exactly like I pictured it in my head... all wearing their little capes.  Precious.  

Jack is lucky to have a lot of great friends.  

This game was a hit! (Literally...ha!) 

I found this on Pinterest.  They called it Hulk Smash.  We stacked up "buildings", each kid got to wear the Hulk gloves and knock them all down.  Who knew that would be so much fun???

We took each kid's picture in front of the backdrop.

Lots of kiddos in their capes.  

Jack got so many nice presents! 

THE SUPERHERO GEAR: 

Capes, masks, wristbands, shields... 

THE CAKE:

My sweet mother in law made this amazing "4" cake.  I sent her a picture of something similar the week before and BAM, she made it just like it! 

I paired it with some store bought cupcakes and toppers made with my Silhouette.  

The cake was super yummy, too! 

My big four year old. 

Making a wish and blowing out the candles! 

We were so grateful to everyone that came to help us celebrate our Jack. 

 Big thanks to Jane for the cake, Megan for the capes, Victoria for help the day before, and Mimi & Papa for the venue and all the help getting ready.  And of course, Mark... who spends party week designing things for me, making a birthday slideshow, running crazy errands, putting up with me in  neurotic party planning mode, and keeping the kids occupied the morning of while I run around like a mad woman.  Couldn't (and wouldn't want to) do it without you, babe!