Weston is 8: A Star Wars Party

 Well, our baby up and did it.  He grew and got older and now he's 8 and looking less like a little kid every day.  This year to celebrate, he chose Star Wars, which was super fitting because he just loves just about anything Star Wars related.  So once again I sat down and started searching Pinterest for inspiration and then figured out how I could take my own spin on things.  This year, we did a family party and let him invite a few friends.  It was the perfect amount and he chose friends from different areas of his life and it was fun watching everyone connect. 

I had a hard time picking out a specific color scheme because there are just so many ways to go with this.  Weston loves BB8, which was a perfect focus for an eighth birthday.  But, I found some inspiration from a pinterest pin and just went with it.  The table cloth was from Target's party section, same with the napkins and wrapping paper table runner.  I used plain white cardstock and printed out simple letters to do the words and glued them on black butcher paper that I got at a local school supply store.  And then, since we have tons of Lego Brickheadz laying around, we grabbed the Star Wars ones and placed them around the house.

Food was super fun because there were just so MANY ideas.  Jon actually thought I was planning way too much food, but I couldn't help it.  So many ideas. 

I made these cupcakes using this recipe that is just amazing! And then, to make them completely Weston friendly (food allergies), I frosted half of them with the Simple Mills Chocolate frosting (which is amazing!!).  Last month, when my parents had to get their car worked on really quick, she found a cute little cake decorating store and picked out all sorts of sprinkles that worked amazing for these cupcakes!  Sprinkles really do make things happier. . . I'm pretty sure that's a fact! 

 The food was so easy!  Not all of it was Weston friendly (the Ewok/teddy grahams have soy, as do some of the other food options), but there was enough that he didn't feel like he was missing out on his birthday fun.  Jon mentioned a few times that I was probably over doing it on food, but I am not joking when I say that most of this was eaten by the end of the party. 

I always love having things to do for kids during parties.  This year, I planned a few activities and then some outdoor games.  We didn't get to do the outdoor games because it was a lovely, rainy day.  So, I scattered activities around to give the kids, who were probably going a tad stir crazy (it's been raining a lot and we aren't used to it!) to do.  

:: I dug out some of our Star Wars Puzzles.

:: I printed some coloring and activity pages that I found on Pinterest. 

:: We had a nerf gun activity with toilet paper rolls with Storm Troopers on them and you had to knock them over.  I forgot to take a picture. . . oops.  But it was a big hit!

:: Build a Droid that I found here.  

:: How to draw Yoda

:: Jedi Training (It was raining, so when we had a break, Jon took them all outside and let them play with the pool noodle light sabors and play basketball).  

:: Photo Booth. . . because it was fun! 

 For favors, the kids got to take home a light sabor and one of these coloring packs I found on Amazon.  They come with a sticker, coloring book, and a couple of crayons. It was perfect

 to thank everyone for coming!

 

And that's his birthday!  I still can't believe he's 8 and not my little baby.  But, just like the book, "my baby he'll be."