20871

Mario Bash Party -8yr- Make a Mario Hat

January 2010

Kris in Warren, Ohio, USA

Honorable Mention

My son has loved Mario for years now. Finally he asked for a Mario party for his 8th birthday and I couldn't be more thrilled. Mario party supplies are hard to find but it let me get creative. I was also able to make my decorations cheaper than buying store bought. 

For his invitations, I cut hinged mushroom stems out of tan card stock. Green or red card stock mushroom caps were glued to each side. I used scrapbooking sticky dots to add raised card stock circles to the mushroom caps. I finished with the Mario mushroom face drawn on to each one. Party details were printed on sticky wine labels and put on the inside of each mushroom stem.  

Decorations were so much fun to make. I spray painted cardboard boxes burgundy and then painted black lines on them to look like blocks. On cardboard sheets, I drew and painted a large Koopa Trooper (the turtle). I cut it out and attached it to one of the blocks to make it look like the turtle was walking across. On another larger piece of cardboard I drew and painted a 3 foot Mario. I cut it out and attached it to another larger box. It was great for pictures. I covered 2 small Slim Jim cans (though any can would work) with green felt to look like warp tunnels. I put forks in one and spoons in another. On Ebay I found a plush piranha flower fairly cheap. I covered a coffee can with green felt for another warp tunnel. I put the plush piranha in it and used it as a table centerpiece.

I covered the table with a red table cloth and sprinkled gold star confetti all over it. I found red plates with white dots that looked like mushroom tops. After Halloween I bought plastic ball and chains. With red and white felt for the mouth and eyes, I turned them into Chain Chomps. They could also be made out of Styrofoam balls and paper chains. For balloons, I bought plain gold star balloons at the dollar tree. On sticky paper, I printed eyes that look like the trademark Mario eyes. I cut them out and stuck them on the balloons. I cut stars out of yellow card stock and put eyes on those too and hung them around the house. I printed a big picture of Bowser that said Bower's Bathroom" and hung it on the outside of the bathroom door so I didn't have to constantly tell the kids where it was. 

For activities I had each of the kids make a Mario or Princess hat. I bought foamie visors at the craft store- red for Mario and pink for Princess Toadstool (or Peach). I precut white circles and the letters M & P. All they had to do was assemble them. I also cut mustaches out of sticky backed felt.   Games were fun. It was surprisingly warm enough for the kids to go outside for a little while. They played a game of Koopa Tag. The person who was "It" acted as Koopa. It was a nice way for them to wear off some energy. While they were outside we had a Yoshi Egg Hunt. I used a picture of Yoshi on a wine label with the words "Thank you for coming to "Child's Name"'s birthday party" I stuck them to colorful bags. Yoshi's eggs were Easter eggs filled with gold foil wrapped coins Mario tattoos (Ebay) and candy.

After they were nice and wore out we came back inside and played a Mario Mushroom bean bag game. My husband cut a mushroom shape out of a sheet of plywood. At the top he put a hole large enough for a bean bag to go through. (Think a modified Baggo or Cornhole board). I painted it to look like a giant Mario mushroom. The kids took turns trying to toss the bean bags in the hole.  For dinner all of the food followed a Mario theme. I printed a picture of a Mario character along with what kind of food it was. Piranha Plant Pizza Princess Peach Pasta Yoshi Egg dip and veggies (the dip was a vegetable dip with little circles of green pepper on top to look like Yoshi's egg spots) Power Up Punch Fire Flower Fruit tray.  While the kids were eating I let them watch a Mario cartoon. It was a nice way to ensure all of the kids just sat and ate instead of them taking 2 bites and saying they were done. 

For cake we had cupcakes with bright red and green icing. I took white chocolate wafers and put 3 on the top of each cupcake so they looked like mushrooms. My son isn't a big fan of cake so I also made cookies. I made sugar cookies shaped like stars. I iced them with yellow icing and then sprinkled them with yellow sugar sprinkles. The sprinkles gave them a nice shiny appearance. Going with the theme I bought Luigi's Ice cups. They were a hit!! I also bought ice cream cups for the kids who wanted it instead but most wanted the Luigis Ice.  

For favors the kids took home their Mario or Princess hats Mario Mustache and their bag of Yoshi eggs. I also printed out a Mario word search and Mario coloring page and stuck them in each of their bags prior to the egg hunt.  During the party I made sure to get a picture of each of the guests in front of the giant Mario cut out. I later used the pictures on photo thank you cards. "

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