How to Throw A Cool Spider-Man Birthday Party

 

Jaye Kogut Photography

Similar to many four year old boys, my little guy is into superheroes. But with him, it's mostly one particular superhero: Spider-Man. He has Spider-Man pjs, Spider-Man bathing suits, Spider-Man underwear, Spider-Man dishes, and Spider-Man socks. He was Spider-Man for Halloween last year, and every night he even asks for a "Spider-Man story" before bed, which can be a mundane story about pretty much anything, the only requirement being that one of the characters in the story must be named Spider-Man. So, basically, when it came time to plan his 4th birthday party, we knew just what the theme had to be.

Per usual, we decided to have the party at home, and I went all out with the decor. I hung wall art that I printed out from digital files I bought on Etsy (as I've mentioned before, this is one of my favorite party-decorating tricks, because it's easy and you can repurpose the art as bedroom decor later), plus big word signs (Kapow! Smash! and so on), a banner, and balloons, which we blew up ourselves. (Because we were having the party earlier than we usually do, our usual balloon-blowing place wasn't going to be open, so I bought this home helium tank, and it was so easy and convenient!).

The two biggest hits though were probably the life-size Spider-Man balloon, which we perched on a china cabinet (the kids loved discovering him up there), and the ginormous cupcake tower. I hadn't checked the measurements when I bought it online, and this thing was huge! But so awesome--it was such a great focal point for the party!

When the kids and their parents arrived, everyone had some snacks (which included this spider-shaped goat cheese dip--it's one of my go-tos for Halloween parties and it also happens to work really well for Spider-Man parties, too!). Since it was a morning party, parents got indulge in Grady's Cold Brew (our favorite!) and a Bloody Mary bar. This was actually my husband's idea and it was such a hit! We put out a pitcher of Bloody Mary mix, vodka, and lots of fun toppings like pickles, bacon strips, hot sauce, fancy olives, and more.

Once everyone was settled, our favorite magician, Seth Dale, made balloon animals for the kids and put on a hilarious magic show. (FYI, if you live in the tristate area and need a magician, Seth is amazing for little kids. As you can see from the photos, my son was cracking up!)

Then it was time for pizza and Kool-Aid, followed by Spider-Man cupcakes. For the kid's cupcakes, I had had the idea to have our baker dye the vanilla cake blue and top them with bright red frosting. Each one also got a fun Spider-Man fondant topper. They looked amazing!

Next, because we hadn't injected enough sugar into these kids yet, we busted out a Spider-Man pinata! There was definitely a ton of candy in there, but because these were younger kids, I also added fun little trinkets like Spider-Man erasers, Spider-Man pencils, and mini coloring book sets, and healthy-ish food like mini bags of Goldfish.

When it was time to go, the kids left with Spider-Man-themed frosted sugar cookies (once again, homemade by my mom!) and this cute (and surprisingly-not-at-all-ugly!) Spider-Man t-shirt rolled up and tied with a ribbon and a custom favor tag. (Only three girls, including my daughter, attended, and I gave them shirts that said "Girls are superheroes" instead of the Spidey ones.) Then, all the little heroes headed home.

All in all, it was a super party. (Sorry. Had to...) ;)

If you'd like to check out my son's past parties, here is his Nautical First Birthday (one of my favorite parties ever!) and the Sesame Street party we threw for his second birthday. 

VENDORS

Photography: Jaye Kogut Photography

Cupcakes: The Hudson Cakery

Skyscraper cupcake tower: Amazon

Printable wall art: FifiLottieCreations, SuperPopPrints, PixelatedPlus, ChalkyTalkDesigns

Word cutout signs: Amazon

Spider-Man banner: Amazon

City tablecloth: Amazon

Favor/cupcake/food tent/etc printables: CupcakeExpress2

Spider-Man plates: Amazon

Spider-Man masks: Amazon

Spider-Man blowers: Amazon

Spider-Man pinata: Walmart

Spider-Man candles: Amazon

Giant Spider-Man balloon: Amazon

Spider-Man head balloons: Amazon

Home helium machine: Target

Birthday-boy t-shirt: LilEmeraldBoutique

Girls' Spider-Man t-shirt: Amazon

Spider-Man (favor) t-shirts: Target

How to Throw A (Faux) Sleepover Party!

Photos by Morgan Bayard

My daughter wanted a sleepover party for her 7th birthday, but I wasn't into the idea. Seven seems too young, right? Sure, I had had my own sleepover birthday parties for years when I was growing up, but 1) I think I was slightly older when I had my first one, and 2) I remember every single one devolving into an us versus them scenario with half of my friends mad at the other half--and one of those halves stamping off in the middle of the night to go sleep in another room. By breakfast time, all was usually forgiven, but did my kid really need all that drama so soon? Nope.

Around that time, my cousin happened to mention that "faux sleepovers" were really popular in her area, and it sounded like just the thing. For anyone who doesn't know what that is (I didn't), it's all of the fun of a sleepover--the pjs, the movie, the popcorn, the bonding--but none of the sleeping! Everyone leaves to go to bed at their own home. Genius! My daughter was into it; I was in love with it. Faux sleepover party, it would be.

And it ended up being the easiest party I've ever thrown! Decorations were simple. I went with a pink-and-gold color scheme and just hung a few balloons and banners. I also hung up a piece of printable art from Etsy that said "Sweet Dreams." Etsy printable wall art is one of my favorite ways to decorate for a party, because 1) It's cheap. (This one cost just a few dollars.) and 2) It can be repurposed as wall art for her room after the party. As a bonus, this Etsy artist also shrunk the art down for me, so that I could also use it as favor tags!

When it was party time, the girls arrived in their pajamas and got to work on an art project: decorating pillowcases. I bought fabric pens and cheap white pillow cases from Amazon, and the girls really loved making them. 

Next, came the movie. My daughter had chosen the new Adventures in Babysitting. (This was after we considered the original Adventures in Babysitting--one of my favorite movies back in the day--but thank god we gave it a preview watch. Thirty years later, it seems really sexist, and even racist in parts--definitely not for a seven year old. My daughter deemed it "boring" anyway.) 

And can I just stop and sing the praises of movie-watching at a party? WHY DID I NEVER THINK OF THIS BEFORE? The kids sat there quietly for 2-plus hours, while my parents and a few friends and I sat upstairs drinking wine. I'm usually running around crazy-stressed at my kids' parties, but this time I was practically bored! 

During the movie, the girls munched on popcorn topped with candy from a candy bar I had set up. (I had worried that I had bought too much candy, but the girls ate ALL of it. Many of them had more candy than popcorn. Sorry, parents.) Halfway through, we brought out pizza and they ate that while watching, too. 

(Side note: We had been worried about being able to pop enough popcorn for all of the girls at once, so we went ahead and splurged on this big, old-time-y popcorn popper. We expected we'd re-sell it after the party or something, but turns out, we use it all the time now! Weekend movie-watching popcorn has gotten a serious upgrade. The kids love it!)

I also had a hairstylist from The Glam App come to braid their hair during the movie. (She set up a chair in the room, and one by one, the girls would come up to get their braids.) This was a big hit, and I'm so glad I did it! The hairstylist even brought ribbons to weave through their braids, which was really cute.

After the movie, we had a gorgeous, sleepover-themed cake created by GoodieBox Bake Shop, and then finished up with a dance party. The girls went nuts dancing and singing. It was so cute!

Favors were pink fleece blankets tied with gold ribbon and a cute "Sweet Dreams" favor tag, along with a bag of milk and chocolate chip cookies. (My mom made the cookies!) Then, everyone left to sleep...somewhere else.

A good night, indeed.

--

So, tell me: Are these faux-sleepover parties popular where you guys live? (I've heard they're also called "Sleepunders.") I hadn't ever heard of them before, but I love them now! So smart for girls who are fascinated by sleepovers, but really too young to go to them.

VENDORS

Cake: GoodieBox Bake Shop
Happy Birthday bunting: Amazon
Pennant Bunting: Amazon
Pink fleece blankets: Amazon
Sweet Dreams printable: BlueSkyWhimsy on Etsy
Favor tags sticker printable: LilRbwKreations on Etsy
Fabric pens: Amazon
Pillowcases: Amazon
Pink plastic tablecloth: Amazon
Gold sequin table runner: Amazon
Gold star paper plates: Meri Meri
Rose-gold forks: Amazon
Pink/purple napkins: EtsyStudio
Gold candy bowls: Amazon
Popcorn boxes: Amazon
Old-time-y popcorn popper: Amazon