The Theme Party trend is costing parents an arm and a leg these days (good for the people in the Party planning business though…). More than the kids, the parents want a picture perfect birthday for their kids (I am guilty of that too!) but trust me you can do it yourself.. AND on a budget (Read my post on Theme Party Madness if you have missed that!).

So my two sons Dash and Jack-Jack (Read here why I call them that, if you don’t know already) just recently turned 4 and 3 (in that order!) and they are obsessed with Super Mario Bros. Dash thinks he is Mario and Jack-Jack is always in his character of Luigi! Since their birthdays are just a month apart, I always celebrate it together!

So picking a theme for this year’s party was not a problem at all! I knew I am gonna do a “Super Rizvi Bros. Party”. In fact, I had decided that last summer and got their costumes and some dinner ware from our last US trip. But there was a problem just a week before the birthday when Dash said that he should be Luigi as he is taller (and so is he ) and Jack-Jack should be Mario (as he is shorter). That’s gave me Panic Attack , as the Mario costume I bought was size 4T and the Luigi Costume was size 3T. It took a lot of convincing and explaining to my 4 year old that Mario IS the elder brother (we did succeed in the end.. phew!!)

So, for the venue I decided to do the party at McDonald’s (yes, I went that cheap! 😉  ) You can also see the Inside Out Party I did there as well).  I just added a few things to create that ‘Theme’ at McDonalds Party room.

Invitation Cards

So first for the invites, I downloaded some free printables and designed the card (you can download it at the end in the Resources section).

Dress Up Station

Next I decided to set up a dress up station..  with some Mario and Luigi caps and mustaches for the boys and some Princess Peach’s crowns for the girls.

For the Mario and Luigi Caps, I found this super easy tutorial from CuteAsAFox.com, which I followed but instead of using paper, I used a softer foam material.  Next for the Mario and Luigi Mustaches, I hand drew a template of their mustaches and traced it on a black foam sticker sheet and cut them out! Instant stick on Mustaches!

For the Princess Peach’s Crowns, I found another tutorial from glitzygeekgirl.com. I used  yellow foam sheets, and blue and pink glitter sheets for jewels and a yellow headband (All from a local craft store at a very reasonable price!). And here is my version of the Princess Peach’s headbands.

 

Party Favors

Again a trip to my favorite craft store and I found these golden favor boxes (QAR 1 each) and dressed them up a bit with a few printables I designed (check the resources section below).

The Photo Booth

My parties are not complete without a photo booth and that is really ALL you need for a picture perfect party. For the backdrop, I joined and covered two big boards with blue and green paper and then cut and pasted the characters and the birthday banner (I designed) to create a Super Mario Bros. Game scene. For the props, I found a free printable at babalisme.blogspot.qa and I designed one with the speech bubbles, printed them on cardstock paper (from old cereal boxes) and glued a chopstick at the back to hold them. (All the printables can be downloaded in the Resources section below).

 

Table Setting

So since I knew the theme from before, I got the dinner ware from our last US trip (its very hard to find themed dinnerware in Doha ..specially the less common ones). For the center pieces, I used my Ikea frames (best party investment ever!) and put the pictures of the Super Mario Bros. characters in it with some customization (ofcourse!). And lastly, I found a free water bottle label that I again customized and printed and pasted on the water bottles. I also made the placements by placing a ‘Super Rizvi Bros. Party’ label at the corner of a red plain paper. Done! (All the printables can be downloaded in the Resources section below.

The Cake

McDonald’s doesn’t allow outside food – so the cake had to be a simple (YET very yummy) chocolate cake with the picture of Super Mario Bros This is a blessing in disguise otherwise I would have done the cake myself (which btw I still have to tell you guys about).

My Mario and Luigi had a great time with their friends.. and at the end of the day when I asked Dash what was his favorite part of the party.. He said “The Play Area in McDonalds!!” (DAMN!  lol.. kids really don’t care!!). But they do enjoy looking at these pictures ! (*wipes a tear*)

 

Resources:

Click on the links to download for FREE!

• Invitation Card  –Invite
• Dress Up Station and Thank you Signs –Signs
• Banner –HappyBirthdayBanner
• Super Mario Bros. Characters –Characters
• Photo Booth back drop items- backdropitems2 and backdropitems1
• Photo Booth Props – SpeechBubbles -props
• Water Bottle Label