My babies are growing up way too fast! Being two years and a week apart, we've been blessed to do a double birthday every year so far. You might recall their "Veg-Double Bouncy Birthday" last year. Well, I thought that might be the last duo-party for us. That all changed when my son showed interest in his sister's gymnastics class in fall. Next? "I'd like to reserve one double birthday at your facility, please!"
By the title, you may have an idea of where things went from there. Yup, two different kids with two different interests, made for two VERY different birthday themes this year. This was definitely a new challenge for me, but I was absolutely game. Those who know me can agree that I get carried away with my party visions, but this year, I made sure to stay simple. The problem: I liked LOTS of simple things. :) The themes were lots of fun, I will say. My son decided on a Ninjago-themed party (Lego Ninjas - all the rage) and my daughter's request was "Mommy, I want a party with unicorns and rainbows." Cute, huh? :) Well, I was full-on brainstorming in January. Pinterest was the source of my ideas or where ideas spurred from, of course. Oh, how I love Pinterest. I hope you like what I came up with. It was too fun!
Invitations
Since the gymnastics facility has a few rules and regs and pricey rates, we decided each child could invite 7 friends. Conveniently, my daughter asked girls and my son asked boys, so two different invitations were made.
My daughter's invitations were special. This is because they were the first project using my awesome Christmas gift - a Silhouette Cameo!! For the non-crafty, this is a digital paper cutter. :) I downloaded a unicorn shape from the Silhouette website, got cute white cards, some rainbow ribbon, and a little added cardstock to create this:
For my son, I went the easy route. I found this background graphic online, added some text, printed them as 4x6 photos at Walgreens, and glued them onto some black cardstock. My son loved them.
After scanning the Internet and Pinterest for Ninja and Unicorn/Rainbow party theme ideas, I decided on cupcakes for both kids. Ninja mask faces for his and 3D rainbows with clouds for hers. These were my party food and decor selections:
Ninja-inspired foods:
- Sushi Rice Krispie Treats
- Swedish Fish
- Shoestring potatoes
- Ninja cheeses, meats and tortillas
Rainbow-themed foods:
- Rainbow Rice Krispie Treats
- Skittles
- Rainbow Goldfish
- Rainbow veggie and fruit plates
Ninjago-inspired decor:
- Balloons on sticks with the above ninja eye masks taped to them (cut by my Silhouette)
- Solid color plates/napkins in each of the ninja colors (red, black, blue and white)
- Ninja eye masks in the 4 ninja colors made from t-shirts
- Black tablecloth decorated with the above ninja mask eyes
- $1 black salsa bowls at Wal-Mart that look like little black woks for candy/snacks
- $6 red cupcake tree from the Valentine's seasonal section
Unicorn/Rainbow decor:
- Balloons on sticks - one in each color of the rainbow
- Unicorn/Rainbow plates, napkins and standing decoration from Oriental Trading Co.
- Unicorn horns - tightly rolled party hats with shiny accents of cut chrome Duck Tape
- White tablecloths accented by rainbow leis
- A vase of rainbow Twizzlers for the kids table
- $2 glass dishes from Wal-Mart (I had 4) for Skittles and rainbow Goldfish
- Clear cupcake tree
- Toy unicorns on cake table (family gifts from her actual birthday)
Here were the results!
Food...
Decor...
Fun!
The kids had a ball! They got to do all the standard gymnastics activities (balance beam, rings, bars, trampoline, tumbling) in addition to an inflatable and foam pit. The boys even got to ride a zip line and fall into the pit! The coaches were great with the kids, too. They loved Johnny.
Party Favors
The favors this year were fun and I did them early. I knew I wanted those little takeout boxes for the Ninjago-inspired favors. I got to use my Silhouette again for the unicorn/rainbow favor sacks.
Ninjago-inspired favors: Takeout boxes with Ninjago-inspired eyes containing origami ninja stars using foil cardstock paper, ninja figurines, Pop Rocks and Tootsie Pops.
Here are some free printables of my ninjago-inspired masks via Clearly Candace's Google Drive! For your personal party use only (no copying, sharing, selling permitted). Enjoy!
Unicorn/Rainbow favors: White paper sacks with printed/cut unicorns filled with a wooden unicorn coloring craft, rainbow of hairbands, Skittles and a Unicorn Pop. I found some online images of the contents, since I forgot to photograph the contents.
Thank You Cards
For the Thank-You's, I found an Etsy shop that created a cute blank Ninjago thank-you card graphic that I printed at Walgreens. For the girls, I purchased tag-shaped white cards from Hobby Lobby and tied rainbow ribbon to the top. I found a unicorn stamp and added that to the right of my "thanks" stamp using a purple ink stamp pad. I got standard white envelopes for all the cards.
So, what do you get when you combine ninjas and unicorns? Johnny said he loved the themes as soon as we began decorating. This pic definitely shows that love. :)
I hope you enjoyed this year's double birthday festivities! Yea, it was a lot of work for an hour and a half, but 'tis the story of my life. Maybe I'll tone it down a bit more next year.....maybe. ;)
Thanks for visiting!
Keeping Him in mind,
