With four littles, I've thrown my fair share of birthday parties in the last ten years. Growing up, birthdays were always super fun at my house. My mom would make this amazing cake, my sisters and I would decorate the house and my dad had a very special gift up his sleeve more than once. We may not have had much money but, my parents always went above and beyond to make sure we had a wonderful birthday celebration.
When I became a mom I knew I wanted to do the same thing for my kids. So, every birthday we go all out. I don't spend a ton of money, rent the biggest bounce houses or buy big, elaborate gifts. Instead we've solidified some pretty sweet traditions of our own. I love making a super fun, themed cake and, usually, go all out with balloons and table decor. For me, that means fun decorations and adding in little things that really make the theme "pop". I sort of consider myself a happy mix of a "Pinterest Mom" and an "Amazon Prime Mom". I achieve my Pinterest inspired parties with the ease and help of Amazon Prime so.. yea. Haha.
Blake has been getting more and more interested in space the last year or so and desperately wanted a space themed party. So, we just went with it! And, honestly? His was one of my favorite parties I've ever put together. From the fun balloons (of which the moon balloon is still hanging in his room today) to the confetti and moon cake. I loved it! And so did he! I'll link the things I purchased below but, I want you to know you don't have to spend a hefty sum to have a wonderful party. I love being able to take decor from around our home to add to the tablescape and that's just what I did here. The upside down wire basket under the space helmet usually holds a plant on my front porch, but it worked great for this! The shiny canister to the right with a wooden lid? That's a candle from Aldi (which smells amaaaaazing btw). The tin bucket holding the silverware is from a small plant I bought years ago but I held onto it for just something like this.
I did buy those sweet little astronaut figures and I'm glad I did! They matched the party perfectly, added so much to the decor and Blake was happy to have them as part of his gift. From there, I just grabbed some things from his room (the space shuttle, the astronaut pack, the space helmet) and had fun! Maybe my favorite thing (and what I spent the most amount of time on) was the astronaut cutout! My boys loved it! It felt like it took me forevvver to get it the way I wanted. I started by finding a coloring page I liked, then used it as a reference to draw it onto a large piece of cardboard I had and then painted it the way I wanted. Time consuming, yes. But, it's actually still sitting in his room to this day (though it may have lost a hand lol). So, all in all, this was a super fun party and I loved getting creative to make it happen!
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Gold Confetti (similar)
Lucas and Blake's birthdays are just eight days apart so we used to throw a joint party. This year, however, they were both eager to have their own. They're getting a bit older and their interests are beginning to change so, we were happy to oblige. It's no surprise Lucas wanted a baseball themed party (he LIVES for baseball!) and it was so fun putting it together! I did what I always do and grabbed from around the house for the decor. Then I made the baseball name sign out of an old piece of cardboard I had saved, gathered some old baseballs into a wire bin I had, flipped my old seven-up crate upside down for a stand and added an old globe, just for fun (and a space filler but, it worked lol).
The cake was super fun (and kind of hard) to put together. I saw something similar on Pinterest but didn't want anything super huge so, I shrunk it down a bit and made it my own. And it turned out as tasty as it did cute. I like to have more than just cake and punch at birthday parties, as you can tell. Usually that means chocolate covered pretzel sticks and some sort of snack/candy. Pretzel sticks are fun, not too bad for you and easy to make theme appropriate, and they're always a big hit with guests. So, that's that! A simple but fun vintagey baseball party, and I reused the star confetti I purchased for Blake's party! Win win!
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Letter Board (similar)
Wooden Crate (similar)
For JD, who is a basketball fanatic right now, it was obvious what his party theme would be. And it turned out so great! I DIY-ed a few of the decorations and loved how the cake turned out! The balloons were another fun purchase and they added so much to the decor. Otherwise, I pulled things from around the house and his shelf in the boys' bedroom to finish it up!
The hanging court behind the cake is a piece of posterboard I wrote on with a chalk marker, as are the "we're #1" hands on the left. I thought about buying some but, they're crazy high to use once for a party. There's no shortage of basketballs at our house so that was a breeze and they were a great space-filler. Then I put his Lebron James figurine in with it all and it just clicked! Also, do you recognize the star confetti? That's right! I used it again for this party! It's just so versatile. I also used the sphere cake pan I purchased to make Blake's cake for all three parties so, it was well worth the ten dollars I spent on it.
You may also notice I love making balloon banners? haha. They're SO easy to make and really elevate your party (imo)! Just search on Pinterest or Youtube for a tutorial and, there you have it!
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Lebron James Figurine (from amazon, can't find the exact one)
(Visit my "Birthdays" board on Pinterest to see what's inspiring me!)
