Add Cake Blog » Party Themes and Ideas

Paint Pallette Chocolate Invitations:  I found small paint pallettes (I purchased them from Oriental Trading) and put six different colored chocolate chips (the melting chocolate bags from Walmart or Michaels) in each spot and threw it in the microwave on half power about 1 min an stired each color with a toothpick to mix it up.  They melted just enough to mold into the spot to stay in place.  I then put them in plastic party bags with a label of the party information on it and tied with a cute ribbon.  These came out super cute but be careful using them or mailing them during the summer!  Check out more invitation ideas here:  http://www.addcake.com/invite-me.php

Photo Opportunity:  I always love to have a photo op at the entrance to the party.  This way I have a keepsake picture of everyone who came to celebrate with us.  I cut the top off of a box and wrapped it in white paper and then printed out a crayon sign and pasted it on front.  I filled it with blow up crayons.

Decorations:  Each child got an apron to put on when they arrived.  We had a large table covered with brown shipping paper.  Each place setting had a small tabletop wooden easel (Ikea $1 each), a 4×6 canvas (Michael’s), a Paint Pallette with washable tempura paint, and Paint Brush.  I wrote each kid’s name with crayon on the table and on the back on their canvas so we would know whose painting was whose.  I also got 4×6 wooden frames (Ikea 3/$1) that I painted gold so each child would take home their framed artwork.

Rainbow Art Cake:  I found the coolest cake idea that was the hit of the party at this website: http://www.omnomicon.com/rainbowcake.  I just used my favorite cake recipe and put it in six seperate bowls and colored each bowl seperately.  It came out so cool and everyone was blown away as we were passing out cake.  Such a fun suprise!  I apparently was too excited to get a picture of the cut cake!  Here is the cake before we frosted it.

I made one large sheet cake and one small round cake for the paint pallette.  I cut a small part out of the round cake and covered it in fondant.  I cut colored circles out of fondant for the paint.  I also created a paint brush out of fondant.  I frosted the large cake in white and put a small easel I found at Michael’s on top.  To create the canvas, I cut a rice crispy square and covered it with fondant and let my daughter (3rd Birthday Girl) color on the canvas with edible markers.

Games:  Besides the paintings, we also had a search for the missing art collection (a pinata with art pictures on each side).

Favors: Colored Plastic Buckets (Party City $1/each) that I put their name on the front (printing name on clear label paper in a different color).  Set of paint, crayons (Paint and Crayon from Orienal Trading), playdough (Michael’s $1/5), paint brush sucker (99Cent Store $.49 each), and framed artwork.

FINAL TAB (Not including paper products and food):
$20.00 Invitations with Chocolates
$60.00 Art Supplies (15 Kids - Aprons, Easels, Canvas, Paint, Brushes, Pallette, and Frames)
$30.00 Favors (15 Buckets with Paint Set, Crayons, Playdough, Sucker)
$8.00 Photo Op (Free Box and Set of 1 Dozen Blow Up Crayons)
$7.00 Pinata (Homemade by me and my daughter - NOT as pretty as store bought ones but fun) $7 for candy and toys

TOTAL = $125

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Do you have a Boy and Girl who have birthday’s close together (brother and sister parties/cousins/friends).  Try combining the party with these fun boy and girl themes.

Boy and Girl Parties (Themes that you can mix together):

Above Ground/Below Ground Party: Flowers and Bugs

Fairy Tales: Princesses and Princes/Dragons/or Knights

Super Party: Supergirl and Superman or any of the male and female super heroes

Soccer: Use Pink/White and Black/White Soccer Balls

Dolls and Bears: Dolls and Teddy Bears

Western: Cowboy and Cowgirls

You want to make sure even the littliest guests have a great time which will in turn make their parents have a good time!

Sippy Cups: Have Disposable Sippy cups with your other party cups so all the babies can have a drink too, especially if the party is outside and hot!

Snacks: Make sure you put out some snacky foods for the littlest guests (Graham Crackers, Goldfish).

Baby Games: If you have a bunch of babies have them play a “find game” that matches your theme.  Place toys or small Stuffed Bears, Fish, Cars, Cats, etc around and have the babies crawl or run around to find them.  It is quite fun for the parents to watch as well.

Favors: Bibs are a great Favor for a 1^st Birthday (Preferably if it has the birthday baby’s name and picture on them), Rubber Duckys, Bubbles, Fill a Decorated Sippy Cup or Snack Cup with goodies, Pacifiers, Stuffed Animals, Bath or Car Seat toys

Once you come up with your perfect theme idea (Bicycles) you notice that you can’t find matching plates and tableware. Pick a color that goes with your theme (For Bikes, I would use red). Get all the tableware, plates, napkins, balloons, crepe in that color. Integrate your unique theme (bike theme) in the following ways:

Invitations: Use custom bike invitations or make your own (have your kids help) with stickers and crayons.

Favors: small toy bikes and bike stickers or books about bicycles

Crafts: Make bike tags

Decorations: Decorate with Bike figurines, your child’s bike, Bike accessories (helmets, horns, etc.)

Cake: Make or get a cake in the shape or with a bike on it

Decorations: Decorate with rope, hay bails, stuffed horses, bandannas, etc. Make a large WANTED poster to take each kid’s picture in front of.

Food: Cookies and Sandwiches in shapes like cactus, horses, stars, horseshoes and of course a Western Party goes great with grilling foods

Crafts: Decorate Sheriff Badges (Cut out stars with construction paper and have each kid decorate them.

Games: Dig for gold. Fill a container with sand and put plastic gold pieces in it. Have the kids dig them out.

Favors: Gold coins, badges

Decorations: Decorate with tons of Beach balls all different sizes. Use them like you would balloons and hang everywhere. Use buckets for the centerpieces filled with sand and stick pinwheel suckers or any lollipops in them.

Food: Circles, Beach ball shaped cookies, sandwiches

Games: Swimming Races/Diving Competitions

Favors: Beach Balls, Squirt Guns, Sunglasses

This is a fun party that is perfect for a boy/girl sibling party.  This party gives you tons of different ideas.  You can mix flowers, bugs, dirt, veggies, etc.  Send the invitations on flower packets

Decorations: Mix the Decorations using Flowers and bugs.  Find Bug and Flower Tableware and mix and match.  For centerpieces, put small pinwheel lollypops inside a tiny flower pot (fill the small flower pot with Styrofoam to hold the lollypop).  You can also use flower cookies baked on sticks, chocolate pops, any lollypops, etc.  Set one flower at each place setting or along the middle of the table. 

Food: Flower Shaped Foods are great including sandwiches, cookies, etc.  Make Chocolate Shaped Ants and put them throughout all the food. 

Crafts:  Have the kid’s decorate a small flower pot and plant seeds in it.  The kids can also decorate planting markers (Herb signs, Flower signs, etc). 

Games:  Use a sandbox or fill a container with sand and hide toy bugs in it and have the kids dig for the bugs.

Favors: Fill Flower Pots with goodies and use a paint pen to write the kid’s name on the flower pot  

Cake: Make Chocolate cupcakes with Green Icing and put chocolate flowers, gummy worms, and chocolate ants all over them.

Cat’s eat fish so a lot of the food and Décor could revolve around fish as well as cats.

Deocorations: Make Paw prints with Chalk going up to your door “Here Kitty, Kitty”
Food: Goldfish snacks, Use a fish cookie cutter to make fish shaped sandwiches and cookies, Get a Large Fish bowl to use for punch and make fish ice to go in it (Swedish Fish frozen in ice cubes), Make Fish Chocolates, a big Cat Cake

Crafts: Make Cat headbands for everyone either beforehand or have the kids make them at the party. The easiest way to make them is to get a headband (You can use the themed headbands you can buy (Princess, etc) and remove the décor so only the headband is there). Cut out the ears using felt and cut smaller sections for the inside of the ears and glue them on the headband.

Games: GO FISH! Have the kids go fishing in a mini pool or bucket filled with water.

Favors: Fill Cat bowls with goodies (cat stickers, candy)

Cake: Make a Two layer Round Cake and Ice White (or your color choice).  Make Two Smaller round cakes: One is for the cat face and cut the other one to make two ears.  Place the cat face and ears on top of the other cakes.  Ice the face in a different color.  Make a pet tag, eyes, nose, and whiskers out of fondant icing using cookie cutters (you can use black licorace laces for the whiskers but they are hard to find).  Make the collar line around the face with icing (your choice to match your party) and add the pet tag in front.  Put your child’s name on the fondant pet tag using food markers.  Cut one Twinkie in half and place both halves in front for the feet.  Ice over these.  You can even add a long tail with twinkies.