When I realized my youngest daughter was turning 4 on the 4th of May this year, I knew we had to throw her a Star Wars themed golden birthday. We are a big Star Wars loving family, so we didn’t have to search far for decorating and food ideas. I was determined to NOT do cliché food items that have been done a million times before, so I challenged my baker friend Amanda to help me come up with some desserts that were totally yummy and unique.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Amanda came up with 2 amazing recipes for Wookiee Brookies (brownie + cookies) and Wookiee Whoopies (Whoopie Pies) and I was able to make those, along with 3 versions of hand pies we called “Han” Pies. The recipes for these treats can be found on www.bakingbesties.com. I also adapted recipes for “Porg Pops”, “Lando’s Mac Daddy Mac N’ Cheese”, “Wedge Antilles Salad bites”, and “Tie Fighter Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad”. We also catered pulled pork and called that “Pulled Porkins Sliders”. For beverages, we served “Yoda Soda”, “Wicket Water”, “Vaderade” and “Jabba Juice”. Of course, to make sure everyone understood the Star Wars references, I made a lot of cute, illustrated food signs.
I had an idea for an EPIC cake that combined a droid and a Rey-version of my daughter on a galaxy-style decorated cake with a ship and some actual LED lights in it—and my friend at Flour & Flowers by MK was able to completely nail my vision and the cake was spectacular!
DECORATIONS
Balloons were a big part of the décor. They were used to showcase 4 displays: The Cake, The Desserts, The Favors and the Beverages. Each balloon statement had a different color story and vibe. Around the cake was mostly black, silver and purple. By the favors I used brighter tones to match the Star Wars tablecloth. The “Best Desserts in the Galaxy” table was surrounded by black, silver, blues and purples and I added painted foliage and Star Wars mylar balloons too. The beverage station was decorated with Baby Yoda balloons and a lighter pastel color palette. It was supposed to have a different, lighter vibe more like the Mos Eisley Cantina/Tatooine which is a sunny desert planet (not dark like outer space).
Signage was very important to the theme as well. I made lots of informative (and also decorative) signs and also some larger signs that said “Maddie is Four” and “May the 4th be with you” and “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”… I displayed many of the larger signs on a starry sky background. This starry galaxy background was a great find—it is actually meant for a school bulletin board (I found it in the teacher section of a store). It was 12 ft wide and 4 ft tall, so I was able to use it for two sections of my display and BONUS—It was like $10! You can’t get anything that size for $10!
My sister has a big LEGO Star Wars collection, so we displayed a lot of those pieces on the tables too. I even hung some of them to fly over the desserts! I kept the linens mostly gray and black and used some Star Wars fabric on a couple of the tables. I designed some intergalactic floral arrangements using interesting flowers and foliage (some of which I spray painted cool shimmering colors to go with the theme!)
ATTIRE
The birthday girl actually has the middle name Rae, which was inspired by the REY character in the most recent Star Wars movies. We decided she should be dressed the part, so I made her a Rey costume to wear for her big day. She looked awesome! The rest of us wore Star Wars t-shirts and masks as did many of the guests.
FAVORS + ACTIVITIES
As our young Jedi guests arrived, they were given a favor bag to decorate with Star Wars stickers. After decorating their bags, they got to make a trip to the favor table to get a bunch of galactic gifts. Favors included blow-up lightsabers, lightsaber bubble wands, mini light up lightsabers, Cloud City pops, Grogu Gummies, Darkside Skittles, BB8 jumbo erasers, Star Wars stampers, Mandalorian fruit snacks and hand sanitizer. I even sewed Star Wars masks and some little stuffies too. It was quite the favor table!
In addition to decorating their bags, kids had their parents blow up the lightsabers and had some battles outdoors. They also blew bubbles, tossed some Star Wars balls around and hid in the “rebel base”. We had an assortment of Star Wars books out for guests to read including many Search-and-find style books. To finish out the day, the guests who remained finished the evening watching Return of the Jedi.
GUESTS/LOCATION
We are still trying to be as safe as possible with Covid and while most of our guests have been vaccinated, obviously none of the young kids guests can be yet. We hosted this party at our home, with timed groups of friends and family. We encouraged guests to enjoy time outdoors in our front and back yard, we kept the majority of the food single-serving, and we provided masks as well as hand sanitizer and soap. It was certainly more laid back than our Minions Party that was in the midst of the Pandemic last summer—but still as safe as we could make it. ( https://karaspartyideas.com/2020/09/minions-pandemic-safe-birthday-party.html )
Everyone, especially the birthday girl, had an awesome time at the party (the blow-up lightsabers and other favors, yummy food and illuminated cake really took the party to the next level!) We were so happy a small group of friends and family could join us for her special day as last year her birthday fell in the midst of the literal shut-down part of the Pandemic. She deserved to have a great 4th birthday and I am happy I could give that to her and in Star Wars style no less!
VENDORS:
Planning, Balloons, Flowers, Signage, Artwork: Kio & Kompany / Kio Kreations www.kioandkompany.com / www.kiokreations.com
Photography: Jennifer Kaye Photography www.jenniferkayephotography.com
Cake: Flour & Flowers by MK www.flourandflowersbymk.com
Food & Dessert Recipes: www.bakingbesties.com
BBQ Catering: Sharko’s www.sharkosbbq.com
Party Favors: Amazon