Turning 5 Max is – Star Wars Birthday Party

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Shortly after Halloween, our family chats turn to Max's birthday party. We always spend a bunch of time his costume, so as soon as that's done, our interests turn to his shindig in April.

I'm not sure who was more excited when he made his “Star Wars” request… me or Jamie.

I instantly thought of all the cool crafty stuff I could do, and Jamie instantly thought STAR WARS!

So once we started brainstorming (read: searching Pinterest) things quickly got crazy, but in the very best way.

I'll be posting tutorials for a couple of the specific elements, but here's the round-up of all things Star Wars from Max's 5th birthday party!

I first need to thank my friend Emily, who came and photographed most of the party action shots! It was SO nice to just be able to enjoy the party, instead of worrying about getting everything documented, both for my readers and for Max! If you ever have a chance to hand off photographer duties at an event like this, I can't recommend it highly enough!

We planned several activities for the kids, but I really didn't expect much from them once they got access to the lightsabers we made for them. (Spoiler alert: I was right)

First off, to get everyone into the right look, we had Jedi robes and Princess Leia headbands available for anyone who wanted them.

The robes were super simple to make just a rectangle of felt, that measured about 36″ x 72″ I cut a slit halfway up the middle, to make the front of the robe. A lighter color of felt for the belt, and we were all set! It was ridiculously warm on party day, so they didn't get worn for very long, but most of them went home to dress up boxes, so I consider that a win!

I got the idea for the Leia headbands on Pinterest, but was unable to find the original post the pin had come from, so I had to wing it. I think they turned out pretty cute!

We had a Darth Vader mask and attached it to an old playground ball. We balanced the ball (Vader head) on Max's tee ball tee, and kids could take a whack at it to defend the rebel base.

I had pinned this LEGO ornament tutorial some time ago, and had tie fighter kits pre-made for all the kids. It was a great challenge for the older kids, and several of my co-workers were thrilled to get their own little tie fighters as well.

This was the first time we had a pinata at Max's birthday… we made our own Death Star pinata, and fiiled it with candy like always, but I also found Angry Birds Star Wars stickers and buttons, which Max was thrilled about.

And last, but certainly not least, we made lightsabers.
Nothing more than a pool noodle cut in half and decorated with duct tape, they were the runaway hit of the party. Hands down.
Jamie and I had done “extensive testing” of these things, to make sure that we weren't really arming the kids with something that could hurt them or others. Jamie and I both hit each other as hard as we could, and it was just a minor smarting… pool noodles really are great for this use!

Admittedly, it turned into a lot of kids chasing grown-ups around, but everyone had a great time while doing it!

Come back tomorrow to see what we fed our hungry Jedis!