Crafterateur

For my kid’s fifth birthday there was a hot debate to do a repeat monster truck themed celebration, but we finally agreed on a new theme – Super Mario! There was no shortage of ideas for this party, but here’s where we landed.

Costumes Encouraged

We love an opportunity to dress up! My kid dressed up as Mario (the gold buttons = felt!), I Mariobounded as Yoshi (I wore green, donnedboots, and made a Yoshi hat), and my husband as Toad (I made a mushroom hat for him, and underneath all the warm layers, he was wearing white and purple, like Toad).

The Menu

First off, did you know there’s a Super Mario font available through Text Effect? This made the party look super official from the invites to the party signage.

I didn’t get too many photos of the food set up, but we had all kinds of sandwich fixin’s because Luigi likes sandwiches, an assortment of fruit because Yoshi likes fruit, a peach cobbler for obvious reasons, and chocolate mushrooms (the cookies topped with chocolate).

I made cake pops to look like Shy Guy! My nephew had a plush Shy Guy for the full cake pop set up. Usually, I make the cake and frosting from scratch using a tried and true recipe (thanks, Martha!), but this time I used a Costco cake and it was a win!

For drinks, I mixed cranberry and orange juice for the punch, and made piranha plant straws using print outs and double-sided tape. We served the punch in green cups with a straw so it looked like the piranha plant coming out of a warp tube.

Decor

For the food table I made Super Mario flowers and a giant Mario flag for a photo prop, and, for the craft table, these Super Mario bubbles doubled as colorful decor. I also found checkered tablecloth a la Mario Kart, and picked up a Super Mario balloon bouquet bundle from Michaels.

Tic Tac Toad

How could I not! Armed with a Makedo kit and a laminator, I printed out a bunch of Toad characters with different colored hats, and chopped up and assembled the cardboard to look like tic tac toe grids.

Yoshi’s Island

For this party’s sensory bin I dyed rice, painted some Yoshi (Easter) eggs, and the little and I raided the second hand toy store and eBay for Super Mario figurines and monster trucks (ya, we still needed essence of monster truck for this party). See the Yoshi’s Island companion post for the full how-to.

Warp Pipe Toss

Another cardboard and Makedo creation! I cut cardboard and rolled it up to make a giant tube, connected it all with Makedo screws, and painted the whole thing with acrylic paint. (The screws are plastic so it was easy to wash off the paint after the party.) I found foam question boxes in the Party City shop.

Key Swag Station

For an activity, we laid out materials for a key/bag charm station. I found Super Mario star beads on Etsy, and they were perfect for this craft! Will share the how-to in an upcoming post!

Question Mark Piñata

After folks got their fill of activities and snacks, it was piñata time! This piñata was so easy to make because it’s literally a box shape. I decided on a yellow ombré for funsies, and I printed out an outline of the question marks so they were easy to cut out. See my piñata tutorial for the fringe details. For the innards, it was Party City for the win again with Mario notebook, sticker, and marker packs. But I repackaged them in holographic pouches and added a custom label.

So Much Love!

This Super Mario party was a labor of love, but the most fun to put together! Thank you to my preschool mama friend Mandy for helping me set up the magic! And thank you to all who came to celebrate my little and get Mario-bombed!