last friday, we threw marshall his first official friend birthday party. because 5 is a big deal and it deserved a big celebration.
and because it was such a fun day, my dusty dslr got some love too.
a birthday party on the cheap is coming your way…..
kids….
start your engines….
for a mariokart tournament.
the birthday boy:
the prep:
working on the wall.
blue wrapping paper: $4
clouds cut out of cardstock: $0
letters and blocks printed on cardstock: $0
super mario font (downloaded for free from dafont.com): $0
mario picture cutout from a school folder: $.98 at walmart
gold fabric: 1 yard @ $2.99/yd at jo-ann’s
blue embroidery floss: $0 (already had)
embroidery hoops: $0 (already had)
making the brackets:
poster board: $1
name plates printed on cardstock: $0
restickable strips: $4 at walmart
we need these to move the names around during the tournament
the food:
getting the table ready
cheese balls: $5
starwiches:
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut into star shapes. $5 for bread, pb+j and the cookie cutter
super bites:
bagel bites from sams: $8
yoshi’s tires:
oreo cookies: $2
block bites:
graham crackers
fireballs:
just cheeseballs: $5 at sams
duck tape wrapped water bottles
checkered duck tape: $3.50 at walmart
cupcakes:
we had sams make the cupcakes and i made the checkered flags. just folded some tape around a toothpick.
goodie bags:
brown paper bags: $0 (already had)
M printed on cardstock: $0
slices of checkered tape
inside: mario fruit snacks, a baggy of fire balls, mario gel pen, mario stickers, gold chocolate coins and a mario bros. lego figurine
the tourney:
wii are super excited to play!
the prize table. 1st place will get 1st choice then 2nd and on…
marshall and grace are kicking it off!
the celebration and the breakdown.
marshall strightened out (after getting 2nd place) and congratulated her. he’s not used to losing but ended up being a good sport. 🙂
greyson and ashlyn
the standings so far…grace won first place!!
best buds!
cupcakes and candles:
5 candles for the birthday boy.
he got two so far…
2 hours later…
okay, he’s finally not blowing through his teeth…
happy kids!
he had such a good time and so did all the kids…even the adults! and to know we didn’t spend hundreds of dollars made it even more enjoyable!
retrohipmama 
WOW WOW WOW this was great a party!!! So fun and creative you made everything. Marshall will remember this big day forever!! Sam was reading over my shoulder and said how “COOL” this was. LOVE IT CRAFTY GIRL!!
thanks miss dawn!! marshall didn’t want me to toss the background wall so guess what…it’s hanging on his bedroom wall…just in time for us to transition away from the train theme in there. i bet sam would love a party like this!
hugs!!!
seriously seriously loving this!!! i was gearing towards a mario party for the dude earlier this year when he switched gears & went pirate on me.. but you KNOCKED THIS OUTTA THE PARK! so flipping awesome.. every stinking little detail! and i am like.. bonkers over those gold coins… GENIUS! i may have to gently persuade (read PRESSURE) the dude into a mariokart birthday next year just so i can steal all your great ideas! 🙂
yay, i totally thought of you during alot of my prepping. i’m thinking that the dude would LOVE this! especially at his age and the age of his friends…they KNOW mariokart. only one of marshall’s friends had ever played…ever. but it was still super fun! marshall loved helping too!
ok the picture blowing through the teeth – totally LOL’d!!!! you are soooo creative! love this! and the photo of him losing with his hands on his head! hahahaha!!!! love it!