Let's just start off with the fact that I am one of those strange people who has never seen Star Wars and knows barely anything about Star Wars. I know, I know! I love Sci-Fi, but for some reason, Star Wars never appealed to me and never got around to watching all those movies. However, after planning and designing this birthday, I must say, I am intrigued and really thinking about starting to watch the Star Wars movies.
I also have to say, it was so much fun coming up with ideas for this birthday boy, who turned the fun age of 7! When I met him, he was full of Star Wars trivia and knowledge that amazed me! Thankfully, my friend (aka assistant) has seen most of the Star Wars movies and was able to discuss all the Star Wars fun facts. :)
DESSERT TABLE
Oh my! There was so much going on with this display! In my style, I wanted to create a landscape as if it is a planet in the galaxy where it's red vs. blue, evil vs. good. It turned out pretty awesome!
As always, Amazon and Home Goods were my go-to stores for what I needed for this setup. I finally obtained a backdrop stand, which is so helpful for these setups. We attached the Star Wars happy birthday backdrop with heavy duty clamps, and they worked so well keeping the background tight and centered. The folding table we covered with two pieces of galaxy tapestry and it all looked as if the table was floating in space. Loved it! Since I wanted to make the top of the table a desert landscape for various Star Wars characters, I placed a large piece of sandy tulle. It actually turned out a bit ethereal as if they were walking through fog, which worked! I placed a whole bunch of various Star Wars characters, while trying to keep the good guys from the bad guys, ha! I also added some landscape with rocks and various moss.
I did not want regular stands of white or whatever other color. I wanted to find something that fit the sci-fi theme. So I decided to get rustic wood cake and cupcake stands, and they turned out perfect! I placed a couple of white rectangular plates for the desserts and an awesome futuristic looking serving tray for the fruit.
Now the desserts...they were so creative and delicious! The cake was a very real looking BB-8. The same bakery made amazing little wookie cookies in which you can poor milk into! It was a milk shot in a cookie. So cool! I decided to help out the birthday boy's mom and made her some lightsaber pretzel sticks and Jell-O cups, which was a hit with the kids! I found little lightsaber cupcake sticks and made chocolate from Star Wars molds, which I placed on top of the Jell-O. They were so cute! There were also fruit kabobs with skewer sticks that had DIY lightsaber handles from duct tape and electrical tape, and I made little signs with Star Wars names for the desserts. You can find the printable here.
I filled two large display vases with red and blue wicker balls and placed Star Wars terrariums on top, which looked so amazing!
FOOD TABLE
The birthday boy's mom decided on a small lunch spread with salads, sandwiches, chips and dip, and tomato and mozzarella kabobs. They also had some coffee, tea and of course wine! Due to the pandemic, we tried to keep everything as separate as possible, like bottled water, juice boxes and soda cans. As with the dessert table, we had Star Wars themed signs, like "Star Wars Coffee" and Dark Side Chips. Now the bowl holders...those guys were so awesome! They are actually candy bowl holders, but can pretty much be used for anything. Yoda held the utensils in lightsaber napkin holders and the Stormtrooper held the galaxy plates. I loved how this all turned out!
ENTERTAINMENT
So the birthday boy had a big surprise coming an hour into his party. He got a special visit from Darth Vader! Oh the excitement on the boy's face was priceless! Darth Vader did a great job entertaining the kids with various Jedi training sessions testing the future Jedi's strength and abilities. I bought some pool noodles and cut them in half with a plan to have the kids decorate their own lightsabers with various colorful duct tape. However, they did not have time to do that prior to Darth Vader's arrival. So they used plain pool noodles during Darth Vader's visit, but later were able to decorate on their crafts table.
I found a lot of interesting and fun crafts for the kiddos to make. However, they did not get a chance to get to do all their crafts, but we placed them in little goodie bags to take home with some Star Wars chocolates I made from the molds.
Here are the crafts I found: -Star Wars R2D2 Robot
We also had three life size cardboard cutouts: Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and the Mandalorian. They were a bit hit with the kids because they would come up to the cutouts and fight them with their lightsabers. It was fun to watch and great photo opportunities!
Well, the birthday was a success! I learned a lot of new things about Star Wars and the birthday boy had an amazing time celebrating with his family and friends. He was a delight to hang out with!
May the force be with you!
Vendor Credits:
Location - Private residence in Studio City, California
Planning and Decorating - SMLA Happy Events
Decor - Home Goods, Party City, Amazon, Joann, Dollar Tree
Cake and Wookie Cookies - Elegant Desserts
Other desserts - SMLA Happy Events and hostess
Crafts - SMLA Happy Events
Entertainment - Let's Celebrate Entertainment
Photography - SMLA Happy Events