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A Knightly Affair

This past Saturday we had a joint birthday celebration for Big Buddy (6) and Mini Man (4). They have both been intrigued with knights and dragons for a while now so that's the theme we chose. 

the party entrance

Papa and Maca Lindsey were gracious enough to let us host the party in their backyard/secret garden, it was the perfect setting. 

mini man and big buddy waiting for their guests

In leu of traditional party favors, we outfitted the party guests with a sword, surcoat, and shield. Everyone's surcoat and shield was emblazoned with their sigil/initial.

this tutorial was my inspiration for the surcoats


we purchased the swords at dollar tree


The shields were also our party craft. They are cardboard which Jeremy cut with a laser cutter. I then hot glued and taped (double reinforcement!) ribbon on the back for handles. The kids used dot markers to decorate the shields. This worked out really well because the cardboard absorbs the ink so fast that drying is almost instantaneous.


mini man and his shield

In addition to the shields we also had a few other themed activities: a dragon catapult, sand castle building, a row of balloons for sword practice, and the slaying of a dragon piñata. 

catapult instructions can be found here

the targets are punching balloons from dollar tree - jeremy added the dragons.


hanging balloons was a last minute idea but it turned out to be a big hit - no pun intended 

the dragon piñata was purchased from amazon 

The kids seemed to enjoy all the activities but the surprise hit of the evening was Papa and Maca's gravel walkway - next year's theme might be just rocks. 



Other than the activities, we didn't do too much for decorations. I made some banners - I had grossly overestimated the amount of felt I needed for the surcoats. Jeremy also made a castle cupcake stand out of cardboard, which turned out amazing - still not quite sure how I managed to snag such a talented fella. 

this was the inspiration for the cupcake stand

I considered sticking with the theme when it came food but instead went for pulled pork for the adults, hotdogs for the kids, and a couple yummy sides.



I made the cupcakes. Boxed mix vanilla and chocolate with homemade buttercream frosting - you can cheat when it comes to the cake but the frosting has to be real! 


the dragons were borrowed from the boys' playroom. the knights are from amazon

In my opinion this one of the best parties we've ever had. The theme was fun, the weather was amazing, and the food and activities were incident free. The kids all stayed busy and played extraordinarily well together, so the grown-ups were able to relax and chat. The party was scheduled to end at 6:30 but everyone was so content and happy nobody left until after 8:00 - it was great day.

seriously, what's the point of making homemade cake when most of the kids
are only going to eat the frosting :) 

Thanks for reading! Here are few other themed birthday celebrations you might enjoy viewing: dinosaurs, ocean life, and Beatrix Potter. 
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Comments

  1. KJ@letsgoflyakiteAugust 23, 2013 at 7:51 AM

    This is a fantastic themed party. I love all the details for this celebration. Birthday best wishes to the lucky boys!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RoselyCAugust 23, 2013 at 11:42 AM

    Such a great theme. Everything looks amazing. And the cupcakes look so yummy.

    ReplyDelete
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    Best Toilet Bowl Brushes

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  5. KristinaApril 24, 2024 at 9:52 PM

    Wow, thank you for sharing. I am planning a party for my soon to be 6 year old and this was very inspiring. I just realized this post was from 2013, and your 6 year old will be 17 soon!

    ReplyDelete

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