Star Wars Week: Five Ideas For A Star Wars Birthday Party

For his first birthday, my younger geekling had a flaming robot. For his second, he chose Angry Birds. This year he was committed to celebrating his third trip around the sun with Star Wars. Here’s how we did it:

The cake
There’s so much to love in Star Wars, it’s hard to commit to one character or scene for a cake, so why not hit as many as possible?

The cake is four layers each split into two halves:

• 10″ round: Side 1 is black with Darth Vader’s chest plate. Side 2 is white with Leia’s silver belt.
• 8″ round: Side 1 is Chewbacca fur with his bandolier. Side 2 represents Han Solo with white on top and a black V shaped “vest” and blue on the side with a red strip for his Corellian Blood Stripes.
• 6″ round: Side 1 is gold with concentric circles representing C3P0’s chest. Side 2 is R2D2.
• Dome top: I used half of the Wilton ball pan to make the top of Yoda’s head (all the way around).

R2D2 for trash

You’ve probably seen an R2D2 trash can, or a child’s costume made from one. A party needs a trash can, so why not? I started with a black trash can, taped off two areas at the bottom to be “blank” where there should be space under him (rather than build legs onto the trash can). I spray painted the bottom white, the top silver, and painted in the details.

Death to the Death Star

You can find instructions all over the Internet for making papier-mâché Death Star piñatas, but the basic idea is simple. Blow up a balloon. Cover it in papier-mâché (dip newspaper strips in a flour and water glue mixture). Paint. I used the silver spray paint from R2D2’s head to coat it, then taped of sections with painter’s tape. I covered the remaining areas with spray adhesive and sprinkled black sand over them. (The sand is incredibly cheap at your local craft store.)

Lightsabers that won’t kill a toddler

And of course, you need something to bring down the Death Star. Pool noodles and duct tape are your key to cheap, safe lightsabers. If you fold a pool noodle in half and press the bent spot just a bit with a knife, it will pop in half cleanly. (You may have to sometimes saw a bit through part of it.) Add duct tape for a hilt and electrical tape for details, and in just a few minutes, you have enough lightsabers for every kid in your party to be a tiny fighter.

I didn’t think the foam would be enough to destroy the Death Star, but never understimate small children with fake weapons. They were determined and indeed broke the piñata with nothing else.

Snacks

My birthday boy really wanted an ice cream sundae bar, so we set that up with Star Wars cookies made quickly and easily with the Williams-Sonoma Star Wars cookie cutters. I didn’t bother to frost them since they were all going inside Darth Vader’s head. The cutters leave a reasonable character impression in the cookie.

I also made pretzel stick lightsabers by dipping them in colored candy melts and wrapping the bases in foil.

Still want more?

For more ideas, see Jennifer D’s posts The Ultimate Star Wars Party: Original Trilogy Only Please and How To Throw A Star Wars Halloween Party.