When our oldest son (Noah) turned six he was all about Star Wars. But, not Luke or Hans, no not the rebels at all… he liked the DARK SIDE! He wanted his party to be a fun twist on a very common theme, I was up for the challenge.
Unfortunately, this birthday party was held in January 2021. Due to COVID we simply held a cousins and siblings only party. Nonetheless, we went all out and had a blast!
Here is my step by step DARK SIDE STAR WARS BIRTHDAY PARTY!
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Table of contents
Invitations
I always look at Etsy first for my kids birthday invitations! I love to think of myself as a creative, but drawing has NEVER been an art form I am even remotely good at. I am in awe of all the digital art people can create! So when looking for invites I always check out my fellow small shop creators.
The exact invites I ordered last year are no longer available but there are so many options to choose from. Here are some of my favorites:
What I love about digital download invites is you can print and mail them the old fashion way or simply text out the image to guests. Make it your own and do what works best for you, while keeping the festive fun of the party!
Cake/ Cupcakes
In our family, when real birthdays don’t land on party days you get TWO cakes! I was able to convince Noah that cupcakes were ok for his party. Such a great tip for parties! Cupcakes are easier to distribute, easier to clean, easier to pack up (and eat) left overs, and with cupcakes there is NO blowing out candles on everyone else’s cake! So many wins for cupcakes! However, for his real birthday with just our immediate family he really wanted a cake, so we did one of each.
Starting with his party CUPCAKES. I found these simple toppers on amazon. Since we didn’t need very many for our small crew we were able to use only the ones he wanted (Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and the Storm Trooper). I loved how they included a base wrap to really add to the look. Simple white or black frosting made these dark side cupcakes so simple to achieve! Plus, the birthday boy loved them so that’s the real win. Add a Millennium Falcon ice cream sandwich and dessert was a hit!
The CAKE was just as easy! Since Star Wars is a very popular birthday theme, our local grocery store bakery had a sheet cake design. The iconic star backdrop was perfect to add our own toppers too. By providing our own toppers, it simplified the cake order, not needing any additional frosting flare. We did customize with red edge piping to signify the dark side which really added to the look!
The toppers are always my favorite part of a birthday cake! I have found in the recent years that they can, a lot of times, be dual purpose. Find a toy or trinket that fits your theme and then after it is used to decorate your cake, your kid can have an extra little gift! For Noah’s Dark Side Star Wars cake, I found these cute Funko Pop bobble heads of his two favorite villains, Darth Vadar and Kylo Ren. I loved how they looked like the cartoonish characters on his invitations! Add a red candle in his age and the cake was perfect.
Decorations
The decorations for this party are some of my best (if I do say so myself). Banners are the bread and butter of Baby Stay Little. The ones I created for this party are some of my favorite ever made!
Since the party was family only I didn’t want to do anything crazy elaborate. But in our {old} home we had two prime photo spots when it came to birthdays, and I always made sure to decorate with backdrops and/or banners. The fireplace banner was heavy card stock cut outs of his dark side characters. Big and bold, yet simple.
The other main decorating spot was in our dining room and lovingly referred to as “the birthday spot”. This special spot was simply the end spot at our dining table, where the birthday kid gets all the focus on them. Make something special and it becomes special, even if its just a place at the table!
Between the two focal spots, I try and make one of them always a “Happy Birthday” component. This year it was in the dining room. I wanted the banners to coordinate as a set, so again using the same cut out design of Darth Vader and Kylo Red I added downloadable Star Wars font and got to work with my circuit explore air.
Giant number balloons are so fun! It makes for great keepsake photos every year too! That is all for decorations. Two banners and a balloon. For a mom who has a small business IN birthday decorations I am here to tell you its ok to not always be over the top. Make it on theme, have the kids input and approval, make it matter for the memories (aka photos).
Thank You bags + Games
Thank you/ favor bags are a personal choice, and 100% NOT needed to host an amazing party. However, gift giving is my love language and they are one of my favorite parts of party planning!
My kids are very into piñatas. I, on the other hand, find them very pointless… but birthdays are for the kids and they ask so little typically, so we do a piñata. For noah this year it was a Darth Vader piñata! On that note, if anyone has a good solution to hanging a pinata without damaging your home please comment below! Right now, since our kids are little my poor husband simply stands on a stool and holds it! Yes he has gotten hurt. Yes he continues to hold the pinata 3 times a year. Yes he is amazing.
Back to the thank you bags!
A piñata grants another perk of the bags, a place to put all the piñata goodies. These little bags were so cute I couldn’t pass them up! They were the signature red for his theme and featured again similar illustrations as his invitations. But as cute as the bags are, filling them is the real fun.
It wouldn’t have been a Star Wars party without light sabers! I had way too much stress thinking of all those wild cousins playing with the collapsible hard plastic ones and could not even look at them. But I found these inflatable ones on amazon and thought they would work well enough, and they sure did!
Another little gift we included were these fun “charm” bracelets. Noah loved picking out which characters to give his siblings and cousins. The final token of gratitude were these fun (and practical) light saber pencils. Noah was in kindergarten and is such a learner, he loved the idea immediately. Add to it all the treats from the piñata and our guests were truly appreciated.
When looking for activity ideas I came across this pin the light saber on Darth game. My kids were young enough were it was well received and lots of fun. I also love this idea for a bean bag toss too! Both options are inexpensive but could also be executed with a little DIY.
Typically parties last 2-3 hours. With a game or two,- this party included the piñata and pin the light saber- presents, cake, and a little free time your time is up! Since Noah was celebrating only with family we had no time limit, but I am confident the activities we had planned would have been enough. Plus, those light saber inflatables provided so much fun free play!
Party Outfit
Noah was very specific about what he wanted to wear on his birthday. A giant six in Star Wars fabric. See, the year before- on his 5th birthday- he had an Avenger party. I had made him a shirt with an iron on 5 in Avenger fabric. Super simple but he apparently loved it so much he wanted it re-created! Mom win right?
This small task is a super easy way to make your kid feel extra special on their big day. Grab a t-shirt, some iron on adhesive, fabric in any color, theme, or design, a scissors and go! You can make it as elaborate as your skills allow or you can make it as basic as I did. But take it from a mom of four with MANY birthdays under her belt… these little things and the effort you put in make them feel SO SPECIAL. It is well worth it.
If you have a Dark Side lover like me I hope this helps fuel you with some ideas and a starting point host your own Star Wars birthday party! Happy planning friends!
Amazon Links for Easy Shopping
Miss a link within the text? I have set them all up for easy party planning!
babystaylittle.com 