Cany melts and Wilton molds were used to make princess lips and Mario & Luigi mustaches!
Mushroom 1-up cupcakes with M&Ms.
I found the star pinata at a local party store. It not a "Mario" brand, so it was only $8.
I used the same table runner that I used for my Woodland Party. I was very happy to be able to use it again!
Hand painted Piranha plant cups filled with gumballs.
Mystery Coin Boxes filled with Chocolate Coins.
Click here for more from this party!
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Oh, yes I did! And it was awesome.
How awesome you ask?
Those boxes are not for show! Punch them up, and get a coin or a mushroom, flower or star!
Even Princess Peach got into the action!
To make the boxes, I covered some pie boxes with yellow paper.
These were the perfect size.
I cut off the two larger flaps on either side, but left the short tabs.
I taped the flaps in place.
I covered the boxes with yellow cardstock and stapled them to the foam board wall.
I printed this image and glued it to the fronts.
Then I made a smaller box that fit inside the large box, but was only 1/4 of the height. That way I could put a felt toy inside and no one could see it, but when the kids pushed up on the small box inside, it would push up the toy out of the top of the box!
I printed this image for the bricks.
For the rest of the wall, my husband spray painted foam board with blue spray paint and I used card-stock, scissors and glue to create the rest of the images.
The kids sat on the stairs behind the wall and took a turn. Once they had their turn, they sat on the floor and watched the rest of the kids have their own turn.
We even played the mario theme music while each kid took his turn playing the game.
Click here to see more from this party!
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For the main activity of the Super Mario Party, I need some mushrooms, stars and flower power felt toys. These types of favors are really inexpensive, but they do take some time to make. There is a link to the patterns at the end of this post!
The star was the easiest to make. I used two (8.5 x 11) pieces of yellow felt ($0.35 each) and some black felt for the eyes. Pin the eyes to one side of your star.
You will need crocheting thread to attach the eyes.
Using a needle, you simply come up at the edge of the black eye, and take the needle back down onto the yellow. You do this all the way around the eye. You will do this with all three of the toys (mushroom, flower and star).
Once you have your eyes attached, you will want to pin your two stars together with the right sides together.
Now you move to your sewing machine. Start on one corner, back stitching in place. Sew about an inch and then pick up your foot, move to about 1/2 inch away from the corner and back stitch again. This will leave a hole for you to turn your toy and also to fill will batting.
Sew continuously the rest of the way around your star, making sure to back stitch at the end. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
Now, you want to turn your star right side out, using the hold you created earlier.
Use your fingers inside the star to press the points out.
There he is! Ready to be stuffed.
Lets move on to the mushroom, before we stuff and close.
The mushroom used two red and one white felt (8.5 x 11) pieces. I also cut out eyes with black felt. Before we attach they eyes, we need to attach the stem to the top of the mushroom.
Pin your white felt stems, right sides together to your red mushroom tops.
Before you sew them on, make sure they line up in the same place on both sides. That way when you put them together to form the toy, they will match up perfectly.
Sew each piece with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
I used red thread so you could see how far a 1/4 inch seam should be.
Fold your stem down. It's starting to look like a mushroom already!
To keep the piece from wanting to flip back up, and to add some detail, I stitched some white thread lines like the photo above. I did it to both pieces. This step isn't necessary, but I liked how it added to the finished toy.
Stitch the same way you did your eyes on the star.
Stitch your black eyes to your white stem. Keeping in mind you are going to lose 1/4 inch off the bottom and sides when you sew this together. Next, pin your white dots in place.
Attach the circles the same way you did the eyes. This takes some time, but I find it relaxing. I like to do it while I watch a movie or listen to music.
Pin your two mushroom pieces, right sides together.
Back stitching and leaving a hole in the bottom of the white stem. (The same way you did with the star)
Turn him right side out.
Fill him with batting. (It looks like he's trying to say something, and then I shoved batting in his mouth! I felt like I was gagging the poor thing!)
You stuff the star just the same.
Once he's full, you fold down the edges and pin the hole shut.
Like so.
Using thread, hand stitch the hole closed.
Of course, I forgot to get a photo of the Flower Power before they were given away. I was running behind and I had my mom finish them while I set up the cake table. I still have a pattern for them for you.
For the flower I did three colors. Pink/Red outside circle, Yellow Middle and White with eyes on the inner circle. I did the stems green.
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Another favor for the party was a coin box full of chocolate coins! I made a template for these. Click here to download.
Print the image on nice cardstock.
Cut the image out with scissors.
Jefferson helped me with these favors as well!
So proud of himself.
If you have a paper cutter, you can get an embossing blade as well as a cutting blade. I used the black embossing blade to crease a line where I wanted to fold. If you don't have one of these, you can just fold on the dotted lines.
I embossed on the horizontal lines and the vertical lines.
It makes it really easy to fold once embossed.
I would suggest you get some glue dots or something similar for these. Using a liquid glue, like elmers, would take a long time to dry and you would have to wait for it to dry, holding it in place, between tabs.
I used these glue strips.
Glue the bottom and the sides.
Leave the tops open, so you can add a treat!
Click here for the template.
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One of the party favors for the Mario party, were these Piranha plants. I bought some small plastic glasses at a party store (in the wedding section) and Jefferson & I painted them to look like the piranha plants in the game.
Since the paint can easily come off with water, I didn't want to use them as actual cups. Instead, we filled them with small gumballs and gave them out as favors at the end of the party.
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Before we got to the main event of the party, we all needed to get into character. The kids could be Mario, Luigi or Princess Peach.
I bought these white foam visor's for $0.99 each. The foam sheets were even less. The only other thing you need besides scissors, is double sided tape and a template. Click here for a Mario & Luigi template.
Each child will need a green or red square for the circle and a smaller piece of white for their letter.
Let the kids trace the circle onto their colored foam piece. Depending on their age, you can let them cut it out, or have an adult help.
Next, you cut the letter out of the template
Let the kids trace the letter, backwards, on their white foam piece. Cut.
I had the kids trace their letters backwards so the pen line doesn't show up once glued. Use double sided tape to adhear the letter to the colored circle.
More double sided tape to attache the circle to the hat.
We did a similar thing for the princess crowns.
I bought a couple pieces of glitter foam. These pages already had a sticky side, so I didn't need the extra glue. Click here for the jewel template.
Cut a large oval from one color, and a smaller oval from another.
Glue to the crown. All done.
Jefferson trying on the sample hat. Seems like something is missing...
Oh yes, the mustache!
(Totally love this photo, the look on his face kills me!)
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For the Super Mario birthday party, I wanted to have something for the kids to do while they waited for all the guests to arrive. I thought these perler beads would be a great way to make some Mario characters.
It was pretty easy to make the images, since the original mario is very pixelated. Click here to download a copy!
You can buy the square peg boards in packs of four. I've seen them at Hobby Lobby and JoAnne's.
You can also buy larger bags with one color instead of getting a pack with a mix.
Once the kids have their pattern finished on the peg board. You use the wax paper that comes with the boards and iron over the top. The beads melt together to create one solid image.
This turned out to be a great idea. The kids wanted to keep making more, but we had to move on to the next activity.
Click here to see more from the Super Mario Birthday Party!
Clikc here for other party ideas
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Next week is the big party, for my big SEVEN year old. I'm in denial that he's growing so fast. Complete denial. He's really still three...maybe four. I'm telling you...D.E.N.I.A.L!
Anyway! This year he has chosen his theme, invitations have been (mostly) delivered, and all the other preparations are well on their way. I think it's going to be a fun party. I couldn't wait any longer, I had to share something from the preparations!
Here is a sneak preview of the theme:
Super Mario Brothers!
I was happy when he chose this theme. There are lots of fun things we can do, but also, the images are pretty basic in shape and color. That makes it easier for invites, treats, activities etc.
I made these invitations with just card-stock, glue and one cartridge from my cricket! It took some creative thinking, but I did it, and I am totally in love with them. Once one of them was complete I would take it in to show my husband and I couldn't help but laugh. I was very excited they turned out so well and I also think they are hysterical.
I have made very detailed tutorials on how to make these. I will share them, along with much more, once the party is over.
Are you as excited as I am? I doubt that it's possible!
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I love salsa. I could eat it everyday and never get tired of it. During the summer/fall I make my favorite pico style salsa. I eat it with chips, I put it on tacos, in my guacamole, on top of salads...I eat it a lot. But during the cold months, when there aren't any garden fresh tomatoes, I was left with store bought salsa. I'm not a big fan of that. This is a salsa recipe you can use year round! It's fast, it's easy, once you try it, you'll never go back to store bought bottles!
If you have a sensitive mouth, start with a few jalapenos and then add more until it's the heat you like. If you don't want any heat, you should, at least, pour in a little bit of the juice so you get the right flavor. If you leave it out all together, it will taste very different.
Also, you can always add more salt to taste!
Enjoy!
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