Angry Birds Birthday Party

After looking at a few different party theme options, Ryan decided he wanted an "Angry Birds" party. We bought a few decorations online. Here are a few links for reference in case you stumbled upon this post in a search for "Angry Birds Birthday Party" (which is how I got most of my ideas) and don't want to spend a ton of time searching the internet for the best places to buy. Disclaimer: These are affiliate links but I do personally recommend them. I chose to buy through Amazon because I had gift cards and enough to get free shipping, but there are other sources online as well.

I was planning to buy plain red or green cups, but Ryan insisted he wanted white cups that he could draw on. He eventually decided to draw various Angry Birds scenes on white paper with crayons and we just wrapped them around the cups (bummer I forgot to take pictures!)

I also found these great printable Angry birds faces for balloons on The Party Animal Blog. Ryan and I just taped the cut-out faces on the balloons upside-down so we could hang them from the ceiling. You can see how cute they turned out mixed in with the Hanging swirls to make a table backdrop. (Hint: a $1 standard 15-ct bag of balloons from Dollar General has all the colors you need except the balloon that looks black is actually purple when you blow it up. Ryan didn't mind).

I once again produced the cake for this party, but it was directed by Ryan and was a lot less elaborate than last year's epic Jake and the Neverland Pirates Ship cake. He wanted a chocolate cake (I used a recipe for Old-Fashioned Devil's Food Cake from The Cake Mix Doctor) with lots of sprinkles and wanted his toy slingshot/birds on top, knocking down a tower. We went pretty simple and just did store-bought chocolate frosting on the sides for the dirt, homemade green buttercream frosting on top for grass, and set the tower up on the cake board instead of on the cake (highly recommend!). I piped his name in "Angry Birds font" but he insisted he did not want "Happy Birthday" written in the rest of the blank space, so we just left it as-is. As long as he was happy, I was happy to be done. Frosting a cake while also trying to make lunch and keep 2 helpful little boys and a beagle away from the table is not the most efficient process!

We didn't do much else for table decorations since there were going to be little ones eating at that table. Ryan insisted on draping streamers around the ceiling fan and we put a few balloons outside, but otherwise it was pretty low-key. When your guests are grandpas, grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins under 3, you don't have to go crazy with games/favors, etc.

We kept the menu simple too--pizza (of course) and salad (Ryan's request), Snicker Salad and drinks before cake and ice cream. A fun drink recipe I want to share, though, is one of Adam's aunt's specialties. You make a 2qt packet of Crystal Light Cherry Pomegranate but only put in 1qt of water. You fill the other 1qt with Ginger Ale. It makes a fruity, slightly fizzy drink. She also does this with Peach Iced Tea which is equally as delicious. However, the Cherry Pomegranate wasn't a great choice for kids because it is VERY red and stains easily (both clothes and upper lips).

After supper, Ryan opened his presents and was excited about all of them. I think we played with all of the indoor ones in the 2 days since the party! He and Cohen are both enjoying the Angry Birds Go! play sets and he couldn't wait to do a Science Experiment from his new kit so we happily stirred around red cabbage powder, citric acid and baking soda on Sunday afternoon :). He also created a "safari" expedition using his new binoculars and pirate telescope.

Ryan had a GREAT night and was so excited for everyone who could come to his party. It makes the prepping and planning worth it to see him so excited about his party. We have a great family and are thankful for everyone who made his day so special!