I had grand ideas of throwing Kendall a baseball 4th birthday since his obsession with the sport began last summer, but somewhere around January he was introduced to Power Rangers via the magical powers of Netflix.
Okay, first, I’m just going to answer the question you’re all asking. YES, Power Rangers are alive and well, and in their TWELFTH season, now acting as Samurais. I’m not sharing this to promote them, just as proof of their existence.
Being the fickle child he is, he quickly threw off his devotion to baseball and began karate chopping and spin kicking everything in the house, including his baby sister, which has made the last few months SUPER fun when it comes to discipline. But I tell myself this is better than swinging at things with a baseball bat?
“Momma, I’m going to have a Samurai birthday party!” he declared when I began to ask him how he’d like to celebrate. And so it was.
Mainly, because I knew my friend Mandy and her husband just bought and opened and Karate For Kids school nearby, and they so graciously allowed us to rent them out for a couple hours. It sounded like far less work than setting up something at the nearest baseball diamond. Nobody would be working that except me.
I hired my talented friend Charlotte from The Paper Cupcake to design the invites and printables for me. She did such a great job with Leyna’s party, I knew she’d come through again, and she certainly did!
From there, I ran with the colors that Charlotte used, and easily threw together the rest of the party. Seriously, my psychosis level for this one was at maybe a 2. Outsourcing FOR THE FREAKING WIN.
I wasn’t too terrible crafty. I printed and cut out a banner that Charlotte designed. I got inexpensive red, orange and yellow serving plates/bowls, napkins and paper plates at Walmart.
I took the liberty of going a little nuts with some fun Japanese snacks from the Asian Market, which made me long for my childhood, the 4.5 years I spent growing up in Hawaii. The spread included Hello Panda cookies, dried seaweed, Kaki pi crackers (rice crackers and peanuts). I also made “sushi” rolls with avocado&cream cheese and pb&J rolled in white bread and cut to sushi sized pieces.
I didn’t want to go overboard with the licensed character party ware, mainly because I like to use the leftovers for other parties throughout the year. But, I couldn’t pass up these Power Ranger juice boxes at Walmart that were actually on the lower end of the sugar scale.
The “cake” was a punch bowl full of mochi covered ice cream balls. Probably the best idea I’ve ever had. No cutting, no frosting, minimal mess, maximum yum and a bonus “unique” factor. I don’t think there was a single kid, young or old, who didn’t like them. I got these at the Asian market, too, but I’ve seen this exact brand at Trader Joes before.
The favors were boxes of candy “sushi” (inspired by this blog post) made from rice krispie treats, fruit leathers, Twizzlers, gummy worms and Swedish Fish. I bought the sushi boxes from the Kroger sushi counter, ordered some sushi grass from Amazon, and I used pink and green marshmallows to represent the ginger and wasabi. The boxes were topped with labels from The Paper Cupcake.
The party itself was amazing. Kendall got a special outfit to wear, the kids participated in a mini-class, and everyone was exhausted by the end of it.
Master Hornbuckle from Murphy ATA was a pro. It’s crazy to me that someone who could probably kill another man with his bare hands (not that he ever would!) can be so amazing with kids.
Meanwhile, I never broke a sweat, Scott got to chat it up with his dad friends, and Leyna had the pleasure of running as fast as her feet could take her back and forth across the mats the whole time.
Easiest. Party. Ever.
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32 comments
The party looked great and the favors are brilliant.
I LOVE how in the last picture you can see everyone in the mirror with their hands up to get Leyna to smile. Adorable.
Omg, this is all so adorable! You did an amazing job and I’m sure all the kids had a blast.
That looked so simple and fun at the same time!!
” It’s crazy to me that someone who could probably kill another man with his bare hands (not that he ever would!) can be so amazing with kids.”
Those are the almost always the best men. Mine is an Army Infantry Veteran, and even though he could kill a man in less than 10 secs, he’s the biggest kid/animal softie there is.
Happy Birthday Kendall!!!
Jill! You totally rocked the party favors and decor. That’s awesome!!! AND you got a great family picture, so it was worth it 😉
Awesome party Jill!! You did a great job! I love the sushi favor boxes and the Mochi cake, great idea!
That looks like a great party! Charlotte really does excellent work.
What an awesome party! Love it!
OMG, that looks like so much fun. I bet K was in heaven. And those sushi favors – so, SO cute!
Super cute. Once I had an out of the house party for my oldest? I never turned back. Though, I still want to attempt a backyard carnival party. I better save up on sanity.
LOL at “It’s crazy to me that someone who could probably kill another man with his bare hands (not that he ever would!) can be so amazing with kids.” I never thought of it that way. This is a good point. Perhaps I should sleep a little lighter at night with the Mastaaaaa!!!
I love the picture of Kendall in class with his hands up! Too cute. I am SO EXCITED that I am going to get to see you more because of your karate kid. I need to start hiding wine in the office for when you come in. 😉
Those sushi favor boxes look amazing!
This is fantastic. So creative and everyone looks so happy. And the photo on the invite is so great. I think you should offer birthday party consulting services. I’d totally hire you. Excellent excellent job and happy birthday!
I agree! I’d never come up with half this stuff. It’s all so creative!
You ladies are very sweet, but I don’t think people would want to pay me to be crazy 🙂
Great job! My DS is turning 4 in June and after months and months of wanting a Fresh Beat Band party, now is obsessed with Power Rangers and wants a Samurai party as well. I vetoed that haha, but he would have loved Kendall’s!
That is a cool party.
From what we’ve seen most of the good Martial Arts people really are good with kids 😉 including my son Matt who started Judo at 10 1/2 and by the time he was 12 he was a green belt and teaching the littles, and was one person those same littles could beat 😉 Emmy learned to walk on those matts, they’re great for falling on. Now at 7 she gets thrown on them like the other kids 😉
The sushi favors-mind blown. Impressive!
awesome. i love your party posts. the sushi boxes are adorable, and the japanese treats were a great idea!
As a mom of two toddlers I’m in awe of your great family pic!!! I love, love the reflection of the people trying to maintain Leyna’s attention. Seriously awesome picture.
Love it! Looks amazing you all look so happy and non stressed. I remember previous blogs about the birthday parties before this and way to go momma for not wanting to have a wine iv taped to you just to make it thru. Leyna looks SO SO happy in that picture shes like yeah! I can run around and do what I want weeee! I am sure the parents appreciated you tiring their kids out for them and sending most of the party sweets home sealed up vs pumped into the kids. Good job Jill. momma skills and outsourcing ftw for sure.
This party looks like it was a good time had by all! I love the cake substitute. My kids would love that.
So fabulous! And gave me ideas for my son’s upcoming 6th. I had promised myself after the last kid party at my house to never EVER again put myself through that!!
I am SO doing this party! Thanks for the awesome ideas/inspiration.
I love everything about this party and post but as some others have said, the part that made me burst out laughing was seeing all your friends waving their arms around in the mirror in the awesome family picture. It reminds me of my favorite picture from my daughter’s 1st birthday. While the rest of us were busy watching her blow out her candle and devour the cake, my amazing boss went behind her high chair and took a picture of the whole crowd smiling at her and cheering her one. It’s so great to remember how important your friends and families are on a day like that, too!
GREAT party!
I recently attended a kids party at a dojo and it was amazing! This looks so well put together! I have a son who recently turned 6 and he wanted a Star Wars party. We hired out a company that teaches fencing (who incidentally also does kid parties) and by my sons choice, we had Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul. The party was fun, but when Darth Maul showed up, 80% of the kids FREAKED and ran to their parents and/or hid under the tables. By the end of the party, though, Darth Maul had all the kids loving him the most!
What’s a kid party without some trauma, right? 🙂
I love your site! Thanks for the great read!
Everything turned out absolutely adorable, Jill! LOVE all of the details, especially the Mochi cake and the sushi favor boxes, TOO cute! Thanks again for allowing me to be a part of K’s special day! Looks like a lot of fun was had by all!
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