Super Hero Birthday Party

Kieran, my three-year-old, is obsessed with two things: ninjas and super heroes. He runs around all day, fighting bad guys, brandishing swords, shooting guns, making a weapon out of my garlic press.

For his birthday this past spring, I knew I would have to choose between his two passions as a theme for his party. I settled on super hero, mostly because I didn't want to decorate a cake with black and red frosting.

That's next year.

The Theme:
Super Hero Birthday Party

The Entertainment:
Because this was a party for a three-year-old, the party didn't have much structure. We just gave all the kids a mask and set out the costume bin and let them provide the entertainment. Which they did.

The Decor:
As usual, I scoured the Internet months weeks days before the party in search of inspiration. Thankfully, I found some really cute printables (all contained on my Super Hero Birthday Pinterest board) that allowed me to make my own decorations right from the comfort of my own home.

I used these kitschy super hero sound effect bubbles as toppers on the birthday cake. (I printed them on cardstock, cut them out and taped them to wooden skewers.)

I used a collection of superpower labels to enliven the finger foods. 

I even found a label to tape on the bottles of Izze Soda.

As for the rest: I went with the primary color theme already established and set out brightly colored plates, napkins, party hats and balloons. I also bribed my Natalie into decorating a huge birthday banner for the wall; I printed the text by using the giant letters at this site.

The Cake:
I made the best chocolate cake ever, natch, piped a bright blue frosting on the edges and stuck red and yellow Sprees randomly around the cake to coordinate with the toppers. I was quite pleased with the result. So was Kieran. 

Originally published October 2013