Ninja Party Prep

As Jaden and Cody's 6th birthday was drawing closer this year, I asked them what kind of birthday party they wanted. They both enthusiastically said, "A Lego Ninjago party!" The boys are obsessed with this Netflix show, as they watch an episode nearly every day and act out Ninjago scenarios with each other regularly. While I was happy that both boys agreed on the same theme, I wasn't too thrilled with their Ninjago idea since I'm not a big fan of having licensed character parties. Steering them on to a different topic, however, wasn't very successful. So, I gave in, and started scouring Pinterest for some ideas. When I started to search for generic ninja activities, I hit the jackpot. There were so many fun ideas that started to get me really excited. Cody and Jaden were on board with the ninja theme too. We were set! First task (theme decision) was done! Next job-- designing the invitation. Using Pinterest as my guide (as always!), here is what I came up with. My cool free downloadable karate font came in handy for the invitation and other decorations too.

During my idea searching online, I came across the cutest pattern for sewing stuffed ninjas. At first I dismissed the idea as taking WAY too much time, but then I couldn't stop thinking about these adorable little "stuffies" (as my boys like to call them). So I figured if I got my mom on board to help, we could totally make a set of these stuffed ninjas for the party guests. Grammy, of course, was willing to help. I did a lot of the prep work (cutting the patterns out and sewing on the faces), but my mom was the mastermind in figuring out how to stuff and sew these characters together. Our first ninja literally fell apart at the seams, but my mom expertly fixed the stuffed ninja and had a plan for making the next ones successful.

We spent two full evenings together creating 11 of these little guys for Jaden, Cody and their friends. In the end, though, I was so pleased with how the ninjas came out. Aren't they cute?? Thanks SO much again, Mom, for your help! I wouldn't have even attempted this project without you!

The next project I tackled was to create ninja headbands for all of the guests. My mom gave me some of her interfacing fabric to use, which was a perfect material since the colors didn't bleed. I used my favorite new font as a pattern and copied each of the kids' names, along with a ninja rising sun, onto the headbands.

Cody and Jaden were at a great age for helping with some of the party preparations this year. One of the things they helped with was assembling all of the gift bags. The boys glued on the labels...

...and then filled each bag with a ninja doll, stretchy ninjas, nun chucks, and a sample of the boys' favorite candy.

Cody and Jaden also helped create these TP roll ninjas for one of the party games. The boys painted each TP roll and added scary ninja eyes. We created over a dozen of these guys, so at the end of the party, we let each guest pick a ninja to take home.

Finally, the boys made their own birthday cake! These two love time in the kitchen, especially because Mommy always lets them lick the spatula when we're done. :) Jaden chose a chocolate cake for himself, and Cody decided upon a yellow cake.

The night before the party, my wonderful sister came over to help with some of the final party details. One of the biggest tasks was helping me figure out how to create a ninja climbing web upstairs.

Kim had the great idea to bring in chairs to use around the room's perimeter. This was super helpful and made our job a lot easier... although maneuvering ourselves through the web as we built it proved to be a little challenging!

It was also wonderful to have Kim's assistance in finishing up the birthday cakes. Earlier in the week I had showed Jaden and Cody a few options of cakes and let them select what they wanted. I figured they would each want a different color ninja, but Cody liked the shuriken ninja star design. I was able to complete that one on my own earlier in the day and was pleased with how it turned out. Cody gave it two thumbs up! 

I knew I'd appreciate some help thinking through the shape of Jaden's ninja cake that evening. As it turned out, though, the trickiest part was not the cake's design but trying to get a true red and a true black color for the frosting!

After several attempts and LOTS of coloring, we finally we found a shade that looked dark enough. Jaden had asked for green eyes on the cake (after I nixed his "evil red eyes" request), so green M&Ms were the final touch!

Thanks so much, Kimbo, for all of your help that night. Your guidance and ideas were very needed! Here are both completed cakes together:

And here are the excited birthday boys with their cakes.

Red, white, and black was the color scheme for the decorations.

I purchased Moby Shinobi ninja books (current popular easy readers) for the guests to sign when they arrived. The ninja headbands were also ready for their little friends to put on.

Grammy and Papa came over about an hour and a half before the party's start time. They were a HUGE help in getting all the final preparations completed-- especially since they brought two additional helpers! Two members of my parents' old church in New Mexico just so happened to be visiting for a few days, so all four of them came over to help that morning. All those sets of adult hands made for a very relaxed preparation morning. What a blessing it was to have everyone's help. Dad and Sarah tied balloons to trees and plants outside for one of our games.

Mom and Mary were in charge of cutting up fruits and veggies in the kitchen.

At one point, we even had Sarah read a few books to Jaden and Cody since they were asking every 5 minutes or so when their friends were due to arrive. :)

It was exciting to see all the party details come together and such a blessing to have all the adult helpers that we did. The ninja party was set, and these two ninjas were more than ready to celebrate their special day with friends!