Operation Pokemon Party: Success!

Kailani turned eight yesterday. That's right, EIGHT!  My litle girl.....eight years old. Blows my mind.

She had a small party of six yesterday. The six included herself, her sister, three friends and a sibling (*note to self - small party = GREAT idea!*) For awhile she was going with a "Mad Scientist" theme and I was all over it! I had so many great ideas and was looking forward to lab coats and experiments! But somehow Pokemon blindsided me. That's alright. Pokemon seemed easier and I am ALL about easier these days!

First thing - the invitations. I found a website where you can create your own Pokemon card with a picture of your choice and also edit all the details on it. Here's what we sent out:

Is that cool or what? You can make your own at Pokemon Card Maker. 


I also used the Pokemon Card Maker website to create "birthday passes" that were included with the invitation:

Since only a few kids were invited and they were all close friends I already had a picture of them to use on the card. I slid the cards into an ID holder with a lanyard. On the pass it says, "Please bring this pass with you - no pass, no entry!" (It's a VERY exclusive party! HA!)


When the guests arrived we checked to make sure they had their passes and then presented them with a Pokemon/Pikachu hat that I had made and painted their face to look like Pikachu (if they wanted):

I have to admit, the hats turned out SO CUTE! I found a video tutorial on how to make them and went for it. I saved myself some time by not putting a lining in it and not painting on the eyes. I thought the eyes were cute but since I'm not very crafty with fabric markers I passed. And you know what? I'm glad I did because Kailani said the one in the tutorial makes Pikachu look like he has four eyes when you count your own. (*Patting myself on the back - good call, mama. Good call.*)

With the exception of having an issue with the measurements of the hat (FYI - I used 7 x 11" for the kids) it was easy to do and fairly quick. Until I RAN OUT OF FABRIC the night before the party! Thank goodness I found some green fleece in my stash and two kids were more than happy to take the green! In hindsight I think I should've (NOT RUN OUT OF FABRIC?!?) made one "authentic" colored  Pikuchu hat for the birthday girl and give everyone else a different colored one. Purple, pink, red, etc.


We played birthday games and EVERYONE won Pokemon cards after each game. Of course the true winner won a few more. I purchased TONS of cards off of EBay in mint or new condition. The kids loved it! They kept them in a plastic card box with their birthday pass on the front:

I considered using the plastic pocket sleeves versus the box but figured this was the better way to go since I was giving away a lot of cards (I bought 200). The box worked out great minus one thing - Momo, being only three had a hard time opening and closing the box. Other than that it was perfect!


When it came to game time we went with the traditional birthday games which at first I thought might be too juvenile for an 8-year old and her friends. However, the kids had a total blast! We played:

• hot potato: we used a Pokemon ball that I found for 99 cents at Goodwill. SCORE! It even opens and closes. I should've put a card inside of it for the winner/loser:

Momo wasn't a very good sport when things didn't go her way:

• ping-pong ball toss into plastic Pokemon cups
• balloon pop - I blew up 30 balloons the kids had to pop them to find the three with a Pokemon sticker inside
• pin-the-sticker-on-the-poster blindfold game - the Pikachu hats doubled as a blindfold!

pinata - again, using the hat as a blindfold!

Between the games the kids had pizza and some rainbow Jell-o:

And then when it was time for cake I made a giant rainbow Pikachu cupcake cake (please don't laugh!):

I know, I know! The frosting is hideous. You should've seen the back of the cake. It took a beating like it was attacked by a Pokeball or Pokemon (but the kids didn't care!):



But the cute little Pikachus on top of the cake made up for it as well as when the cake was sliced:





You should've heard the "ohhhhhs" and "ahhhhhhs" when it was sliced!

The kids then traded cards and had some free time. It was a GREAT party!

But I wasn't done just yet. The party was yesterday but this morning I woke up to make rainbow cupcakes for her class at school. I attached Pokemon cards into little party sticks and this is how they turned out:

From the sounds of the "ohhhhhhs" and "ahhhhhhhhs" when I walked into the class I think I'm forgiven for not bringing in ice cream!

YES!!! It's DONE! Operation Pokemon Party was a SUCCESS! Happy birthday to my sweet little girl!