Planning a soccer birthday party for boys? Game on! Let’s celebrate Landon turning 8 with a soccer themed birthday party. This modern soccer birthday party featured an 8 foot DIY arched wall backdrop, personalized soccer birthday banners, a soccer themed dessert cart with homemade cookies and a soccer ball cake and an adorable kids party table. If you are looking for modern soccer birthday party ideas for boys and you are not afraid of a power tool or a trip to Home Depot, keep reading, I am sharing all the details!
My new favorite thing to do for parties is just wait until the week before and whirlwind everything together. If you remember my nephew’s football birthday, I shared that it’s a lot easier to “throw together” parties when you have all the basic staple pieces of decor from years of celebrating. I could not have done this in the early days with such success, but after a decade of celebrating I’ve gotten the hang of it and my kids are very involved (and actually helpful) now that they’re a bit older.
I had one soccer banner in my shop already, and Landon gave it a “sideways thumb” when I asked him if he wanted it to be the centerpiece of the party, so I had to get to designing. I presented his royal highness with multiple new designs, and luckily they were such a hit he couldn’t decide. Thankfully, I decided to order them all because this party got out of hand fast 😂 Surprise, guess what banner he chose as the centerpiece when they arrived? You guessed it, the OG.
Soccer Birthday Party Decorations | Tabletop & Banner Ideas
My first stop was Etsy for some custom soccer themed tabletop items. Party Budget Saving Hostess Tip: I love pairing specialty themed items with generic (cheap) party decor to save on the budget. I snagged all my tabletop items from the cutest Etsy shop, then made a run to Hobby Lobby for supplemental black, white and green items.
If you've been here long, you know I love baking my kids birthday cakes, and this soccer ball cake was a fun undertaking! I headed to our local cake decorating supply shop with my Pinterest inspo in hand and walked out loaded up with everything I needed. Pro hostess tip: if you have a local cake decorating supply store near you, go in person and just ask for help. Tell them exactly what you want to make and your skill level and they will set you up perfectly every time and you get to support local so win-win.
While we were at the baking supply shop, Landon spotted soccer cleat and jersey cookie cutters and talked me into attempting them. I told him upfront they weren't going to look like the ones he saw on Pinterest but he was determined. For the cake topper I did a quick Cricut DIY using SVG files from Etsy with a search "soccer birthday cake topper SVG". While I am still absolutely not a professional baker, I love how this soccer birthday cake turned out and more importantly, so did the birthday boy!
How to Build a DIY Birthday Party Arch Wall Backdrop
After I was feeling skeptically confident in the desert department and loving the tabletop decor from Etsy, I decided I wanted to make my vision of a backdrop come to life. This is usually the part that I rope my husband into helping with my grand ideas (hello, giant DIY sandbox at Landon's construction birthday party) and he grudgingly accepts. How do I say kindly that he doesn’t super love my ridiculous champagne taste on a beer budget ideas where I have to DIY everything from wood scraps around the property because I am not spending $200+ buying a trendy arch wall!? ;)
Let’s just say I tried really hard to make my arch walls while he was at work so he didn’t need to help, and I did not succeed.
We salvaged plywood from around the property (you can grab a sheet at Home Depot for around $30 each) and used the classic string and pencil method to trace the arch shape, basically the old elementary school compass hack, remember that?! Once you nail the curve it feels so satisfying. He cut the arch shape out with a jigsaw, then we pieced together some 2x4s on the back so each panel could stand freely, and weighed the bases down with sandbags so nothing tipped over on our party display.
For the paint, Landon and I spent a whole summer afternoon painting together and honestly that is one of my favorite memories of this soccer party. We headed straight to the Home Depot "oops" paint section. If you have never shopped the oops paint section, this is your sign to start. I scored the perfect bright green for the large arch panel for next to nothing. The second arch got painted white, then we taped off and painted black stripes once the white dried to create that classic soccer ball look.
The finished arches were an absolute showstopper and I am positive they will be reused for a party down the road.
This was the point that I realized how out of hand this party had gotten, and knew I wanted a professional photographer to capture the party, instead of just iphone pics. Why yes, it was 3 days before the party. I sent out an “anyone have a photographer?” sos text and was reminded of a local mom friend, Chrissy Hart Photography who had ordered a banner years ago from me (yay full circle), and at the time was doing photography part time while teaching full time. She had recently made the transition to full time photographer and I crossed my fingers. I sent her a message that if she was open it was meant to be, and she had ONE open day among all her newborn photography shoots, you guessed it, Landon’s party day! (Find the Game On Banner here)
Party day was so much fun getting ready, and turned into a family affair. It was SO hot out early in the day, that I had everything staged inside and when I got the "on my way" text from Chrissy, it was all hands on deck to move everything outside. I swear to you the balloon garland shrunk in half by the time she arrived, and the cake was melting within minutes.
Behind the scenes, my Dad, husband, myself and the kids held up a 14 foot pop up tent overtop of the party set up to dull down the blaring bright sunlight, it was quite the process, but so worth the beautiful photos and belly laughs maneuvering the shade!
Soccer Birthday Dessert Cart Ideas | Themed Cookies & Cake
The dessert cart was my repurposed plant stand from in my house, and when I showed Landon his soccer cleat, referee jersey and soccer ball cookies and saw his smile, I knew I did a good job.
He *did* follow up with deadpanning "Wow mom, when you look from far away they are so so cool, but when you look up close, they aren't quite as cool," with absolutely zero concept of the burn he issued. I mean, I don't disagree buddy, it's why I am not a baker ;)
We finished everything off by photographing the kids table, and pro tip, we taped down all the soccer tabletop decor so it didn't blow away. If you're having an outdoor birthday party and don't want to chase plates all over your yard, I recommend this party tip! (Find the
Kick It Banner Here)
Soccer Party Food | Keep It Simple, Keep It Delicious
If you have been here for more than one party blog, you already know exactly where this is going. My brother (the chef) showed up with a taco bar and we feasted. We did have the cute striped referee plates to eat from, but I think like 3 people got cute plates and everyone else got good ol' Costco plates. No soccer ball bowls. No themed garnishes. Just incredible tacos on a table and a crowd of people who didn't stop eating. I even have the evidence right here, a photo of my plate because priorities. 🌮
Honestly this is a hill I will die on, the food does not need to match the theme and not everything needs to be pinterest worthy. Nobody has ever left a birthday party upset because the tacos weren't shaped like soccer balls. Put your energy where it counts, and for me that is always the dessert table and the decor. My brother handles the rest and we are all better for it!
The day was a raging success and we had so much fun celebrating our little man! A special thanks to Chrissy for capturing this soccer celebration 💚🖤
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