Game On! Boy’s Soccer Birthday Party
Goal! Let’s celebrate Landon turning 8 with a soccer themed birthday party! He has recently gotten very into soccer so I wasn’t surprised when he wanted this theme. This has been a crazy summer (aren’t they all), but I had a vision and an itch for a fun themed party so we went to work. 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, and thankfully, I decided to order them all. Surprise, guess what banner he chose as the centerpiece when they arrived? You guessed it, the OG.
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.
Soccer Party Table Decor
My first stop was Etsy for some custom soccer themed tabletop items. I love pairing specialty themed items with generic (cheap) party decor to save on the budget. When I found SteshaParty shop and they were having a sale, I snagged all my tabletop items from one shop, then made a run to Hobby Lobby for supplemental black, white and green items.
I also love baking my kids birthday cakes, and found an idea on Pinterest that I wanted to attempt. We visited Dawn’s Candy and Cake Supply, a local decorators shop and I can see why everyone that has frequented there raves about it. I showed the salesperson my Pinterest inspo, told her I am *not* a professional, but can kinda hold my own and she loaded me up. Landon also spotted cleats and a uniform cookie cutter and I told him we could try, but don’t expect it to look like the cookies we saw on Pinterest. We did a quick cricut DIY for the cake topper that I also purchased the SVG files from Misinicreazioni on Etsy. While I am still not a baker, I do love how this turned out.
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 bait my husband into helping with my grand ideas, 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… 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. So he came home from work to the powertools and sawhorses set up in the back yard :) Love ya babe! Once he helped with the heavy lifting (literally), Landon and I got to painting and taping off the walls and cake pedestal for a fun summer day painting project.
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 Treats and Desserts
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 an okay 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)
Our family showed up soon after to celebrate our little man, and the day was a raging success! A special thanks to Chrissy for capturing this soccer celebration 💚🖤
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