Gary's Star Wars Party

 

Today Gary turned the big 6-0! I had originally planned to go out and eat somewhere he desires and just make a cake. Then thanks to  http://pinterest.com/ I started searching, out of boredom, for Star Wars theme parties. If you haven't discovered Pinterest yet and you love Do it Yourself stuff you are missing out. I can spend hours on this site and make my own ideas along the way. So there you have it. I figured Why Not? It will be cheaper then a restaurant and more fun for all. Especially me who loves to craft and plan parties. If you are like me you must read the book CelebraTori by:Tori Spelling. I read it a few months back and it is the Perfect book for those Do it Yourself- party planners- that also thrifty shop- like me!

 

One of Gary's birthday presents is the huge life-size standup of Darth Maul, his favorite Star Wars character.

 

 This is what the table decor looked like.

 

This cake is a frozen Pepperidge Farm chocolate cake. Its about $4 and you can keep in your freezer till usage.  Its normally a square shape but I cut it to look more oval like a face. Then I took chocolate icing and re-iced the cake. Then added red sugar sprinkles. After that I free hand drew with a black icing can Darth Maul's black marks on his face. Then I used Peach rings and Red sixlets for the eyes. Bugles chips for his horns. Ta-Da! Do it yourself Darth Maul cake.

 

Next I found a website with templates for a Star Wars party so I printed the ones out that I knew were foods we would enjoy. Above is a Glass Star Candy Dish from the Dollar store. Yes it was only $1. I filled it with Grape Jello and then after fully cleaning Han Solo figurine, my hubby already had in his collection, I placed him into the Jello after about 40 mins in the fridge. You want him visible so don't put him in before.

 

Next are Princess Leia cupcakes. They are chocolate cupcakes with beige colored icing. I took white icing mixed in red and yellow to make orange. Then added a little bit of blue until I reached desired tint.

 Her mouth is red heart sprinkles. I bought these after Valentine's Day on clearance. Oreo's are her buns and chocolate icing finishes off her hair, eyes, and nose. It also hides the white of the Oreo.

 Ewok food can be your favorite kind of mix. Ours is granola, dried bananas, dried cherries, and walnuts. You could also buy a bag of Chex Mix and throw it into a nice jar. Do it yourself, remember, so feel free to do what you or the birthday person desires most.

Blue Milk. Only TRUE Star Wars fans get this one. Gary even had figurines with blue milk already in their glasses and a little bar so I had to use them to set up this scene. The odd vase that holds the blue milk is again from the dollar store for $1. I'm thrifty too, don't forget!! If you are confused by the blue milk visit: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Blue_milk

 Vader Pataters: were our favorite brand of french fries which are Checkers/Rally's brand. Its the same kind they used to serve at Red Lobster.

 Yoda Soda: is simply Mountain Dew or any Green colored soda. You can also zest it up by adding green sherbet to it. However Gary's not into sherbet or ice cream so I just did the Dew!

 Double Sided Lightsaber Hot Dogs: Are hot dogs with a small wrap of a crescent roll in the center. I thought I would take it a step farther and using black food coloring I colored them black. As soon as I did, I said Great, now they look like they are burnt!! Epic Fail. Sometimes DIY is experimenting. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  
Bacon Wrapped Pretzel Lightsabers: Are simply that. Take thin sliced bacon and wrap around pretzel stick leave the base as a great handle for your guests. They were yummy!! If you used thick sliced bacon the bacon wouldn't cook fast enough so trust me, thin sliced bacon.

 Han Burgers: I just bought a box of White Castle burgers. Microwave and Ta-da! If you are lucky enough to live by a White Castle go there and buy some. So jealous!

 More Decor and I wanted some shots of Gary in with his Birthday theme.  Over to the right-hand side is a Darth Maul centerpiece I made. A balloon weight from the dollar store in preferred color and then printed out an image off the internet, glued it to a cereal box, cut it out and hot glued everything together. I added the Sexy @ 60 to the image using my Paint program on my computer.

 Next came presents. He only had one besides the Big Darth Maul standup.

 The boys were so excited to see Daddy opening the gift.

 It isn't a party till someone acts a FOOL. My boys were HIGH on Mt DEW and were so silly while Gary put his present together.

 HAHAHAHAHA!!!

 Then the boys put on a Light Saber fight for us to watch. Lunch and a show. I didn't plan this, it was a nice surprise!!

 They learned all their moves at Disney's Star Wars Weekends from Ray Park.

 Notice Lucas adding Karate to the fight? He got that from Ray Park who is a martial arts specialist and also played Darth Maul.

 Gary's present all assembled. He loves putting things together so I always try to buy presents he can spend time making and then enjoying. It a Darth Maul dual light saber that hangs on your wall and lights up and has light saber sounds. Pretty cool for $20.

 What it looks like in the dark.

Even though we were all stuffed we decided to eat some cake.

 Make a Wish!!!

 The after party table was pretty bare. My work here is done! Until Edward's party in September.

Poor Darth Maul he never did stand a chance!!! Happy Birthday, Gary!! I love you!!