Bright and fun: A Minions Birthday Party

Thanks to Oriental Trading Company for inviting us to review its party products.

By Amy Holmes for Fairfax Family Fun

This year, my daughter opted for a small get-together at home with a few of her closest friends to celebrate her 11th birthday. Personally, I wanted to throw her a big bash with all of my her friends, but with school just starting and our family being gone most of the summer, I get it. I still wanted the celebration to be special, and I wanted to surprise her with a festive atmosphere at home.

Decorating the house was a must. She is a huge Minions fan, and has been for many years, and was excited about a Minions theme at her party.  I was thrilled to see the huge selection of Despicable Me and Minion party decorations from Oriental Trading Company and to learn that three-day shipping was an option. Whew!

To celebrate her big day, we went simple – crazy on the decorations but light on the activities. To decorate the room, I covered the doors with two minion party door posters. I hung a jointed banner and used the 7-piece decoration kits to spray decorations all around the room. The table was a focal point and I set it using the Despicable Me 3 table cover, dinner plates, dinner napkins and the party hats. Yes, those were still a hit with 11-year-old girls! I used clear beverage cups with fancy blue paper straws and set up a separate cake table with the Despicable Me 3 dessert plates and dessert napkins and topped the cake with a cute minion candle. For the party favors, we used the plastic favor cups and stuffed them with Minions sticker sheets, pencils, candy, a homemade friendship bracelet.

I did plan some games just in case they needed structured fun and ordered the Minions party game where they placed the party hat on the minion, much like pin the tail on the donkey. They played the game sometime after midnight and shared quite a few laughs.

The agenda was simple and fun: The guests arrived and played outside and inside, had a simple meal, ate cake, and took out the piñata stuffed with chocolate in the morning before saying their goodbyes. They planned to watch a movie but they were too busy talking and playing which was just perfect! She loved her birthday celebration.

At a time when big bashes seem to be more common for birthdays, our party was proof that often, all you need is a cozy group with great company, simple and time-tested activities, and fun décor that helps set a festive atmosphere, and you can have a great party, indeed. Here’s what I ordered:

For the room:
Minions 7 piece decoration kit
2 Minions door posters
Despicable Me 3 jointed banner

To set the perfect table:
Favor cups
Minions favor cups
Minions sticker sheets
Despicable Me 3 dinner plates, lunch napkins, party hats

Games:
Minions drum pull piñata
Minions party game

Cake time:
Minions birthday candle
Despicable Me 3 dessert plates
Despicable Me 3 beverage napkins

The cost for the supplies? Under $75…well worth it! Now that this party is over, I need to start to plan my soon-to-be 13-year-old daughter’s birthday theme now.  At least I know I have several themes to choose from!

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Oriental Trading Company. The author was free to select her own items to facilitate the writing of this post, and the opinions expressed here are her own.