Surprise Super Mario Themed 30th Birthday

My husband's 31st birthday is coming up at the end of this month. I can't help but remember the party I threw for him last year. It was his big 3-0 and I threw him a Surprise Super Mario Themed party. It was so much fun. My whole family helped with the food and set-up of everything.

Nintendo DS Inside

Top Screen Image

Nintendo DS Top Cover

I used the Nintendo DS as my inspiration for an invitation. I put the 'Level 30, Game Over' picture in the top part of the blank screen. In the bottom part was the invitation details...when, where, what time, rsvp, etc. On the back I asked all the guests to dress up like their favorite video game character...Once the invitations were all cut out and folded in half they looked just like a DS!! They looked pretty cool if I do say so myself. =) If you don't want to do all the work yourself...here's what I did: Nintendo DS Invitations

I gave my sister and niece the job of drawing faces on the balloons to make boo ghosts. I don't remember the original place I found the idea from but I had to do it...it's a perfect touch for a Super Mario party.

 

Almost ready for all the food to go out. I made the banners, 

download it here: Super Mario Characters Banner.

I found the star candy dishes at the Dollar Tree.

I found Super Mario napkins from Amazon.

I made dark chocolate & milk chocolate mustaches for everyone as a favor.

I bought mustache candy molds from Streich's Cake & Candy Supply. 

I found the question mark block template from another website...but in all honesty I didn't like it. I know it's free...but it looks old. Since Nitendo has updated Super Mario's look I decided to make my own question mark block template with their updated question blocks. Question Mark Block Template You definitely want to print this on card stock. I made these to use them as prizes for those who won the games that I prepared.

I had a gumball guessing game. I found the clear container at Ross.

 Gumball Guessing Sheet.

 This is the game sheet I used. I played other games as well. 

Mario Game Sheet. Mario Game Sheet Answers.

 I asked all of the guests to dress up as their favorite video game character.

 My mom as Mario.

 My niece as Luigi.

 My nephews dressed up as soldiers from Call of Duty.

 Surprise!! =)

I LOVE his birthday cake. A lady from my church made it. She did an amazing job.

 The birthday boy and his very awesome cake.

 Happy Birthday Banner

We had on array of food. =) My sister, Shirl made Taco Salad. My sister-in-law made spinach & artichoke dip. A family friend made pink salad (which is my husband's favorite!!). My Mom made Chinese meatballs. My sister, Sherri Lin made deviled eggs. Everyone all pitched in and helped make the Hawaiian chicken kabobs. I bought fresh fruit, mini quiche, & mini ice creams. I also made buffalo chicken dip...everything was so delicious!!

Applebee's Copycat Spinach & Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach , thawed

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts , drained and roughly chopped

1 cup shredded parmesan-romano cheese mix

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

10 ounces prepared alfredo sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic

4 ounces softened cream cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine ingredients thoroughly in a bowl and spread mixture into a 8X8 baking dish.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheeses are bubbling and melted.

4. Serve with chips or bread.

Pink Salad

Ingredients

1 large container (16 oz) small curd cottage cheese

1 16 oz container cool whip

1 large pkg of strawberry jello

Instructions

1. Mix jello powder into cottage cheese until well blended.

2. Then mix in cool whip until well blended. (do not mix the jello with the cool whip first or it will flatten the cool whip)

3. You can add drained pineapple tidbits or chopped walnuts for variety.

Chinese Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey

2 scallions, very finely chopped

1/2 cup very finely chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup fine, dry bread crumbs (unseasoned)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Sweet Soy Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 or 3 slices fresh ginger smashed with the side of a heavy knife

Instructions

1. To make the meatballs: Heat the oven to 400.

2. Gently mix together the ingredients (hands are best for this), then form meatballs by rolling tablespoon-sized scoops between your palms.

3. Arrange on a lightly oiled or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, until well-browned and cooked through. Serve with toothpicks for dipping.

4. To make the dipping sauce: In a small pot, stir all the ingredients together over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.

5. Simmer 3 or so minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens a bit.

6. Fish out the ginger and serve in small cups for dipping.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons sherry

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 2 inch pieces

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained

skewers

 

Instructions

1. In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.

2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken and pineapple alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

2 BIG cans of chicken

6 oz hot sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot)

16 oz Cream Cheese

1 cup Ranch Dressing (Very Important—DON’T FORGET IT!)

2 cups Cheddar Jack cheese ( I use Mexican blend)

Instructions

1. Simmer chicken and hot sauce for 5 minutes.

2. Add Cream cheese, ranch dressing pan and stir until melted.

3. Top with Cheddar Jack cheese and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly!

4. Serve with chips.

 

The youngest attendee. =)

 We all crammed in the living room to play games.

 Mario & Batman came to the party. 

 One game we played was everyone took their game sheets that were handed out when they arrived and on the backs they had to draw the birthday boy. They only had 3 minutes to do so. The person who had the picture with the most likeness to the birthday boy won!

 Rachel won the gumball guessing game. We also played this really fun game. It was a matching game. What I did was print out all the Super Mario Character's pictures (copy and print images below). I cut each picture into thirds, folded each third in half and stuck each third into an envelope and sealed it (so no one could peek). I mixed up all of the envelopes and each person got 1 envelope. They were instructed that they were to find the other people that had their matching character's sections. The first 3 people to reunited their character's thirds won! It was SOOOO loud and sooooo hilarious! It's a great icebreaker too!

Bullet Bill

Cheep Cheep

Fire Power

Goomba

Lakitu

Luigi

Mario

 1 Up Mushroom

 Mini Mushroom

 Super Mushroom

 Piranha Plant

 Princess Peach

 Spiny

 Starman

 Toad

 Yoshi

 Happy Birthday to you!!

 Make a wish!

 Frank & Nikki.

 Hunter with his hand-made guns from cardboard.

 Brendon with his hand-made gun & knife from cardboard.

 Branson with close friends of his.

 Branson & his parents.

 1st prize winner for best costume. She was Princess Peach.

2nd Place goes to Brendon. He's dressed up as a Call of Duty dude.

  3rd place went to Mario aka Dave. =)

 My birthday boy & me. =) Love him!! Glad he was surprised....well, sorta surprised. =)

For more party ideas visit my Pinterest board.