Our Star Wars Party

My son celebrated his tenth birthday this past week.  To mark the occasion, he invited some friends to hang-out and sleep over.  At ten, he says he's too old for some of the cool DIY Star Wars-themed party decor, food, and favors I see online - he reminds me constantly that he is now a preteen, after all.  We kept things simple and managed to still create a fun time for he and his friends.  He enjoyed helping out with the planning and preparation, which made the process even more fun.

Having a Star Wars themed party yourself?  You can find themed items in most every retail space - both online and brick/mortar.  Keep reading to see what we came up with - maybe it will spark an idea or two for you.

Invitations:

Invitation for the party

I used blank greeting cards for the invitation.  A Stormtrooper image, downloaded from the Internet, was pasted on the cover, and party details filled the inside.

If you create printed materials yourself, the biggest must-have is the Star Wars font, available for free online at FontSpace.  I used the Star Jedi font for most of my printed materials (invites, name tags, magnets, etc).  The kids loved seeing their names in that telltale font.

Free Star Wars Fonts are great for party paper projects

Giveaway Bags:

Giveaway Bags

For the giveaway bag, I purchased white bags at the craft store and adhered the same Stormtrooper graphic to the front.  The bags were filled with themed goodies I thought the kids (er, preteens) would appreciate.  I bought Star Wars tatoos, notepads, light-up lightsaber candies,  PEZ dispensors, and Angry Birds Star Wars Mystery bags.  Star Wars themed items are available everywhere.   I  could have gone crazy...
I also made magnets for each boy using a Stormtrooper graphic (found on Google Images) and the free Star Wars font.

Decorations:

Decor for the party

• LEGO Sets:  We have plenty of these - they were displayed on flat surfaces. 
• Star Wars Toys:  We also set out my son's large Millenium Falcon, lightsabers, and other action models for display.  I had to smile when the minifigures came out for some spontaneous role playing throughout the night - it reminded that they are still pre-teens and not full-fledged teens yet.
• Printables:  I found really great Star Wars printables online to use as wall decor and fun masks:
  
  *Star Wars Retro Masks
  *Star Wars Prequel Masks
  *Star Wars Clone Wars Masks
  I printed all the .pdf files using my color printer and laminated the faces that my son liked the most.  Then we  trimmed around the graphics using scissors.  Some of the printables are intended to become masks.  I used an X-acto knife to cut out the eye holes on these.  My son helped out by attaching a chopctick to the back side using tape.

Taking a moment out to pose for a picture. 

Party Food:

We made recipes from my son's favorite cookbooks

What's a party without food, right?  My son had a great time planning the menu using his Star Wars Cookbooks, Wookie Cookies: A Star Wars Cookbook and The Star Wars Cookbook II - Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes.  We did not use all the recipes he selected, though the ones we did serve were a huge hit.

Sweets:  

Wookie Cookies and mini Tie Fighters 

Wookie Cookies:  

My daughter baked the Wookie Cookies for the party using the cookbook's recipe.  You don't need to run out and buy the cookbooks if you don't already own one.  Lots of bloggers have provided the recipes online.  Click here to go to a site featuring the Wookie Cookie recipe.  It's basically a chocolate-chip cookie with some cinnamon added in.  A definite fan favorite with the pre-teen set.

Mini Tie-Fighters:  

A fleet of Tie Fighters ready for battle.

I found photos of the cute mini tie fighters online.  Because my son loves Oreo thin Crisps, I knew I had to make these for the party.  Assembling these cute treats was SO easy.  Here's how I did it:

I gathered up the ingredients:

• Oreo Thin Crisps
• Note:  Boxes are sold with six packets.  Each individual packet contains about 22 crisps - enough for 11 tie fighters.
• Mini marshmallows
• Cookie Icing
  Note:  Frosting, icing, or melted chocolate will work as the glue.  I happened to have cookie icing on hand from a school activity, so that is what I used.

Ingredients for Mini Tie Fighters

I removed Oreo Thin Crisps from packaging and remove any broken pieces.  Next, I arranged one crisp with non-sugared side facing up.  Place a small dot of icing in the middle of the crisp:

A very small amount of icing does the trick!

Then, I centered the mini marshmallow on the icing:

Be sure to place marahmallow flat-side down.

I placed another dot of icing on the second crisp and place it atop the marshmallow.
Note:  Gently press down to adhere the icing and allow the tie fighter to set up - about 30 minutes should be enough time.

Side view of assembled Tie fighter.

We set up an assembly line to speed things up:

Tie Fighter assembly line

Once completed, some tie fighters were served as is, while others were used to embellish the (store-bought) cake:

Some for immediate consumption...

And some to adorn the birthday cake.

Savory Snacks:
The savory side of things included pizza (of course), some basic snack food and Tie fighter Ties, another recipe from the Wookie Cookie cookbook.

Tie Fighter Ties:
This recipe is from the Wookie Cookies: A Star Wars Cookbook as well.   Click on this link for an online version of the recipe.

Tie Fighter Ties

Basically they are pigs in a blanket, made using refrigerated bread stick dough, rather than crescent roll dough.  I used full-sized hot dogs cut into thirds.  They did not turn out exactly like the book; however, I got rave reviews from the guests who gobbled them up pretty quickly.  That's good enough for me!

Activites:
The bulk of the party was just boys hanging out and being boys.  They did take breaks to play the Angry Birds Star Wars Game and trade their collectible figures (from the giveaway bags).  They also played Star Wars video games, assembled the LEGO sets he received as gifts, engaged in lightsaber battles, peeked in on the Star Wars movies (streaming on the TV), etc.  Allegedly, they stayed up until almost 3:00 a.m.

All in all, it was a great, way to celebrate the milestone that is his tenth birthday!  Everyone had a great time and I was able to create a fun atmosphere without spending a fortune in the process.  That is a win-win!