TMNT Time!!!

So it is about that time again.... Xander's birthday is just around the corner! I always get so hype when it comes to throwing birthday parties! This year I will get to throw my pretty girl's FIRST birthday!!! That isn't until October though, so let's focus. Xander will be 8 this year. Which is so hard to believe! He was so little when I came into his life 3 and a half years ago. This year we are doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I LOVED them when I was little and love that he is doing a TMNT party. So I have been busy scouring Pinterest to find ideas for his party. I bought the typical stuff from Party City, Birthday Express, and Discount Party Supplies for all of the plates, cups, table covers, loot bags, and goodies for the loot bags. Since we are having the party at our house again this year, I want to have a few things for the kids to do in between cake, gifts, and Croc Island. 

We got this for Xander's party last year and it was a huge hit! It doubles as the gift and the main attraction. It is huge and so fun (even for the adults)!! It is 16 feet wide and 8 feet tall! We are getting a pinata, of course. I also made a TMNT cornhole game for them to play. 

This was really easy to make. It literally cost me $5 to make! I got a free 18"x14"x4" cardboard box from work (it was a computer monitor box), but you can use any box really. I got a black poster board for the background on the box, a green poster board for Mikey's body, half a yard of spotted fabric, 1 sheet of red felt, one sheet of tan fabric, and rice (which I already had). 

Cut your box on the edge diagonally. I made the top 4" tall and the bottom 2" tall, so it would sit angled up like a regular cornhole game. I then drew Mikey on the poster then placed the black background on, then Mikey. I cut the mouth once I had everything placed then colored the inside edge of the mouth with a black Sharpie. The mask/orange part and chest/yellow part was just drawn on a piece of computer paper so the colors would show up better than on top of the green. 

The slices of pizza were pretty easy also. Below is the pattern I used. I made it with an eighth of an inch seam allowance. Just cut the fabric all in one piece and fold it in the middle instead of separating it. Helps the point be more defined on the end. Your pizza bean bags should end up being 4" wide x 4.5" angled sides. I sewed it with right sides together and left a small like 1" opening at the top/crust. Then flip it right sides out. It was easier this way because the felt crust will cover your closure stitches. I filled it 3/4 of the way with rice (the more full, the heavier). Then stitch it closed. Attach a tan triangle to one side which will be the bottom. Then a wavy piece of tan felt goes on the "front" and be sure to cover your stitching to close it. Cut your little red felt circles for pepperoni. I used hot glue, of course!! :)

Xander and Brian have already challenged each other to some living room cornhole. Xander won!

I also designed his invitation. I saw some on Pinterest that look like event tickets. I thought it would be fun as a kid to receive a special ticket to a party. So this is what I came up with....

 So the star of the show.... THE CAKE! I started off with a rectangle, circle, and 12 cupcakes... all green of course. To get the bandanna on the head, I used the cut out pieces from his hips/pelvis area and shaped them a little. The trick was to keep the cake in the fridge so it was more firm and easier to cut without it crumbling. For the green, orange, and yellow icing, I used plain vanilla icing with some color gels. The brown is chocolate and the black is an icing pen. I did leave some of the cupcakes without icing because Xander doesn't like icing, and it was his cake so..... I think it turned out pretty good and was very tasty!