After the fun and success of the Valentine’s Day Party, I was sooo looking forward to planning my next party…luckily I didn’t have to wait too long! My son Logan was turning 6 in April and when I asked him what kind of party he wanted this year, without hesitation he said “A Mario Kart Party!” Well, because of my new passion for party blogs, I’m no longer a fan of the typical ‘buy a party in a box from Birthday Express’, so I tried to give the party theme my own spin on Logan’s Mario Kart request.
I think the invitations can set the tone for the entire party, so I wanted something a little unique. I found these cool customizable lanyard invitations on e-bay that the boys could keep and then wear to the party (they were a HUGE hit!).
As the boys arrived at the party, I had Mario Kart coloring pages set out on individual place settings for them to color.
After everyone arrived, we played Mario Bingo using a printable game I again found on ebay, Pin the Mustache on Mario found on Tip Junkie and finally, we had a Mario Kart Wii tournament on the projector downstairs – they had a blast!! We ate pizza and breadsticks for dinner with cupcakes and donuts for dessert. I quickly discovered that 6 year old boys behave a little differently than 3 year old girls, so it was a little crazy with 10 little boys, but we still managed to keep everything under control and have a great time!
For the dessert table, I focused on Logan’s favorite sweets.
The cake was the centerpiece for the dessert table and Jill from Sprinklebelle Cakes never ceases to amaze me! How cool is Mario in his racecar on the top??!! The base of the cake was a round red box from Ikea, to give it a little height. I added the fun FINISH bunting to the top of the cake, for a little extra effect. Jill also made the great cupcakes with cute star fondant toppers.
For the rest of the dessert table, I included a plate of glazed donuts (Logan’s favorite!), star sugar cookies that I made and decorated myself, mushroom marshmallop pops (my first attempt at marshmallow pops!), and filled my collection of apothecary jars with more fun treats like Oreos (Logan LOVES Oreos!), powdered donuts, gumballs, swedish fish, M&M’s and jelly beans.
I ordered all the customized printables (placecards, tags, drink wrappers, etc.) from We Love Crafty Tracey’s Etsy shop – I thought her designs went perfectly with the Mario Kart racing theme and she was so great to work with! The cute stripey straws and checkered flag cupcake liners were from HeyYoYo.
In the center of the favor table was a small chocolate donut cake decorated with a mini bunting that had Logan’s name on it. The boys all took home a Mario hat I made with sticky white felt cutouts for the M, and their personal treat bag to fill with anything they wanted from the dessert table.
The birthday boy had to have his own special shirt, right? so I ordered Logan’s shirt from Curious Georgia on Etsy.
After all of the little boys went home, the celebration continued with all of our wonderful family coming over to eat more food, open presents and we actually cut the Mario Kart cake (eek!).
It was so much fun planning this party for my sweet Logan…I know he had a great day with all of his friends and family. Thanks to my awesome Mom and darling sister-in-law Kira for all of your help! And a special thanks to my wonderful photographer, Laura Sheneman, for capturing the great photos!
Holly!! This is amazing! I just love everything about it!! Great job!
Holly! It turned out perfect, of course. You can tell you put a lot of thought into each perfect detail. What a 6 year olds dream come true of a party!
Hi Holly!
I just found your party post and your party looks fantastic! Great job! Thank you so much for your sweet words, it was a joy to work with you as well. I would love to feature your party on my blog as one of my crafty customers.
I’m so happy to hear Logan had such a great birthday.What a lucky boy to have a mom like you!
Fondly,
Tracey
Thanks Tracey! I was going to send you the link…I’m just a little slow!! I would love for you to feature it on your blog – thank you!
That’s awesome! I just featured Logan’s party today! So happy to share it!
https://www.welovecraftytracey.com/2011/05/25/crafty-customers-logans-mario-kart-birthday-party/
Fondly,
Tracey
LOVE your party! hopped over from another blog! But you have to tell, where did you get that finish cake bunting? Did you make it? So adorable! thanks for you tips!
Thanks for stopping by Kathi!! Yes, I made the bunting…I just cut out triangles from checkerboard paper, put letter stickers on the triangles, taped the flags to twine and tied the twine to paper straws…very simple!
Holly we’d love for you to submit this party to our party theme contest on our website creative-party-themes.com
We also have a blog called creative party buzz. https://www.creativepartybuzz.com
We have just become a fan of yours!!
Larissa – thanks for the information, I’ll definitely submit my party and check out your blog! Thanks for being a new fan – I really appreciate it!!
Love this! I am a huge fan of Mario parties and I love that you put your own spin on it! Super cute!
Brittany – I’m a big fan of yours, seriously!! I remember your Super Mario Bros. party from when I was searching the web for ideas and it was AMAZING!! The painted green pipes were so creative and I noticed The Purple Pug loved the idea too 😉 Thanks for the love and inspiration!!
Hi! Just came over from Kara’s Party Ideas when I saw this Mario Kart party you styled. Huge kudos to you!!! The details are so well thought out…and executed just perfectly! Am so happy to have found your blog, too. 🙂
Hi Lissa – thanks for coming over and for the sweet comments! I just checked out your website and became a facebook fan – great pictures, ideas and fun favors!
Love the ideas! Thanks for sharing them. I’d like to know about your marshmallow pop technique. I do a lot of marshmallows dipped in chocolate for parties, but I always put them chocolate-side down which flatten the “top” of what would be the mushrooms. How do you keep them rounded? And what did you use for the dots on top? If I have time, I would love to use this idea!
Hi Sherry! I just dipped the marshmallows in the melted red candy and stuck them in a foam block. Then I cut the mini marshmallows in half and added them to the red chocolate while the chocolate was still wet. Hope that helps!
Perfect! Thanks so much! Now to go shopping for marshmallows and chocolate.
I totally adore this party! I hope you don’t mind, but I shared some of it on my Dutch blog to show to my readers! Themed parties like this are not so common where I live, so I thought I’d share some inspiration 🙂 Thanks!
I’m glad you liked it and thanks for sharing it on your blog!! I looked at your website and it’s so fun – I love it!
Holly,
Thanks again for your Mushroom Marshmallow tutorial :). I linked to you in my post about my son’s party. https://tinyurl.com/3q3mc2q
I look forward to incorporating your ideas in the future!
Sherry
I’m in love with every detail! My Logan is turning 6 in August and this has given me so much inspiration, I found your party on Kara’s Party Ideas. I am curious about the sticky white felt you used for the hats and how you got the “M” cut out. Did you use a special tool? I’ve never seen sticky felt, do you purchase it at Michaels, Hobby Lobby?
Thanks,
Stephanie
Thank you Stephanie! I love that you have a Logan and he’s turning 6 too! I got the felt in an 8 x 11 sheet from either Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but I can’t remember which one it was!! And then I just drew the M in pencil on the felt and cut it out with scissors…very simple and easy! Have fun planning!!
Holly, I love your Mario Kart party!! I am getting ready to do one in February for my son, Carter’s 6th bday. I was wondering if you could give me any tips on how to make the marshmallow pops? Everything is super cute!
Oops, I just saw your explanation on the marshmallow pops above! I think I can do it! Thanks!
Nicole, thank you & thanks for visiting! Let me know if you run into questions! Good luck with the party!!
Love love love everything!! Where did you get the red clips for the bags???
Hi Ashley!
I found them in the dollar bins at Michaels when I had the party last year. If you can’t find red clips, you could cut red paper to the size of wood clothespins and glue or mod podge them on! Thanks for visiting!
Holly
This is the best! I cannot wait to do this party. I just wish I was a computer savvy to make all the labels. JUST AWESOME!!
Thanks Darice!! You don’t have to be computer savvy to make the labels! You just buy the party printables from We Love Crafty Tracey on Etsy.com, tell her what you want the labels to say and then print them at home or at a local print shop. Let me know if you have more questions!!
Love all these ideas!!! My son is turning five and wants a “Mario Kart” Birthday. I am wondering where you got the red hats from? Also the checkered runners? Awesome job so much inspiration!
Thanks Katie!! I got some hats from Hobby Lobby but they didn’t have enough when I was buying them so I got some at WalMart too. My sis-in-law helped me sew the runners – I just bought fabric at Hobby Lobby and cut it into runner sizes! Have fun planning the party!!
This is so weird! My son Logan will be 6 this year and wants a Mario Kart party as well! His birthday is in July and I will definitely be borrowing your ideas. I also like the idea of the Mario Kart Wii tournament as I was trying to incorporate a game/activity with cars or go karts but kept coming up short.
Andrea, that is too funny!! Yeah, the kids loved the Wii tournament! Good luck with the party!!
I love it
Thanks Hoku! Glad you like it!!
Hi Holly!
Did you purchase the hats with the M on them or did you make them? If you did make them how did you do it? I really think they are so stinking cute as party favors!
Thanks!
Rosanna
Hi Rosanna! I’m glad you like them! The hats didn’t come with the M on them..I bought red hats at Hobby Lobby and WalMart and then I just cut the white letter M out of sticky-backed felt and stuck them on the hats!
Love this party! Doing a Mario party for my son. Where did you get the checkerboard table runners? Thanks, Anna
Hi Anna! I bought the checkered fabric at Hobby Lobby and just sewed it into runners (with the help of my sis-in-law!) Have fun with the party!!
How do I make the mushroom topped marshmallows?
Hi Lisa! I inserted a lollipop stick into a large marshmallow, then dipped the marshmallows in red candy melts and stuck them in a foam block. Then I cut the mini marshmallows in half and added them to the red chocolate while the chocolate was still wet. Hope that helps!
Thanks so much Holly!! Your party is super cute!! I’m doing a Mario Kart themed party for my son turning 10 and I fell in love with those mushroom pops and tent cards. I went to Joann’s brought some black and white cardstock paper and found some checkered ribbon. I can’t wait to make my tent cards for the treat table. Party is January!
Could I use red icing instead of candy melts for the red part?
Hi Lisa, thank you! I haven’t tried using icing for the red part of the mushroom…I’m sure it would work okay, just maybe not as smooth as the candy melts? Give it a try and let me know if it works or not!
I love your Mario party! I’m planning one for my son who is turning 4. Do you recall if you purchased adult sized red hats at Hobby Lobby? I can only currently find infant and adult sizes, no youth option. Thanks for your help.
Hi Amanda, I don’t remember looking for youth sizes specifically so they must have been adult, but I know we were able to adjust the back and they fit okay. Good luck with the party!
I truly seem to go along with every little thing
that was composed throughout “Mario Kart/Vintage
Racecar Party – Paisley Petal Events”. Many thanks for all the details.
Thanks for the post-Princess
Oh my that is one amazing party. My boys would love to have a party like that.