A {Girl Kinda} Superhero Birthday Party

Big sis just turned four... and big sis just happens to be a tough little cookie!  SO it wasn't that much of a surprise when she requested a superhero party... an orange superhero party, lol!  But her wish was my command, of course :)  Here are some shots from the fun little fiesta!

The Invites!

I found these fun (and free!) Superhero-ish fonts that made creating all our Superhero prints a breeze:

Badaboom BB
Digital Script

and you can find many more at this very cool Superhero Font site called Blambot Comic Fonts!  Check them out- they are amazing!!!

The Grub!

We decided on a simple menu: Superdogs and Veggies with Ranch... 

because Superheros Eat their Veggies!!!  The superdogs were easy to prepare too- we had two crockpots- one with the dogs and one with chili (because the adults need to eat too!) and a topping tray that I prepared the night before: onions, pickles, sauerkraut, cheese, tomatoes, and jalapeno and yellow peppers.

You can find the printables above by clicking the links below!
Superheros Eat Their Veggies and Superdogs Are Served- 8 1/2 X 11 Printable
Sound Effect Bubbles- 4 X 6 Index Card Printable
The Banner was made from Scrapbooking paper of the colors above, then I glued on the following letters to create the: Happy Fantastic Four and simply hung on string- super easy banner!!
Fantastic Four Banner Pt. 1- 8 1/2 X 11 Printable
Fantastic Four Banner Pt. 2- 8 1/2 X 11 Printable

The Capes!

Of course superheros need capes, right?!  You can find the tutorial with free templates HERE!

The Activities!

We did a "Superhero Training Course" with a "Villain" pinata at the end.  We had tied up baby dolls (poor things!) that our little superheros had to rescue by completing the different obstacles... but it just so happened to be FREEZING that day (of course!) so we cut the training course short and skipped to beating up on the poor villain... which my husband picked out-on his own-and happened to really be a Mexican Wrestler- close enough I suppose?!

Fun stuff, right??  They seemed to all have a blast despite the frigid conditions :)  Anyone else out there have little girls requesting superhero parties??

DIY Superhero Capes {Printable Templates Included!!}

Well big sis wanted a superhero birthday party for her 4th... so what else was there to do but to make superhero capes!!! {You can see her party here}

I searched on-line and found a few tid-bits here and there, but nothing that really seemed to help all that much, soooo, we basically started from scratch!  Lucky for you, if you ever need to make a superhero cape for your little angel, I saved everything I did right here!

The first main decision came down to time and money (doesn't it always!?).  I decided to go with a felt cape versus a shinny material because 1. it is super cheap and 2. it won't fray so you don't have to break out the sewing machine!  Once I decided that, I gathered the following materials...

Materials:
Felt by the yard (2ft. cut length per every two capes needed)
A pack of assorted color felt sheets for the emblems
Spray Adhesive
Velcro squares or 1" Velcro to cut
Christy's Customs Superhero Cape Template
Christy's Customs Superhero Cape Shapes and Letters Templates

{The template above is designed to print out on normal 8 1/2 X 11 printer paper.  Download the template by clicking on the above link and saving each of the seven pieces.  When printing, treat the JPEG file as a picture.  Choose 8 1/2 X 11 paper size and choose BORDERLESS printing.  The borderless printing will preserve the correct proportions of the template and is usually only an option when printing pictures.  I personally would choose to print in draft to save ink.  Once the template is printed, you simply lay the pieces out and use tape to hold them together.  Cut along the dark line to get your cape template.  This cape size works well for 3-6 year old children}

Lay out your felt (most is sold doubled over- I left mine so each template cut out resulted in two capes) placing the template on top.  Use a washable marker to lightly trace the template.  Cut out.

Using the Shapes and Letters template above, print out the shape for a background and letter for the child's first name.  Cut out and use for templates on the assorted color felt choices.  Using spray adhesive, coat the back of the felt shape, place on cape, and felt letter, also placing on cape.

Now the Velcro to hold the cape on... oh how I wish I could tell you to spray the back of the Velcro and stick it on too... but you will need something a bit stronger than spay adhesive to hold on the Velcro... ours pulled off after the first hour or so.  A few stitches would be best to add on your little cape neck closers!

And wha-la!  Happy little superheros!

For age reference... big sis had just turned 4 in this picture, while cousin is 6 1/2.  The capes seemed to work well for both sizes!

And- KAPOW!  There you have it!  Super simple.  I did 8 of them in just a couple hours one evening and gave them as party favors.  I wish I had taken a picture of all of them, but in the rush of the party, I forgot- oh well! 

I'd love to hear if you use the templates... I'd love to know that someone else got use out of them too :-)  So please share if you do!