For my son’s seventh birthday, we threw the ultimate LEGO party on a budget. The party turned out awesome, from the decorations and activities to the cake and goody bags. See everything I did and find out how much we spent.
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We celebrated my child’s seventh birthday this month with a LEGO party. LEGO bricks are one of the things that everyone in my house loves.
My husband and I have all of the LEGO pieces from when we were kids, plus a few we bought ourselves as adults. When you add in the LEGO kits purchased for the kids, we have thousands of pieces.
Our family tradition is that each child can have a bigger party with friends every other year. In between, we have a small party with family.
This works out really well because then we only have one big birthday party (with big party expenses) every year. The kids don’t mind, because that just means they get two years to plan their perfect party.
For the LEGO party, I turned to Pinterest for ideas. I found tons of fun parties and tailored a few ideas to fit what we wanted. For this party I set these guidelines:
Stick to a budget – This is a no-brainer. I knew what I could spend, but getting everything I needed would be the challenge. For “big” parties, my limit is $200 but I always try to stay under that by as much as possible. Using things I already have at home makes a big difference.
Fit everything in the living room – We have limited space in our current house and virtually no backyard, so I told Lil’ Wheezy that he could invite only a few friends. I also had to figure out how to organize the living room to not feel crowded.
No food coloring – We decided a few years ago to cut artificial colors out of our diet. Lil’ Wheezy wanted a LEGO-colored cake though, so I looked for a natural way to turn a cake red, yellow, green and blue.
I made the birthday boy a LEGO shirt with my daughter’s screen printing kit. I was inspired by The Quilted Turtle and printed off her template. I just cut it out and used the pieces as a stencil to paint. It took all of 30 minutes and I have a feeling that this shirt will be worn a lot.
LEGO party decorations
I decided to use primary colors for our theme: red, yellow, green and blue. To hang the balloons, I threaded a needle and poked it through the tail of each one. Then I just taped the thread to the curtain rods. It was easy to peel back off when the party ended. I just tore sections of crepe paper and hung them over the thread. Balloons and streamers covered all of the windows, plus the display table. I put the favor bags on the table, which normally holds the stereo and family photos. Guests also were able to leave presents there.
The favor bags were really fun. I found them at Target, along with the individual minifigures. Each minifigure pack is a mystery and of course, they are collectible. I found 2-packs of glow stick bracelets at Dollar Tree. The little LEGO minifigure box is a free printable pattern from Aussie Pumpkin Patch. It is filled with a scoop of Unjunk candy-coated chocolates. Basically they are M&Ms without food coloring, preservatives or other… um, junk.
LEGO party games
I always tend to over-schedule parties, so this time I wanted to plan just enough to do. I made my own coloring pages using a generic minifigure silhouette, the LEGO font, and this LEGO border from Surviving the Stores. Rachel threw her son a Lego party a few years ago, so if you need more budget-friendly inspiration I recommend reading her post. And you can download my LEGO coloring page for free by clicking on the image below. {You might also be interested in my printable LEGO workbook.}
As the kids arrived, I told them to color the minifigure to look like themselves. Once everyone arrived, we started the first LEGO party game. I set out a mix of car pieces and each child made their own. Then, we dropped one side of the table down to create a track. Hubby just used colored tape to mark off the lines. The kids had such a fun time racing. The ones that crashed rebuilt and tried again. They probably would have just done this the whole time.
We took a break for cake and ice cream. Then the kids just played with the LEGO pieces, building whatever they wanted, until parents came to pick up.
LEGO party cake
For the table decor, I had Lil’ Wheezy build straw and spoon holders out of LEGO bricks in our primary colors. The bowls and cups are from Dollar Tree.
The ice cream is a simple homemade vanilla. The kids and I bought Hubby an electric ice cream maker for father’s day. This is by far one of the best kitchen purchases I have made. The cake is made with natural food coloring. I followed this recipe by Hostess with the Mostess. My colors came out a little muted, but I do not have a juicer. I made just four layers in our theme colors. Canned beet juice for red, an egg yolk for yellow, canned spinach juice for green, and strained blueberry puree for blue. The frosting is a simple chocolate buttercream.
I would say this party was a great success. For those curious whether I stuck to my budget, here are the round prices.
- white shirt, $2.50
- paper cups, $1
- plastic bowls, $1
- balloons, $1
- 3 packs of streamers, $1 each
- LEGO candles, $3
- ice cream and cake ingredients, $20
- 6 packs of glow stick bracelets, $1 each
- 6 LEGO minifigures, $3 each
- Unjunked candy-coated chocolate, $3.50
- favor bags, $2
- gift wrap, $1
- LEGO Creationary board game (our present to Lil’ Wheezy), $30
total with tax: $98.77
I was way under budget! The kids had a great time and everyone went home happy. For more birthday party inspiration, follow my Party Time Pinterest board.
Be sure to check out all my other LEGO posts.
Nana says
Wow, looks like a fun time. Wish I had been there to race a car!! Great ideas and great budget spending.
Rachel @ Surviving The Stores says
Love it!! I’m always shocked at how many things the dollar store has for birthday parties that are 3x the price at a party store.
And the coloring page is awesome! I’ll add your link on my post so that people who are looking for LEGO party ideas can find it.
Thanks so much for linking over! 🙂
kerihouchin says
Thanks so much! I was afraid I was going to have to try and draw my own Legos until I found your post.
Liz says
I’m so glad the minifig template worked for you!
kerihouchin says
Thanks! My son loves his shirt.
Liz says
I’m so glad.