How to Have a Minecraft Birthday Party on a Budget

Fornite may be all the rage these days but Minecraft is still going strong.  Initially, I was completely resistant to the whole idea of Minecraft.  At first, I thought it was some sort of fighting or war game which I refuse to allow my children to play.   However, my husband researched Minecraft and with the help of the neighbor children, it was explained to me that playing Minecraft in creative mode is about building and exploring only.  So while it may be harmless fun, I’m not sure about the hours that my son plays building and them blowing things up.  I don’t really get the attraction but there it is.  So when my soon to be 8 year old wanted a party it had to be Minecraft. 

Fortunately, it was a pretty easy theme to decorate for what with pixelated graphics and a color scheme primarily made up of black, green and brown.   Of course, my first start is to check out Pinterest for ideas and a quick visit to Party Palace to see what was available. 

While the colors were easy to find an abundance of plates, cups, and tablecloths.  Not so, actual Minecraft decorations.  A printed cardboard box that the child puts over their head to be Steve (I kid you not) was $24.99.   Foam Minecraft swords retailed at over $5.00 each.  As for invites or anything like that, completely non-existent in our neck of the woods.  Thank goodness for Pinterest. 

The Invitation. 

I saw something similar to this online and was able easily to re-create it for my own purposes using Microsoft Publisher.  I was able to print four invites per page on heavy card stock paper.  It looked fantastic when printed.  A paper cutter kept my lines straight and neat and took no time at all to cut out. 

Next, by downloading some free Minecraft printables at Catch My Party I was able to create a Happy Birthday Banner, Cupcake Toppers and tent cards for the food.  For the banner, I bought a plain triangle banner kit in green at Party Palace and simply glued the cut-out Minecraft letters and strung it on green ribbon.

For the food, I chose simple items that might fit the Minecraft theme, like wrapping up bundles of red licorice and labeling it dynamite, green juice doubled for “creeper juice”.  Green and Black streamers hanging down the wall gave it a neat Minecraft feel.  For the juice cups, I simply printed off labels with Minecraft clipart on each one and then wrote the child’s name with a sharpie on the cup.

 

I was particularly proud of the “grass” mat I created to sit the food on.  I took strips of green tissue paper, cut it part way through, glued it to a piece of cardboard and then fluffed up the “grass”.  It looked pretty cool and my son still uses it as a base for playing with his Minecraft lego.

Square plates, and gold cutlery made it easy to decorate the table.  For lunch, we served homemade square pizza.

Once I started to think about party decorations inspiration came surprisingly easy.  Another creation I was quite proud at how it turned out was the pin-the-tail on the piggy.  Basic square shapes of pink construction paper worked perfectly.  To give it some depth, I made the nose 2d and the tail was folded accordion style.  A little piece of velcro attached to the tail and paper worked perfectly.   Another keepsake for my son.

 

For an easy craft for the kids I took a bunch of the yellow colored square plates, cut up a whole bunch of small squares from different colored construction paper.  The kids each got their own paper plate to glue the colored squares to it to make their own pixelated face mask.  Once they were done gluing, we cut out square eye holes and taped a wood stick to the back.  You could even attach a string to keep the mask on.   The most tedious part I think was cutting all the little squares of construction paper.  I still have a bowl of leftover pieces.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the activity but it was a lot of fun, the kids loved it and it cost me around $3.00 for the plates and $2.00 for the construction paper.  That’s a pretty cheap party activity. 

I’ve long decided that goody bags need to go back to being basic.  A few small treats, a pack of stickers and temporary tattoos in green baggies was perfect. 

And that’s my Minecraft birthday on a budget.  Nothing too fancy but it looked great and even now looking back at the photos, my son is like “I remember that party, it was awesome.” 

I think the most expensive part was buying the stickers and tattoos but by splitting the packs up and since that was the main part of the goody bag it really was affordable.  

Please share with me in the comments any special parties that you planned for your child.