Transformers' Themed School Birthday Party

We skipped the usual big party preparation for my son's sixth (6) birthday and opted for an in school birthday party.

 

My son enjoyed the recent Transformers' movie so much, a transformers' themed birthday party was an easy decision.

 

School birthday parties are simple and easier than a full party celebration.

 

With the following key elements: invitation, food, loot bag, cake and balloon.

 

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First. I coordinated with my son's adviser to:

• agree on the time (including duration) and date of the party
• get the names of my son's classmates
• get the number of teachers and teachers' aides
• agree on party program sequence

 

 

Second the invites.

 

"Transform and Roll Out" was a nice catch phrase I found in the web.  I contacted a friend with a printing business "Mka De Signs and Prints" and ended with this beautiful invitation.

 

 

 

Third the loot bag.  I spent most of my budget on loot bags.  Since I already saved a lot on entertainment, venue, etc.), 

I splurged a bit on loot bags. 

 

I wanted a re-usable packaging for the loots. 

and found a utility box at the Japanese Home with blue and pink handle.   

 

 

The loots - lego imitation toys (I got them cheaper in bulk), cookies, chocolates and candies (I got the good brands, ones that I would give my own kids).

   

To give the utility box the Transformer theme, I attached individual bag tags, also printed by Mka De Signs and Prints.

 

 

 

Fourth is the cake.  Guilty of stealing the design  from the web!  I gave the design to a baker friend who was happy to customize for me

(for a fee, of course!)

 

  

Fifth. The balloons were difficult to find, as they must have transformers' prints. 

I was relieved I found these in Sulit. 

 

Sixth. Food came from KFC.

As the party starts early at 830 (on time for recess), we placed our orders the night before.

 

For the children, we ordered the Spaghetti Fully Loaded meal (at P150 per meal), which comes with spaghetti, chicken, French fries (for fixin') and water (KFC allows change from softdrinks to bottled water at no additional cost), the meal also came with soup (but we did not serve them anymore).

 

We also got Spoonful for the children (which was a good thing since ice cream would be difficult to transport, the spoonful doesn't melt easy).

 

For the adults, we ordered 1 pc Chicken Fully Loaded.

 

It sure was tiring, but worth it. 

 

The kids were all happy with their loots and balloons and my child can't stop smiling ~ hugging and kissing me the entire time!   

 

I love my mommy duty!

 

TIPS:

(1) Kids would most likely be unable to finish their food, so it is best you come prepared and bring "to go plastic/paper bags".  We got extra paper bags from KFC.

 

(2) Although the kids went wild over the balloons, these were hard to transport.  We hardly fit into an AUV with KFC food boxes, cakes and 21 balloons inside.  

 

(3) Order extra for the utility, guards and your child's school service driver.

 

(4) Bring your own garbage bag and paper towels (spills are bound to happen) and help clean the room.

 

(5) Make a checklist of the things to do and bring.  Often left items are: candle, lighter/matches and cake knife (if you are serving the cake).

 

 

 

A Ninjago Birthday Party for a 5 Year Old!

I thought it was a cute idea to have a Ninjago Birthday Party.  My 5year old is a Ninjago fan, so a Ninja themed party was an obvious easy decision. 

 

The excitement, however, was short lived and ended right after I started scouting for party supplies and give-aways.  There were no readily available party supplies on ninja parties and had to rely on my DIY prowess (lol!).

 

 

Booking the venue was the easiest part of the party prep.

My 5 years old told me that ninjas love pizza (he pointed out the Ninja Turtles, hmmn) so we ended booking the event at Shakeys. 

 

 

INVITES AND TARPS

 

I sourced Ninjago pictures from the ever dependable internet and designed this "save the date invites" and posted it in facebook to set the tone of the party.

 



The tarp was designed by MKA de signs printing.  Very efficient and well made. 

COSTUME

There were very limited ninja costumes in the market, so I ordered this through Amazon online.  He specifically requested for a green ninja, which apparently is the color of  "Ninjago Lloyd". 

This was one of the party teasers I posted in the fb event page. 

Finding a family costume was difficult, good I chanced upon this online shop - The Krafty Junkie that sells customized Ninjago shirts.  I had the shirts labeled as follows:

• Master of Spinjitsu (green shirt, Spinjitsu is the Ninjago martial arts ) - for the celebrant
• Big Bro San (blue shirt, "san" means mr. in Japanese) - for my eldest (kuya)
• Sensei (red shirt, "sensei" means teacher) - for me
• Dai-Sensei (black shirt, dai-sensei means great teacher) - for hubby

Krafty Junkie is very efficient.  The shirts were nicely printed.  I got very good feedback from our guests!

 

 

 CAKE AND CUP CAKES

 

 

I got the Ninjago cake concept also from the internet.  I gave the design to Toy Cakes and was quite pleased with the end result. Tastes good and very reasonably priced.  Highly recommended.

Toy Cakes contact number is (0906) 2959093). 

 

 

VENUE AND PARTY AMENITIES

 

 

Shakeys Ortigas Extension has ample parking and fits 70 easily.  However, I had over 90+ guests and had problems sitting them.  I can't seem to find the crew nor the manager.  I had to make several follow ups for additional chairs and personally find chairs for my guests...

 

Loot bags came with the party amenities.  You can opt to exclude, but find the goodies inside of good quality and decided to keep. 

I also ordered Ninjago pillows for additional give aways, but I forgot to take pictures.  Fortunately found them posted in my suppliers (Jmxstudios net) sulit page.  I used the pillows as game prizes. 

I ordered Shakey's Monster Meal and had it served buffet style. 

 

I ordered personalize Ninjago shirts for my son's classmates.  I got their names in advance and had it printed on the shirts.  I thought it was a nice touch to the party theme.
All his classmates were present in their Ninjago shirts. 
 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

William the Magician was a big hit with the kids.  He took charge of the games, did fabulous magic and ventriloquism. 

 

After party picture taking...

 

One tired, but happy ninja~!

 

 

Jibril Turned One

CONGO GRILLE, EL PUEBLO (8.5 and a SMILE)

Not bad for a party of 250++++ (lost track, we occupied the entire Congo Grille, El Pueblo branch… pati sa labas may bisita kami), I only spent P32,000 on food! There were a few snags (like my additional orders came in a little late and one of the kids chairs snapped), but the accommodating staff compensated for the minor troubles. I was fuming over the late additional orders, pero they were still nice.

Spacious and free parking (you just need to have your parking stub validated.
Medyo nainitan ako, pero baka ako lang. None of our guests complained.
Was not able to taste the food we ordered, we were so busy entertaining guests. By the time the party ended it was time for dinner – so my husband and myself ordered dinner nalang.
Staff were helpful. They helped set up the place for us.
There were so many staff attending – was not able to count them all, I am guessing 15+.

YAN-PLE (8.5)
Got from her Candy Cart, Balloon Burst and Pinata.
The candy cart was a hit with kids and adults alike. I think this is sulit for P2000 for 8 candy variants good for 100.
I checked the candies – they were good brands.
Balloon Burst was a hit among mommies and daddies – parang mga nanalo sa lotto.
The piñata was a personalized lion head. It was ok, but not a real hit like my balloon burst and candy cart.
BTW, I am happy Apple was there early. Saved me one less worry. Apple also helped with some of the decorating.



DELMUNDO ICE CREAM (almost 9)
Another sulit find. For a 6 galloon I only paid P1500.
Manong was there early too like Yan-ple. Everybody had his/her fill of ice cream meron pa din lahat ice cream cart ni manong.
Sarap ice cream ng Del Mundo. The owner is a good friend of my cousin so I know they are clean. And masarap din.


ANF (almost 10)
JAP the face painter / glitter tattoo artist is so good at what he does. Lahat – bata, matanda, pati baby ko pumila for a face paint!
JAP came in a little late. Mga 3 minutes lang naman, but for a mommy celebrating his kids 1st bday – those 3 minutes were ngarag moments. But when I saw what he can do, forgot about his being late. It would have been a 10+ if he came in a little earlier. Still highly recommended and ANF!!!
It’s a real sulit package!

PETE THE CLOWN (Got him through Congo Grille) (10 with a lot of TAWA)
He is so funny and super galing in doing magic.
Friends commended his performance. Kala nila expensive kuha ko sa kanya.
He has unique and fun game ideas.
He was able to hold a crowd of 250+ and everyone even mommies and daddies were participating.
He is good. Also highly recommended.


PHOTOS and VIDEO – c/o Tito Jeff and Tita Ella (perfect 10 syempre… labor of love!) They skipped merienda and finished the party before eating with me and my hubby. Thanks Tita and Tito.


GIVE AWAYS / LOOT BAGS (10+ SUPER HIT)
I got everything from DIVI! I bought 55 set backpack bags (Ben 10, Winnie the Pooh and Dora). For the loot I got stationery set, matching wallet, stickers, coloring books and crayos. Cost per bag is approximately P55.


IKO’S CAKES (9+)
Really affordable. I got 10 inches round moist cake in Jungle Theme, plus 50pcs cup cakes all for P1,500.
Cake was sarap. My husband does not like cakes, but had second serving of Iko’s.
Pinag-agawan even the cup cakes and heard good feeds from the mommies too.
The baker – JON called me up personally one week before our party to confirm ur requirement and design.
They readily customized for us. No additional cost!
I saw a picture in the net tapos pinakopya ko lang. The copy was much better than the picture I showed them.


EMPRO
They did Jibril’s BIRTHDAY TARP. Again super affordable!!! For lay out and printing I only paid P700+. Cost is only P17/ft. That’s cheap and yet quality wise ganda ng printing nila, better than most I have seen around.
· Jennelle and Thonie were very nice and accommodating.
· Mabilis din sila gumawa.
· Francis the owner entertained us also. He happened to pass-by kasi while we were inquiring.


INVITATIONS (10+)
Jibril’s invitation is also a labor of love. Lay out was done by Tito JV from US. I just had it printed here at P6/pc.

COSTUME (10+)
Jibril’s is sooo cute in his lion cub costume. This also came from the US c/o Tito JV. Thanks Tito.

Here is a link to Jib's party pictures:
http://s948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/juvyann19/