Totoro Party

We've been fans of Miyazaki for a long time and were finally able to throw a Totoro party for our son when he turned 8.  We had a daytime party for all his pals and then a sleepover at night for just two friends when we watched the movie.  Not all of his friends knew the movie, My Neighbor, Totoro, but they fast became fans after our party and rushed to watch this classic movie.

We like to set the stage around here so I put up a light green flat sheet for the backdrop, a nod to the color of bamboo.  A friend helped me print these three figures from the movie on a large printer.  We then used spray adhesive to affix them to foam core board and he cut them with a very sharp box cutter/knife.

The front of the party invitation.  I bought the template on Etsy and printed here locally on silver grey card stock.

The template came with this as the inside of the card.  I skipped this extra cost/step and just glued white paper party invite information.

Here is the back of the card, same print job, folded.

We made paper cut-outs of the three main characters and taped them to the front door.

Another friend drew this Totoro on a piece of poster board that we set out front on a large art clipboard.

Here is the birthday boy, wearing a grey shirt in honor of his grey buddy, Totoro.

On the wall in the foyer and in other parts of the house we hung movie posters a friend picked up at a bookstore in Japantown, in San Francisco.  (I've also seen these online on Amazon.)

My daughter sewed this Chibi and the soot sprites with googly eyes.  I hung them on a stick.  The movie poster above was framed and still hangs in our son's room.

We lay a cloth shower curtain with a grid pattern on the long rectangular table in the eating nook.  On top of that we set cards from the Totoro playing deck-- 52 different images from the film.  On top of that we placed a clear shower curtain.  The party guests sure liked checking out all the images.  (We got the deck online.  Our local comic book store now sometimes carries the deck.)

My daughter and her friend made MANY soot sprites out of black pom poms and craft googly eyes.  These were placed around the house for the party and in the gift bags.  We still have a basket of soot sprites where Totoro and this Chibi now hang out.

We bought many Totoro-themes figurines and set them around the living and family rooms.  This Totoro we placed on a wooden tree house we already had.

Some of the character figurines were set on the ledge between our foyer/hallway and the living room.  We also borrowed a screen partition for another backdrop in the living room.

In honor of Totoro, we also sprinkled felted acorns (bought locally and on Etsy) throughout the rooms.  They were also favors in the gift bags.

Speaking of gift bags, we used plain white paper bags and tied name tags onto the handles with ribbon.  We placed some Totoro books and soot sprites on the hearth.  The white lights are wrapped with a garland of bamboo leaves.

The gift tags were a custom order on Etsy from a seller who already made Totoro-stamped items.

The cake was easy-- I brought an image to the bakery at the local Safeway supermarket.  They made a cupcake cake.  My friend made the soot sprites from cupcake balls, with sprinkles and frosting eyes.  The crowd went wild for both.

The friend who drew the Totoro for the clipboard out front also drew Totoro faces on the grey, blue, and white balloons.

Two of the grad students with whom I worked at the university came to the party and made origami Totoro with the children.  (We saw examples and instructions online.)  It was a favorite activity at the party.

We had slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, and edamame pods.  I also bought lots of Japanese food at local groceries and at Cost Plus World Market-- wasabi peas, sweets of all sorts, and dried snacks.

Another fun activity was making scenes with stickers and rubber Totoro character stamps.  I bought a basic paper kit from Oriental Trading that had a green mountainous background and a pagoda.  Its stickers were mostly flowers.  The guests put Totoro characters in their scenes. 

The friend who drew many Totoro faces for us!

We loved how many people posed with the Totoro friends.  Note the tiny hanging cocktail umbrellas as a nod to the bus stop scene with Totoro and the girls.

I forgot to mention that I had a friend spiff up my thrift store shoes-- she used a black Sharpie marker to draw the soot sprites and glued googly eyes onto them.  Festive party shoes!  I still wear them.

The children weren't the only one walking through the curtains of streamers.

One friend made handmade wrappings for the gifts he gave our son.  We still have these hanging in our son's room.

An adult friend made this handmade box for our son!

We had a great party.  Many of the guests wore shades of grey, blue, and/or white, in honor of the movie characters.  Lots of friends gave our son Totoro gifts to add to his collection.  We reused/repurposed most of what we could.  At the end of the party we always roll up the streamers to use them again.

The thank you cards were handmade by our son, with the Totoro rubber stamps.

It is definitely one of the parties with lasting memories.  The foam core Totoro characters are hanging in our son's room to this day.

LEGO Party

For our son's 9th birthday, we hosted a Lego bonanza!

We made the flat plate with the number 9 (with binder clips and a ribbon) and hung it on the outside of the front door to welcome guests.  We also printed all sorts of cool mini-posters and scattered them throughout the house.

In honor of the theme, the birthday boy received many Lego gifts before the party, which we used to decorate.

These pencil sharpeners were the perfect size to line up on a wee ledge we have between the foyer and the living room.  We bought four, at a local toy store.  (We gave three away to party helpers, after the event.)

The invitations were card stock with thick foam tape to raise the circle studs.  We also had a royal blue card.

The insides of the card were printed in color on white printer paper.  I got the Lego font, free online, without having to download anything.  I just typed the names (for the invite and gift bag labels) there and copied/pasted from the Lego font generator. (It did not paste well here, but it did in Word.)

is turning 9 and invites you to

help him celebrate on his birthday!

Date

Time

Address

RSVP:  phone number and name

email address

by date for RSVP

Come dressed in LEGO colors, if you please!

The backdrop was our favorite yellow flat sheet.  We used the pillow case to disguise the stand for the Lego head (brick sorter).  Next to the head is another Lego brick storage block.  We used the same card stock and studs as the invitations,  and we also taped fun minifigure images we printed on paper.  The Lego lamp was bought on Etsy by the same aunt who grants all the party wishes as the official birthday party fairy.  (The party honoree is standing on a stool for the photo.)

Even the bathroom had some of the Lego theme happening there.

The gift bags were made like the cards, card stock circle studs affixed with thick foam tape on coordinating bags.  We printed each guest's name using the online Lego font generator.  The birthday boy set up some of his Lego creations on the mantle-- for all to see, but not to touch.  ;)

We cut out minifigure heads from yellow card stock and made each face different before hanging them on a cloth shower curtain that had a grid of squares.  Another backdrop for party antics. (I hung the shower curtain on a curtain rod and secured it on bookcases in the corner of our dining room.)

Party goers decorated their own blank mini-figures.  Lego-colored streamers were hung in the entry way, between the foyer and kitchen.  The markers and crayons were in porcelain pots that looked like Lego studs.  (Got them at the dollar spot at Target.)

In our family room we ran a very long folding table down the center of the room.  On the table were buckets and piles of all sorts of Legos.  Guests just built as they pleased.

My teen helpers assisted in the making of Lego bracelets:  flat brick pieces and embroidery thread.  This took longer than it would seem but it was a hit.  A friend in the art department at the university drilled the holes in the flat Legos.

It was a good excuse to let loose and have wild-colored beverages.  We bought all sorts of colored sodas at Cost Plus World Market and used ice cubes we made from the Lego ice cube tray!

Some party pals really did a great job with the theme.  Several came in monochromatic outfits.

Then it was time for the cake!

Found these candles at Target.

The teen helpers-- indispensable.  We sent the kids out back to eat the Lego cake on square Lego-colored plates.  (The party lights reminded us of minifigure heads so we used them for this party, too.)

In the gift bags were crayons made in the minifigure silicon mold.  (I bought the crayons on Etsy instead of making them myself.)  We bagged them and tied the bags with ribbons.

I ordered these lollipops on Etsy.  So many colors and flavors to choose.  They were as good as they look.  Definitely a hit.

We also bagged up some brick candy I bought in bulk online at Amazon.

Also in the gift bags were Lego pencils, notepads, erasers, and stickers.  We were going to make temporary tattoos of minifigures but the local craft stores didn't carry the tattoo papers for printers.  (I usually get it online.)

Would have made a great temporary tattoo.

This was hanging in the kitchen, between the dining nook and the galley kitchen.  Many party guest took snapshots here with the birthday boy.

The birthday boy bid adieu to his guests and thanked them for their presence and presents.  The thank you cards were adorned with a handmade rubber stamp that my daughter carved for her brother.  The theme was a fun way to honor his current passion for Legos.

(I almost forgot; on the window ledge in the eating nook in the kitchen we scattered photos of our recent trip to Legoland in California.)  This is a favorite shot-- ties in perfectly with his other passion, Albert Einstein.