Minion Birthday Party

We celebrated Matty's 3rd birthday with a Minion Birthday Party! It was so much fun to plan and put together that I decided to share some of the details with you! I decided last year that his 3rd birthday would be a Minion theme. So, I started collecting Minion everything and pinning ideas to my Minion Party Pinterest Board.

I seriously could have stared at this table all day. I am in love with how it all turned out. I just kinda winged it when setting up, but really love how it all came together. I could have bought a giant inflatable minion from somewhere like Inflatable Gurus as they allow you to customize what you want, but I decided against it this time only for lack of space!

Decorations

I went home to Seattle in February and stopped at Party City while I was there to pick up a few decorations. I didn't want all the decorations to be store bought with Minion prints all over them, so I picked out a table cover, balloons plus plates and napkins with minions on them. The rest of the decor was in yellow and blue.

I used yellow, blue white or glass plates and bowls for serving... just the things I already had in my kitchen. They didn't all match in style, but their colors did, which was good enough for me.

I hand made this yellow & blue tissue paper garland to go over the main table. It brought height to this display and really made a dramatic impact.

For his birthday, Matty got a few Mega Blocks sets of Minions, so we put them together and used them on the display table as well.

In Photoshop, I made a "Keep Calm and Bee-Do Bee-Do" sign, printed it and put it in a 5x7in frame I already had in my house. After the party, I put it in my sons room as a decoration along with the tassel garland.

FREE PRINTABLE: Click here to print the "Keep Calm & Bee-Do Bee-Do" sign

The balloons I bought at party city I had blown up by local balloon artist Balloon Beauty. I loved how they kept the Minion theme going in that party of the room!

The Box of Shame was super easy to make and a big hit with the kids! It's basically just a cardboard box with one side of the lid flaps taped open, a hole cut out and the words "Box of Shame" in Sharpie. Free and fun!

Snacks & Drinks

The first big decision I made was that I wanted the party to be in the afternoon so I wouldn't have to provide a big meal for anyone. Finger foods, snacks and of course the cake and cupcakes would be all the food I would serve. This made things a lot easier the day of because there was less food to prep.

In front of all the food, were these cute table top signs. I printed and cut them out then glued them to yellow card stock to make tent signs. Everyone at the party thought this little detail was pretty cute! I loved how it subtly brought more Minions to the party! Below I've included a link to a free printable. It doesn't have the text, but you can print them to make your own table top signs and write in the food!

FREE PRINTABLE: Minion Table Top Signs

As you can see in the pictures above, I had a mix of finger foods that were very easy to prep and prepare but for the most part were all on the Minion theme. Chips & salsa, pineapple, bananas and blueberries were a big hit. I also found HARIBO Minion gummies, Minion cheese and graham crackers and made Minion Munch (which was simply muddy buddies with yellow and blue M&Ms). Slow cooker meatballs in sauce added a savory element and pineapple juice mixed with 7-up served as the beverage.

And aren't those Minion buckets adorable? I got them at Party City too and they were great for holding utensils and the Minion crackers!

One of my most favorite parts of the food for the party were the cookie robots! I made my perfect chocolate chip cookies and turned 3 of the larger cookies into Cookie Robots!

TO MAKE COOKIE ROBOTS:

1. Mold thick, sturdy wire into a "U" shape. Make 4 of these legs for each robot. I made 3 robots, so you'll need to make 12. Press four legs into each cookie.
2. Warm 9-10 soft, chocolate candies (I used Tootsie Rolls) in the microwave about 15 seconds until pliable. Roll the candies into a log and cut them about 2in long.
3. Dip each roll into corn syrup and then roll in silver candy crystals. Attach a small red sugar ball for the laser.
4. Once the corn syrup has dried (about 10 minutes) place a toothpic in the bottom of the candy roll, leaving 1cm exposed. Press that into the top/center of the cookie.

Minion Cake & Cupcakes

You know, I'm obsessed with cupcakes. I mean... if you're a reader of JavaCupcake, then you shoud know this already. This year though, I wasn't sure if I could pull off Minion cupcakes. I do not know anything about working with fondant and my buttercream piping skills are good, but not good enough to make Minions.

So I decided to make a Minion Cake and blue and yellow cupcakes to go with it. I found the idea for this Minion Cake on Betty Crocker. It's really so easy to make. Like super easy. But, you know me... I can't ever do anything simple... so I put the JavaCupcake spin on the cake.

TO MAKE A MINION CAKE

Supplies:

• Chocolate Cake - I baked this recipe in two 9x13in cake pans.
• Buttercream - I made a triple batch of this buttercream for the outside and the filling
• Banana Filling - I used just less than 2 cups of buttercream and added 1 tablespoon banana extract and two small mashed bananas and whisked together until smooth for the filling.
• Blue & Yellow food coloring gel
• 3 Hershey Kisses
• Black licorice rope
• Black decorating icing (I used store bought in the tube)
• White fondant
• Tootsie rolls (about 15)
• Silver sugar crystals
• Corn syrup

Directions:

1. Prepare the cake and buttercream as directed in the recipe above.
2. Once the cake has baked, allow the cake to cool completely then trim the tops to level. Place one layer of the cake on your cake plate and spread a thin layer of banana filling over the top. Place the second layer of cake, cut side down on top and gently press. Freeze the cake until firm or about 30-45 minutes.
3. Once the cake is firm, trim the corners of the cake to make the an oblong shape of a Minion.
4. Reserve about ⅓ of the prepared frosting and set aside. Color the remaining frosting yellow. Place a thin, crumb coat of yellow frosting around the entire cake. Freeze cake for 30 minutes or until the frosting and cake is firm. Spread an even layer of the remaining yellow frosting around the entire cake. Freeze the cake again for at least 30 minutes or until the frosting is firm.
5. While the cake is freezing prepare the goggles. Roll out a piece of fondant about 1in thick. Using a large round cookie cutter, cut out a circle. Press a Kiss upside down to create the pupil of the eye.
6. Using the same technique as with the Cookie Robots, you'll make the goggles. Warm the unwrapped Tootsie rolls in the microwave about 20 seconds until pliable. Roll into a snake until it's the same size as the outside of the cookie cutter you used to make the eye. Press the ends together. Dip the ring in corn syrup and cover in silver sugar crystals. Set aside to dry.
7. Once the yellow frosting is firm, color the remaining frosting blue. Fill a piping bag with a small tip with the blue frosting. Pipe the outline of the pants onto the cake then fill in with the blue frosting. Using a small metal spatula, gently spread the blue until smooth. Piping the blue on is a lot easier than trying to spread it on.
8. Line the outside area of the top of the cake with the black licorice rope. Press two Kisses into the blue making the buttons of the Minions pants.
9. Make a light impression into the yellow frosting with the cookie cutter as a place holder for where you'll want the eye. Squeeze the black frosting into a piping bag with a small round tip. Pipe two lines, 1in apart off each side of the eye down the side of the cake to create the strap for the goggle. Fill it in with black frosting.
10. Place the eye onto the cake. Gently place the goggles over the eye. Remove any sugar crystals that may have fallen onto the cake.
11. Cut 6 2in pieces of black licorice rope for the hair and place on the top of the cake. Cut one more pice of rope abut 3-4in long and place under the eye for the mouth.
12. Chill cake until ready to serve if you've made the cake ahead of time. Allow to come to room temperature about 2 hours before serving.

HOW TO MAKE MINION CUPCAKES

Supplies:

• Vanilla Cupcakes & Vanilla Buttercream - I used this recipe
• Raspberry jam - I used store bought
• Yellow cupcake liners
• Blue & yellow gel food coloring
• Blue & yellow sugar sprinkles
• Blue cupcake stand

Directions:

1. Prepare cupcakes as directed in the recipe above in the yellow cupcake liners. Make sure to add yellow gel food coloring to the batter before baking. Once cool, core the center of each cupcake and fill with raspberry jam.
2. Prepare the buttercream as directed in the recipe above. Add blue gel food coloring to tint the frosting. Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip with frosting and pipe swirls of frosting onto each cupcake. Decorate with blue and yellow sugar crystals.
3. Display cupcakes on blue cake stand.

Fun & Games

Although food is awesome at parties, I did not want the kids to be running around crazy the entire time. So, I planned some fun & games for the kids!

First up was cookie decorating! I set out a big plastic table cover on my floor for easy clean up, prepared sugar cookies & buttercream in advance and set out the supplies for the kids. I showed them a Purple Minion and a Yellow Minion I had made in advance and let the kids at it! They loved this!

HOW TO MAKE MINION COOKIES

Supplies:

• Sugar cookies - I used this recipe and used a pumpkin cookie cutter and trimmed the stems off the sides to make the Minion shape.
• Buttercream - I used this recipe and colored the frosting yellow and purple.
• Candy eyes
• Wilton grass tip and piping bag filled with purple frosting
• Black licorice rope cut into 1-2in pieces
• Blue, yellow and purple sugar crystals
• Butter knives, spoons, spatulas, spreaders

Directions:

1. Set out all the supplies in small bowls with several tools to spread the frosting.
2. YELLOW MINION: Spread a layer of yellow frosting over the entire cookie. Place eyes on the cookie. The press the licorice into place to make the eyes and band for the goggle, hair and mouth. Sprinkle blue sugar crystals over the bottom third of the cookie to create the pants.
3. PURPLE MINION: Spread a layer of purple frosting over the entire cookie. Pipe purple frosting onto the top of the cookie to create the crazy purple hair. Press in licorice to create the eyes, band for the goggles and crazy mouth.
4. Set aside for 1 hour to dry.

We also played "Pin the Goggles on the Minion!" This game was short and sweet, but the kids liked it! Matty wanted to pin his goggles over and over and over!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN "Pin the Goggles on the Minion" GAME

Supplies:

• Poster board
• Markers
• Goggle printable - Click HERE to download the goggle printables
• Scissors and tape

Directions:

1. Draw a giant Minion on the poster board. Leave off the goggles.
2. Print enough of the goggles so each child has at least one. Cut them out.
3. When it's time to play, blind fold each child and hand them goggles with tape on the back. Spin the child around 3-5 times depending on age then direct them to put the goggles on the Minion! It's fun to see where the end up putting the goggles!

Overall, I was really proud of myself for this party. It was by far the most elaborate party to date that I've put together! It was fun, the kids had fun and the parents thought the decor was awesome. My daughter told me 10 times how impressed she was and how much fun she had.

My favorite parts were the Cookie Robots, the Minion Cake and watching the kids have fun decorating Minion cookies! So fun!

Happy Birthday Matty!