4 DIY Ideas for LEGO Birthday Party

手作りレゴ・バースディパーティ



これは今年ではなくて、去年のオリバーの誕生日パーティの時です。すでに以前のブログには載せましたが、英語読者のためにもう一回、ハウツー説明付きで載せることにしました〜。前回の日本語のはこちら→パート１、パート２です。

We just had a simple family birthday celebration for Ollie when he turned six recently. No birthday party. Because we had a pretty big one last year, and I don't do the kid's parties every year! (x 3 kids you know..)
So the last one was his first birthday party, and I wanted it to be special and memorable. I wanted to try to make it as handmade as possible, too.

Ollie's most favorite thing at that time was LEGO, and it is still now.  Well, he might say that Minecraft is more important than LEGO now, but I don't think he can live without LEGO!
So anyways choosing the party theme was easy, and I just had to gather some fun ideas from Pinterest.

Here are the four DIY projects I did for his party. If you are thinking about having LEGO theme party, they are the essentials that make the party so much more fun and entertaining for your kids and guests! They are also budget friendly!

#1 Customized LEGO Font Banner



What you'll need:

• Red poster papers


• White printer papers


• Yellow crayon or marker

How to make it:

1. Download and install the LEGO font from here.


2. Type the letters using Word with very big font size. Mine was as big as fitting only three letters on one page. And print them out.


3. Color yellow around the letters about 1".


4. Cut them out around letters leaving about 1/2" yellow part (you don't have to separate each letters). The outline should look round like above picture. Before cutting out, study how the LEGO logo looks like first!


5. Lay out the letters on the red poster paper and decide how big you want to make the banners. When everything looks good, mark and cut the red paper. When you put the letters together, the yellow edged parts may overlap to make the font spacing even. 


6. Arrange the letters on the red paper and glue them.

 

#2 LEGO People Candle Holders 



What you'll need:

• Lego bricks, a base sheet, figures, and cup pieces (optional)


• Birthday cake candles


• Electrical tape (optional)

How to make it:

1. Build the name letters and set them on the base sheet.


2. Place the LEGO figures in front of the name.


3. Option 1) If you have the candles with a plastic "base spike" part like the pictures here ----- wrap the electrical tape around the spike to make it thick enough so it fits in the figure's hand snugly.  


4. Option 2) If you have the candles without a "base spike" ----- you can stick the candle directly into the LEGO cup piece (they should fit perfectly) and make the figures hold the cups.

I did with the option 1. It could be hard to find the candles with a spike, or you might not have enough numbers of LEGO cups to hold the candles. But, there might be some other LEGO pieces that could hold the candles and do the same job in your LEGO collection. So look around and be creative!

Please remember... secure the candles and pay close attention not to let the candles fall with fire!



 

#3 LEGO Molded Cupcake Toppers



 

What you'll need:

• Wilton Candy Melts  colors of your choice


• Building Bricks and Minifigure Ice Cube Tray or Candy Mold

How to make it:

1. Just follow the direction on the package of Candy Melts.


2. When they are solid, place on the cupcakes.

Ok, I admit this is not a natural food at all (personally I don't think the Candy Melts are tasty), but you know, it's LEGO party... I needed to make them colorful! My general goal is the "natural living", but I'm not that strict mom who bans all the unhealthy stuff even on the birthday parties :) They turned out to be the perfect edible LEGO pieces!

By the way, these cupcakes were chocolate one with vanilla cream cheese frosting (both homemade).

I decided to buy these silicon molds because they also have other uses... making ice cubes, soaps, crayons, etc. I also purchased the "LEGO storage head" for the party decoration which was also a part of the gift for him. He is using it as his piggy bank now.

 

#4 LEGO Piñata 



What you'll need:

• A cardboard box


• Tissue papers in color of your choice


• Quaker Oatmeal (or corn meal) containers

 



How to make it:

1. Cut out an opening on top side of the box for filling the candies later.


2. Wrap the box with tissue paper.


3. Cut the tissue paper in about 3" wide strips and make them into like fringes (see photo).


4. Start pasting the strips overlapping on to the box from the bottom edge to all the ways to the top covering all the sides. (Don't glue on the cat!)


5. Cut the oatmeal container cross wise to make four rings. Repeat with another one.


6. Using separate paper, trace and cut out the round pieces. Place them on top of the rings like the photo below.


7. Wrap each one with tissue paper and attach to the front side of the box with tape. 

To be honest, attaching these cylinder pieces without showing the tape on outside wasn't so easy. Although I managed it somehow putting the tape inside, they are taped on the fringes so not secured well.  It could help if you have better ideas how to attach these... I was thinking, "Well after all, it's a piñata. Just try to make them stay there for now. It will be beaten and broken anyways". Then, these cylinder  pieces were easily popped and flown in the air as kids hit the piñata with the stick. It was kind of fun in that way :)

Mine had 8 cylinder pieces (makes 2 x 4 shape brick) fitting, but depending on the size of the box, you can make 2 x 2 shape brick, 2 x 3 shape brick...  and so on. The sizes are customizable.