When your littlest loves the Lion Guard and wants a party with that theme but you the adult aren't feeling it, you opt for a modern take on it and throw a Modern Lion Guard birthday party. The party centered around safari animals and modern black and white with a pop of jungle green.
I almost always having a concept or a specific item that is the jumping off point for the whole party. For this party it was this insanely awesome lion print from
The Crown Prints. As soon as I saw it, all the other ideas came flooding into my party planning brain.
I downloaded the print and then printed it off as a poster. Then I bought two flat wooden dowels, painted them black and then glued them to the top and the bottom for that scroll look. You can't see it, but I also have a black felt hanger that I glued to the top.
There is an overwhelming amount of black and white. There was a lot of black spray paint used. Spray paint is one of my secret weapons for decorating a party. I like to have a table for the tablescape, which also has some of the treats. Often times I also choose to feed our guests lunch. For several reasons. My number one reason is that it takes up time. Can I get a hallelujah?! One less game I have to plan.
I serve lunch first so I have that table all set up and decorated in a coordinating fashion. I decorate with really simple things. Here it is simply a felt runner, coordinating paper products, paper leaves, and spray-painted plastic safari animals.
I am a nerd and I try to coordinate the treats and food with the party either in the theme, color, or both.
I attempted sugar cookies with royal icing for the first time in years. Thank heavens I wanted them simple because they actually look decent. I would have cursed and struggled if I had actually had to legitimately decorate them.
Balloons and garlands/streamers are an awesome, inexpensive way to decorate. I loved this zebra balloon so much. Could it fit any better with the black and white safari theme/
Another easy inexpensive way to decorate is using craft paper. There is a local party store here that sells craft paper by the yard. I use it for table cloths all the time! For this party I painted some tribal patterns. They are rough and imperfect, but I love it.
I just kept my eyes out for black and white candy or food, black and white containers (most I already had), and I added some spray painted pieces. Modern Lion Guard tablescape done.
The activities are where I incorporated more of the Lion Guard theme. We had Fuli (the cheetah) races, Kion (the lion) Lion Guard roar contests, we painted wall paintings on canvas like Rafiki, and we made Ono (the bird) eye spy jars.
For the jars, I painted small safari animals and jar lid and rings black. There were bowls full of small items that could fit into the jars. We filled the jars 1/3 the way with rice. They picked out a few items and put them into the jars. We added more rice and and more little toys. Then we topped with more rice. After we screwed on the lid that kids each had their own eye spy jar.
To say thank you for coming, I filled these small party boxes with goodies to remind them of the party.
Needless to say, I think this newly five year old boy enjoyed his party. I think it also goes with out saying that I enjoyed throwing this party for him.
Where I got my party supplies:
zebra balloon, streamers, paper goods, gumballs,
black Sixlets, craft paper for leaves and tablecloth, tiny toys for eye spy jars--
Zurcher Party Stores