My son Nathan turns 5 today, and I’m not sure what it is about being 5, but he may as well be packing up to go away to college because every time I think about it I turn into a blubbering mess. Maybe it’s that he’s going to kindergarten in the fall. The huge school, riding the bus, it’s more than this over-protective mama can handle. Or maybe it’s that there’s not an ounce of that adorable baby fat left on his lanky little body. Whatever it is, at the age of 5, there’s no denying that my baby isn’t a baby anymore. He’s a full-blown kid!

And boy does this kid know what he wants. And, for his birthday what he wants is a Boba Fett Star Wars Birthday Party. (For those of you that don’t know, that’s Boba Fett there on the right.) So, how do I throw him the party he’s been dreaming about, without succumbing to the “Star Wars Party-in-a-Bag” from the local party store? I think I’ve figured it out, hopefully Nathan approves!

First things first, we need a cake. But not any old cake, must be Star Wars and has to come from a nut-free bakery. (Nathan’s little sister has food allergies, but that’s for another post.) We have a great nut-free bakery near our house, Nutphree’s (http://nutphrees.com/), but they only make cupcakes. We’ll just have to adorn them ourselves. So, I found these great cupcake toppers on etsy from TheBlissfulBaker http://etsy.com/listing/61949650/star-wars-cupcake-toppers-set-of-36. I even got to choose my characters, so I was sure we’d have Boba Fett for the birthday boy.

Next, the décor for the party. I thought shades of blue would work well for Star Wars, it is in outer space after all. Also it gives me some décor I can work with for future parties.

I started with Nod’s Wallpaper Letters to spell “Happy Birthday.” Then I added in our new felt and knit garlands. They come in tons of colors and look good strung en masse. I also included our paper blooms kit in blue. This also comes in lots of colors and adds some great texture at a reasonable price. I did some digging on pinterest and found this clever way to hang balloons, sans helium, on http://agirlandaboy.com/journal/archives/002791.html. Phew, now I don’t have to drive from the party store with a minivan full of unruly balloons!

Next we needed an activity for the party. So, I combined the “goodie bag” concept with the activity and opted for our Crafty Kraft Letters.

At $3.95 each, they’re the perfect price. And with just a few inexpensive art supplies each child will have a unique little gift to take home with them. I’m opting for foil, stickers (Star Wars of course) and markers (less clean up than glitter, glue and paint). Here are some more ideas for decorating our letters https://www.crateandbarrel.com/kids-blog/honest-to-nod/2012/02/try-this-decorated-kraft-paper-letters.html if you’re feeling a little more brave or dealing with a slightly older crowd.

Hopefully my interpretation of the galaxy far, far away meets Nathan’s standards. Though I’m pretty sure he won’t notice once he opens up his new Boba Fett costume. Luckily he’s still young enough to be easily distracted.

By Danielle Kurtz

Danielle is the Creative Director at Nod and an over-protective mother of two. She’s also completely obsessed with Pinterest, Twitter and her Kindle, but not necessarily in that order. Danielle loves to craft, sew and crochet, but all her supplies have a layer of dust on them about 5-years-thick, wonder if it's just a coincidence that her oldest kiddo is 5 years old?