The party was a success; the children arrived like a swarm of locusts with the parents squealing out of the driveway happy for 2 hours of freedom. They bounced in the rented bounce house, tattled on each other, ate sandwiches, candy and cake, there were some tears and laughter, and someone got a wedgie.
Games: Mr. Freeze froze Batman and Robin, so the kids had to save them by melting the ice with water guns. I borrowed this from our Ben 10 party. The game was a huge hit;
Batman buckets - I taped images I found on Google to our Bozo buckets game. Easy! I wanted to use Liz's idea of making villain bean bags, but I ran out of time.
The cake.This one was a sleeper...I thought it would be easy, so I waited until the last minute to make it. I had a Wilton 3-D car pan and my plan was to cover it with fondant and put wings on the back, but then my husband claimed that was not the Batmobile. The Batmobile is a long car with red pinstripes from the 60's, not "the movie" one was making. I had to piece in pound cake to the front and back which made it all bumpy and weird. At 11 p.m. I ran out of fondant and the stores opened at 10 the next day (the party was at 12). I took a deep breath and peeled the fondant off and started mixing frosting, but realized that my black frosting color was dry. I can't believe I didn't heave the cake across the room. I put it aside and waited until the next morning. See, I am making excuses for why it looked like this;
It's from the 60's, so the body needs some repairs. I hope this isn't cake wreck worthy. It's o.k., but I am a bit of a perfectionist and I wasn't happy with how it turned out. I do like the flames out the back, which was rock candy on a stick. Black frosting or fondant is gross, so I had a cake to serve, which was a bakery cake I decorated with the Bat signal made from fondant:
Tears because he is too young to realize why there are no presents for him.
I've mentioned this before; I love making treat bags. I sewed these last minute and crazy stitched them, but it's the thought that counts, right?
The tags are supposed to resemble the "Pow" from the Batman show and I used a Word shape, enlarged it and added text and filled with color. The kids probably didn't notice them, but I thought the tags looked cute. Inside was a coloring book I found on clearance, Batman PEZ, airplane, Batman fruit chews and sucker.
I say this every time, but I have to remember to scale these parties down. It overwhelms my kids to have a tent and bounce house in their backyard with kids running around. My vision of a Mary Poppin's party is shattered when my kids start acting obnoxious because they can't handle the excitement. This is our third kid party, so we are still in the learning phase of this, but chances are good I will overdo the next one.
Favorite gift; a bug vacuum. If you know a child who loves bugs, buy them this toy. I didn't buy it for my son because I was afraid it would harm the bugs when they were vacuumed, but it's very gentle and has a chamber with a magnifying glass on top so they can look at the bug and then release it. The toy hasn't left his side; he slept with it the first night, which is strange, but cute.
The end.
What a GREAT job Anne! The tags on the bags (nicely sewn btw) are the coolest. The cake looks great and tastes better than Ace of Cakes could have done it, I'm sure!!!
So so so great. I'm stealing much of this for our Star Wars party that I keep putting off.
Posted by: Paper Dolls for Boys | July 14, 2009 at 08:59 AM
Wow. You make it look easy. I have two boys too and I've never attempted a homemade party out of complete fear. How brave you are! You've inspired me though. My oldest is turning six this October...I'll keep you posted.
Posted by: Katrina | July 14, 2009 at 09:19 AM
Dang lady! That is a fantastic party you put together. I a super impressed with ALL of it. That cake was awesome. AWSOME.
Posted by: Crystal | July 14, 2009 at 09:54 AM
Well, I love your party. It's adorable! Including the cakes. I've done a few homemade parties (two slip-n-slide parties, one pool party, one dinosaur party, and one camping party). They are so cute, but so stressful. This summer, we're going to the beach with both sets of grandparents for my 9 yr olds bday. It was his idea, actually. For his last 2 parties we've taken a couple of his best friends to a water park. Just as expensive, but way less stressful for me. You're a good mama.
Posted by: Lia | July 14, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Those treat bags are hella cute!!!
Way to go lady! Good work. :)
Posted by: Janet | July 14, 2009 at 10:55 AM
The party looked great! I love the batman and robin frozen in ice. and the treat bags look so awesome
Posted by: Casey | July 14, 2009 at 10:59 AM
SO RAD! And you're nuts, that Batmobile cake is a masterpiece. Dash only wishes he could get something like that out of me. And consider your ice block idea stolen.
Posted by: Liz | July 14, 2009 at 12:10 PM
Looks GREAT! I think you're a champion party planner. The cakes are amazing (both of them!) and the tags look right out of the comic! *applause*
Posted by: Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom | July 14, 2009 at 12:29 PM
I think your cakes looks amazing! What a fun party, the ice blocks are such a great idea! I'll be linking to this if you don't mind.
Posted by: Rachel | July 14, 2009 at 02:31 PM
You so ROCK! Everything looked great! I thought the Batmobile was awesome! And your treat bags....Awesome! You are so creative!
Do tell, where do you find a bug vacuum? I have a niece and nephew that would love something like that!
Posted by: loretta | July 14, 2009 at 07:11 PM
That picture of E is heart breaking, and precious. Always over do the parties.
Posted by: Laura | July 15, 2009 at 03:10 PM
wow. that is one impressive party. i adore those name tags on the treat bags. so great. the tent crying shot is classic - it wouldn't be a party if at least one kid wasn't crying...
Posted by: sarah | July 16, 2009 at 10:09 AM
Are you kidding? There is NO way I would turn you into cakewrecks. That thing is awesome. And I bet every kid totally got the POW allusion immediately. They are born with that knowledge.
Posted by: Visty | July 16, 2009 at 10:19 AM
WOW!
Wish I could make party's like you!!
This must have been such a hit.
Have a great weekend :)
Posted by: Hege | July 17, 2009 at 12:52 AM
I love this post! As a mom of three boys who has also tried her hand at homemade parties, I can relate all too well. This looked awesome! Love the details, love the Mr. Freeze game, love it all :)!!!
Posted by: Sandra | July 22, 2009 at 01:02 PM
That is so cool i love batman is the best he always catch the joker . he is bad the joker always try to kill every one im not sure why the is psychotic but he hates batman and he always will try to kill him.
Posted by: Buy Viagra | July 16, 2010 at 11:50 AM
We all know how Batman is appealing to the children nowadays. Especially with boys who are fun of watching not only his series in cartoons, but also his movies. Many children portray him because they idolized him. It would be really fun to set Batman as a theme for a certain party for your child.
Posted by: Party Bags | December 16, 2010 at 08:22 PM
This is terrific--thanks for all the great ideas. My son wants a Batman birthday party and I'm trying to plan it out. I love the Mr. Freeze game!
Posted by: Jennifer Young | August 30, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Great ideas. I used your Mr. Freeze game for my son's birthday party. You can see it here:
http://laurascraftylife.blogspot.com/2011/11/lego-batman-party.html
Posted by: Laura | November 05, 2011 at 12:08 AM