13th Birthday Movie Night
We had SO much fun creating this fun and playful teen movie night party for an AMAZING thirteen year old and her group of friends! Our original plan was to have an outdoor movie night with lots of light up elements in a cozy courtyard at this family’s home, taking advantage of a built in movie screen, buffet area and modern fire table, but the weather just wasn’t cooperating and so we had to transition to an inside party. We changed a few things, but overall the decoration style created transformed the party space into a cohesive area that they teens could lounge in, watch their movie, play some fun party games and enjoy yummy treats! Check out more party details below.
The balloons were the first thing the guests saw when they walked into the party space. We used our custom made balloon backdrop stands and created garlands of black and white balloons in three different sizes, then added clusters of bright teal, yellow and hot pink made with 5” balloons. The custom vinyl was added to the stand in two layers and cut out with a Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine.
I have had my Silhouette Cameo for ten years now and still love using it. The software in easy to use and I like being able to create custom party elements without a lot of planning. In addition to the vinyl logo signs, I also created custom logo stickers (for the popcorn boxes and water bottles) and favor tags for this event with the cutting machine. If you are interested in creating amazing party elements or craft projects, I would highly recommend getting one of these machines. Our blog is full of posts about projects we’ve created with them.
The initial party plan was to create a big fringe wall with all the fun colorful fringe, but when we had to change the plan, I wasn’t sure I would be able to utilize all the material, but I feel like the this ended up just as fun. We love working with Glam Fete by Bri and she will do custom orders in many different sizes and colors. I have made my own fringe garlands with vinyl tablecloths, but have found it a challenge to find the exact colors and know that it takes quite a bit of time to do. It is mindless and easy crafting if you have time to make them and binge a show, but so far my homemade ones haven’t turned out quite as nice. This party is a combination of both.
To make my own, I cut vinyl rectangle party tablecloths into 1 1/2” strips and then loop tie them around a piece of heavy twine. I leave the colors in clusters of varied sizes and then trim all the ends once they are complete. Some of the really cheap tablecloths have to be handled carefully because the vinyl can easily pull out of shape.
There was an amazing dessert spread created by the birthday girl’s Mom & Grandma that included Crumbl cookies, mimi Krispy Kreme donuts, mini cheesecake bites, mini milkshakes and decorated chocolate covered strawberries. The guest enjoyed this fun selection of small desserts so they could sample several. We loved playing around with different ways to present them on the dessert buffet with light up elements.
Some of the movie themed decor elements were from our own movie themed space including the metal movie camera, clap board, popcorn signs, the large movie reels that came from Ballard Design years ago and the BRAVO light up sign from PB Kids a few seasons back. I also added a few of the letter boards with personalized messages and loved that they lit up along with all the neon stars that we added.
The family had their own popcorn machine so we did not need to supply this one. Popcorn with different flavorings are essential for movie night!
The space we used to set up the party had nice, neutral decor and so we added the bright fringe pops and then a collection of black and white throw pillows to what they already had and it looked awesome! Each guest got to use and then take home bright colored plush blanket. We made custom tags with a birthday logo for the blankets. The logo was created in Canva and then I used the Silhouette Cameo design studio and print & cut feature to create and cut the custom tags on card stock.
The black bats were not part of the party plan, but their seasonal decorations, but as we were decorating we thought they looked kind of fun with the rest of the decor and left them for a fun flair of the season.
The Photo Booth backdrop. We took over a small study just off the party room and turned into a photo booth with a large backdrop with black and white curtains, lots of fringe and the “13” balloons. I use a inexpensive ring light and provide a basket of props for the guests to get silly with while they are using the photo booth.
I used the party logo and my Silhouette Cameo electronic cutter to create custom stickers for the water bottles and popcorn boxes. For these I prefer to work with printable matte vinyl so that it will not bleed if is gets wet and the stickers end up very durable, even holding up to dishwasher when they are on water bottles.
With the pivot to an indoor party, the chandelier fringe was a bit of a last minute plan. I created some homemade fringe with plastic tablecloths in the color scheme of the party. I tied this around their chandelier and then added a mini balloon garland on top to complete the feature. It helped make the dessert table the focal point and break up the room a little as well.
The custom logo was created with the Silhouette cameo electronic cutting machine. I used two colors layered over one another to complete this design.