Willy Wonka Birthday Party
If there is one thing Jensen loves, it’s candy. If there is one thing this Momma loves, it’s throwing a party with a great theme. Willy Wonka was the perfect opportunity for a colorful, fun, and super sweet party!
We have watched the original Willy Wonka many times and Jensen was very familiar with the characters. He wanted to dress up as Charlie Bucket and have his brother Davis play Willy Wonka. Luckily for us, Erin’s kids LOVE a good reason to dress up and get into character so they came as Veruca Salt (Clara), Violet Beauregarde (Janie), Mike TV (Erin’s niece Taylor), and an Oompa Loompa (Callen). The full cast was set and ready to party!
Adorable cast of Willy Wonka
The fun with this party started with the invitation. I believe the invite is one of the most essential elements to a Willy Wonka party and I knew I had to get it right. I took large Hershey bars and wrapped golden tickets with the party info on them, then finished off the look with a “Wonka Bar” chocolate wrapper. This was our best attended birthday party and I think that was largely based on setting the tone of the party with the invite.
Wonka birthday invitation
We intended to have an outdoor movie night to show the original Willy Wonka movie as a party element, but unfortunately it started to rain. We had tons of fun activities associated with the party, so we didn’t miss getting to watch the movie because it was brought to life during the party.
Before being allowed into The Chocolate Factory, all of the kids lined up behind red stanchions that Erin made for Clara’s Hollywood party. It was the perfect touch. Willy himself came out, did a somersault, and invited the guests into a world of pure imagination. As they walked to the front door they passed a garden of lollipops and candy canes that we made out of pool noodles, white duct tape, cellophane, and ribbon (for the lollipops). We used the lollipops and candy canes throughout the house to help set the candy scene.
Once the kids walked in they were instantly greeted by “Bill’s Candy Shop” from the movie. This was a fun set up of scrumdidlyumptious bars (Hershey chocolate bars inside wrapper) and Wonka fudge mallow bars (moon pies inside the wrapper). There are lots of different prints available on Etsy for these items, but I liked these the best. I also included Wonka brand candies on display, including Gobstoppers, Laffy Taffy, and Nerds. Other candy in the shop included Pop Rocks, Fun Dip, Red Vines, gumballs in a gumball machine, candy necklaces, Starbursts, saltwater taffy, and a candy chain garland. For the sake of time and my sanity, I purchased the “Candy” and the paper candies cut out banners from Etsy. This party was ALL about candy - tons and tons of it! From the moment of its inception, there was no holding back on candy. The party was a free-for-all for the guests, as it should be when visiting Willy Wonka’s factory!
Also in the entryway were stacked Willy Wonka chocolate boxes. I ordered the blank boxes online and found a Willy Wonka svg stencil file on Etsy. I used my Brother Scan and Cut cutting machine to cut out the stencil. I then taped the stencil to the box and spray painted the lettering on each box. It’s okay if they don’t look perfect and have some over spray. This is how they look in the movie. The boxes have come in handy now storing these decorations in our garage.
Once through the entryway, all guests had an opportunity to take a taste of the lickable wall paper. It was a fun touch, but admittedly kinda gross by the end of the party. I would do it again for the fun factor. I used mega sized candy buttons.
From there, guests were fully immersed into The Chocolate Factory. There was a station set up for each of the main characters’ scenes (Veruca, Willy, Augustus, Mike TV, and Violet) with an activity and photo op.
Augustus Gloop’s scene with the chocolate river was the inspiration for our primary candy display and, of course, we had to have a chocolate fountain. I spray painted battery-operated light-up letters to spell out “WONKA” as the centerpiece. My husband spray painted some cardboard to look like rolling hills. At the base, as a tablecloth, I used 4 yards of green felt to look like grass. I cut the felt with pinking sheers to make the fabric edge look deliberate. I then set up a candy bar with every type of candy you can imagine from lemon heads to wax soda candy. Also on the bar were some moss balls, handmade mushrooms that I made out of styrofoam balls, cones, felt, and spray paint. I purchased the paper lollipops on Etsy and the kids made some clay everlasting gobstoppers and mushrooms that we sprinkled in for added color. Nearly all of the candy was purchased through either Oriental Trading Company or Amazon.
As far as candy containers, I have collected glass jars and bowls over the years. I did pick up a few extra plastic ones from Party City to accommodate all the candy. They are fairly inexpensive, but are definitely only good for a few uses (unlike glass, which will last). A tip - ask friends and family if they have containers you could borrow. I had empty treat bags available for the guests to fill up their own stash of candy to take home. The candy bags were the goodie bags for this party. I didn’t supply any extra take home gifts. They just collected candy and treats throughout the night.
We started the activities by allowing the kids to get treats by punching Violet Beauregards big blueberry belly (that sounds a bit violent in retrospect). The kids took turns and got fun non-candy prizes like bracelets, shark water squirters, and candy flavored lip balm. I made the belly with a big spray painted piece of cardboard, blue and red paper cups that I hot glued to the cardboard. I put prizes inside the cups and then covered each one with tissue paper held on with a rubber band. I patterned them in a way to look like Violet’s belly and cut out paper buttons and a buckle. I tied it all together with a red ribbon belt.
For the Veruca Salt activity, I had a golden egg display that asked the kids if they were “good eggs” or “bad eggs.” Each kid got to pick an egg to find out into which category they fell. The good eggs had a yummy piece of chocolate in them and the bad eggs got a chunk of black licorice (cause, gross!). It was fun for the kids to get to see what kind of egg they were. There were lots of laughs and tons of black licorice discarded all over my house because the bad egg kids didn’t want anything to do with it. Kinda proving the point that they were, in fact, bad eggs (kidding!).
I found the golden eggs on Amazon, a yard of purple crushed velvet at JoAnn fabrics, and the paper sign and props for good egg/bad egg from Etsy. It’s hard to see in the picture, the mini lightbox said “Are you a good egg bad egg?” The lightbox kit didn’t come with enough “g’s” so I have to get creative and use some upside down 9’s.
Mike TV was a photo booth prop. My husband Shane came up with the idea to make a cardboard box shaped like an old TV. He then covered the back in black fabric and placed the TV on the console table behind the couch. The guests then stuck their heads into the TV from the couch and it gave the visual effect that they were on TV. I had cowboy hats, play guns, a Wonka bar prop, a white sweatshirt that I put orange stripes on with duct tape and dark, white rimmed glasses. We have tons of amazing pictures of guests taking their turn being on TV. So. Much. Fun!
On the topic of Shane’s creations, he also made a small glass elevator that hung from the ceiling as if it was in flight. With everything Shane does, you can expect details. If you look closely you can see the elevator buttons are lit up. It was a fun prop for people to take pictures with.
Willy Wonka glass elevator
We couldn’t forget Charlie Bucket! Out on our deck we hung 4 yards of black fabric and cut out a hole for a bubble machine. We then spray painted two wooden garden trellises grey so it looked like the fizzy drink room in the movie. We had a small child’s trampoline and had the kids jump up for a photo to look as if they were floating high on carbonation just like in the movie. We served fizzy lifting drinks, which were actually Sprite with a printable from Etsy. This was an extremely fun activity, but fair warning, it gets super slippery with all the bubbles!!
On the gift table, we also had more candy, an Oompa Loompa made out of green/orange jelly beans glued to a foam ball, and the birthday cupcakes. I found the most adorable cupcake toppers on Etsy and Willy Wonka cupcake wrappers. A nice touch was adding in some greenery, lollipops, and brightly-colored rainbow plates. I hand made the “Happy Birthday” banner using my Brother Scan and Cut cutting machine.
The “5” pinata was filled to the brim with travel sized tooth brushes, adorable mini tooth shaped dental floss, and toothpaste. It was so much fun to watch the kids anxiously await the final hit to burst open the pinata, only to see that the prize was dental hygiene products. Unfortunately, we didn’t get pictures of this activity. Huge miss on our part because it was absolutely hilarious. I highly recommend!
Aside from the activity decorations, we had a few extra elements sprinkled in. Big hits included blowup gummy bears and giant homemade hard candies, sixlets, candy canes, and lollipops. I also found some vinyl candy stickers that I placed on the floor in the party area. Most of these items we made ourselves. The sixlets are simply ball pit balls wrapped up in cellophane and ribbon. The hard candies are paper plates we painted, wrapped in cellophane, and tied with bows. For the candy canes and lollipops, we used pool noodles and white duct tape. I also purchased a few paper lollipops from a great store on Etsy.
I love a great photo booth prop, so we had a handful of fun props scattered around the party room for people to take a photo whenever they felt inspired. I love the look of large bright balloons kicking around the floor at our parties, but beware, they can be slightly destructive in the hands of an overly excited, sugar-pumped child. Over the fireplace, I used my cutting machine and cut out the words “A World Of Pure Imagination” to create a bold focal point and photo op station. Erin is a master banner maker and contributed the adorable “Wonka” banner that she made with her cutting machine and svg that we hung from the mantle. It all came together beautifully!
This was definitely my family’s most detail-oriented and creative party to date. I am truly proud of what we accomplished and, at the end of the day, we got to celebrate Jensen turning five in the sweetest way possible!
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