Dallin's Despicable Me Birthday Party!

What a fun and easy party to do - gotta LOVE the MINIONS!

Dallin's birthday was way back in June but with so much going on I didn't have his party until July 23.  

Dallin turned 12 this year - so he is getting too old (so he tells me) for all the "cute" stuff I try to do for parties.  So I didn't do all I wanted to - which was good too because I really didn't have time for more (which makes me sad).

We took the kids to see Despicable Me 2 and they all LOVED it so when my sister-in-law mentioned she was going to do a Despicable Me party for her son (same age as Dallin), I knew it would be perfect for Dallin (thanks for the idea Mitchell).

Dallin just likes to swim at his parties - which also make his parties much easier - no games to plan, just food and something for the boys to take home (which is hard since they are 12). If you want to see the invitation, go HERE.

Here is the cake I made!  I think it turned out super cute - but if I had to do it again, I would make 6" cakes instead of the 8.5" cakes.  This cake has 4 8.5" rounds (with wooden dowels and a cardboard cake plate) and a dome cake on top (which I made from a soccer cake pan).  Everything is made out of fondant, except the black stripe which is made out of a sugar sheet.  I also wish I had made the goggle and eye a LOT BIGGER - but at 3:30 in the morning, when I realized it wasn't big enough, I was TOO TIRED to fix it!

 SHRUNKEN MOONS - marshmallows dipped in chocolate and sprinkles

 I saw these MINION CUPS on Pinterest and had to use them - but I thought they would be a waste to use on drinks so I put chips in them.  They are so easy to make - put black ribbon around them (used glue sticks to get them to stick) and then googly eye(s).  LOVE them!

 Love my cake - even though by the time the party started it was somehow crushing itself - even though I used wooden dowels and everything - oh well.

 This cake was a lot of work so you get to see lots of pictures of it - but totally worth it when Dallin saw it in the morning - his jaw dropped!

 Here is the whole dessert and go-home treat lay-out.

 The boys each got a SHRINK RAY.

 I tried finding a quote from the movie about SHRINK RAYs - this is the only one I could find - it is my kids favorite quote (this quote is from the first movie).

 McDonald's toys getting put to good use on my table.

 I had a hard time figuring out what to give the boys to take home - 12 year old boys are a lot harder than younger boys.  Since in Despicable Me 2 they make Jelly (if you haven't seen the movie, see it - it was fun), I thought I would just put some of Dallin's favorite treats in a JELLY JAR (mason jar).  First I put in a small PURPLE GATORADE, then 1/2 cup of SKITTLES, and then 8 small CRUNCH BARS.  I put a MINION EYE on top of the jar and attached a tag that said "Eat JELLY you purple freaks!" on one side (a quote from the second movie).  On the other side was a tag that said "Thanks for coming to my party! - Dallin".  I think they turned out cute!

 The eye I cut out was the same eye I put on some yellow balloons (keep going - I have pictures).

 SHRINK RAYS - pretzel rods dipped in chocolate

 MINION PUSH POPS - I found these adorable push-pop wraps for free HERE and had to use them since I had push-pops (which you can now buy at Wal-Mart along with this stand).  I didn't want to make more cake to put in them and wanted to use "Twinkies" so I just slid a Twinkie in each one - worked GREAT!

 How cute are these!

 More pictures of the cake!

  These bags were so EASY!  I cut out all the pieces on my Silhouette and I found the bags at the party store (Zurchers and Partyland both had them).  I put popcorn in the bags and had a couple of flavorings for the kids to put on them (found them at Wal-mart) and some candy to put in them - a mini POPCORN BAR (would be really fun if watching the movie - which I thought about having them do while swimming but it doesn't get dark until after 9:00).

 Here are the balloons - so glad the helium shortage ended (or at least my party store got enough to not limit the number of balloons you can get any more).  I bought the pdf on Etsy HERE for under $5, printed the goggles/eyes and spray glued them onto yellow balloons.

 Somehow, with the help of my mom and sister, we were ready for the party on time - even with getting STAPLES put in Matthew's head - yep, that was on the same day as Dallin's birthday party - that is why I stay up late getting things as ready as possible, just in case.  

The boys just swam and played and ate at the party.  I think they all had a great time!

 

 The birthday boy and his cake!  Love this kid!

 He got fireworks from one friend and had a great time letting them off!

 This present was clever - he got a roll of toilet paper and as he un-rolled it, 10 one dollar bills came out.  The boys all loved it.

 After eating and presents, there was more swimming!

I LOVE throwing parties and I LOVE how happy it makes my kids!