Mario/Sonic -8yr- Pin Mustach on Mario

Super Mario Bros. & Sonic the Hedgehog  For my son's eighth birthday, we created a party that included an obstacle course, paper mâché green pipes, mushrooms and a giant piranha plant!

INVITATIONS:  We made invitations that looked like a nintendo ds out of card stock and featuring a Super Mario Bros. screen shot with the party info. I found one someone made online and just copied that.

DECORATIONS:  Because Super Mario Bros. party supplies are hard to find and likewise expensive, I was glad we had Sonic included because the tableware is available at our local party store. I bought Sonic cups and napkins plus some Sonic goodies for the piñata.  I found Mario candy at the dollar store! The piñata was a paper mâché box painted yellow with a glittered gold question mark that we made together. All the goodies were inside just like in the game. I wanted to create a scene like in the video game, but on a larger scale, so I began collecting large sized cardboard boxes from Costco etc. I rolled three large flat pieces of cardboard into the shape of the pipes & hot glued them shut. I rolled three longer cardboard strips, slightly larger in diameter to make the caps, then secured those the same way and taped a round cardboard piece on top each one.

I used one layer of paper mâché to smooth out the surface of the pipes and after that dried, I painted them all green with a black circle on top to look like inside the pipe. They are three and four feet tall! The one pipe that was much wider out of three eventually became a giant piranha plant when I added a bamboo stake through the center (which would later secure it to the ground). I used the cardboard tube from an old wrapping paper roll to cover the part of the bamboo that came through the hole in the pipe &  painted it green also. The piranha plant head was the tricky part. I used a punch ball blown up really large and paper mâché. After it dried, I folded in part of it for the mouth, packed it with paper towels and plastic bags and inserted a cardboard shaped mouth secured with hot glue. Then another layer of paper mâché was used and it was painted red. I made the mouth and the spots out of felt and just stuck it right through the middle with the bamboo stake!

The arms were a coat hanger wrapped around the pipe and covered in green felt. The same rolled cardboard idea was done on a smaller scale, where I made eight different sized  paper mâché mushrooms in red, green, blue and yellow. I covered the white stems with clear glitter, and the caps (paper mâché balloons) were painted and glittered with matching colors. I used white felt again for the spots and just painted two black lines for eyes. They were so glittery in the sunshine, they were amazing! I placed them around the pipes near our obstacle course and on the buffet table.

PARTY SNACKS/CAKE:  Mario inspired Italian food PIZZA! I also made a basic Italian salad. No Mario party is complete without those adorable mushroom cupcakes so I made a billion of those. The cupcake tower was borrowed from my friend whose husband is a dear and built it out of white wood three different sized diameters wooden circles. With two metal pipes and round brackets painted white making the tiers. It's gigantic! It holds around forty-eight cupcakes. I bought big PVC  figures of Mario, Yoshi & Sonic and had those on the top center of the mushroom cupcake tower. Granny made chocolate mustache lollipops which I stuck in styrofoam inside a small blue tin bucket. 

Costumes: When each guest arrived, they were given a fake mustache like Mario and Luigi. The hats were too expensive to buy thirty so I borrowed a friend's Halloween costume from the year before I remembered her twins went as Mario and Luigi. The kids were able to share the costumes throughout the party. I also bought paper Sonic masks so they could form teams.

ACTIVITIES: pin the mustache on Mario, pinata & the obstacle course!  I rented a blow up obstacle course for the backyard. It was more expensive than a bounce house but, I had the party on a Sunday so I got ten dollars off! That took up the whole backyard, other than the tables and floor room, so the REAL" obstacle course was in the front yard.

Boy did our party look fun from the curb!!!!! My husband used tent stakes to secure the paper mâché pipes to the grass. I ordered three Goomba stuffed toys off eBay. The idea was for the kids to run around the pipes and piranha plant then throw those squishy balls from the dollar store (bought orange and yellow to resemble fire balls) to knock the Goombas (bad guys) off of the pipes. I blew up thirty brown balloons and drew Goombas faces they had to sit and pop the Goombas. I strung some white balloons with Boo faces drawn on them and the kids had to walk backwards through that part.  

The final part of the obstacle course was to catch Bowser (my poor husband LOL) who was wearing a bowser paper mâché shell on his back & the kids threw the fire balls at him. We set up the game Marble Run on a table & I made a sign that said "Sonic Marble Run".  Because he rolls up in the game and goes fast.  Of course we also had Mario games playing on wii throughout the party!Lastly the tables were decorated with red cloth tablecloths the paper mâché mushrooms and of course chocolate coins and green easter eggs paited with white spots for Yoshi eggs! I also bought a giant number "8" helium balloon which I just love for party pictures showing his year in the scrapbook!

FAVORS:  I ordered two months ahead ($2 each off of Ebay) thirty soft Yoshi toy. Each child got one to take home. I hope my ideas help! It is fun to make the piñata etc with your kids. They love the family time with you and helping with the party process. Use your imagination and Go BIG! Good Luck!!!!"