My big boy Hugo turned six yesterday, and we had a soccer-themed birthday party for him at home on Sunday. Originally we were going to choose a park or play-centre to host the party due to the number of guests and the smallish size of our house, but for sentimental reasons we changed our minds and held it at home instead. This is the last kids party we’ll have in this house before we move and Hugo really wanted something at home, so I put my party-planning hat on again and tried to figure out how to have a soccer party when there’s not actually any room to play soccer.
So, with soccer balls and green grass spinning around in my head, the colour theme of black, white and green was a no-brainer, and quite the opposite of what I did for Harvey’s red, white and blue space party a month ago. Before the brain cogs really started turning on menu and decorations, I had to get the invitations out. I decided on the KISS principle – keep it simple, stupid! So I came up with these very simple double-sided soccer balls, folded across the top with a green insert:
Once the invitations were posted, I turned my attention to pulling together a menu and figured out how I wanted to present the party buffet table. Again, the decorations were very simple – some handcut double-sided soccer balls hanging from the downlights, some green, black and white balloons, and some revamped paper bunting originally purchased for Harvey’s party (I just added the lettering myself). I also cut out my own mini soccer balls to decorate some green lolly bags.
After looking into a few talented cookie and cupcake decorators and some magnificent cake makers, I decided on making my own. It was a cost issue more than anything, as well as a secret challenge to myself to see if I could actually pull off anything half-decent! But I was very happy with the result, even though it was rather time-consuming to make them myself (with my limited baking skills!)
Anyway, here’s how it all panned out….enjoy!
The cake! Made by me. 
One of the games we played was ‘Kick the Soccer Ball into the Goal’ (the soccer version of ‘Pin the Tail on the Donkey’). I simply purchased a stock photo illustration online and printed it on my home printer….viola! Instant party game.
One very happy birthday boy!
Best bargain buys for the day:
- Again, I was delighted with the fabric I found at Spotlight for around $6.99 per metre. I purchased the black with white polka dots for the front of the table, and the gorgeous green and white stripes for the top of the table. Both of these will be upcycled into something else too – probably plushies!
- The soccer ball foiled-wrapped chocolate balls were purchased from my local confectionery store for only $2.00 per bag of approx 15. Awesome.
- The green grass placemats were purchased on eBay, and I think they worked out much better than my original idea of using astro-turf from Bunnings (although, that would have looked cool too).
- My bunting was upcycled from the packet I already purchased for Harvey’s party – I just added the letters myself.
All-in-all, loads of fun and a nice little send-off to our lovely little house.
‘Til next time,
Sarah
Beautiful work on soccer theme even better use of things in making football, i have got some ideas for my kids room decoration from your post.
Thanks Soccer Jerseys!
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I love this party! You did such a fabulous job with every detail! I saw it on Facebook on Spaceships & Laser Beams. I'm your newest follower!xo,Laurie
Thanks so much Laurie!
) I had a ball creating it (pardon the cheesy pun…LOL)
How clever – your ideas connect so well to the soccer theme, are 'simple', but not dull and don't create huge amounts of landfill! Ten out of ten Mum!
Thankyou so much Anon!
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this is adorable! i am working on a soccer party, and this is such a help! curious what your sandwhich tray says and what is the plate in the back behind the sandwhiches full of?? thanks for some inspiration!
Hi Alison,Thankyou so much! I'm so happy you can find some inspiration in this blog post.The sandwiches label said: "Striker's Sandwiches" and the plate behind it up the back was pikelets with strawberry jam and fresh cream (or depending on where you're from – mini pancakes with strawberry jelly and fresh cream), and the label said "Player's Pikelets".Hope that helps! Have fun!
I love this idea and you did a fabulous job. I would love to use the cards.. did you make or purchase them?
LOVE love this. Where did you get the cards or did you make them? I would love to use this.. I have until January to get things together.
Hi there Schmitt Family Blog.I actually designed the invitations and the food placecards myself, and just printed them out on my home printer.Cheers, Sarah.
Hi Sarah,Just wanted to know which receipe you used to create the soccer cookies? I would love to re-create this. I love your ideas!ThanksME
Hi ME
)I can't remember exactly what recipe I used for the cookies, but I googled 'basic butter cookies' or something like that. It was a very basic recipe. The icing is store-bought fondant that I rolled flat, cut out with a round cookie cutter and handpainted with black food colouring (a black paste icing mixed with a dash of white spirits to make it runny – don't use water or else it won't dry. The spirits evaporates as soon as you paint it on). My local cake-making supplies shop was a wealth of information for this kind of stuff!Cheers, Sarah.
Do you have a recipe to share for the cookies and cupcakes? My son is also turning 6 and I just love, love, love your creativity!!! Thanks.
Hi Tara…thanks so much!For the cupcakes, I just used packet mixes with a basic butter frosting which I coloured green and piped on with a piping bag (to look sort of like grass! LOL). The soccer ball chocolates were from a local confectionery shop.Details for the cookies are in my reply to a comment above.
)So happy you like it. I had a lot of fun creating it.Cheers,Sarah
Hi Sarah – Love this! Super helpful as I am in the midst of planning my son's soccer-themed 5th birthday. I was planning on doing a similar cake — have several questions on yours:1. How many guests did the cake feed?2. What size pan did you use for the base?3. Did you use the Wilton soccer ball-shaped cake pan for the top or shape your own ball?4. Is that fondant you used to cover the ball? Did you piece together pieces of white and black fondant?So appreciate your feedback,Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth,Thanks for your comment. Regarding the cake…1. This cake fed about 30 people (kids and adults) but we had a quite a bit left over. I was concerned the half-soccer ball by itself wouldn't feed everyone, so I added the rectangular base underneath.2. I used a 26 x 26cm square pan for the base that was approx 8cm high, but I sliced the top off and made it slightly shorter. 3. I hired the soccer ball cake tin from a local cake-decorating shop, but I'm pretty sure it was the Wilton one from memory (the ball shape was approx 23cm wide).4. Yes, I used fondant icing to cover the ball. A great tip I got from the cake-decorating shop, was to press tin foil into the cake tin to make indentations in the foil, which I then cut out with scissors to create me my template shapes for the fondant icing pieces. It worked really well! Then I pieced all the different "puzzle pieces" in the same order as they were on the cake tin, so they all slotted together perfectly. You just need to create a buttercream icing "glue" beforehand to smooth over the cake so the fondant icing has something to stick to. I bought the fondant icing premade in packets from my local cake supplies place.Hope that helps.
) Good luck with your son's party!Cheers,Sarah
Adorable!! Where did you get the polka dot cups that the popcorn is in? The only ones I can find are quite a bit shorter than yours. And did you make the striped cupcake wrappers? Thanks!
Hi Katie,Thanks for your comment. I bought the polkadot cups and striped cupcake cases online from Complete Party Boxes. I am not sure where you're located, but I'm sure they'd ship internationally.Here's the links:http://www.completepartyboxes.com.au/store/pc/Black-Stripes-Baking-Cups-138p1350.htmhttp://www.completepartyboxes.com.au/store/pc/Polkadot-Black-on-White-Party-Cups-138p1432.htmHope that helps!Cheers,Sarah
Love your party – can you share the source for the field/goal for the "pin the ball" game?
Hi there. I just purchased a stock image from a stock image website, modified it slightly (using Photoshop) to the size I needed, and then printed it out on my home printer.Cheers,Sarah
This is all so wonderful. You are so very creative! We're throwing a soccer party for our soon-to-be-4-year-old son in a month and I love the food ideas. I made tags and all the decorations/games for our oldest son's Lego party in May, but it took some time. Do you have templates for the table tags and invites and, if so, would you be willing to share or sell them? It's worth my time not to make them this time around.
Hi Happee,Thanks so much for your lovely comments. Luckily, I AM actually getting the Soccer party printable files ready as we speak! Great timing.If you jump on and follow my facebook page or blog, I'll be sure to mention as soon as they are in my Etsy shop.https://www.facebook.com/crackersartCheers,Sarah
My range of soccer party printables is now available in my Etsy shop!http://www.etsy.com/shop/crackersart?section_id=11836418:o)
beautifully styled. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks so much Letty1973!
Beatiful party. I am interesting in the invitation you can help me how buy or how do it please?
Hi Caroline. Thanks for your compliments! You can find the whole soccer printables range in my shop here (including a listing for the invitation only):
http://www.etsy.com/shop/crackersart?section_id=11836418