birthdays

For Gigi's birthday this year, she requested a soccer birthday party. My kids have played soccer for a few years, but they really got into it this past fall. It is so fun watching them bloom into little athletes and I was excited she picked a sports theme this year. In the past, she's gone for much girlier themes. We did ballet one year, and unicorns another year, so this was a fun change. DIY Soccer Birthday Party Decorations For this birthday party, I partnered with Cricut (video here) to create some of the birthday elements from scratch. I decided to make custom birthday t-shirts, a soccer themed party banner with her name on it, and I also made little soccer birthday gift tags for the goodie bags. If you haven't used a Cricut before, it's definitely a fun way to create unique and custom elements for your parties or home decor. There are so many things you can do with them. Mostly, I like to create custom t-shirts and clothes, but it's also really easy to make paper goods and other decorative elements. I've worked with Cricut a few times, here's a link to the other projects I've made. Using the Cricut Design Space makes it so easy to make custom elements. For the sign, I used a soccer ball template they had in their search bar when I searched soccer birthday. I added Gigi's name and decided to have the sign say "Gigi is 9". You can customize it to say whatever you want. Then, I used the smart cardstock, which has a sticky back and acts like a thick cardstock sticker. I love using the smart materials because they make printing so much easier. Also, I used the cardstock to make the Thank You gift tags, well, specifically the soccer balls. I also found the gift tag template right in the design space. For the base of the tags, I used glitter cardstock and white sticker cardstock for the soccer balls. I have the Cricut Maker 3 and the Cricut Joy. Plus, I used Maker 3 since I was working on larger projects for this soccer party. Soccer Party Supplies Although I did make some of the elements for the party, I didn't have the time or energy to make all of it myself. I decided to buy some of the soccer party decorations, even though I could have made on the Cricut to save time. Busy moms need to find shortcuts. Sometimes, that means shopping on Amazon for your soccer theme birthday party. Although the Cricut is easy to use, it can still be time-consuming to design and print everything yourself. I find it fun and relaxing to do a few of the pieces, but also like to mix in things I've purchased myself. For this soccer theme party, I purchased a happy birthday banner set, soccer balloons (they have multiple ages), soccer plates and napkins, soccer ball lanterns, and soccer ball gift bags. For the gift bags, I bought several items, including these chocolate soccer balls, soccer ball pens, and other candies and toys. Soccer Birthday Cake I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the cake. My favorite cake shop does printable images and also more elaborate fondant cakes. I decided to keep it pretty simple by choosing a soccer field. Then, I bought these goals and ball set along with this cake topper and these candles. They also added a cute plaque with her name on the front of the cake. It was a pretty simple design and I think I could have actually done it myself. But, this is another example of a time-saver. I prefer to spend the $60+ on a custom cake than to make it myself because there are so many things that could go wrong if I made it myself. Soccer Birthday T-Shirts To make the custom soccer t-shirts, I used my Maker 3 along with the Glitter smart iron on. I used the Cricut Design studio for all elements of the t-shirt. Making custom t-shirts is really so simple, so I hope you'll give it a try! Overall, I'm so happy with how Gigi's soccer birthday turned out. I hope these soccer party ideas are helpful for you when you're planning your next party. If you're looking for other birthday content, here's Gigi's 3rd birthday, her zoo-themed 2nd birthday, her unicorn-themed 5th birthday, and her first birthday.

birthdays

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