What better way to kick off an epic Hobbit party than with Bilbo's famous round door?
(Funnily enough, little Niamh actually wanted a Gollum-themed party, but her mom was afraid of terrifying all the other kids. Ha! Good call, Nikki!)
The kids got to wear flip-flop Hobbit feet:
Hee!
And they were given bubble wand "Sting" swords and bubble pipes to blow on:
The party was held in a back yard decorated with pennants, maps of Middle Earth, and hanging lanterns:
Check out the cake: Smaug sitting on a pile of gold!
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And thanks to a sparkler, Smaug even breathed fire!
Also on the dessert table: branches hung with the captured Dwarves of Mirkwood Forest (remember the giant spiders?):
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Of course, THIS spider silk was actually cotton candy.
(Admit it: you wish you were at this party as much as I do.)
Dinner was served in the Green Dragon, of course, where the kids drank (Ginger) Ale and (Root) Beer and feasted on a whole smorgasbord of Hobbit-themed treats - each carefully prepared and labeled by Nikki herself.
Then for activities, Nikki handed out kid-friendly replicas of Thror's map:
Each location had special "moon rune" instructions that only showed under a black light(!!):
In this case, it was "Defeat Smaug" - the pinata, that is!
The birthday girl wore a sweet rhinestone-edged Hobbit door on her birthday dress - also handcrafted by her mom Nikki:
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(She's holding one of the bubble wand swords.)
Believe it or not, I've only scratched the surface on this party, though: there were also glowing "Light of Earendil" necklaces to find and giant spider webs made of tape to conquer and One Ring napkin rings and Ring Pops and lots and LOTS more food and... phew! You really should just head over to Nikki's blog, tikkido, to check it all out. (That link goes to part one, so don't miss part two!)
Oooh, PLUS, Nikki has been busy posting tutorials for just about everything she did and made for the party, from the Smaug pinata to the Hobbit door ice cream sandwiches. So basically her blog is a DIY dream right now. (And I think I need an excuse to make some of those invitations!)
Thanks so much for sharing the fun, Nikki! Oh, and be sure to let us know what you do for Niamh's FIFTH birthday, k? (May I suggest...The Fifth Element? PRETTY PLEASE?!)
I've been waiting to see if she posts a tutorial for hobbit feet flip flops.What an amazing party!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post that tutorial this week! I just need to take one more critical picture that shows my work-around for a problem I encountered with my original concept. But definitely this week!
DeleteI love this party so much!
ReplyDeleteParenting win!
ReplyDeleteAmazing!!!! Those invites -- my preciousssss!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! I love some of the details in this party (hobbit flip-flops and napkin ring to rule them all for example). However, I mean no disrespect by this - but this party looks like it took way too much time and effort. My husband is a huge LOTR fan and he wouldn't do all of this for a birthday party. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Nikki mentions in her post that this was a party she'd been waiting her whole life to create, so I suspect she did it as much for herself as for her daughter. :) It really shows that she had fun making everything, too, so I don't think she considered it "work."
DeleteFair enough Jen. She clearly did have fun making everything. I think if this was a yearly birthday party, it would seem extreme. However, you said she was "waiting her whole life" to create this - so I think it's validated! Rock on to her - us lesser mortals couldn't have created such a killer party!
DeleteYeah, I totally did this for myself, too. ;-) I love creating elaborate, involved, craft-filled parties, and I'm obsessed with doing most of it myself in large part to save money. But I would like to state, for the record, that my kids would love a Chuck E Cheese party *just* as much, and I think any birthday celebration, no matter how small, is equally awesome. I just happen to enjoy whole detailed, over-the-top party planning thing for myself!
DeleteWow! That must have been one long-expected party! Way to go Nikki!
ReplyDeleteMy parents always pulled off detailed theme parties when I was a kid, but I didn't develop my love of Tolkien until high school. Now, I must admit, I am jealous of this 4 year old.
*DIES* Wow. My 5 year old has yet to be introduced to the works of Tolkein because liek someone else mentioned, I didn't appreciate it until I was an adult.
ReplyDeleteHeck, I may just throw myself an adult birthday party like this!
This is amazing and wonderful and I'm sure Niamh had an amazing time, but I'm a little sad that she didn't get her Gollum themed party instead. I'll just have to plan one now.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, she lives in Phoenix, near me. I need to be friends with this woman!!
ReplyDeleteCome on over, Tori! I'd love to make new friends. I'm in Gilbert. What part of town are you in? Email me at (myfirstname) AT tikkido DOT com.
DeleteFor my 54th birthday in November, can I have a Fifth Element party?
ReplyDeleteThe details of this party are amazing, really, I hope the kids and parents all appreciated the effort.
OH! I just made a hobbit door card too! :) For my cousin's graduation. She would've loved this party!
ReplyDeletehttp://theorangecoffeecup.blogspot.com/2013/06/lord-of-rings-inspired-graduation-gifts.html
So awesome!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. What a lucky little girl.
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing, and it looks like it could all be done on a fairly small budget. I hope that when my little girl wants something special for her birthday parties, that I'll be able to come up with something as awesome as this!
ReplyDeleteCan she host my next birthday party!?
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the pictures from my boys best friends party. His parent's are amazing at things like this. This year the party was actually Hobbit themed. They'd picked up one of the store movie displays and created a doorway with it so the kids could take pictures. His mom made cloaks for all the kids with matching beards or crowns with elf ears. The invites were written like an adventure contract and the kids had their names put on their swords at the door in script. The dad dressed up as Gandalf. They had a room with "treasure (cloth bags of candy) in front of a huge cardboard Smaug. His eye was glowing and they had a recording of snoring playing. The kids had a blast.
ReplyDeleteLast year was Harry Potter. She made "butter beer- a caramel flavored drink, and chocolate frogs. They used dry ice and dad dressed as Snape helped the kids make a brew. Their house is on the historical register, so it actually fit the bill very well. They had owls for the kids to make out of pom-pons and pipe cleaners. A wand store (with stage works fire for the kids when they tested their wands) a house robe store. The year before that was a dino dig in the yard.
We all joke that it's a party war with all our kids and their parties, but she seriously has us all beat. We love it and the kids have some amazing memories.
That is the most amazing birthday party I have ever seen!! I think I need to have my next Birthday be Hobbit themed; the possibilities are endless!!
ReplyDeleteMy son wants a LOTR party in September. This is perfect. He asked for a cake with Gollum, Samwise, and Frodo with Sauron's tower on top.
ReplyDeleteCan I hire this woman? I wanted to throw myself a Hobbit party for my last birthday, since I was turning 33 (which is the coming-of-age year for Hobbits). It never materialized and now I'm thinking I just need a belated one!!! Lucky little girl... and as for her mom: she is the posterchild (so to speak) for parenting and how to do it right.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic party! I'm sure the birthday girl was thrilled!
ReplyDeleteWe're having a hobbit-themed wedding and I'm definitely borrowing some ideas (like now I want a cake instead of pies!).
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, cheers on giving her a lovely Gaelic name, as well as your amazing creativity! Sláinte! Second of all, cheers on what has got to be one of the most meticulously planned theme parties I've ever seen. And girl, I've been part of over 30 of them!
ReplyDeleteMy late brother and our friends used to throw elaborate theme parties; we'd plan it for months. We got really detailed with invites and decorations, and would get together every weekend for a month or so beforehand to build weird sets in the backyard (a pirate ship one year, Victorian London another; our first was a Beetlejuice party, so we built a huge shack that was Dante's Inferno Room (GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!) on the outside, and the Eternal Waiting Room inside, where the booze was. GOOD TIMES) which would turn into a weekly BBQ/party at sundown. You'd be amazed how much you can plan/do on a small budget and in a short amount of time, if you have help that makes working fun!
Then he got busy and well-to-do, and started just renting out clubs for parties, telling people what theme their costume should be, and calling it a night. Still good times, and I miss him and them every day, but not as good as getting together with everybody and creating magic (our guests were always blown away, all 200+ of them!) and having fun getting it all together.
THEME PARTIES RULE
Storm
I have to say, I think this was an incredible feat. I loved the details, but I think young adults who are really into Tolkien and the Hobbit would probably enjoy this even more than the kiddies!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great party! I really like the cake. Much better than some I saw at a certain other website.
ReplyDeleteHow is your.......damaged......body....part...? The...sensitive area? That the kitty hurt?
So awesome!! All that attention to detail is amazing. I think we all wish we could have attended. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely beautiful! So well done! I need to have a hobbit party now. Nikki, you are totally raising your child right. Any hobbit loving kid is an awesome kid! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDelete-kate
Holy snakes this is wonderful! Can't wait for her 16th...
ReplyDeleteI'll get right on getting my kid hooked on The 5th Element for next year. In the meantime, my eldest, turning 10 later this year, is in LOVE with Firefly, and has requested a Firefly themed birthday party. Did you know I can rent out an entire ACTUAL gold-mining ghost town for only $8 per person here in AZ? That's less expensive than going to Peter Piper Pizza! Holy cow, I'm going to throw the best Firefly party ever! Yaaaay for awesome geeky girls!
ReplyDeleteI thought a Hobbit Birthday was when the 'birthday person' gave everyone else a gift ... or at least this is what I have always done.... Much fun !!! Has anyone every done it this way?
ReplyDelete