1st Sleepover Party

We talked through many birthday party options with Payton this year. At first, we thought a combo party for both boys at a bounce house place would be the perfect idea. But then we found out it was going to cost close to $500 for the party place rental, food for adults & kids and goodie bags. I think not.

So we came up with the idea to have just a few close friends come over for a slumber party. He loved the idea! Then I found a party kit on Etsy, and it gave me the idea to do a Minecraft slumber party.

Minecraft is a computer game that Payton and his buddies all like to play. It's a very creative game that can be played with multiple people at one time. So, we decided to have all the kids bring their laptops and we would have everyone play Minecraft together. Payton was so excited he could barely contain himself in the days leading up to the party!


I saved money on this party in a lot of areas. First of all, hosting a party at your home is obviously a huge money saver. I also used Evite instead of sending out paper invitations since we were only inviting a few friends.

The party kit I ordered on Etsy also saved me money by not buying a ton of decorations. The entire kit cost $10 and contained all of the decorating and goodie bag essentials that I needed, including:

• Happy Birthday pennant banner
• Candy bar wrappers
• Bookmarks
• Thank you notes
• Cupcake toppers
• Decorative signs 

Here's a peek at a couple of the candy bar wrappers and bookmarks (I self-laminated the bookmarks so they would be more durable for the boys).

 I used the thank you notes on the goodie bags - they added some fun personality to a plain brown lunch bag.

 I also created "butter" for the goodie bags. I just printed off a label and stuck it on a pack of Juicy Fruit gum. 

Sorry if you don't know anything about Minecraft... I'm sure some of these goodie bag items seem strange, but they're all part of the computer game. :)

Sorry - it's hard to see the pennant banner because the sun was behind the window. Trust me, it was cute!

 (Here's a link to the shop on Etsy where I purchased the party kit).


And since we didn't want the boys on the computer all night, we also created a scavenger hunt where we hid clues throughout the neighborhood for them to find. At the end of the hunt, they uncovered a special box buried in Payton's room containing Minecraft bottlecap necklaces for each of them. They loved it! (Here's the shop on Etsy where I ordered the necklaces - 6 of em for $12 - such a steal!)

Here's a brief recap of the evening:

The boys arrived and immediately hooked up their laptops and began playing Minecraft. It was so funny to hear all the game terminology being thrown around. The kids would continuously get up and look at each others' computer screens to see what the others were creating. They were SO loud and had so much fun.

 (Oh, and you may see a random stuffed monkey in some of these pictures. Payton got to take home the "class pet" for the weekend, so he made regular appearances throughout the evening).

All that Minecraft made the boys hungry! 4 large pizzas were almost completely devoured in a matter of minutes!

Side note: I have officially decided that 7 & 8-year old boys cannot take a normal picture.

Just sayin'...

 Then they all headed outside for the Scavenger Hunt!

 

And then back inside for cupcakes and ice cream.

 

 Even the monkey got one. :)

 After Payton opened gifts, the boys had a little dance party in the family room (I have treasured video of this that will always make me smile when I watch it!).

Then everyone got changed into their PJ's and got their sleeping bags situated on the floor.

We popped 4 bags of popcorn and watched "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days."

Believe it or not, the kids were totally quiet and asleep by 10 p.m.

Of course they were awake at 5 a.m., but still, I was pleased that the house was quiet at a decent hour.

The next morning, they had a healthy breakfast of donuts and bacon (har, har...).

I seriously cooked 2 pounds of bacon and it was totally gone in about 5 minutes.

 Hungry boys!

 That's a lot of bacon...

That's a lot of cups...

That's a lot of shoes...

That was a lot of fun.

Happy Birthday Payton!

The fun has just begun...