Easy DIY Pokémon Birthday Party Ideas
Today I’d like to share a bunch of DIY Pokemon Birthday Party ideas I made for Henry’s 7th birthday party…one of my favorite party themes we’ve ever done (you can see all my parties here!) As much as I love making birthday party decorations with my Cricut, I initially found the Pokemon theme a bit overwhelming. All the different Pokemon (and there are a lot of them!) are quite detailed, and I wasn’t up for recreating each of Henry’s favorite characters. So I decided to focus on the most famous Pokemon of all, Pikachu and the iconic Pokeball. This provided a simple yet super effective party scheme that was brought to life via eye-popping decorations, party crafts, and fun favors! Let me show you how it all came together!
Pokémon Themed Birthday Party
Party Concept
When I first started conceptualizing a Pokémon party, I was really overwhelmed by all the various colors, shapes, and patterns found on the thousands of Pokemon from the popular video games and tv show. But once I found some simple Pikachu face and Pokeball SVG cut files on Etsy, I realized I could just focus the party around the most iconic Pokemon of all: Pikachu and his Pokeball!
NOTE: The exact Pikachu SVG files I used in my party projects appear no longer available. Here are some other versions that can work:
Party Color Scheme
By embracing the yellow and black of Pikachu, I was off and running with a color scheme, but it was feeling a little boring to me. But once I added in the red and white of the Pokeball, I instantly had a fun, festive, cohesive vision that not only looked amazing but was also simple to pull together!
Pokemon Birthday Party Decorations
Our venue (the local gymnastics place) wasn’t exactly photogenic, but I hope these pictures help you visualize how the party came together.
I started with yellow and red tablecloths and contrasting table runners with black-and-white stripes. At each chid’s place, we put a yellow and white chevron napkin, red paper treat cup filled with popcorn, small bottle of water, and Pikachu goodie bag. Down the center of the table were adorable Pickachu-themed bucket centerpieces (details below), and a simple birthday banner decorated the nearby window.
Pikachu Table Centerpieces
For every party theme I pull together, I always make quick and inexpensive table centerpieces to match. I’ve done this so many times, I now have a party table centerpiece “formula”, which helped these Pikachu centerpieces come together quite easily!
Pikachu’s Face. Start with yellow plastic buckets (can also be found at Party City) and remove the handles. Then cut out Pikachu’s face from red, black, and white vinyl and adhere them to the front and back of the buckets. (If you need help working with vinyl, see this vinyl post for my best tips.)
Pikachu Ears. Pikachu’s ears are almost as iconic as the Pokemon himself. Instead of using vinyl along the side of the bucket, cut the ears from cardstock (double-sided) and secure them to the top sides of the buckets with hot glue.
Bucket Fillers. Because I knew kids would be seeing the centerpieces from both sides of the table, I put the vinyl faces on both sides of the buckets. But I didn’t want to overlook the tail, so I added it as a vertical bucket filler.
To do this, cut Pikachu’s tail from cardstock (also double-sided) and secure it to a wooden kabob skewer with more hot glue. Stick the tail into a small cut of floral styrofoam in the base of the bucket, along with a bunch of numbers (we used 7s) in different colors and fonts. Yellow tissue paper can be bunched up and tucked in to add a bit more bulk and complete the display.
Pokemon Balloons. The Pikachu centerpieces were placed down the center of the table, and then these oversized Pokemon balloons were tied to each one (as well as throughout the room). Although I really focused in on Pikachu for the theme, these big balloons were a really easy way to add in other favorite Pokemon (e.g., Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur) to the party-scape!
Pokemon Party Favors & Crafts
Pikachu Goodie Bags
At each child’s spot, we put a DIY Pikachu goodie bag. I DIY’d these too by applying the same vinyl designs to small yellow gift bags. This time, I placed vinyl faces and ears on the front of the bags, and the back and tail images on the other side.
I think these little bags were my favorite craft from the whole party, and the kids couldn’t wait to fill them up and take them home!
Speaking of filling up their Pikachu goodie bags, we made the kids work for their party favors! Although we did the party at a gymnastics studio, there was still about 45 minutes of time to fill with snacks, cake, and crafts. I wasn’t exactly sure what a bunch of 7-year-old kids would want to do right after jumping around a gym for an hour, but these two projects were a HUGE hit!
Jelly Bean Pokeballs
This craft couldn’t be easier. I gave each child a tiny sealable clear bag. We then told them to put 20 white jelly beans into the bag first, followed by 20 red jelly beans. (You could also use m&ms for the same effect.) As they filled their bags, we gave each child a stretch of black washi tape and a circle dot to put around the middle. This candy craft was perfect for tired kids, and we had enough supplies for them to make a few “Pokeballs” each to take home.
TIP! Pokeballs now come in all sorts of colors. So you can expand this craft and have kids use different-colored jelly beans to make whatever Pokeball combination they want!
Make-Your-Own Pokéballs
The other favor/craft was to create their own Pokéballs using mini plastic Pokemon and these vending machine balls. I didn’t snap any pictures because the kiddos took them all home. But essentially, we let party guests pick the Pokemon they wanted and then they assembled them into their own little Pokéballs using the little capsules!
Pokéball Themed Dessert
I prefer to serve cupcakes for kids’ parties because they are single serving and don’t require plates or utensils. And by dressing them up, you can easily match cupcakes to any theme!
To make these Pokeball Cupcakes, I highly recommend ordering cupcakes from your local grocery store because it can be really difficult to get true red icing. Once the cupcakes are iced though, you can transform them into pokeballs with a simple paper wrapper. See exactly how to make these Pokeball Cupcakes Wrappers here.
If you don’t want to go the cupcake route, here are some other easy Pokeball dessert ideas you can try:
Pokemon Party Supplies
Getting ready to have a Pokémon birthday party? Here are some great decorations, supplies, and products to bring these ideas to life!
Vending Machine Balls | Mini Pokemon Figurines | Pokeball Stress Balls | Pokemon Stickers | Pikachu Gift Bags | Pokeball Gift Bags | Pokeball Gift Boxes | Yellow Gift Bags
Red, Yellow & Black Balloon Arch | Pokeball Party Backdrop | Pokeball Pinata | Black & White Table Runners | Pokemon Balloons | Pokeball Balloon Pack | Yellow Plastic Buckets | Pokeball Snack Buckets | Yellow Chevron Napkins | Red Treat Cups | Black Treat Cups
Red & White M&Ms | Red Jelly Beans | White Jelly Beans | Pokeball Cake Pops | Lightning Bolt Cookie Cutter
Focusing in on Pikachu and narrowing the colors down to a bold combinations of yellow, red, black, and white turned out to be such a winning display! These Pokemon birthday party projects came together in a snap, and when all pulled together with some party finds, this turned out to be one of my favorite party displays ever. If you have a Pokemon lover in your house too, I hope this post gives you some fun DIY Pokemon birthday party ideas to try! After all…you gotta catch ’em all!
Megan
7 Comments on “Easy DIY Pokémon Birthday Party Ideas”
That’s awful! Good luck and I hope you get some fun summer days in there somehow!
Toilet disasters are no fun, and can have such long-reaching effects. Our last one was on a holiday weekend, naturally! At least I found out my neighbor’s brothers were retired plumbers, unfortunately, one of the toilets had to be (they were on the same drain line) removed, so we had to call a plumbing company. And the culprit? 3 lousy wipes! Which no one will admit to putting down the toilet, of course. I look forward to Tuesdays and Fridays to see your latest, but certainly can understand your delays. Hope you and the kids are enjoying the hotel stay-cation. Good luck on the clean-up.
Aloha, Tenney
Oh dear! What a way to start your summer indeed! Let’s hope that things will only get better, as soon as possible. 🙏 On the bright side, maybe this will give you some extra time to spend with your loved ones?
Thank you so much for this post! I’m a 12 year old older sister to my 10 year old younger sister. She has been absolutely OBSESSED with Pokemon this whole year during the pandemic and all, so I knew that a Pokemon party at home would be perfect. I really live the cupcake idea and the jelly bean ideas. Thank you!
Very good decoration
Thanks so much! Pokemon is definitely a fun party theme!
None of the Etsy links are working. Not even the added 4 links