Bigfoot Birthday Party

Doesn't get much funnier than that LOL

September was a crazy month and I spent more time preparing for this party, the presents and home life in general that I didn't get 1 piece of furniture completed, or even started for that matter, for the Tween Zebra Room. I promise I'll be back on that project soon!

In the meantime I wanted to share this awesome Bigfoot Birthday we managed to pull off for our 7 year old son! Normally I let them pick a theme, but this year we surprised him with Bigfoot! My son watches every single episode of Finding Bigfoot and is fascinated with the subject.

After checking Wal-Mart, Party City and online sources, I realized NO ONE sells Bigfoot party supplies. I actually found that surprising considering how popular the show is, especially here in the south. I did find some cupcake toppers on Etsy, but it was nothing any crafty woman couldn't make herself lol.

For the first time ever I had to create the entire birthday theme. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was hard, but it was definitely more work than I usually put into the decorations. This required a lot more thought, research online and Pinterest ideas. Pinterest had several pins regarding Bigfoot parties that others had put together. Some appeared rather elaborate and pricey but this mommy is on a budget.

I took all this knowledge and made a game plan for our party. The one thing I didn't see any where were parties held outside at a "campsite". Isn't that where most people see him lol? They're out camping one night, all of a sudden....you know the stories :)

So, I decided I would make my front yard a campsite and also post Bigfoot signs on nearby trees. I bought red and white checkered tablecloths for the tables and set up chairs. I don't own an actual camping tent, but I did have a beach tent...whatever works lol. Borrow a tent from someone if you need to, I promise the kids really will enjoy this outdoors theme.

Looking at this picture I still want to straighten that tablecloth lol! It really bugged me that it was crooked, but I was seriously pressed for time and didn't have time to re-tape it to the legs. I had another table setup inside with the cupcakes and food. There was a chance of rain and I prayed and prayed it would not! Thankfully it turned out to be a beautiful day with a breeze.

Backing up a little, I first had to make an invitation. I usually do this anyway for my kids because I have complete control over the finished product AND it doesn't cost me a penny. I made this invitation using Avery Design and Print. Just go to the Avery website and sign up, its all free. I used Avery Note cards #8315 (I keep these on hand) and added photos from their clip art or ones I downloaded myself from Google. I was a little proud of how these turned out ;)

One of the main components of this party was the scavenger hunt! Both kids and adults had a great time with this. I found a website that allows you to make your own scavenger hunt list and print it for free (QuickHunts). There was already one created on there and I could have used theirs if I wanted, however I didn't want my kids searching for a severed camper's arm lol. 

Click here to print my scavenger hunt list!

We also made lanyards for all the kids to wear during their search. This was as simple as choosing an image from Google and printing it off on cardstock. My daughter cut them all out and attached multiple colors of yarn. 

And you definitely cannot have a proper hunt without a search kit! I bought some camo drawstring bags from Oriental Trading and picked up some dollar store supplies. 

All the items on our scavenger hunt were items I had at home or we could make ourselves, with the exception of hair. I did have to send hubby to the dollar store at the last minute for fake hair lol. Check out the awesome Bigfoot footprints found right in our own backyard! Pretty convenient of Bigfoot to show up!

At the end of the search each child earned their "official" Bigfoot Hunting Permit! I found this cute license on Google. I added a text box so I could hand write their names on each one and printed it out on cardstock.

The scavenger hunt was a huge success!

And last but not least, the cupcakes! This is very simple too. For the cupcake toppers all I did was print Bigfoot silhouettes onto cardstock, cut them out and glue to craft sticks. Boom. You're done.

I have so many wonderful photos I wish I could share of this party, but I won't put up public photos of my children. The kids loved it and I was so happy that the one person that really mattered (my 7 year old son) loved it so much as well! Success! 

I had a lot of help from my daughter on the crafts and my husband helped set up the campsite and hide all the items for the scavenger hunt. A special thanks to them for helping me so much and putting up with my random bursts of freaking out over lack of time or perfection :)

And here are some of the images I used for my party if you'd like to use them. Maybe it will save you from as much research as I had to do ;)