Whether you’re buying or making decorations, birthday parties are a time to get creative. It’s the time to break out the confetti, glitter, and the pom-poms, and make the room feel like the festive day that it is.
If you’re ready to turn generic birthday party decorations into something special, read on for a guide on how to decorate birthday party spaces with new and traditional decorations.
How To Decorate A Birthday Party
Every birthday party needs a few things to make it memorable:
- A theme
- Dessert (cake, cupcakes, brownies, etc.)
- Guests
- Music
- Decorations
Theme is first on the list because it will influence the others list items, especially when it comes to buying or making the decorations. It’s the idea that will guide the rest of the party. Birthday Party Theme Ideas
If the birthday guest is into dinosaurs, science, or the wonderful worlds hidden in books, then choosing a theme is easy. But it’s not always that simple.
For those children too young to give you hints, or for those who like everything or nothing, here are a few birthday party theme ideas:
- Dr. Seuss: Think life-size cutout of Dr. Seuss, thing 1 and 2, maybe some vibrant streamers in his iconic colors, or a garland made from the pages of popular Dr. Seuss books.
- Golden Years: Gold balloons, gold glitter, gold tinsel hanging on the walls, and a few colorful accents.
- Circus or Zoo: A circus or zoo theme is a great way to surround your guests with interesting and colorful stuffed animals, wall decals, a garland or your child’s favorites.
- Sports/Adventure: if you’re an outdoorsy family, or have a kid that loves adventure, then filling the room with sports equipment, creating obstacle courses, or even using rock climbing rope for garland or streamers could do the trick.
- Vintage: This could mean black and white photos of the city or pinstripes, lace, antique furniture, tea and dainty cakes.
- Mystery: Not all kids are fans of scary things, but they do generally like taking on adult roles. With a mystery theme, you could create a fun house of sorts. Fill bowls with strange items they have to feel and guess at the contents. Or, create a scavenger hunt or mystery that they have to solve. Décor could mean giving out magnifying glasses and trench coats to play with, clue boxes, and adding police tape to the room.
It’s not always necessary to choose a theme. Sometimes choosing a color scheme is all you need.
Whether you choose a theme, use polka dots and stripes, go neutral, or want to use an array of colors, use them wisely.
DIY Birthday Party Ideas
There are several ways to turn regular streamers and confetti into unique decorations. Here are a few simple but cute DIY projects and ideas that everyone will enjoy.
Décor you hang:
- Streamers
- Garland
- Birthday banner
- Balloons
These can be found at any party supply store, or can be easily made. They instantly brighten the room.
Streamers
Streamers can be draped from the center of the ceiling to the edges of the room to make a canopy, or strung in close knit strips to create a rainbow-like 3-D effect on the ceiling.
They can also be layered onto the wall to create a colorful, and easily removable, wall mural/ backdrop for pictures or the dessert table.
Garland
Garland can be made using pictures from books, cupcake liners, cutout or actual flowers, dinosaur toys, 3-D paper hot air balloons, and much more.
In fact, garland is one of the most versatile DIY decoration items that can be found in just about any guide on how to make birthday decorations.
Party banners
Party banners be a larger initial investment, but they can be utilized year after year and instantly transform a space.
For instance, a party banner could simply say happy birthday on a white backdrop with confetti all around it. It’s neutral enough to use for multiple people and ages.
The banner could be as specific or general, as colorful or plain as you want it to be.
Balloons
Balloons can be glammed up with glitter, play jewels, confetti, or paint and placed around the corners of the room, or at the edges or center of a table.
They can also be strung together to create a garland that’s hung along the wall with streamers hanging down from it.
Balloons are now commonly made into shapes, numbers, or come filled with glitter or colorful confetti. These are often a fun and easy way to spruce up the decorations.
Table & mantel décor:
Having a party table is generally a basic necessity, for snack, gifts, or as an area for the kids to sit around while they eat birthday cake.
Liven it up with a table runner or table cover, customized to fit the theme or color scheme of the party.
Mantels are often a great place to add photographs, garland, tassels, balloons, and candles, as well as anything you want to keep out of reach from the children.
You can even turn the base of the fireplace into a designated gift area.
Wall décor:
Wall décor can be as simple as hanging streamers, but sometimes going a little further is more fun.
Photos of your child from previous birthdays or of fun moments from every year leading up to that birthday make a great decoration and wall cover that really highlights what makes them so special.
You could also use confetti to spell out the new age of the birthday boy/girl, their name, happy birthday, or even just “hooray” on the wall.
For an even larger effect, add a wall mural, vinyl lettering, or birthday banner to the wall behind the birthday girl/boy’s chair for better pictures. Or use them to create an enticing wall display behind the cake table.
How To Make A Birthday Banner
Party banners are easy to make when you have the right tools. Best of Signs has created a design tool that lets you choose from thousands of templates, or upload your own images.
From there you can add writing in any font, enhance the image, or emblazon it with designs to create a banner that can be used for years to come.
Add style to your party, create a birthday banner with Best of Signs.