For 13 weeks I’ve shared my planning process for this party. Now it’s time to share the results! First, let me share how the final setup looked.
The counters were covered in blue bubble wrap. Everyone LOVED popping it throughout the party! Sea plants were made from streamers and hung from the cabinets (I loved how they turned out so much!). The cabinets were highlighted with blue LED lights. I had an ocean projector on the counter that projected ocean waves on the ceiling (hard to see in the daylight when this photo was taken). There’s also a bubble machine on the counter which was turned on when the kids visited Water Land. The urchins and bloopers were hung from the ceiling with fishing line. Empty space was filled with paper plate coins. And finally, the bin on the counter is a sand treasure hunt activity (more on that later).
I started with a cloud / balloon sculpture hanging from the ceiling. Then 2 balloon vines made from pipe cleaners coming down from the clouds. The vines each end in warp pipes. I hung 4 foam board clouds from the ceiling plus 3 smaller contact paper clouds that were used in the second challenge. The rest of the space I decorated with brick and question blocks, coins, Bob-ombs, and Goombas. I also set my TV backlight to blue for more of a sky effect. The TV played a slideshow throughout the party that was relevant to whatever activity we were doing. Off to the side I had a couple chain chomps, and also the stack of 5 interactive question mark punch blocks that were used during the party.
Sky Land was the main seating area for the party guests.
The feature in Grass Land was the paper mural I created and hung on the wall. I also used warp pipes, Piranha Plants, mushrooms, Goombas, coins, a cloud, brick/question blocks, and a Bob-omb in this space.
Dark Land was my favorite area to create. The walls were covered with plastic with a castle brick pattern. The floors were covered in red plastic tablecloths and surrounded by red LED lights. Stepping stones made a path from one end to the other. 4 Thwomps, 3 Chain Chomps, and 3 Boos hung from the ceiling. The stepping stone trail led to Bowser’s castle itself.
So here’s how the party went.
The party’s start time was 6:00 p.m. And dinner was served at 6:05 when the final guest arrived. At 6:30 everyone was done eating so we took a few group photos. The birthday boy was not in a group photo sort of mood so it made for some interesting pictures. He also didn’t want to wear his Mario costume. We expected that, so we bought him a Mario t-shirt as a backup and he wore that instead.
After photos, we started the Super Mario 3 quest with the first letter from the princess. For each letter from the princess, I had both a physical copy printed and it was also displayed on the television as we read the physical copy.
After reading the first letter, I pulled out the first question block for Noah to punch open. He *LOVED* being Mario and punching open the blocks. Inside the first block was about 80 coins that fell all over him, some sand toys (little shovels, rakes, etc), and the next letter from the Princess.
The kids headed over to Water Land and immediately got to work digging in the sand. I have used this recipe for sand so many times in the past and it’s great. It feels just like real beach sand and even molds like sand. It’s made from whole wheat flour and canola oil.
As they dug out their prizes, I had a bubble machine raining bubbles all over the place. It made an epic mess of the floor, but it was fun.
Once all the treasures were uncovered, it was time for Noah to punch open another block.
In the second punch block, there were another 80 coins, a ton of cotton balls, and another letter from the Princess.
In Sky Land I had hung 3 small clouds that had sticky contact paper on each side. The kids had to gather up all the cotton balls and toss them at the clouds. They really enjoyed this activity and played until every last cotton ball was stuck on a cloud.
Once all the cotton was gone, it was time to punch open question block 3. Inside were 80 more coins, a letter from the Princess, and some bean bags.
From here the kids took their bean bags over to grass land where about a dozen more bean bags waited. They played a few rounds of warp pipe bean bag toss.
Next it was time for Noah to punch open question block 4. Inside were another 80 coins, another letter from the Princess, and a Mylar star balloon.
At this point I turned on some dance party lights and dumped a whole bin of Mylar star balloons on the kids. They played keep it up with the balloons for 3 minutes. (This gave Toad a chance to transform into Bowser when they weren’t looking.)
Then it was time for the 5th and final punch block. Inside were yet another 80 coins, some fabric balls, and the last letter from the Princess.
The kids gathered up the ammunition in a basket and headed down the lava trail.
The trail ended at a letter hanging on the wall. This is an actual letter from Super Mario 3, copied word for word!
Around the corner was Bowser’s castle, and after a moment, Bowser himself popped up with Princess Peach in his hand! (Note: Princess Peach was known as Princess Toadstool back in the day, so the names are interchangeable.)
Bowser was wearing a Velcro vest, and the balls the kids received from the mystery block just happened to stick to his vest (thank you, Ikea!). They chased him around the room throwing balls at him until all the balls were stuck to him. Then Bowser was defeated, and Princess Peach was free again!
Of course I had to finish off the Super Mario 3 portion of the party with this iconic slide on the television.
At this point in the party, I occupied the kids and the guests by tasking them with the cleanup of 400 plastic coins and 30 Mylar star balloons that were scattered all over Sky Land. While they did this, I emptied the food table and replaced all the teams with Mario Kart themed items.
Then we all grabbed some ride-on toys from the garage and headed across the street to have a Mario Kart race around the park. It was pretty funny to be out “in public” with our Mario costumes but we didn’t bump into too many neighbors, thankfully.
It only took about 20 minutes for everyone who raced to be worn out. So then we headed back home for cake and gifts.
We finished up gifts shortly after 8:00, and at this point some of the guests needed to head out. Of course I totally forgot to hand those couple guests their Piranha plant and NES chocolate controller favors! So I’ve got them set aside for next time I see them.
The final part of the party was a sort of free play part. We set up a Mario Kart Live home cricut track and all the loose party decor was used to decorate the track. My 5 year old daughter was super into this and did most of the decorating herself while everyone else took turns driving the cars around. This is how wild of a setup she made!
Overall it was an awesome party! The kids had a magical experience that they’ll remember forever. I’m glad I decided to keep the group small because that definitely contributed to the experience. It would have been too loud and chaotic to enjoy it the same way with a big group.
Now that’s it all over, I have a HECK of a lot of decor to sell. If anyone who sees this lives in the Orlando area and wants to have the same party, please get in touch with me!
Florida Life with Laura 
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