Wendy from Wendy Updegraff Photography created the SWEETEST UP-themed birthday party for her daughter’s birthday! The party was an “outdoor movie night” and she created a backyard movie theater from a sheet and some velvet fabric – how fun is that?!
In addition to the homemade movie screen, check out all the other amazing stuff she made… which includes a dollhouse painted to look like the house in the movie, a balloon-themed food table with a lollipop display actually that looks like little balloons, the coolest “balloon wreath” for the front door (GENUS!), adorable Ellie badges and Adventure Books for the party favors, and more. If there ever was a party that perfectly reflected the movie it that inspired it, this is it!
Read on for lots more inspiring images and all the clever & creative party details, as told by Wendy… (And as I side note, I can’t help but mention that the fondant work on the cake is beyond amazing, and also how fun it is that Wendy & birthday girl Bella’s last name is “UPdegraff” – perfect!” =)
*****
“I threw my daughter an UP-inspired outdoor movie night party for her 7th b-day.
For the food/treats table, I wanted to stick with the balloon theme, but also serve foods that you would find at a movie and were easy for little kids to eat. I made the stand for the tootsie pops out of MDF (medium density fiberboard) and covered it with pink paper. They reminded me of little balloons! The striped paper straws are from etsy shop Hey Yo Yo.
Chocolate-dipped marshmallow pops were decorated with colorful sprinkles and striped paper food flags.
I used Two Sugar Babies from etsy for the fondant work on the cake, and the actual cake was made by a local baker: Kakes by Katie.
On the favor table: I used Earmark from etsy for the “Adventure Awaits” banner.
I printed out the UP characters and the adventure books from familydisney.com. (I assembled the books using covers and binding from Hobby Lobby).
I also found a doll house at Hobby Lobby and assembled and painted it to look like the house from UP.
For the party favors, I used scrapbook supplies to make Ellie Badges.
Our backyard “movie screen” was made from a bed sheet and some velvet fabric. The invitations were by Anna Griffin and the “Now Showing” movie poster was purchased from allposters.com.
My daughter and I made the front door wreath out of balloons and added the big “7” for some sparkle!”
Stunning! And so true to the story, as I have seen the movie 50 times and have the art books. LOVE the little details like the “Ellie Badge”–that got me choked up a bit. I bet the folks at Pixar would love to see this! Beautiful!
OMG!! This is amazing. I have never thought of breaking down these movies for this type of party! I LOVE IT!!!
OMG this is beyond amazing! I love all the little details and what a unique theme too… I just love it all
Can you give us instructions or tips on how you made the balloon wreath? That would be great for any birthday party!!
Good idea! I’ll request this from Wendy today :)
Hi Megan –
Here’s a tutorial on the balloon wreath! It’s actually from howdoesshe.com:
http://www.howdoesshe.com/birthday-wreath/
Cheers,
Jenn
Thanks Jenn! I think I’m going to make one for New Years that gold and silver balloons!
This is one of my absolute favorite parties (&) movies… ever!!! So sweet and creative!
Absolutely amazing! I can’t imagine how long it took to plan all that! Very, very nice!
Wow that cake is fantastic!! Such a fun party theme.
Stunning and Gorgeous birthday party great theme love love it
I love the cake! The movie screen is great too!
This is beautiful!! The cake is gorgeous! Movie night out doors is something I’ve considered before, during the summer of course. Very nice, I love it!!
I love that you watched the movie. Super cute party!
I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOOVE this theme!!! Can you give us instructions on how the Ellie badge was made? I would love to be able to make one for my daughter. Thank you!!
Wow!!! This party is all kinds of FABULOUS! Such a great theme idea!
What a wonderful soiree! The movie really lends itself to the party! I especially love the little badges. So cute!
So beautiful and creative! She nailed every detail!
This party is so on point! Kudos Wendy and Bella. Everything looked amazing! I love this movie.
Magnificent. Everything about this is magnificent. Could you also ask Wendy how she made the Ellie badge? I’m making an Adventure Book for my niece for Christmas and I’d love to make her an Ellie badge, too. Thank you!
LOVE the movie and this party!!
What a great theme. We love outdoor movie nights too and try to have a few throughout the summer with the big one being our annual Outdoor Movie Night Halloween Party. The kids absolutely love it. And, the parents get a chance to relax and let their kids run off some of the sugar. We posted some pics of the movie night party on our blog using printables from our etsy store and AndersRuff.
OK….seriously….that is an amazing party!
I hate to be a bother, but can Wendy also tell us where she got the Up posters that she strung across the open suitcase? I can’t find them on the family Disney site anywhere.
Its Wonderfull!! I JUST LOVE IT!! KISSSSS
This is such a fun party! I love every little detail!
this is A-MA-ZING!!! that cake is adorable
This is the most beautiful and inspiring party that I have ever seen! Thank you for sharing!
I LOVE It! Wonder if I can “UP” my 36th b-day! LOL. Great job… very creative!
I flipping love this party! I love taking characters and movie kid’s love and creating a fun custom party. This party is awesome, so well done and put together!!!
This is such an adorable party! I’m loving all the hot air balloons, seems to be going around the party sphere.
This party rocks so much! I love it!maybe i’m just a paranoid person, but I would maybe blur the address on the invite that is pictured?
Good call, Hawlie! Just blurred it. I usually do that but forgot this time – thanks so much for the heads up!
Wow! This is SPECTACULAR!!! The colors are so bright and cheery, and that cake!!! Just incredible! Gorgeous styling! :)
Can everyone tell me where i can get that cake platter? I have been looking for it!
Hello there, I have seen the platter at Home Goods. Hope you find it.
absolutely stunning!! i love every inch of the creativity and how much thought went into every little piece – esp the pin :D
<3 <3 <#
This is one of the most beautiful blog posts I have ever seen! The balloon wreath is spectacular as is the cake. The colors are dream like. That little girl will never forget her 7th birthday.
Everything looks Amazing!! Love the colors
Wow! This is a gorgeous party idea, and the cake is phenomenal :)
Oh my goodness, I think this is the best party I have seen possibly ever! So much attention to detail and beautifully crafted! Our Adventure Awaits Banner has never been happier :)
I love this!!! So fun and creative!!
I absolutely love this idea! My sister just filmed a wedding with an UP theme, and she said it was gorgeous. This is a perfect idea, thanks for the photos!
OK this whole party is pretty cool, but that balloon wreath ROCKS! That could be used for any type of birthday party. Just Love it!
I love this party – the attention to all the fabulous details blew me ‘UP-UP’UP’ & Away!!! Well done, thanks for sharing!!!
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that I found the “Ellie Badge” for sale on the Disney website. They are $7.95 each and they are on back order. :-( Here is the link…
http://disneyparksmerchandise.com/blog/?id=52872
Did anyone found out where they got theirs from? I would love to get some before chirstmas. :-)
Thanks, BCCA! That is awesome and my niece will go nuts for it. Hopefully it will be available before Christmas.
This is adorable! I love it all, but my favourite would have to be that gorgeous balloon wreath! Thanks so much for sharing the tutorial link, I think I’ll make one for Christmas! I like traditional things with a bit of a spin on them, this is perfect!
I love, love, love this birthday party! I’m featuring it on my blog (with full linkage and credit, of course). Also, I gave my husband an Ellie badge on our wedding day to wear in lieu of a boutonniere. You can check out the pictures on my blog: http://shesnotthemarryingkind.blogspot.com/p/our-wedding.html I purchased his Ellie badge on etsy, because even the Disney store wasn’t selling them at the time. You could always try checking etsy! : O )
I love the movie “Up” and the details for this party is amazing! Thanks for such a great post!
I am such a SUCKER for those kiddie parties. Keep posting them up as there is not enough of this somewhere else.
What a wonderful idea! where did you find the original soda caps for the favors? they are tooo adorable.
The fondant work on that cake is awesome love those balloons wow! I have used twosugarbabies before so Im not suprised of the amaing quality! ;)
I love this party idea! So adorable and the detail is beyond creative. I was curious how were you able to show the movie on the sheet?
This is amazing! I love every little last detail you’ve done. I bet your kid loved it too.
I am doing this theme for my 7 year old son. He actually requested it for a party and I thought, that’s super. We both loved this movie, but where in the world would I get ideas from. You have totally inspired me for a (albeit scaled down from yours…tighter budget) fabulous party montage of “Up” detailing. Kudos for your exquisite design on the party favors especially the adventure books!! Now off to work on my own party! Wish me luck!
truly amazing party planning skills here! My son loves UP and i’d love to do this theme for his next birthday. I was trying to find the printable characters on the disney website you had, but it doesn’t seem to work. Can you guide me in the right direction for getting those? thanks much!
I am really stunned, it’s so amazing everything you did…. Wow congratulations…. Lot’s of creativity involved.. Please help me I want to make the wreath made out of ballons for my upcoming 1 year old baby… I just loved it….
My daughter loves this movie!! Last year for her 2 yr birthday party theme biwas UP to and it was so much fun! I even made a Kevin (the bird) Piñata and it was so much fun. I even rented a jumper that looked like a jungle so it went perfect!
This is one of the most AMAZING parties I have seen!! Sooo colorful and eye catching!
WOW. love the badges! where did you get them?
and the cake is so great!
i was still conceiving when UP was shown in the philippines. my husband & i love the movie so much! when we were starting to plan for our son’s 1st birthday this coming march, we were both amazed to discover that we are both thinking of UP as the theme. and i am stunned to find your blog while i was looking of cake ideas & images of the movie. KUDOS for all you creative ideas from the magnificent wreath to the fabulous cake to the carefully thought of favors. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing all your wonderful ideas! i am truly inspired! God bless.
This party is absolutely fabulous and done so well! I love all of the clever details included from the movie. Very original. The cake is amazing as well. Love it!
Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I made the Ellie badges myself. I found the art of the badge by doing a google image search. Put it in a word document to I could print 12 at a time. I bought bottle caps and bottle cap plastic stickers from Hobby Lobby. I snapped two holes in the bottle cap with a crop-o-dile. I bought the safety pins that don’t have the loop at the end, so I could thread it through the bottle cap. Hopefully I made these instructions clear :)
I was looking for the adventure books at familydisney.com and I can not find the website. Am I looking at the wrong place?
hi! im from mexico… congratulations this is a beautiful party… i want know the desing of the UP book for the kids… i want a make “up party” for my kid… please tnks
i foundit in http://family.disney.com/
gracias!
Oh my goodness, I am completely in love with you for posting this- what an amazing idea! Amazing!!!! I am literally boggled over the detail and awesome-ness of this entire party and the decorations. A++++ ! Thank you for sharing!
I love the look and feel of your website. I noticed you used the printables Disney has on Disney Family.com. I planning to use them myself on my son’s 1st Birthday. “Hostess with the Mostess” — Awesome name!
Really beautifull!
I absolutely LOVED this post! Beautiful theme and so true to the movie. The cakes and decor is just beautiful.
I love this theme. I was wondering where u got the cards that list the food names on and the flags for the marshmallows from?
This is so sweet- The balloon wreath is such a great idea!
LOVE this party! How did you do the adventure books? I’d like to make some and would love to know what notebooks you used for the front and binding :)
Hi!! I did this party last saturday for my little Francesco (http://maison-etta.blogspot.com/2011/06/up-birthday-party.html)!! I took all the ispirations from you! Thank you SO MUCH! Kisses ETta
amazing!! We are working on planning an UP themed reception. Where did you get the house?
Thank you for sharing such wonderful ideas and examples! It looks like your daughter had a great day she will remember for a long time. Hats off to you!!!!
I LOVE this! I have been thinking about having my daughter’s 3rd birthday party be, “Up” themed!! There are some great ideas that I am definitely planning on using!! Thanks for the tips!
Hands down the cutest and most clever themed party I have ever seen! It doesnt hurt that Up is also one of my fav Disney/Pixar movies( :
gostaria de saber qual casa você comprou na Hobby Lobby. Se puder me ajudar eu agradeço!
I wonder what house you bought in the Hobby Lobby. If you can help me I thank you!
Hello! I’m Stacie, the Social Media Coordinator for Hobby Lobby! I just wanted to let you know we featured this amazing party on our Facebook page! Here’s the link to check it out! Thank you! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150950197366425&set=a.396208066424.203417.131138681424&type=1&theater
Hi Stacie – Thanks so much for the shout out on FB and for letting us know! Much appreciated! :)
This is one of the cutest party ideas ever!! I love it, I am obbsessed with throwing parties.!!
Have you seen this adorable Up costume?
How did you make Ellie badges, and Adventure book?
beautiful!
Hi there! I love this concept! I am totally bookmarking this as a future reference for my 18th birthday soon :)
Did you really make those Ellie Badges? Can you send me instructions? I was about to order these for my sons birthday party….but if I can make them that would be great.
Hi Jenn! So in love with this movie and the fact that you brought it to live in a sense of a party!!! you definitely have inspired me! My co worker & his wife are expecting & are huge fans of the movie they are doing their baby girl’s nursery themed with “UP”…so that led me to start my thoughts & ideas & research to do their baby shower themed as “UP” as well. My question to you is where can I find the little characters you used near Bella’s cake?
Thank youso much, you did a BEAUTIFUL job, that is my kind of party!!! Congrats! If there was a TV Party competition, you get my vote for 1st place!!!
Hi Nancy –
So glad you love the party! I can’t take credit for this one though – it was created by Wendy Updegraff – and I agree that she did an AMAZING job! :)
To answer your question about the characters though – she downloaded them from the Disney Family website, where you can get them for free. Here’s the direct link:
http://family.disney.com/up
Hope that helps & good luck with the baby shower!
Jenn
This is too cute!
I bet she had an amazing party what a great idea x.
I bet she had an amazing party what a great idea x.
I am throwing an Up themed party for my son next month and was wondering where you got the banner on the case that has the adventure books in it. I saw that you got the Adventure Awaits banner on etsy but wasn’t sure where you got the other banner. Thanks!
cool beans
I love this. This going to be the theme for my sons party he loves this movie
THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH, AS THIS WAS MY IDEA FOR MY SON’S 5th HE LOVESS THAT MOVIE AND I NEEDED IDEAS TO MAKE THE PARTY THEME STAND OUT TO PEOPLE…YOU ARE TRULY GOD SENT…THANKS AGAINNNN <33333
i would like this theme for my 15s party but i dont know how to do it ??!!!
Amazing! Labor of love! I hope Wendy will not mind if I borrow and use some of her ideas for my daughter’s 7th birthday party as well. Everything was perfect!
My son LOVES this movie and I was wondering where you found the postcards? I did a search on the disney pages and at disney store and haven’t found them!
I was hoping you could tell me or email me where to the the letters for the "adventure awaits" sign and the little cards that are over the suit case. My email is [email protected] Thank you so much. Hoping to do this for my daughters graduation party
Hello! I was wondering if you could send my the link for the adventure books? I’m having a hard time finding them… Thank you!!
Here’s the link :) http://family.disney.com/activity/up-adventure-book-2