Attention fitness gurus and 80’s lovers, it’s time to drop the weights and hairspray to fuel up on this totally boss 80’s + Neon Inspired “Work It Out” Theme Party! Inspired by her own gym class days, the talented Laura Ritchie of Events In The City, celebrated her little champion’s 2nd birthday with bright and colorful “gym rat” tote bags, tasty “yoga mat” eats and a delicious daily dose of sugar. So let’s work out our creativity muscles and put our core focus on these bulked up party ideas! :)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• Fuel For Champions: Meatball Barbells and Sit Up Sammys
• Cupcakes in Lockers, Mini Milk Jugs + Hanz & Franz Beefy Franks Bar (We are here to pump you up!)
• “Gym Rag” Napkins, Silly Straws, Multi Color Utensils & Winners Cups filled with pom poms
• Birthday boy decked out in an adorable Adidas tracksuit outfit :)
• “Gym Rat” Favor Bags in Neon Green filled with lots of fun goodies!

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Laura…

We hosted Ethan’s second birthday at one of his favorite spots, Chibis Indoor Playground in Ashburn VA. We wanted to host a Work Out Theme and let those kids run wild. Giving it a 80s neon twist was just the icing on the cake. The decorations all revolved around the gym and working out….from mini lockers on the buffet, the barbell food, and gym bag favors. We even lucked out with neon orange schoolyard seating for the party.

It was really fun to come up with fun names for the food to reiterate our theme and the kids loved eating them, though I don’t think they got the pun from SNL’s “Pump You Up” from the hot dog bar as great as the parents did.

My favorite part to pull together was the gift bags. I wanted them to be useful because nothing is worse than getting a favor from an event and throwing it out right away. My friend Kelly from Studio DIY helped me source the perfect neon mini gym bags! We included jump ropes, bouncing balls, neon light sticks, and bubbles. All these items were to encourage the kids to get out and have fun and be active!

I loved accenting the event with how I remember being in gym class as a kid which was in the 80s! Neon colors, black stars and bright accents which were all easy to find at local craft stores and party outlets. I created the tablerunner from die cut pieces of cardstock from JoAnn Fabric’s and just taped them into a row on the table. Instead of regular napkins I scored white terrycloth “gym rags” which were really washcloths from Dollar General. Finding the mini milk jugs from Shop Sweet Lulu was really just one of those ah-ha moments and it was a great way to tie things together in a fun and “healthy” way. The details on the sticker of the milk jug all being about Ethan and with every nutrient being a “2%” for his second birthday were just so fun to think up with Michele from Intrigue Design Studio too!