Tonya Coleman here from Soireé Event Design, and I’m back with a brand new series “Trend Alert” where I share with you some of the hottest trends in party planning and give you my twist on how to use it in your next party!  Today’s guest post is all about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I know, I know, you’re thinking…THEY’RE BACK??? YES! My 10 year old daughter Faith requested a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party this year and I had to do a double-take! My 16 year old son used to LOVE TMNT when he was little! They are making a HUGE comeback right now and are fast becoming a very popular kid’s party theme!

One problem… kids are requesting this theme before Nickelodeon has caught on and made any party supplies available, so what is a parent to do? How do you decorate your party space when there are no TMNT party supplies out there? I must admit, this is my FAVORITE part of party planning! Coming up with creative ways to interpret a character themed party WITHOUT USING ANY traditional character party supplies and by making some of the decor yourself! It’s really easy if you follow my 5 steps!

5 Steps to Decorating a Character Party Using NO Traditional Licensed Party Supplies!

Step #1: Design your party space to match the character’s environment!

Here we designed the party space to match the urban, grungy environment that the Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles are seen in on their TV show. We created an urban feeling table by creating a runner out of sparkly scrapbook paper and electrical tape to resemble a street and then constructed a 3D sewer pipe and manhole cover centerpiece out of PVC pipe and a styrofoam disk! How cool is that! Looks like the turtle is coming up out of the table! Super easy, yet high impact!

Step #2: Find a few elements that are unique to the characters and make that your party’s decor focal point!

Ninja turtles are known for living in the city sewers, so one of my main design focal points was the sewer manhole cover. Here we created manhole covers by transforming lids of plastic buckets and got double duty from them by taping them to the wall to create a wow factor table backdrop and also used them on the table as chargers.

What’s a Ninja Turtle party without turtle shells! Here we created these fabulous turtle shells from roasting pans! These were displayed in the table design as chairback decor, but we also got double duty from these! They untied from the chair and the kids could wear them for the party! For that added special touch, we personalized each one with a custom printable medallion that had each guest’s first initial on them and matched the color of their turtle.

Step #3: Use a printable package that “matches” your character!

TMNT is a licensed character, so as a professional graphic designer and printables designer, I know that using printables with the characters on them is breaking copyright law, so I simply custom design or find a printable package that matches the look and feel of the character. Here I designed a “Turtle Power” printable collection that incorporated each turtles’s signature color, weapon and of course the green ooze that is so important to their story all designed with a grundgy, urban feel. The “Turtle Power” printable collection is available now in our shop here.

Using printables is such a cool way to add a customized look to the party space. From one printable package we were able to create these custom items:

• 3D manhole covers
• personalized placecards & plate inlays
• table sign centerpiece
• personalized turtle shell medallions

Step #4: Use actual character toys in the party’s decor!

I have to say, this step is my kid’s favorite part! My kids always look forward to this part because usually the toys that I use in the party’s decor serve double duty as birthday presents for them too! Companies almost always have toys available that you can purchase for most characters on TV even before they ever produce party supplies, so you can usually easily find toys to use.

Here, TMNT is such a trend right now that the toy figures were everywhere! The great part about these figures is that they are freestanding and posable so I could use them in interesting ways. Here I used them to hold each guest’s placecard.

Step #5: Create activities that match the character!

Ninja Turtle LOVE PIZZA! So we created this awesome PIZZA BAR for the kids to create their own pizza AND we setup a cool photo booth! You just can’t pass up that great photo op when the kids are all running around in their custom turtle shells!

Click over to my blog here to check out the pizza bar, photo booth…PLUS…
step-by-step tutorials on how to create the turtle shells, manhole covers and that fabulous city sewer centerpiece brought to you by Soiree Event Design’s new contributor Katie Driver!

I hope you are inspired to create your own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle party with these 3 easy steps! I’m sure you’ll be seeing LOTS of TMNT parties this year!