Star Wars Birthday Masks

Instead of the traditional birthday hats, I thought these masks would be much more fun and be useful after the party.

I first saw the idea a few years ago on one of my favorite blogs, Filth Wizardry.  Back then, my kids weren't even interested in Star Wars, but I kept it in the back of my head.  The link in her blog didn't work, but I was able to google Star Wars masks and found them on starwars.com.  They have several sets of masks to choose from, I chose characters that I knew my kids would like.

I printed the masks onto cardstock, then I hot glue gunned on a headband or a pair of sunglasses, instead of doing string to tie in the back.  It was much easier to put on and take off, especially for kids.  I got that idea from the Filth Wizardry blog- pure genius!  Also, if you do use sunglasses, kid sized ones might be too small for kids over age 7.

Pardon the repeat photos here of my kids in the masks-  I didn't even have time to take out my camera until almost the end of the party.  There were 15 kids 7 and under at the party, plus my 3 little ones.  My husband was the only other adult there, and he had to drop the oldest off and pick him up from another bday party at the exact same times as this one, so it was a bit hectic to say the least.  Yes, the masks were worn, I just really only got one in action:

Here's what we had to offer: yoda, obiwan kenobi,

ewok, storm trooper,

chewbacca,

c3po,

and my personal favorite, r2d2- I want to be him for Halloween, just so I can wear this mask!

I also did Darth Vader and a Princess Leia.  Those masks got hot glue gunned onto my son's crazy day hat for school last week, so I didn't get a chance to photograph them.

Check out the star wars site if you're looking for party ideas or just for some masks for a fun day playing at home.  When you print, you should be able to go into preview and resize the masks to fit the page.  I had to adjust them all to print out in full on the paper.

What you can't see in this picture, is that she is trying to put the c3po mask back on.  I think I might have better luck at her first birthday with masks instead of hats.