Bakugan Brawl Birthday Party

This past weekend I threw a Bakugan Party for my son’s 10th birthday.  The majority of the party theme was coordinated with the idea of Bakugan cards in mind. The Invitations were created to look like a couple of Bakugan game cards piled ontop of one another, except they were customized with my son’s birthday party details thoroughtout. The frontside of the invitations contained all the party information (When, Where, Time, Place and R.S.V.P). The backside of the invitaion contained a Map and a google map image of the party location, so guests had a visual clue as to where the party would be held.

The invitaions were created on the computer by first scanning in a couple Bakugan Cards, adding in the personalized detail, then printing them out on glossy photo paper . To save on printing costs, I just went ahead and printed from my home printer. Since my home printer is an inkjet, I had to protect the ink from running/smudging. My simple remedy was to laminate the invitaions using my Xyron Laminating Machine . The lamination added a wonderful high gloss finish to the party invitations. The glossy outcome resembled the actual Bakugan game cards; which also have a glossy/shine finish.

The front side had an extra added touch, whith the Bakugan Ball actually popping off of the card. When viewed straight on from the front it appears as though the Bakugan ball is coming off the card out toward you. To do this I created a small spring-like piece made from black strips of paper. Then I adhered it to the invitation and the separate cirlce piece that was a Bakugan ball. The Bakugan ball read “ If you got them, Bring ‘em, There will be Bakugan Battle Brawls”.

Here you will see the cake how I ordered it from the local bakery and the cake after I altered it to match the birthday party theme. With some Wax paper, and a couple of Wilton Color Mist food-coloring cans, I was able to make the cake match the party theme.

I am not the cake decorating type…Even though I secretly watch “Ace of Cakes” in absolute amazement, wishing I could do awesome things like they do. I usually just try to order the cake from the bakery in the coordinated party theme. This doesn’t always work though. Since my children have a knack for requesting hard to find birthday party themes I am accustom to putting my creative thinking cap on and trying to pull of a themed cake while also staying within budget.

I printed the Bakugan logo and a few different colors of the Bakugan balls onto Inkjet Printable Transparency Sheets, and then I laminated the entire sheet. Each piece was cut out and later used to place around the cake as added decoration. Once it was time to cut the cake, I only removed the Bakugan logo from the top. The other Bakugan balls I left on the cake for the kids to enjoy pulling off and licking off the frosting themselves.

Ok, so I will admit the cake decorations would have been pretty cool if they were edible, but we all have our limits ;o). I admitted mine. However I will state the proud fact that the cake was approved “Cool” from the birthday boy and it only cost me $14.99. So all in all, mission accomplished! :O)

Bakugan Battle Brawl tournaments were the idea of my son. Originally I looked into purchasing several of the Bakugan Bakubowl circular tournament mats or even the Bakugan Battle Arenas, however I didn’t want to spend too much. Instead I bought a red plastic tablecloth and a couple rolls of electrical tape. I covered the entire table with the red plastic tablecloth, then using black electrical tape ; divided up the table into three sections. Switching to the yellow electrical tape, I taped off rectangle areas big enough to lay Bakugan cards on top. I labeled the yellow areas with black permanent marker "Used Pile". Just to put the finishing touches, I printed several Bakugan logos out and taped them in the center of each of the three brawl sections. To reference battle layout of Bakugan Battle Brawls I referenced to the Game instructions manual that comes with the toy/card packages. If you don’t have one or want to look up the game rules, you can always go to www.bakugan.com to see all the game information.

I designed and created some really fun colorful party hats for my son’s Bakugan Party. These hats were very cool and had a fun twist. Not only did the party guests get to choose their Bakugan party hat color but also these hats could be transformed from a Bakugan Ball hat into a Darkus Bakugan hat. When I designed the hats, I incorporated movable parts into the design. When the hats movable parts were in the open position they transformed into a whole other hat while revealing their G-Powers. The one pictured above had 850G’s. Each color was assigned a different amount of G-Powers. To see this party hat transform, I recorded the way it works for you to see.

This year my kids were eager to help with the party decorations. I really enjoy using my projector unit to create party decorations. It is a simple solution for me to creating large-scale prospectively correct party decorations. Then I just have to spend a little time filling in the traced outlines with some color, in this case it was my kids who did the coloring. Boy, were they proud of the final outcome. They had worked diligently coloring for several days. They really enjoyed adding in their creativeness into the birthday party. Once the party was over, the piece of art was transferred to my son’s room, where he displays it proudly on his wall.

Above, placed in my hand, you will see the Ventus Bakugan that I used as a reference for the papier-mache piñata that I created for the Bakugan Birthday Party. This is one of the most challenging piñatas that I have ever created. Of course my son didn’t request a closed ball Ventus Bakugan piñata…no, of course not. :o) I think after all these years of creating party piñatas for my kids, I may have set my self up…LOL!

The piñata was a “Big Hit”! The body portion was where the piñata goodies were contained. The head and neck part contained colorful confetti. I got a great shot of the piñata head getting knocked off, while confetti busts out from the piñata. I always love adding in confetti to all my piñatas just to add that little extra fun. To see other piñatas that I have created click here.

There were several party games that I planned out, many of which were team oriented. For the first game, I covered two separate boxes with white paper and stuck a Pyrus Bakugan Symbol on one and a Darkus Bakugan symbol on the other. Inside each of the boxes I placed five Bakugan Balls, then filled both boxes half full of packing peanuts. The object of the game was to run to the boxes and search for a Bakugan Ball while keeping the Packing peanuts from falling outside of the box. For Each bakugan a team member found and brought back to the starting line, they earned 50 points, however 5 points were deducted for each packing peanut that fell out of their box. So the teams had to work swiftly but carefully.

Other party games consisted of a Bakugan Frisbee flight and Bakugan Sponge Toss. For the Frisbees I used my projector unit to trace Bakugans onto these Circular foam disks that I had from recycled shipping supplies. The Bakugan Sponge Toss was a game that the kids seemed to enjoy. Also with the help of my projector unit I traced out Bakugan Balls onto thick cardboard, cut them out, each one having different point values stated on them (100G, 50G, 20G, etc.). The teams worked together to get the most points. One fun detail of the sponge toss that the kids found to be fun was that the Pyrus team had red tinted water inside their buckets, and the Darkus team had blue tinted water. To do this I just added a few drops of Tempra washable paints to the buckets before filling up with water. I was sure to use a water-based paint and not a pigment dye based paint, I didn’t want the kids to go home with colored hands.

One of the outdoor games that my son enjoys playing with his friends is called four square. So I decided to have it as one of the side game party activities, except with a bouncy Bakugan Ball. This ball was actually one from my son’s collection, except I covered portions of it with the left over electrical tape I had. Then I put a small logo that I printed out and taped on using clear packing tape. I made sure to adhere the clear packing tape over the electrical tape, otherwise it wouldn’t stick directly onto the ball, but the electrical tape does without any problems.

Here’s another side party game activity that I had setup for the kids to play. Basically I just put a fresh face on my kid’s floor checker game set. I printed out Pyrus Bakugan and Darkus Bakugan symbols, covered them with clear packing tape to protect the ink, and then adhered to the checker piece with hot- glue.

Red Loot Boxes were given out by the birthday boy to each of his guests at the end of the party. I was fortunate to find these prismatic red boxes with handles at the dollar store. Inside each loot box I stuffed in some candy, lollipops, Rice Krispy treats, a Bakugan Card Booster Pack and a Bakugan button. For the buttons, I printed up two designs on my computer, and then used my little nifty Handheld Button Maker to clamp it all together. The outcome looked very nice, I was happy to see. Some of the kids couldn’t help but open their loot boxes as soon as they received them. I remember hearing little voices throughout the room "Oooh Cooool !!!"

So there you have it, another cool party that was a success without spending a small fortune, instead I choose to spend creative time to make it a memorable one for the both birthday boy and his party guests.

Looking for items to coordinate with your Bakugan Party? Below are some cool, fun goodies that are great for Loot Bags, prizes or pinata fillers. Don't see what your looking for, Try Searching your Party Theme.

PopShops™ affiliate stores

Comments

[Iris M.]

I just loved your party ideas. I am making my son a Bakugan party in December and would love to know how I can get a template to make those party hats you made... Any help would be appreciated..
Thank You, Iris

[Nicole T.]

I loved your ideas too! And I was also wondering if you have a template for the party hats. Thanks

[Nicole T.]

Sorry, one more question. Where did you find the pictures of the bakugan balls that you printed on the transparencies? I haven't been able to find anything like that when I've searched. Thanks again for any help.

[Carie ~ Cool Party Blogger]

Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately my custom designed template for the bakugan hats is not available for sharing at this time. Best of luck with your party though.

[Carie ~ Cool Party Blogger]

The pictures of the Bakugan balls were re-created using vector shapes in Adobe Illustrator. Great thing about vector shapes is that they are able to be re-sized at big and small and not become pixelated. This was my reason for doing so. I used the same vector art to print on the transparencies, foam flyers, and party decorations. If you are unfamiliar with Adobe Illustrator then I would probably suggest that you take digital pictures of some Bakugan balls on a white background and then print out on transparency.

[Martha Perez]

My son wants to have a Bakugan party, and your ideas are really hepful, thanks for sharing it with us.
You really put a lot of work into this party, I'm amazed.... the items look beautiful.
I'm from Mexico, and your piñata looks even better that the ones we have here, its just perfect....

[Carie ~ Cool Party Blogger]

Thanks Martha, really that is a super great comment!!
I wish you the best with your Bakugan party for your son. Stop back and submit some images of your "Cool Party". Sharing ideas and images really helps when party hosts (usually being us Moms) goes searching for party ideas and how to make it special for their birthday kid. :o)

[Brande]

I am amazed at the creativity and hard work that you put into your child's party!! Would you be willing to re-create the party hats and some other party ideas and sell them??