Circus Themed Birthday Party - Madagascar 3 Style

Description

Those that have been following me for some time know that I go all out every year for my son’s birthday party. His 1st birthday was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme, his 2nd birthday was a Jake & the Neverland Pirates theme, and for his 3rd birthday last year I went all out with a Madagascar 3 Circus themed birthday party! This year’s party was over-the-top, full of DIY projects, fun, wild, colorful, and full of sugary, sweet delectable goodies = guaranteed success. Check out this awesome DIY birthday party, wild circus Madagascar style!

Design Inspiration

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted movie

I included a little bit of Paris in this circus themed birthday party!

Decorating Style

DIY all the way! I love to take movie or show themes and bring them to life even in the smallest details!

Project Details

As usual I made sure that I didn’t miss a planning detail or decor element and Natalie from Natalie Isabel Photography did an amazing job capturing all of the creative party details that you will see below. After I decided on this year’s theme for my son’s birthday party, I went to work on creating the invitation.

FOOD

When it came to food, I decided to stick with the theme to start the guests were able to help themselves to salted shelled peanuts or buttery popcorn. When it came to lunch I stayed simple and went with a hot dog and hot link bar with all the fix in’s, chips, and veggie tray.

DESSERT TABLE

The dessert table was my pride and joy, I’m just surprised I was able to keep all the guests at bay until it was time to enjoy the delicious goodies. The dessert table consisted of the following tasty goodies: Cracker Jacks, cotton candy, animal crackers, bundtinis (lemon, red velvet, chocolate, and white raspberry flavors), cake from Albertson’s. I created a Circus backdrop with pinwheels for the table, a birthday banner, tassel garland, a painted decorative tub, colorful circle cutouts, decorative tags for all the items, and a yellow fringe swag to go across the cake. The favors were adorable large lollipops I got from the 99 cent store adorned with creative stickers I made on Moo to fit the circus theme! (Click on the photos below to view a larger detailed picture.)

DECOR & DIY

Other decor and DIY projects besides the dessert table were the centerpieces (birthday hats, balloons, mini gum ball machines, Madagascar cutout, colorful circle cutouts, Madagascar confetti), hanging window and door fringes, Madagascar 3 birthday sign, flag bunting, food place cards, photo booth backdrop, photo props and sign, framed signs for the balloon artist and makeup artist, framed Madagascar, & wood welcome sign! Also, there is one more important detail that really turned the party space into a circus theme and that was the colorful and affordable beautiful linens from Linen Tablecloth! From the pumpkin round table cloths for the guests table, to the vibrant red, to the gorgeous ivory linen tablecloths – it really brought my party to life! (The really do offer quality linens at very affordable prices, I encourage you to consider using them for your next event.)

ENTERTAINMENT

Since January weather is always unpredictable in southern CA, I decided to book an inside venue. However, my challenge was how do I entertain 25 kids indoors without going crazy and running around like a crazy lady! So, I made the best decision ever and decided to hire entertainers for the birthday party. I hired a local children’s entertainment company called Creative Parties for an hour. Lisa, the owner, was great to work with – flexible, personable, creative, experienced, and caring. She was really great at listening to my needs and wants for the party and deciding upon great entertainers and entertainment that were a perfect match for our circus themed party. We had 3 party entertainers show up – a clown, lion, and helper with a top hat. These entertainers were awesome and the kid’s loved them from the beginning! They sang songs, played games, did activities, and kept all the kids and even some adults entertained for an hour, ending with pictures and a birthday song for the birthday boy. I am really glad I chose Creative Parties – they definitely made the party a success.

My other great entertainment choice was hiring an amazingly talented balloon artist and face painter duo. Don from Don’s Twisted Balloons came by referral and I’ve got to admit that he is one of the most talented balloon artists I have ever seen. He does the most creative and difficult balloons and the kid’s loved them! What I also love about Don is that he comes with a big board of balloon options, which makes it easy for the kid’s to pick and choose there favorite. I am happy to report that all kids got at least one balloon and it was a complete hit at the party. Don’s partner, Erin from is an excellent face painter and also did some fabulous artwork on the kid’s and a couple of adults that jumped in line. The kid’s loved the entertainers, mommy got a break for a while, and everyone was happy – I couldn’t of asked for more. I am so happy with my decision to hire the entertainment and would hire these folks again in a heartbeat!
After reviewing all these fabulous photos and party details, I’m sure you could confidently guess that we had a BLAST at this Madagascar themed birthday party!! As always, I enjoyed putting every beautiful detail together and LOVED seeing it all come together beautifully in the end! Here are a couple of pictures of the hubby and I with the birthday boy – it’s all worth the smile on his face!