Last weekend we threw my daughter a 5th birthday party!! I have to admit, prior to this, I basically had a running list of themes that I wanted to do for her birthday and was so overjoyed when it worked out and became a theme that she actually loved (ie- her little mermaid 3rd birthday, I had the “Under the Sea, Avery is 3” in my notes app since she was born lol BUT I was not going to throw a theme that she didn’t like so when it all aligned it was kismet!) Anyways, so when it came to her 5th birthday I actually had no CLUE what we would end up doing. For awhile there I thought I was going to throw a Frozen themed 5th birthday. But around March of last year, Avery started telling me she wanted to have a unicorn birthday party.
We had bought her a new bedtime book and well, the unicorn obsession was born. I literally had no outline and no idea how I would make this theme happen and to be honest hated MOST of the generic unicorn things you see when you search “unicorn party” online. That generic unicorn face with the eyelashes thing? Yeah, that was an immediate absolute no for me. And anything resembling a Lisa Frank unicorn (google it) was also an immediate no. Listen, I’ll throw whatever themed party my kids want, but it will be done tastefully.
So I started a Pinterest board and started collecting inspiration for what I call my unicorn forest. I’ll post a photo of the book that sparked this all, but in short, it’s about a unicorn having a birthday party. This unicorn lives in a forest full of magical creatures- gnomes, dragons, mermaids, fairies, etc so that’s where I came up with this unicorn forest-esque vibe that I wanted to create. I immediately knew I wanted a look of a whimsical forest filled with mushrooms and flowers everywhere so immediately started going to local decor/party stores browsing for some mushrooms! And that’s kind of where everything started- with this fairy garden/magical unicorn theme (just without fairies- Avery’s orders- UNICORNS ONLY).
Our color scheme was pastel rainbow because that neon shit gives me a headache (kidding, kind of). My daughter’s favorite colors are pink, purple, and blue so that was a lot of the main color scheme and she absolutely loved it. I’ll post detail shots below and link what I can!
I’ve also linked nearly everything already over on my LTK page!
Welcome Area/ Candy Bar
+ the unicorn forest sign I painted myself and it’s actually been used for multiple parties at this point (which you can probably tell if you look hard enough lol), I just paint over whatever the previous sign was.
For my “goodie bags” I had little adopt a unicorn/dragon boxes set up for each kid (or adult) to take home. The sign I made on Canva and I also made the custom gift tags for each box which matched what the invitation for her party looked like.
+ Adopt a Unicorn Party Favor : this came with all the unicorn plush keychains, the boxes, and actually a sign. I’m a little OCD and like everything to match my vibe, so I made my own sign instead of using theirs.
+ Dragon Plush Keychains : because we also had quite a few boys coming to the party, I ordered these dragon plushies as well, just in case some kids preferred a dragon over a unicorn.
In addition to the little adopt a unicorn set up, I had a candy bar (unicorn food) station set up with little baggies to fill up with candy! This was so fun. The candy dishes I bought at Michael’s and ended up getting glass ones because they were actually cheaper than the plastic versions!! So I’ll definitely be using these again! It’s a lot to link but if you click this link (my LTK post), it has all the exact Michael’s dishes that I bought in addition to everything else from this table lol. But I’ll link the other things below for convenience! The UNICORN FOOD sign I also made on Canva, printed, and framed. The white frames I bought from Target for a party last year and already had on hand!
+ ivory table cloths: used these for all 6 of our tables
+ marshmallow only bags ( I bought two and refilled the canister as the kids filled their bags)
+ strawberry belts : I bought a bunch of cases from Trader Joes!
+ rainbow “unicorn horn” lollipops
+ Skittles (wild berry flavor only to match the color scheme!)
+ unicorn gummies !! These were AMAZING! I bought this 12 pack and then emptied the bag into the candy dish and refilled as needed.
Kids Table
Honestly, my favorite thing to plan, and usually what I start with to really nail down a “vibe” is the kids table. I love thinking of how to decorate and make the kids table the cutest part of the party! It’s also become Avery’s favorite thing to see lol, she gets so excited when she starts seeing it come together when I’m setting up for the party and I LOVE watching her excitement and eyes light up over it!
+ teal/purple plastic chargers : so I actually got these sets 2 years ago for my daughter’s mermaid party. I got them at Target, and they’re 50 cents a piece! You can’t beat that and they’re super versatile! My girlfriend and I actually always check Target for new colors they come out with and we usually grab at least 10 whenever there’s a new color we might want to use for future parties lol. Last year I bought the black version for Avery’s Nightmare b4 Christmas party, and then my girlfriend has orange and pink ones as well! Colors really come and go and they don’t stock all colors all the time. I’m linking what is currently available on the Target website but definitely check your local Target for them! They’re usually in the holiday/seasonal plate area!
+ paper unicorn plates : I absolutely loved these and like the different vibe it created rather than your generic unicorn looking paper plate.
+ flower table runners : HOW CUTE ARE THESE? I already know I’m going to pull them out for Easter! I bought 2 sets of these! The colorway I bought was champagne, but they have a variety of colors.
+ ceramaic mushrooms : these I bought at Hobby Lobby last year, during Spring time when they had all their Spring and Easter decor out. I saw them and knew they would be perfect! (Yes, I was in the preliminary planning stages of the party last Spring lol).
+ 3D butterflies : bought a pack of these on Amazon. They come with little stickers so you can stick them basically anywhere. I stuck them throughout the table and then on top of things throughout the park on tables we had. Super cute! The colorway I got was pink/purple, but they have a variety as well!
+ purple vases : so I drink a ton of sparkling water and actually start saving the glass bottles when I know I’ve got a party coming up. Then I paint the vases myself to use for the party and toss them afterward!
+ wooden rainbows / unicorns : the rainbows on the table are actually wooden ones from Target that I painted. I also bought some of their wooden unicorn busts and painted them as well for the adult seating tables (which sadly I didn’t actually take photos of).
+ baby’s breath flowers : bought at Trader Joes the night before the party.
+ iridescent mini wind mills : these I also bought at Hobby Lobby during that Spring time visit last year lol. I didn’t know how I would use them at the time but thought they were so cute and whimsical. Linking similar! I ended up putting these in the vases with the flowers that were spread out on all the tables.
+ kids tables : my girlfriend actually made them herself during COVID and we’ve used them for basically every party since.
+ wooden pillow seats : my girlfriend bought them for her son’s birthday (it was camping themed) and I thought they would be perfect for my party as well to mix in the forest vibe I was going for!
+ pink pillow seats : these are my girlfriends, so I don’t have a link!
Dessert Table
This is usually the fastest for me to design because bascially we have the same array of treats every party- cake pop/donut hole, cake, cookies, and cupcakes. The layout is bascially the same every party!
The rainbow cake we ordered from a local bakery and Avery’s fairy Godmother baked the other cake, made the donut roles, cookies, and cupcakes.
The pink plastic cutlery, rainbow napkins, and pink/purple paper plates I got on Amazon. I’m going to link the entire dessert table here via my LTK.
I had another table set up for all the food (we had Chick-Fil-A catering) and on that table I had two big mason jar dispensers for water and iced tea, and then a tin container filled with juice boxes and flavored sparkling waters, and Ollipop sodas. I bought these cute little pink plastic cups which I am now using extras at home for my coffees in the morning lol.
Backdrop & Bounce House
+ pastel rainbow balloon garland set : I only used the pastel balloons but the set comes with a princess castle balloon and some unicorn head ones as well.
+ AVERY letters : I bought these at a craft store 5 years ago for her first birthday party and now it’s been a little tradition for me to repaint them for every party!
+ bounce house : rented from a local vendor!
Kids Craft Table
I’m a little crazy, but I like having a little craft table for the kids to do during the party or to take home extra little things that they can do when they get home. For the craft table, I bought little ceramic diy unicorn painting kits from Hobby Lobby (also bought Spring 2024 lol) and then I also came across this little pegasus/unicorn paper airplane craft that I had to grab too!
I don’t have links since they were bought last year but I’m sure you could find a similar idea to match whatever theme you need online! The signs I also made on Canva and printed and framed.
In addition to the bounce house that we rented, when my daughter asked for a unicorn party I knew it wouldn’t really be a unicorn party without some unicorns RIGHT?!?!
So I found a vendor that brought TWO unicorns and a petting zoo. It was literally the highlight of the entire day because my daughter loved it so much. My son’s favorite party was the petting zoo for sure, he loved the goats!
Well I can honestly say I have no idea what theme birthday #6 will be, my daughter is in complete control now and whatever she comes up with in 6ish months, will be done! It’s actually kind of exciting for me, waiting to see what she comes up with. It’s like my new biggest challenge lol.
Well, I hope you enjoyed a little bit about our birthday party!
I did make a reel on my instagram if you’d like to see a little bit of the party in motion!
IG: @mrsamandafranco
On Another Coast 