Star Wars Ice Cream Social

This FABULOUS Star Wars Ice Cream Social party was linked up to our Party Gals Linky Party by Dolled Up Design a few parties ago, and I loved it so much I HAD to share it with you!  Are you ready for the New Star Wars Movie? We are going tomorrow and we are all so excited!  

From Dolled Up Design:

For the past two years I have set up and hosted an ice cream social for our neighbours.  I originally came up with the idea as a fun way to try and get to know the neighbours a little better and have now made it an annual event for everyone to look forward to in the summer.

One benefit of hosting the ice cream social is that it gives me another excuse to get creative and put my party planning skills to use.  For this year’s party I wanted to try something a little different and came up with the idea of making my sundae bar Star Wars themed.  My 5 year old is just starting to get into Star Wars and because of the series longstanding popularity; I knew it would go over well with kids and adults alike.   

I had to brush up a little on my knowledge for this party, but I had a lot of fun coming up with Star Wars themed toppings and bringing together all the different elements on my party table.  With a bit of DIY and creativity it was easy to pull together this inexpensive party. 

Budget

I love sundae bars for summer parties because they are both fun and interactive.  There aren’t many people that don’t enjoy ice cram and it is an inexpensive way to satisfy a large group of people.

The food ended up being the biggest cost for my ice cream social.  I spent around $80 for all the ice cream and toppings for my 30 guests, with enough leftovers to cover dessert for my family of 4 for the next week.  

I also had $1 bubble wands for the kids that I transformed into Lightsabers using a bit of silver spray paint and a black rhinestone.  These were not a necessary expense, but they were a fun little favor for my younger guests.

Through reusing what I had at home and DIY’ing a lot of my details, I was able to keep costs to a minimum. By focusing on a few fun little touches, like the faux fur wrapped Wookie Whip Cream and R2D2 wrapped bottled water, I was able to carry across the theme without too much effort or expense.

Décor

When it came to the décor for my Star Wars Ice Cream Social, I looked to items we already had around the house.  My son had a few Star Wars Angry Birds toys I could use as part of the table scape and I was able to repurpose supplies from previous parties to make some of the DIY items.

An old paper lantern was transformed into the Death Starusing little more than a bit of silver spray paint, a cut off paper cup and a sharpie marker.  The gold stars that hung alongside it, above the party table, were paper plates leftover from an Olympic party I held a couple years back.

My most expensive décor item was the “Dark Side” and “LightSide” ice cream signs I made from foam Angry Birds toys I happened across at the dollar store ($3 each).  By gluing them onto the ice cream cone shaped base of a container of bubbles, I had the perfect Darth Vader and Stormtrooper ice cream cones.

The invitation, banner and the labels were designed by me and I was able to print inexpensively on our home printer.  The paper labels added another decorative element to the table and helped carry out the theme by referencing characters and objects from the Star Wars movies.  

Tableware

I love using basic tableware and dressing it up to match my party theme.  For this party, I picked up basic green plastic bowls at the party store and gave them a Yoda twist by stapling on green ears I cut from matching green paper. It was a bit of work cutting out the ears, but the end result was worth it.

The gold plastic spoons were left over from a previous party and the glass vases and star shaped dishes for the toppings all came from my closet of party supplies I have amassed over the years.  For the table covering and backdrop I simply used $1 black plastic tablecloths from the dollar store.

Food

When it came to the ice cream I opted for large pails of store brand chocolate and vanilla.  This is the most economical option and is really all you need for ice cream flavours when offering a wide variety of toppings and add-ons.   

For toppings, I bought a lot at my favorite bulk foods store or from the grocery store candy aisle.  I had an idea in my mind of the type of containers I was going to put each topping in, so it was easy to buy in just the right quantities at the bulk food store.      

The hot fudge and caramel syrups were also store bought, but these are something you could easily make yourself at home ahead of time and serve out of a nice jar.  One of my favorite parts of the ice cream social is that it is so easy to buy everything ahead of time, compared to the last minute baking and food prep I usually end up doing for my other parties.  Sometimes saving yourself some time is just as important as saving money.

I will admit that I am not a huge Star Wars fan, but this was such a fun party to plan and put together.  This was our second time hosting an ice cream social and it will definitely not be the last given the positive response from the neighbours.  If you have never put together a sundae bar, I highly recommend it the next time you need a fun and easy idea for a birthday party, barbecue, or even to get to know your neighbours better.  You don’t need the power of the Force to bring people over to your side if there is ice cream to offer! 

Be sure to follow Dolled Up Design on Facebook for more fun inspiration! 

Tags : Dolled Up Design, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Party, Star Wars, Star Wars Party