Party Like a Rockstar!!! Birthday Party

My oldest daughter just turned 11 and she asked for a rockstar party this year.  I had a lot of fun with it, just as I always do!  Here are the juicy details and photos of our party!

The invitations looked like this:

I printed these tickets out for free at this site.  You can pick your color, customize the wording and everything.  This is actually the second time I have used these invites for a party!

As guests arrived (dressed to the 9s of course), they walked the red carpet.  It was originally placed outside, but I forgot to get a picture of it before the party started, so this was taken as an afterthought in our fawyer.  But you get the idea. 

Each guest's name was mounted on a silver star.  When they reached the front door, there stood my brother, all bouncer-like.  He is tall and handsome and I thought he had some star power about him.  I'm pretty sure the girls agreed. ;)

The cutie he is holding is my nephew.  Guess who bought him that t-shirt?  Uh-huh.  Aunt Leilani, of course!

Uncle Gary had the VIP list on a clipboard as the girls arrived.  You had to be on the list to get in!

And see what the sign says? 

Upon entering each girl got her hand stamped, and received a backstage pass with an itinerary of acitvities listed on the back:

I made the lanyards from some existing ones I purchased at Party City on clearance for $1 each.  Originally they had photos of the Jonas Brothers inside.  I pulled those out and tuned them into art for the wall (see below) and inserted some free clip art (found online), the girls' names, and their itineraries instead.

Here's the clip art I used:

First the girls went to "Wardrobe and Make-up" where they got to have their nails painted black/silver, and got to choose a tattoo:

Next up was a photo shoot!

Time to rock out in the "Recording Studio".  They played Wii Sing It and had a blast showing off how well they knew every. single. Miley Cyrus song out there.

Even the cool Aunt Sarah got in on the action... until she realized she didn't recognize any of the songs. Don't worry Sarah, your daughter will reach this age one day and then you'll wish you could turn them all off!

After the rock out came the dance off.  This was the highlight of the night.  It even continued outside on the trampoline while the girls flipped to their content.  I wondered if we were going to get the cops called on us for disturbance of the peace!  But we were cool.

Drew showing his break dancing moves:

Adriana and her bff strike a pose:

Here is the playlist we made for the party/dance-off, in case anyone is interested:

Hey Soul Sister, Train
Party in the U.S.A., Miley Cyrus
4 Minutes, Justin Timberlake and Madonna
Let it Rock, Kevin Rudolf
I Gotta Feeling, The Black Eyed Peas
7 Things, Miley Cyrus
Girls Just Wanna have Fun, Miley Cyrus (but if I could have found the original Cyndi Lauper for download I'd have totally used it!)
All the Right Moves, One Republic
Jai Ho! A. R. Rahman (from Slumdog Millionaire)
Forever, Chris Brown
You belong With Me, Taylor Swift
Naturally, Selena Gomez
La La Land, Demi Lovato
Baby, Justin Bieber
We Rock, from the "Camp Rock" soundtrack
I Love Rock 'n Roll (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I had some influence on this one :))
One, two Step, Ciara featuring Missy Elliott
Glamorous, Fergie
Fly on the Wall, Miley Cyrus
Pocketful of Sunshine, Natashe Bedingfield
Umbrella, Rihanna
Thunder, Nuttin' But Stringz
Thriller, Michael Jackson
Burnin' Up, The Jonas Brothers
If You Leave, O.M.D. (me again, lol!)
Happy Birthday (Altered Images - really wanted the Tings Tings remix but it isn't for sale)
Love Song, Sara Bareilles

One or two of the songs had the be "clean" versions for an inappropriate word or two.

I finally got the girls to get off the tramp and come in for the "After Party".   We ate some of the 4 ft. sub we ordered from Subway (Adriana's choice of food).  Plus chips and dip, color coordianted M&Ms (cheapest at WalMart, folks!) and miniature 6 oz. cans of soda.  All this was held in the "Green Room", of course! 

After the goodies had been scarfed down it was autograph time!  Each girl got a scrapbook page to decorate with stickers of guitars, hearts, music notes, etc.  And then they passed their sheets around and everyone signed their name fashionably.

Next came cupcakes and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday by the party guests!

Adriana opened her gifts as the parents came and picked up their daughters.  We'd filled every single minute of the 2 hr. party!  Everyone left for home with one of these bags:

Inside there was a scarf ($1 section at Target had pink/black cheetah print and solid black - I mixed the 2), a pair of hollywood inspired sunglasses (12 for under $10 at Party City), and Pop Rocks:

The decor included lots of tulle - hot pink and black - hanging from lights, tied onto the back of chairs, and in our hair. ;)  I scattered silver balloons all over the floor.  Hung lots of silver stars on the walls along with the signs I've pictured.  Also hung lots of music notes.  I got a pack of 18 cut outs for about $5 at Party City.  I had a silver disco ball hanging by the table.  Hot pink and black streamers.  Zebra print napkins and plates.

Here are a few additional photos...

Me embarassing my daughter with my side ponytail ("Ew, Mom!), and the wrong way to sign "rock on".  I instead look like I am cheering for the Longhorns, of which I am not a fan (sorry folks):

"Before she was our star".  Found this frame in the $1 section at target!  It was a nice touch:

My absolutely adorable nephew, Leo, again:

This is how I contained the party to the downstairs:

The bathroom was labelled a "Dressing Room":

And that's it.  It was so fun!  Lots and lots of work, but I can't wait to try this idea out again.  It occurred to me a few days beforehand that I probably could have found some young aspiring middle school band to come play in our garage for fairly cheap.  And I really wish I had remembered to take pics of the girls walking the red carpet.  I'm always thinking of ways to improve things so I can try them again and again!  But in the end I am very happy with how everything turned out.  

Hope you got some great ideas!  And if you try this theme out yourself, I always love to see how others' parties turn out!

FYI: the font used in all my labels and signs is Blackletter and comes standard with Microsoft Office Word. And the lighting effects I applied to my photos can be done in Photoshop under Filter>Render>Lens Flare.

Additional resources and inspiration:

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/pop_parties_6.html
http://www.cookiemag.com/food/party/2009/08/rock-party
http://www.party-ideas-galore.com/rock-star-birthday-party.html

Linking up: