Hey, everyone! I am excited to share what probably ended up being my most successful event of 2021, a birthday party themed around "The Mysterious Benedict Society" for my brother Will's 13th birthday. I read the books a long time ago, but last year Disney Plus released the new television series. I almost never say this about movies or shows made after books, but I may have enjoyed the Disney version even more than the first book! It is probably my favorite tv series ever, and I am hoping they come out with more soon. Fortunately, my brothers loved it too and we decided on this theme (mainly based off of the Disney version) for Will's party.
I made the giant magnifying glass with a pool noodle, poster cut into a ring, and plastic packaging. I found the super cool pencil flashlights in bulk on Amazon. The vintage telephone and typewriter were made from recycled cardboard and hot-glued together (there's tons of tutorials online). I cut up newspaper into a banner and added paint streaked on in yellow and blue. I was going for an overall primary color scheme (primary triadic color harmony). I handmade the sign using the book covers as a guide by hand with markers/pens and acrylic paint on a split-up poster. I researched "Happy Birthday" in Morse code, cut out the dots and dashes painted in blue acrylic paints and made from cardstock or poster, and strung them as a banner on the back porch. I printed a peregrine falcon and hung that on the entrance fence along with draped fabric and Dollar Tree star balloons. To make them look what I perceived as more 'vintage-y', I stuck white cupcakes in waffle cones to make them look like ice cream. This also seemed to go better with a pool party. I hand-painted the Raynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance photo props and my brothers helped me by cutting and taping on foam to stand them up from the back. As an added activity, I made a sign above a table with papers and pens that read "To show the birthday boy that you care, write him a poem (approved by Constance Contraire)."
For the party favors, I bought stacks of red cups at Dollar Tree, then hot-glued on black construction paper strips to make them into mini buckets. I bought two packs of rope at Dollar Tree and split them into smaller bundles to include in each bucket. I did the same with packs of tape rolls. I bought a bulk set of mini, colorful magnifying glasses on Amazon and put one in each bucket. I made mini horseshoe magnets from hot glue painted with nail polish and acrylic paint, then hot glued real magnetic parts (a set from Walmart costs around $1) to the backs to make them into actual magnets. I had to make 16 party favors on a budget, so I did the best I could.
I hope you enjoyed!
-Lauryn
