Homemade Birthday Party Ideas

The iCarly party theme is popular for tweens, kids age 10-14, give or take. Based upon the popular kids television show, iCarly is actually the name of the main character’s web show. Carly, Sam, Freddy and Spencer are the main characters. Spencer is Carly’s older brother, a wacky law-school-dropout-turned-artist who runs the household while their father is in the military, I believe.

Anyhow, check out these iCarly birthday party ideas from an article by Dawn Archibald:
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iCarly Birthday Party Invitations

Send out an email invitation! Its very innovative and computer savvy just like Carly! To spice up the email you can add a voice recording or a short web cam message inviting your friends over to party! As well as being super hip its Eco-friendly and it will not cost you a dime since you already have a computer!  You could also burn a custom DVD or slideshow invitation.

iCarly Party Decorations

Set the party atmosphere with vibrant colors. Go for the dramatic with sparkly stars covering the walls, latex & helium balloons floating around, streamers hanging from corner to corner and curly cues hanging from the ceiling. Use bold hues like fuchsia, purple and teal. Make it feel like Carly’s apartment by decorating with lots of paper lanterns and strings of lights! Make some homemade posters with saying like “You’re a Star”, “I Heart iCarly” and “Welcome to the Web Show!” Have loads of ‘after school snacks’ set out for munching when the kids arrive and music playing for them to listen to or wildly dance about to – I believe they call that Random Dancing! The key is to provide a cool area where all the kids can chill out. Wouldn’t this work great as an after school party since the gang always heads over to Carly’s after school or even as a sleepover since Sam is always sleeping over at Carly’s?

Another way to decorate for an iCarly party would be to turn your party room into a production studio. Set up a camera and monitors, a green screen and some studio lights.   Set the camera to record all the silly events of the afternoon and burn a  copy for each guest as a thank-you.

iCarly Party Activities

Hook up your computer to a web cam or simply pull out your video camera and tripod. Lay out some furniture similar to the iCarly set and have the party guests figure out their own show. You can have props ready like guitars, microphones, funny hats and clothes. Keep the mugs of water and tissue close in case anyone gets too emotional! The guests can perform a dance, sing a song, tell a joke, perform a stunt or tell a story. Check out the web casts on iCarly.com for inspiration.

If coming up with ideas is difficult, you have the option to put several ‘idea cards’ in a hat and have each guest pick one before their camera time. Topics and ideas like “What is your favorite food and why?” have a Silly String fight, a Yo Yo competition or something crazy like bobbing for apples or a pie eating contest. Encourage the kids to be creative and funny! To make sure everyone has a good time, you should rotate roles of host (Carly), producer (Freddie) and co-host (Sam). Remember to record every moment!

When everyone has had their moment in the spotlight, be sure to save the episode so you can make copies for everyone to take home and show their parents. If your doing a web cam simply email out a copy to everyone, upload a copy to You Tube for everyone to view or provide a link where the video can be played. No worries, the kids can probably show you how to do it all if your unsure. Be sure to play back the recording at the party so everyone can see how they look on camera!

WARNING- Since this is a private event, you should make sure that the parents of the children at the party give you legal consent to share images of their children online.  In the US, you’re legally responsible for what your children do and should make sure that you have a release form signed, giving you permission to upload the video.  If the parents are uncomfortable with that idea, you can still upload but be sure to check the privacy settings.  Viewers would have to be signed in, copying the video would not be allowed and only the people you invite to view the video would be able to have access.

iCarly Birthday party Menu

A lot of eating fills iCarly airtime: chili, spaghetti tacos, smoothies and pie. Lots of pie. Why not go with this menu, its a little unconventional but definitely fun! Add a veggie tray and an array of chips and dip and call it a smorgasbord! The cast is always munching on something new so keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas. Perhaps at dessert time you can serve a selection of pies instead of the traditional birthday cake; your very own pie shop!

If you do go with a cake for dessert, an inexpensive way to create an themed cake is to download and print out the iCarly logo. You can easily find one by using Google images and then adjusting to your size requirements. Laminate the logo and cut the plastic to shape. Using a cake of any size or flavor, simply place the laminated logo onto the cake with plenty of candles and a Happy Birthday message. Be sure to use some bright colored icing for decorating – Carly does nothing white or bland!

You can also email the graphic to a local bakery that can print it and transfer it onto a cake for you.  Because of copyright issues, they may not be able to do this. A small, local bakery is more likely to make exceptions than a large bakery.  You can also buy the cake-image printer yourself and print it out.

iCarly Party Favors and Goody Bags for an iCarly Party

Here are some crazy options for iCarly loot bags – so have fun with it!

• Funky notepads & pens (between school and the show Carly is always working on something)
• Crazy Socks (is it just me or is Spencer always wearing weird socks?)
• Yo Yo’s (these gadgets are always showing up in sculptures and in the shows yoyoathons)
• Junk food (Sam loves her chips and chocolate bars but Freddie’s Mom would definately disapprove)
• a homemade mix CD (we know how the gang loves their music & dancing)
• a Magic Ball toy or key chain (always consulting the ball, magic meatball that is)
• Silly Putty egg or container of Play dough (Spencer says “you never know when the urge to make a unique sculpture will hit you”)

I hope these ideas help and just remember to think outside the box for an iCarly party! The kids will love all the effort you put in!

Adapted from iCarly Birthday Party Planning Ideas by Dawn Archibald) of Canada’s Party Depot www.partydepot.ca – purchase party supplies in Canada partycanada.blogspot.com for more great party planning ideas!