This Magic the Gathering Tournament Party was a big hit! It was the perfect party for my 13 year old. Gandalf is pretty into Magic the Gathering. What’s Magic? Think Pokemon but more grown up. Or a Dungeons and Dragons card game. He loves taking his deck and playing with kids at school. So when we were planning our first ‘teen’ party I was excited for this theme. Having a party with a clear activity made this party a piece of cake!
And speaking of cake I made his cake look like a giant Magic card. I borrowed my friend’s pan like I did for last year’s cake. Honestly I wish it turned out better. I tried using coco powder to get the marbling they have on the cards and I think it just made it look worse. But when his cute friends arrived they were so impressed. One boy told me it was the “coolest cake ever”. And that is the beauty of doing parties for young people. They don’t have access to Pinterest yet. The idea of a Magic card cake, even one done in a homemade way, is still clearly cool. And the most important part was that my son loved it.
This cute 13 year old really notices all my hard work and really appreciates that parties I throw for him. And Gandalf was excited to get in on the planning. I’m happy to share our ideas with you. First we needed snacks. I had to veto some of his suggestions so their cards wouldn’t get gross. We opted for popcorn, candies, and his favorite cookie. We set up tables around our downstairs and I made sure to have candy bowls on the tables too.
To make it extra special I asked him if he wanted a soda bar. Since soda isn’t always available at our house he was excited. I could tell the boys loved the different syrups I had for their soda. It was just a little thing to make it extra special. We decide to start the part at 6:30 and not serve dinner. This made the set up even easier. I have picked up different Torani Syrups for parties and showers. I just had to put out his favorite candies and make some popcorn. The cookies I had made the night before.
The decor was pretty easy. I used brown paper from the Dollar Store to make a large bracket board. I thought it would be a great way to keep track of who was facing who during each game. Then I made these magic images from my Silhouette Cameo. I made a banner and decided to name this event Tournament 13 since it was his 13th birthday. I love using my galvanized accessories from Better Homes and Gardens and Joanne’s. It looks a bit more masculine. Though I’m sure his friends could care less what containers I put the snacks in. They were just excited to have red vines and peach rings.
We had all our guests bring their own decks. But some of his friends had never played Magic. While my hubby was at his favorite card shop Gateway Games playing with our sons for a weekend tournament he asked them if they had any extra game decks. He told them his son was having a Magic Party. They were so sweet to give him 5 starter packs. My boys love going to Gateway Games and they are really great about giving decks when you bring friends with you to their game nights. My kids LOVE going to their tournaments on the weekends. If you are in the East Valley area I would check out their store.
Probably the favorite part of the party was the awesome trophy I made. I was looking on the shelf at our local Goodwill for something to spray paint so I could make a trophy when I came across this item. It looked really impressive. The beveled glass was pretty high class. Then I got the idea to use etching cream like when I made the 3 Broomstick Glasses. I created a design with my Silhouette Cameo. Click over here to learn how. The boys thought it was really cool looking. Nothing like a little healthy competition for a cool prize.
Now I told my hubby, who luckily plays himself, he had to be the referee. We went over the rules and reviewed the game with the video linked below. I made them all raise their hands and repeat after me as I said I would play fair and be a good sport. We had each round for 15 minutes and if a winner wasn’t reached by that time it would go to whoever was ahead as the buzzer went off. We also had everyone check in and write down how many decks they owned. We pulled names out of a jar to make things fair. But we placed the boys who had never played in first so they could play each other. We didn’t want them to get smoked by a kid who had been playing for months. The boys were really great sports. And as more boys got out they started playing each other for fun. It was one of the easiest parties to throw. I just snapped pictures and browsed Pinterest and Instagram while they played.
My son ended up winning which was a lot of fun. The last match was really close. I wasn’t sure who would win. The kid he was playing even brought his own card mat, so he was pretty legit. Gandalf was so excited and everyone was a good sport. I had prepped my son that just because it was his birthday doesn’t mean that he would win. Afterwards the kids had cake and Gandalf opened his presents. Then some of the kids traded cards.
Thanks for reading! I just love planning parties for the people I love. And I love helping my son have a great birthday party. It’s something our family loves to do. But remember big fancy parties aren’t the only way to make a birthday special. You can get some easy and budget friendly ways to celebrate your child here in this post. I would love to hear about your family’s favorite birthday traditions. Share in the comment below.
And do me a favor and pin this post. And you can check out other fun birthday party ideas here.
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