Little Girl's Hello Kitty Party: Adeline's 3rd Birthday - Jessica N. Turner

This summer, for Adeline’s third birthday, we had a Hello Kitty party. My mom, sister and dear friend Chris from high school were all in town, so we had lots of help for the day. This was especially great because I was so sick during my first trimester.

If you have a little girl who loves Hello Kitty like Adeline, I hope this post inspires you in planning your own Hello Kitty party. I’ve tried to detail everything, but if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. These party posts are always a favorite of mine to share! I think I have as much fun planning as the kids do attending.

A big theme that I noticed as I wrote this post is that I bought MOST of the supplies on clearance at Target or from the Target dollar section (read my shopping Target clearance tips). Adeline started expressing an interest in a Hello Kitty party last fall, so I thought about the party for many months prior to the actual event. You can save big money when you are planning well in advance for a birthday party. Most of the items were bought 50-90% off, which is pretty awesome.

Hello Kitty Invitation
I took some photos of Adeline in a Hello Kitty dress and then used a Minted birthday invitation template for the Hello Kitty invitation. It turned out perfect!

Hello Kitty Decorations
The decorations were a nice mix of store bought and handmade.

I bought a huge book of Hello Kitty 12×12 slab of scrapbook paper (at JoAnns, with a coupon), which provided me with ample paper for decorations and games.

JoAnns had some cute thin wood Hello Kitty decorations, which my Mom painted and we used throughout the party. They added such a sweet touch! Now Adeline has them in her bedroom.

I also had several hot pink tin vases that I bought on clearance from the Target Dollar Section after Valentines, which I filled with cheery pink and yellow flowers.

For the drink station, I added Hello Kitty washi tape to the tops of the drink canisters (Target 90% off summer finds last year).

My sister helped me make a simple pinwheel bunting using Hello Kitty paper to hang on the bar.

I also made Hello Kitty pinwheels last minute because I had so much paper, they are so fast to make and they are just adorable.

Hello Kitty Photo Backdrop

We also had a Hello Kitty scene setter (photo backdrop), which the kids loved. I try to have one of these at every party I throw because they really help to ensure that you get some fantastic photos and they really help bring the theme to life in a big way.

I took some cute photos of Adeline before the party started in front of the drop, as well as family pictures.

We also attempted to do a group shot with all the kids at the party, but that wasn’t super successful.

I first discovered these backdrops for Adeline’s Sesame Street party last year and I really love them. They are a great way to “set the scene” for the party and are so affordable.

Hello Kitty Party Food

For the table I bought a Hello Kitty tablecloth and Hello Kitty napkins, along with pink and yellow plates. (I rarely buy branded plates because they are so expensive for so few.) The centerpiece was a simple hot pink vase that I got on clearance at Valentine’s from the Target dollar section, along with a Hello Kitty stuffed animal.

The party was from 10-12, so I kept the food very simple and toddler friendly. Small sandwich buns, ham and turkey rolls, cheese, fruit and chips.

I used flower trays and my mom assembled pink “daisies” using all pink/red fruit (watermelon, grapes and strawberries) with pineapple for the center. It was so cute!

Hello Kitty Games & Activities
This was a bit challenging because there aren’t obvious games that go with the Hello Kitty party theme. I made signs for all the games using the scrapbook paper + letters cut using my Silhouette Cameo. I glued everything on with my Xyron creative machine (one of my favorite party DIY tools), which made things super easy to assemble. Here are the ones we came up with:

Hello Kitty Tattoo Parlor

This one was simple and a big hit with the kids. I bought some Hello Kitty tattoos from the dollar section at Target and set up a small table on the deck with the tattoos, a bowl of water and the washcloth. (The heart bowls were 90% off clearance finds after Valentines at Target.)

The sign was made using the scrapbook paper I bought from JoAnns.

Hello Kitty Hopscotch

This was such a hit! We taped Hello Kitty paper to the deck and the kids ADORED it. Adeline said it was her favorite game at the party.

Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty

This one is all over Pinterest and was super easy to execute. I drew Hello Kitty on a piece of foam core for the “pinning.”

I used several colors of cardstock (just what I had in my stash) for the bows, and cut them using my Silhouette Cameo. Then I ran them through my Xyron to put adhesive on the back and added glitter accents using glitter glue.

Toss the Hello Kitty

This game was assembled with all after Easter clearance Hello Kitty baskets (Target) and plush Hello Kittys (Walgreens). The plush kittys had Easter ears on them, and I simply cut them off.

The kids had a blast tossing the kittys, though mostly they just went up to the baskets and dropped them in!

Musical Chairs

Okay, this one was really cute, but resulted in a few tears from the younger ones who didn’t understand why they didn’t have a chair!

I cut scalloped circles and numbers out with my Silhouette Cameo and glued the numbers on with my Xyron. We then taped them to the little kids’ chairs, which I scooped up 90% off at Target last year.

Hello Kitty Cake & Cupcakes
The cake was another one of Adeline’s favorite parts of her Hello Kitty party.

I had the Hello Kitty cake made by Sugar Lump Cakes in Nashville, which is an incredibly affordable cake shop that does wonderful work.

Tip: I moved the kids table to in front of the scene setter for cake so that we would get fun pictures with the Hello Kitty scene setter in the background. Seriously, definitely worth the $5! (Adeline wasn’t sure what to think of the candles at first!)

I also made strawberry cupcakes, which is one of my favorite summer cake recipes. The cake toppers were from an cupcake mix kit I bought after Valentines or Easter at Target.

It was an incredibly fun Hello Kitty party and the birthday girl couldn’t have been more delighted by it all. (Free birthday poster download from Petite Lemon. I love that it had places to list Adeline’s favorite hobbies and things.)