While my son plays every video game (and has had a birthday themed after them) from Fortnite to Super Mario, my daughter plays exactly one: Minecraft. And she’s certainly not the only kid obsessed with it! My only surprise when she requested a Minecraft party theme was that she didn’t ask sooner.
I’ve tried to play Minecraft with my kids, but I must admit I just don’t get it. I’m a Sims girl for life, I guess. But I had an absolute blast on the planning and DIY projects for this Minecraft birthday party. Every food on the buffet was pulled straight from the game. Lily wanted a Creeper cake, and although I couldn’t figure out how to make a standing one that wouldn’t fall over, the amazing candles I found really elevated the sheet-Creeper cake.
Since the food and cake were pretty simple this time, I went hard on the decorations – and I can’t wait for you to see them all!
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Girly Minecraft Birthday Invitations
Although Lily was fine with traditional Minecraft colors for the party decor, she specifically wanted a pretty pink, feminine invite (which I love). Her two favorite non-mob creatures in the game are the pig and cat, so I made sure to include them in the invite. The player closely resembles her as well. I used a pink pixellated background for the reverse side.
Yes, I still order physical invitations and mail/hand them out. But it’s not just about the nostalgia, or even the feel of a nice invitation in my hand. They give me tangible things I can use when scrapbooking later on! I always order my invites from Mpix and have never been disappointed. Use my link to get $10 off your first order!
Fun Homemade Decor
I did buy a bit of mass-produced party decorations, such as the birthday banner and Creeper balloons. But as usual, the vast majority of this party is DIY.
Chalkboard Entrance/Exit
When I first bought my easel chalkboard with a gift card, I had no idea what I’d actually use it for. Now it gets used exactly twice a year – for each of my kid’s birthdays!
With a Creeper head on the bottom, the front side used the pun “Creep On In” to welcome our guests. As they left, “Hope You Had a Blast” offered a final farewell with a TNT block to go with it.
Do NOT use regular chalk when attempting this kind of artwork – use dustless instead. It’s also better than liquid chalk, which I’ve found to be near impossible to fully clean off these types of chalkboard surfaces.
Step Into Our World
Directly across from our front door is a game cabinet that I use to hold the party favors (and some decorations). I’ve purposefully refrained from hanging art or pictures above it all these years because I like to put party decorations there!
The Zombie, Enderman, and Creeper are all homemade. I designed the SVGs (cut files) in Adobe Illustrator and cut them out of cardstock with my Cricut Maker. They were fairly straightforward, but I must admit I nearly lost my marbles trying to arrange the tiny green block pieces the right way on the Creeper!
These types of decorations are great because I can make them BIG but they still hang onto the wall with just loops of gift wrap tape on the back. It holds strong enough without taking the paint off my walls at the end. Instead of throwing them away, I list my decorations on Facebook Marketplace for free so someone else can use them for another party!
I always put a cute little quote on my letter board as well. There’s not really any talking in Minecraft, so I just made one up. In the game, diamonds aren’t very easy to find until you dig about 50 levels down, so finding one in “level 12” (her age) means she’s a rarity. 😉
My son allowed me to borrow his Creeper plushie for the cabinet. I also placed my daughter’s LEGO Minecraft Fox out there. If you’ve already got it, use it! No need to buy or make more than necessary.
I’ll talk more about the torches in the Favors section, but you can see a video of them glowing a little further down!
Creeper Balloons
My local Walmart happened to have a six-pack of Creeper balloons, so I paired them with plain black balloons. I placed them on either side of our mantle upstairs as well as in the center of the table in the basement.
Premade TNT Centerpiece
Walmart also had a pack of Minecraft decor pieces that included this TNT centerpiece, a Creeper box head, and a Steven box head. I put this one in the living room between armchairs and the two boxes on the basement table.
Party Central (aka the Kitchen)
I did not have any ceiling danglers this time, but the kitchen absolutely did NOT need any more visual stimulation! The grass block table covers added quite a bit of chaos to the table and server already. By the time I added the streamers to the ceiling and the backdrop over the server, it felt complete.
Minecraft Birthday Banner and DIY Ender Dragon
The last of the store-bought decor was the big Happy Birthday banner. Well, the banner wasn’t that big really. It was just LONG, but that made it great for hanging on the wall that drops down between the kitchen and living room.
And yes, I made that giant Ender Dragon myself! She was nearly six feet long and took a very long time to design, slice, cut out, and assemble. Despite being made of cardstock, she was so heavy we had to use Command strips as well as tape to hold her to the wall. She’s now in my sister’s stepson’s bedroom!
DIY Minecraft Party Backdrop
Another fully DIY project, I designed a Player that resembled my daughter to make from cardstock.I made sure to include a pig and cat as well. The clouds, trees, and grass blocks were really easy and made it look like a complete game scene.
The lettering for “Lily Reached Level 12” was actually printed on white cardstock to give it the gradient look before cutting with my Cricut.
3D Cardboard Creeper
Next to the server, I placed one of my favorite items – a huge dimensionally accurate Creeper! I had an Amazon box that was perfect for the body, so I just bought appropriately sized boxes from Walmart and Staples for the head and feet.
Originally I planned to wrap it in plain green wrapping paper and glue on cardstock squares everywhere. But when I found this green checkered paper at Michael’s for $1 a roll (!!!) I figured the lack of pixel accuracy was worth the time and headache spent on decorating it! All I had to do was add the eyes and mouth.
I used a hot glue gun to attach the head to the body, and the body to the four legs. Then we carefully moved him into place.
Going into the Nether
Just to the right of the cabinet holding the party favors is our hallway containing a door to our basement. I knew exactly what to do with the space for a Minecraft party theme!
Nether Portal
I made the giant “NETHER PORTAL” sign with my Cricut, just so it was clear where everyone was going through the curtain. The purple curtains came from Amazon. They’re better than the ones at Dollar Tree because they are much longer and actually almost touch the floor from a 9-foot opening.
The black balloons came from Walmart. They weren’t really necessary, but I thought they added a little something extra to the vibe. Plus, we had a couple of toddlers at the party, and it gave them something to grab and play with besides the streamer curtain.
3D Minecraft Spider
I’m very proud of how this spider turned out! As close to proportionate as I could get it, I wrapped three cardboard boxes in black kraft paper and hot-glued them together. The legs are just strips of black cardstock taped to the cephalothorax at different angles so they would fan out. And, of course, the red cardstock eyes!
I held it to the wall above our coat closet using a couple of Command strips, and angled him so he was staring at people as they came back out of the hallway/Nether Portal.
Down in the Nether
Once you went through the streamers and down the steps, you literally entered the Nether! Now, as my children love to point out, lava doesn’t usually drip from the ceiling. My response is, it’s a vibe, not a recreation.
I darkened the ceiling with black streamers as bunting and hung long strips of red and orange throughout. In a stroke of genius, I also got some red tissue paper and taped squares of it over some of our recessed lights to give the whole party table area a red glow!
The table had the same grass block cover and balloons as upstairs, plus the Creeper and Steve head blocks from the centerpiece pack. Usually no one actually eats down here, but I like to provide the option in case someone likes more breathing room during the party.
Below is a video that shows you both the torches from the favor box cabinet glowing, and a walkthrough from the Nether Portal down to The Nether basement!
DIY Ghasts
My final three-dimensional Mob project for this party was a pair of Ghasts to hang out in The Nether. Cube cardboard boxes were wrapped in white kraft paper, and I cut out and glued cardstock pixels for their faces (I didn’t bother doing it on all sides). The “tentacles” were nine strips of white streamer spaced out under the bottom!
Minecraft-Themed Foods and Drinks
Food was a piece of cake (haha) for this party! I based every item directly off of food in the game, and since that’s mostly whole foods, there wasn’t a lot of prep needed. It also made healthy fruits and vegetables a natural part of the spread.
The paper plates were square Creeper faces, and surprisingly sturdy for paper! I got lucky and caught them on clearance as Walmart was apparently switching over to a new Minecraft design in their party supplies. You can still get them, but they’re overpriced now that they’re discontinued – same for the napkins.
Honestly, just get whatever Walmart currently has and you’ll be fine.
Steve’s Lava Chicken
I have never made a main dish decision so fast in my life, haha! We took our kids to see The Minecraft Movie when it came out, so I already knew I was serving “lava” chicken. Don’t worry, it’s just Tyson’s Buffalo Chicken Bites. And yes, I served them with ranch and bleu cheese dressing.
Two regular bags was not quite enough for the 14 or so adults in attendance, so I would recommend a bag for every 5 spicy-food eaters in attendance.
Cooked Chicken
Since I knew at least my children were notoriously anti-spicy food, I made sure to have plenty of regular chicken nuggets as well. Two Tyson bags of these provided a LOT more food than the buffalo kind did, and two bags was plenty to feed the 8 kids in attendance plus cover the adults that didn’t get enough buffalo chicken bites.
Melon Slice
Straight from the icon in the game, I served up slices of watermelon on a platter! They were a big hit, too. It was a great melon I’d picked just the day before that was sweet and juicy.
Sweet Berries
You could really use any round-ish red fruit you prefer as Sweet Berries, since the icon in the game is pretty generic. I went with strawberries because most people like them and they’re affordable in August.
Carrot
I didn’t serve whole carrot sticks, obviously, but who doesn’t love baby carrots? In the past, like at Lily’s Frozen birthday party, I would make small cups of carrots with ranch already in the bottom. For the sake of space on the server, I just put them in a bowl with tongs this time.
Potato
This one is probably the least like the icon in the game, but I wasn’t about to make enough baked potatoes for everyone at the party! I did at least use plain potato chips instead of Cheetos, so give me some credit.
Cookie
At first I was going to use square wafer-sandwich cookies for this, but Lily pointed out that the cookies in the game actually do look more round.
I’d just used chocolate chip mini cookies for her Amazing Digital Circus party last year, and these candy-piece cookies were actually in the bakery clearance at Walmart when I shopped the day before, so I went with them! They’re very soft and yummy.
Creeper Juice
This is one of the best party punches I’ve ever made! First, I mixed a packet of lemon-lime Kool-Aid (I had to order from Amazon, Walmart didn’t have it) into a gallon of green berry Hawaiian Punch. Then I added a two-liter of Sprite and mixed in some lime sherbet to finish.
Lava Bucket
While I preferred the Creeper Juice, the Lava Bucket drink was the most popular at the party! And it was even easier to make. I put two 2-liters of Strawberry Fanta into the dispenser, then put orange sherbet in it, melting a little in and leaving the rest to foam up like lava on top.
TNT Drinking Cups
Sometimes the littlest things add a nice touch to your party. I printed and cut out a bunch of little TNT signs and attached them to a bunch of red Hefty cups with double-sided tape.
“Cake”
I’ll get into the cake a bit more below – but I couldn’t resist making it its own little “Cake” inventory sign!
Homemade Buttercream Minecraft Creeper Cake
Lily wanted a Creeper cake. While I may have been able to assemble a standing Creeper, I was terrified it would end up falling over the way they’re built. So I went with this “sheetcake” version instead! And the whole thing was assembled from just two baked cakes.
I baked a 9×13 devil’s food cake that I cut into two 6×6 squares to stack for the head, plus two 3×4 pieces to stack for one of the legs (I had a 3×5 chunk leftover). Then I baked a white 8×8 cake and cut it down to 5×8 for the body and two 3×4 pieces for the other leg!
You need a really big cake board for this size Creeper – I got a 14×19 board and it barely fit. I cleared a shelf in my fridge to help the buttercream harden after the crumb coat before I started decorating with the final coat of green and different shades for the “pixels” and black facial features.
I was pooping green for a week.
Minecraft-Themed Candles
One thing I’m not prone to spending tons of money on is fancy candles. However… I made an exception for Minecraft.
Not only did the candles match the theme, they specifically went well with a Creeper cake!
The 10-pack of torch candles was very affordable for what they were. But I always try to make the number of candles match their age, and I didn’t want to buy a whole other 10-pack to get two more. That’s why I was so excited to find the 12 TNT candles! Number “12” AND 12 total candles!
Overpriced? Most definitely. Worth it? Absolutely.
Minecraft Party Games & Activities
Three is usually the magic number for games at our birthday parties. It gives the kids multiple opportunities to “win” something, but doesn’t make the party drag on for too long.
Creeper Beanbag Toss
I got a 24×36 tri-fold board from Hobby Lobby and cut out the shapes of a Creeper’s eyes and mouth from the center. I painted the center panel green (with regular acrylic paint) and wrote “CREEPER TOSS” across the sides in black. For point values, the smaller eye holes are worth more for being harder to score through.
I had mini beanbags from my son’s dinosaur birthday party game. Each kid got six tries to score, and the winner got to pick from the available prizes!
IRL Minecraft Block Stacking Challenge
The favor boxes I bought came in a pack of 24, and I needed slightly more than that for our guests. I decided to use the remaining empty boxes for a stacking game! The tallest tower built before falling over won the other “big” prize.
This game was a huge hit with the kids, and we could do it in the living room so the adults could all watch.
Creeper Pinata
Pinatas are a party classic and I always try to find one to match the theme. I was lucky that our Walmart had a Creeper pinata in stock! I filled it with a bag of fun-size chocolate bars I got from Sam’s Club.
Minecraft Game Prizes
I had two main game prizes for the beanbag toss and block stacking games.
The first was a cheap Minecraft-themed drawstring bag – with a surprise Minecraft paperback book inside that I’d found at Five Below.
But my personal favorite was the second prize: a potion bottle light! For the price, it’s incredible. It has a rechargeable battery and you just tap it to change the color. Not gonna lie, I’m still thinking about ordering another one for myself!
Every kid then got to pick a pre-inflated Minecraft sword so no one went home empty-handed. (Not that they would have anyway – they got pinata candy and a favor box, too!) These were rather strategically handed out toward the end of the party.
Minecraft Favor Blocks (and an Extra Goodie)
These 3×3 cube grass and dirt blocks were perfect for holding consumable party favors! I prefer to send guests home with treats they can eat later, rather than junky toys that will end up in a landfill.
Inside I had Snyder’s square Butter Snaps pretzels, Minecraft fruit snacks, and a homemade frosted brownie (I made and wrapped them two days before the party so they wouldn’t stale too quickly).
The brownies weren’t super heavy, so I decided to put them on top to try and preserve the look of the “grass” frosting. Everything just fit inside the favor boxes.
I made the brownies look like grass blocks by layering two brownies with whipped chocolate frosting between them, then spreading homemade buttercream tinted green on the top. I let the frosting crust a bit before wrapping them in plastic.
Walmart brand chewy brownie mix is surprisingly good. I baked each box mix in a 9×13 pan to get thinner brownies since I knew I’d be layering them. To get the shapes as even as possible, I sliced the crusty edges off of each batch before cutting the remainder into 12 brownies. I made four batches total to get 24 layered brownies.
I only needed one can of chocolate frosting, and I made way too much green frosting. But that was okay – I just used it for the crumb coat on the Creeper cake!
DIY Glowing Minecraft Torches
The kids got one other goodie to keep – a Minecraft torch that really glowed! The torch pattern was printed on glossy photo paper, cut out and folded into the rectangular tube shape. Since I taped the lids shut, I waited until the morning of the party to turn on the flickering LED candles, tape them under the lid with double-sided tape, and seal them.
It would be difficult to open them back up just to turn off the candle, so I told the kids to enjoy them while they lasted. Lily’s ended up continuing to flicker for an entire week straight! They were particularly awesome down in the dark “Nether” basement.
Before You Go…
I hope you’ve found some inspiring Minecraft birthday party ideas here! My kids get 110% when it comes to their big day, as every kid should. But I have the luxury of time, and your 110% may look different from mine. So take the ideas you like and have time for and leave the rest!
If you enjoyed this party, be sure to check out some of my other favorites:
