How to throw a super fun Mario Birthday Party on a budget

Who doesn’t love the Mario Brothers? That’s why a Mario Birthday Party is so much fun. But what doesn’t make sense is spending hundreds of dollars on a kid’s birthday party. That’s why I’m here to show you an easy way to pull this party off on the cheap (expense breakdown included). Check it out!

Our family has a birthday rule that each kid can have a birthday party, but it has to be under $100. So, when my son said he wanted a Super Mario Birthday Party, I was up for the budgeting challenge. Plus, it ended up being a fabulous, awesome party and such a special occasion. The perfect party for kids of all ages. Here’s how I did it.

Mario Birthday Party expenses in a nutshell

So, I was actually able to throw my son’s birthday party complete with all your favorite characters Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Browser for only $65! Yep, you heard it. Here’s how much everything cost:

• Decorations and games: $12
• Cupcakes and ice cream: $9 ( I already had cupcake mix at home)
• Paper plates, napkins and cups from Dollar Store: $6
• Gift bags, toys and candy: $20
• Blue, yellow, green and red balloons: $10
• Pinata and candy: $23
• Invitations: $0
• Re-selling all the decorations after the party: -$15

Total cost of birthday party: $65

Print your Mario birthday invitations at home

So, I designed a really cute Mario birthday invitation template that you can just print and fill out at home. You can text a picture of it to your party guests or drop them off at their homes. All, try to keep the number of guests to eight or below. It makes for a much manageable group and you’re not spending tons of money on gift bags and refreshments.

To download your free invitation template, click below. I offer this printable for FREE to all visitors of my blog, but if you’d like to show your support, feel free to buy me a taco.

Buy your party decorations used

You can buy brand new decorations on Amazon or at your local party store, but they are SOOOOO expensive. Why not check out Facebook Marketplace and see if someone is selling their old Mario birthday party decorations? That’s what I did! I stuck with a classic theme and got a Mario poster, banner, party game, table scatter, wall decorations and cupcake toppers for only $12. If I had purchased all of that stuff on Amazon, I would have paid $50. So, I saved $38. That’s a steal.

Other ideas for do-it-yourself decorations include a piranha plant, green pipes, question marks and a super star.

Keep the refreshments simple

There is no rule that you have to feed all of the neighbor kids a full pizza dinner for a birthday party. And you don’t have to pay a professional baker $150-$200 to make a fancy Mario birthday cake. Instead, I made 24 cupcakes from a $2 box mix from the grocery store, bought ice cream cups and made Kool-Aid. And guess what? The kids LOVED it! You can also print off some Mario clipart online and tape them to some popsicle sticks to make your own cupcake toppers.

Other refreshment ideas include goomba cupcakes, rice krispies, Mario cookie cutter cookies, water bottles and chocolate coins.

Play easy and simple games

This was my son’s 8th birthday, so we played the following games and everyone at the party loved them:

• Pin the Mustache on the Mario
• Birthday treasure hunt with goody bags and chocolate gold coins
• Pinata
• Mario Kart Race competition on the Wii

You can find an image of Mario online and print it one your home printer or at your local copy store for the Pin the Mustache on the Mario game. Birthday treasure hunts are super easy to make at home, but here’s a fun treasure hunt if you don’t want to go to the effort.

Other Super Mario games include obstacle course, scavenger hunt and mystery boxes. You can also tell your guests that they can where their favorite Super Mario costumes.

As for the pinata, you can spend $30 on Amazon for a brand new one or you can make your own! I made a number eight pinata and decorated it with Mario clipart and it only cost me $5!

Be creative; use items from home

My son had an old Mario Kart remote controlled car and a Mario hat. I used both of those for decoration. Also, I made the pinata from an old diaper box and set out some red, green and blue banana chairs that fit the decor perfectly. You don’t have to go out and buy everything new. Plus, these kids frankly don’t care. They just want to have fun.

Here’s a fun video showing the decorations for my son’s party. Overall, it was such a special day for our birthday boy.

More from My Silly Squirts: 20 non-cake birthday ideas for your next party