As November approached, I was after John every day about what he wanted to do to celebrate his sixteenth birthday. He is a pretty social kid and loves hanging with his friends. When he got exasperated one day and threw up his hands saying “I don’t want a party. I can’t even figure out if anyone is in town.” I knew it was time for mama to step in. I don’t save my boys from many blunders, but I guess not having a 16th birthday party was where I draw that line. HA! I enlisted the help of his two best friends on a date. From there, his cute HOCO date coordinated the girl group. And a SURPRISE “sweet” 16 with alllll the Christmas things was in the works!
Regarding the theme, it was so easy to come up with! First, John LOVES Christmas and gingerbread and all the Christmas treats and sweets. Second, he would NEVER, ever have said “YES” to a Christmas themed party if asked. :-) I made up a digital invite and gave it to his besties to distribute. I was slightly terrified at that moment… what if nobody comes? what if way too many people come? what if he is furious? Who knew a surprise party could be so stressful?!
I’ll admit that the whole shebang got a liiiiiiitle over the top. I just couldn’t help myself. Like John, I LOVE Christmas! As I started plotting and planning, I thought – I can get this item or that item and use it for this event and this party and just for random nights in the back yard….. and so, we ended up with a winter wonderland in our very own backyard!
For the actual logistics, that fell into place perfectly as well! When John decided a party was too hard, he asked to go out to a nice steak dinner with the extended family on his birthday. Sister’s family was not going to be able to attend as it was CeeCee’s first Nutcracker show. Needless to say, they were devastated to miss and said they wanted to take him out on a different night. I suggested the night of the party and it worked like a charm. He didn’t suspect a thing!
Sister and her family picked John up at 5PM. After toying around with various gift ideas, they ultimately decided to give him the steak experience as his gift and took him to the ultimate Atlanta steakhouse – Bones! (I want to go!!!!!) She said they had such a great time with JUST John and truly enjoyed spending the evening with him.
Meanwhile, the moment their car backed out of the drive it was like we were in a manic episode. Honey, Whit and I had 90 minutes to set up an ENTIRE party! My car was loaded to the gills with stuff I’d been hiding. We had furniture to move. A tent to assemble. A snow machine to figure out how to operate. An outdoor movie to set up. It was the best kind of pandemonium. Of course, in middle of my frenzy I walk out carrying 5 bakery boxes to this scene. Whit says “Elsa was too cute to resist!” :-)
The guests arrived at 6:30, parking their cars waaaaay down the loop that runs behind our house. We fed them pizza while they waited, knowing that John would come home stuffed.
When Sister texted me that they were on the way, I nearly exploded with excitement! Everyone was honestly just giddy! We watched the kids run crazy all over the yard finding their hiding spots. It was absolutely freezing, so I pulled out every blanket I could get my hands on. Our garage door broke a few days before and Honey intentionally didn’t fix it so that John wouldn’t be able to come in that way and would have to use the fence gate. It worked like a charm. We assigned things to turn on to different people and as he approached the gate and opened it, we threw on the lights, snow, movie and everyone yelled SURPRISE!!!!!!
John was shocked in the happiest, most joyful, most memorable way. I will never, ever forget that moment as he stood there and his friends started coming out of their hiding spots in every which way. It was sweet and surreal.
I didn’t plan any entertainment, as I know these kids just like each other’s company. I just created a special, memorable place for them to hang! I wanted this clear tent for well over a year when they became popular in 2020. Of course, they were sold out last winter and Honey said we didn’t *need* it anyway. :-) We furnished it with the sofa from the porch, beanbag from the basement, and small tables from the pool deck. I layered in plenty of festive pillows and blankets, and hung 3 battery operated snowflakes inside (Target). I was going to put one of our porch heaters out here but simply ran out of time AND didn’t want to have to keep an eye on it all night anyway.
I picked up the cute Christmas activity dice at Target, and grabbed a bunch of $1 Santa hats, elf hats and bobble headbands at Party City. I asked the kids to dress in “festive Christmas” attire and they did not disappoint. They came in jammies, onesies, ugly sweaters, hats, scarves and the lot.
I have so many plans for this clear bubble tent – a romantic Valentine’s dinner, a cozy place for outdoor winter movie nights, a tiki cabana for a summer party…. stay tuned!
When I thought of creating the ultimate winter wonderland, I knew we had to have SNOW! Honey had not even taken it out of the box until about an hour before the party started and I was a little stressed it would be a bust. Well, no worries there. It was beyond what I ever dreamed! Honey climbed out on the porch roof and positioned it right on the corner. It made a blizzard! The only downside is that it is quite loud.
Like the clear tent, I cannot WAIT to use this more. We won’t have a holiday event without snow around here anymore. :-) But, what I am MOST excited about, is a Christmas in July pool party next summer.
Part of my vision included projecting a Christmas movie for ambiance. I knew the kids wouldn’t sit down and watch it in its entirety, but it was the PERFECT backdrop. We let the kids pick as they ate pizza. I thought for sure they would want Christmas Vacation but it was a unanimous vote for Elf. We already use the movie projection system a ton and I’ve shared about it before a number of times.
We moved the ping pong / dining table over against the wall for the food table. I spent the whole day in hiding making the balloon garland from a kit. It was super easy but very time consuming. Again, I was like a crazy person setting up because I didn’t even know where things were going to go until we started moving furniture. I used painters tape to attach the balloons to the wall. It was not only cold but windy too, so it was definitely me against Mother Nature. :-)
For food, I served alll the Christmas treats that John loves!! I ordered his favorite gingerbread men, thumbprint cookies and petit fours.
He loves everything gingerbread, so I used the Trader Joe’s gingerbread cake mix (2 boxes) in a gingerbread house pan for his cake. Since I figure most teens don’t love gingerbread, I placed it on a cookie cake! I had them ice the cookie cake fully in white icing to look like snow. I added marshmallows, a chocolate chip sidewalk and trees (Little Debbie’s) before dusting everything with powdered sugar. It turned out absolutely precious! (Many thanks to LH for letting me bake the cake at her house the night before!!!)
The hit of the party food were the hot chocolate bombs! I made them a few days earlier when John was out and hid them in my office closet. He loved them so much last year and I thought they would be a fun treat for the kids. I heated up TONS of milk earlier in the day and it stayed hot in my bunn carafe (I have used this SO many times since elementary school parties!) They were absolutely in awe of them and formed a line just as soon as we finished singing Happy Birthday! It was the cutest thing to see their reactions as the bombs exploded. <3
After we sang and everyone was fed, Sister and her family left and we headed inside for the kids to enjoy their night. John came in three separate times to thank us and tell us how surprised he was and how much he loved every detail. These are the kind of nights dreams are made of <3
Sources
- Clear tent
- Snow Machine and Snow Juice
- Balloon Garland Kit
- Custom Cursive Letter Balloons
- Giant 16 Balloons
- Electric Balloon Pump
- Gingerbread House Cake Pan
- Hot Beverage Airpot
- Hot Chocolate Bomb Mold | Instructions
- Movie Projector Details
We celebrated BIG on Monday, but look forward to a day full of family and food come Friday.
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Amanda,
You outdid yourself! Every.single.detail is adorable. What a fun birthday idea and I love all the future party ideas you have as well :)
I cried just reading your story. What a great party with so much thought and planning put into it. He is one lucky 16 yr old.
Happy Birthday John
Youโve produced countless DELIGHTS, Amanda but this one deserves an award! Every single detail was perfect. What fun!!! ๐คถ๐๐๐ช It wouldnโt have been the same without the snow and the tent is insane! โ๏ธโ๏ธโ๏ธ Iโm already waiting for your Valentine soirรฉe! โค๏ธ Have a great weekend! ๐
Jane ~ San Diego
How fun!! I love every bit of it!
omg amanda!!! this is so sweet and amazing! i cried it’s so sweet! he is going to remember this forever! SO special! haha i didn’t even have a sweet 16 bc it was too much of a hassle figuring out when everyone is free. this is soo wonderful! aww! he looks so happy! and i cant wait to see all your future party plans with your fun tent!
also have you ever thought about making an amazon storefront page? i feel like you always find the best stuff on there! i’m always checking your blog for ideas!<3 happy early birthday to john! and you are the best mom always making everything so special! <3 i know you mentioned that was a hard day for you bc of the date and i do believe you guardian angel was watching over you!
Amanda,
I love that you were able to pull off such a great “16” birthday party for John without him ever suspecting anything. I must say he has a great group of friends and it was so fun to see them all involved in making his 16th birthday such a fun night!
Absolute perfection! My fav part? not the amazing snow machine, not the perfect snow tent, not the beautiful balloon arch, not the delicious food items….but that John came in not once but three times to say thank you. What a magical night for your family! I know you have made a memory for a lifetime! Now what will you do for Whit’s sixteenth? LOL
Happy Big 16 John! You have the most amazing mom and dadโฆ.your sweet thank you for your wonderful party was the absolute perfect ending to a perfect day. Always remain gratefulโฆ๐