A Simple DIY Sweet 13th Birthday Party in Blush and Gold

Throwing my thirteen year old a party has been the highlight of my year. I love celebrating big milestones! However, since shes a teen and not really interested in an overly themed birthday party, we had to put our heads together to come up with a theme that was pretty yet simple and incorporated a few of her favorite things without going too over the top. This party theme is so easy to put together and can really be used to celebrate any age. You can modify the sweet treats and games accordingly to fit the interests of your own child, or recreate this party in just a few easy steps. Here’s a look at Emily’s simple DIY Sweet 13th birthday party in a blush and gold theme!

Sweet 13 Party Backdrop

The most important part of creating a DIY party (if you want it to look super cute for photos) is to set up a food and beverage station or a “party backdrop” that ties the whole party together by using the party theme colors. For this party, since the theme was blush and gold, the focal point of the party backdrop are a large pair of balloons that say “13” – You can easily substitute your child’s age or even a large letter for their name which I have done before for Ashlyn’s DIY Spa Party.

An easy way to decorate for a birthday party is to use items that you purchase to use for the party as decor, like paper plates, napkins, and utensils. I fell in love with these beautiful blush and gold party items for Emily’s 13th Birthday party. For this party since we wanted to keep it super simple I used these plates and napkins throughout the party backdrop area as decor (rather than spend a lot of time and money for additional decor pieces). Though I can no longer locate this exact set paper plate and napkin online, I have linked some similar blush and gold paper party supplies at the end of this post to help you plan your blush and gold birthday party.

I even used these gorgeous blush and gold watercolor paper plates as part of the backdrop on the wall to add some dimension and pop to our shiplap wall.

The paper plates are attached to the wall with removable double sided adhesive squares. I had to use a few squares per plate to ensure they wouldn’t fall during the party.

Finally, I draped some cute little gold stars throughout the party backdrop area to finish the blush and gold party backdrop sweets station.

Sweet 13 Party Food

Food for this party was simply all sweet things that Emily loves. Her favorite cake and cupcake varieties, decorated to match the party. This is another way you can keep a party simple yet pretty – match the sweets to your party theme, and use them as part of the decor. For this party I baked Emily a DIY layered cake and drizzled pink frosting over the top as well as some simple cupcakes. With pink frosting and a gold cake topper, they were both delicious and a perfect match to the party theme. I created this cake topper with my silhouette, but I have linked a similar one you can purchase at the end of this post.

Sweet 13 Party Activities & Games

Again, to keep this party simple for teens who are uninterested in silly games and activities that entertain younger children at parties, Emily and I decided on 3 activities/games for her 13th birthday party. An Italian Soda making station, the plastic wrap ball game, and a photo booth.

Italian Soda Station

The first party activity was an Italian Soda making station, which served as both a sweet treat for the party and as entertainment for the teens. Emily and her friends are obsessed with Italian Sodas right now, so I ordered a couple of her favorite syrup flavors and a case of San Pellegrino for the party. Emily requested vanilla and raspberry. Other flavors her friends and her enjoy include peach and mango, but we decided to limit the flavors to just two to save on costs for this party. The girls had so much fun creating their own Italian Sodas!

How to make Italian Sodas:

Italian Sodas are so easy to make at home – simply pump in 4-6 pumps of your favorite syrup flavor over a cup of ice and then fill the cup with San Pellegrino to the top. Optionally you can add in a splash of half and half and/or top with whip cream for a Cream Italian Soda.

Party tip: The kids will most likely want to make more than one drink, so plan accordingly when purchasing your supplies. Also, the larger the cup the more syrup you will want to add. These are made according to taste preferences, so I recommend making a tester in your party cups to come up with the right balance of flavor to soda before allowing the kids to make theirs.

Plastic Wrap Ball Game

The second activity Emily decided on for her 13th birthday party was the plastic wrap ball game. This game is not only a huge hit for kids of all ages – but us adults love it too! I have a tutorial on how to create this game that will help you create this at home. The key is to add lots of very inexpensive items the teens are really interested in winning so they actually engage in the game and compete for the prizes. Emily’s friends love face masks, scrunchies and candy – which are all fairly inexpensive – so we packed several of these items into the plastic ball. The very center of the ball has the biggest prize and for this game we put a $10 Starbucks gift card in as the grand prize. For added fun Emily selected a couple gag gifts such as feminine products in the ball to make her friends laugh! I linked some supplies at the end of this post.

Photo Booth

Finally, we set up a simple and cute photo booth for the kids to use to take photos at throughout the party. What teen doesn’t love taking photos with friends? To create this party photo booth I moved the “13” gold balloons over to a blush tassel curtain garland that I hung next to the sweets station when the kids were ready to take photos. I only hung one but I suggest hanging two side by side when you create this for a wider backdrop. You can shop for these at the bottom of this post.

The rest of the party included opening presents and hosting a sleepover. This party turned out so cute, yet it was so simple to put together. I hope you have fun creating a simple DIY Sweet 13th Birthday Party for your own teen!

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Check out more DIY Kid’s Parties here!

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