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Question: Hi Loralee and Annie: I love your blog and ideas and hope that you can help me out. My little boy now is taller than I am by a few inches and will turn 16 in a few weeks and I am drawing a blank on party ideas and favors. He loves cars and he plans on being a mechanic and customize cars someday and I thought about a car themed party, but all the decorations I am finding are too “little boyish” – any ideas or input would be appreciated! Kathryn

Dear Kathryn,  

Wow!  Let me l be the first to say, sixteen year old boy birthdays are not a piece of cake.   I give you 30 Brownie badges of bravery for undertaking the event – a much lesser woman would not even think about it. As you are probably way more aware of than I - above anything else, this party has to be “cool.”  If it’s not cool it can be high school social suicide.  

I wasn’t sure if you were planning a co-ed party or “boys only” event – either way here are my thoughts!

1. Invitations can be kind of cheesy for a 16 year old boy to hand out.  I suggest having him send e-vites to all of his friends instead.   E-vites.com has a fun car-inspired invite right now, click here to view it.   If your son is up for a more traditional paper invitation, I did love this photo car invite that could easily be personalized for your son and not seem little boy-ish in the least.

2. Plan the party in conjunction with an activity.  Guys love doing things.  Unlike girls, they can’t just sit around and talk forever.  Let the guys go to a car show, the new showing of a car movie,  a NASCAR event, or rent a fancy car for him to drive with a few friends (and supervision) to his favorite steak restaurant. That is “cool.”

3. If you would rather do stay-at-home event, a “Steak and Sleepover Night” would definitely fit the bill.  Serve TONS of great food and have a huge breakfast the next morning complete with large Texas Toast and sausage.  As I am sure you (and your grocery bill) can testify, Kathryn,  boys love food.  Pizza alone will not cut it.  Make sure you have an array of munchies for the guys.  It may also be fun to serve mocktails and non alcoholic beverages at the party, such as IBC Root Beer and energy drinks. Here is a non-alcoholic Margarita Punch recipe we featured in October.

4.  A great idea I found on the internet for a teen birthday was to hang balloons filled with dollars around the room.   When he opens presents, he can pop them open for his cash.  I know boys would love this.

5. If you do decide to do an at home event, here are some of the fun car decor and food I found that I felt was not too cheezy for a growing teen:

My FAVORITE car cupcakes of all time (pictured above two times on purpose, because they are that cool), I found on The Ladygloom’s photo stream.  You can view them here.  Honestly, these are the fussiest little cupcakes, but I think they are worth it.  They are totally cool and absolutely one of a very few cupcakes you really could serve to a 16 year old boy, in my opinion.

Another fun cupcake (not as cool, but perhaps more do-able) can be found at I Heart CuppyCakes.  She even shows you a tutorial on how to do a perfectly checkered cupcake.  Find it here.

Oriental Trading had several fun items.  Check out their:  Checkered Balloons, Checkered Pennant Banner, Black And White Checkered Racing Flags, and the Black And White Checkered Tablecloth

Celebration Sensations has great Checkered Flag NASCAR Racing Dinner Plates.

6. Favors at a teen boy event flirt dangerously with the unpopular line.  My suggestion is to skip the car cookies and hand out IBC Root Beers with a custom label on them, similar to what we featured on our Mad Scientist Dinner Party, but with a birthday theme of course.  You can easily print these out on your computer and adhere them to the drink.  Very simple, but one of those great touches that makes a party unique.

Finally, here are two articles that we found with tips and hints on throwing a Teen bash:  Tips to Avoid at a Teen Party
Family-Life Magazine: Planning a Teen Co-Ed Birthday Party

Up Next: We will be throwing inspiration at fabulous Kolly for her joint daughter’s pool party!

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