Super Mario Birthday

Party

Super Mario Birthday

⏱ Spread over a few weeks of prep 💰 Decor + costumes, ~$150 🔨 Skill level: Intermediate

Two-tier Super Mario themed birthday cake with character figures and candles

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The idea

For her 2nd birthday ("Level 2," naturally), we went all in on a Super Mario theme: everyone dressed up as their favorite character, the kids ran a Mario Kart–style obstacle course race, and we built our own oversized Warp Pipe decor instead of buying a cardboard one.

Scarlett has powered up to Level 2 Super Mario birthday invitation with Princess Peach

Materials

4" PVC 90° elbow pipe, plus a few extra fittings, from Home Depot
Green acrylic paint & a paintbrush, for the pipes
Green t-shirt from Michaels, for the Luigi costume
Luigi hat from Amazon
Princess Peach dress from Amazon, for the birthday girl
Super Mario character cake toppers from Amazon
Super Mario party decorations from Party City (banners, swirls, plates, napkins, cutouts)

What we did

The centerpiece of the whole party was a set of PVC pipe fittings from Home Depot, painted green to look like Mario's Warp Pipes. One elbow pipe doubled as a vase, holding fruit skewers upright on the food table — a much sturdier (and cuter) option than a regular vase.

Green painted PVC pipe fittings made to look like Super Mario warp pipes

The rest of the decorations came from Party City: hanging foil swirls, a "Happy Birthday" banner with the characters on it, and star and flower cutouts scattered around the ceiling and walls.

Super Mario party decorations including hanging swirls, a happy birthday banner, and character cutouts

For food, we kept it simple: a cheese and cracker board, fruit skewers in the pipe vase, star-shaped sugar cookies, and Mario-themed plates and question-block napkins from Party City.

Super Mario themed food table with cheese board, fruit skewers, and star sugar cookies

Everyone dressed up as their favorite character: Mom as Luigi in a green tee and cap, Dad as Mario in red, the birthday girl as Princess Peach, and her brother as Donkey Kong. For entertainment, the kids ran a Mario Kart–style race through a backyard obstacle course — no photos of that chaos, but it was the highlight of the party for the guests.

Family dressed up as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Donkey Kong in front of a happy birthday banner

Tip: The Princess Peach dress gets a second life as a Halloween costume later in the year — worth buying instead of renting if your kid will wear it again.

Result

A full character-dress-up party powered mostly by Party City decor and Amazon costume pieces, with the hand-painted PVC pipes as the one true DIY centerpiece. If you're doing a video-game themed party, a cheap prop like the pipes goes a long way toward making store-bought decorations feel more custom.