Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE putting on a theme party.
So, when my daughter asked for a Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit theme for 11th birthday party (just like Bilbo’s 111th!) I was super excited.
Not only am I a big fan myself, but there were so many possibilities. I took to Pinterest and the web to search for ideas, plus came up with some more of our own. The party was a huge success, and she still talks about how much she loved all the details 🙂
Since I know what it’s like to spend weeks planning a party, I decided to put together everything from my searches and planning into one place to help the next person putting on a Middle Earth Party. Wherever possible, I’ll be including product links and downloads to the printables we used to save you some time.
(click on any of the images below to view them larger)
Bilbo’s House & Banner
Turn your fireplace into a hobbit house for just a few dollars! All you need is brown craft paper, a piece of green poster board, some green and brown construction paper, glue, and a black Sharpie. Add some faux foliage for an extra touch.
Don’t forget to draw Gandalf’s sign on the door!
For the banner, we just downloaded a hobbit-themed font and printed the letters on an off-white paper, than glued onto some scrapbooking paper that was trimmed to a point at the bottom. String them up on twine and you’ve got a festive birthday banner straight out of the Shire.
Download the “Hobbiton Brush Hand” font that we used here.
We used this area for opening up gifts, with the birthday girl sitting right in the front of the house and it made for the cutest photos.
My favorite accessory to the hobbit house? The hobbit!
The birthday girl dressed up as Frodo (and later used the costume for Halloween, too, so it wasn’t only used for one day).
She’s wearing:
- Frodo costume
- Elvish Clasp
- And, yes, even the one ring.
Bilbo’s House Cake
This cake was actually really easy to make.
- Bake 2 9×11 cake layers, stack with frosting or filling of your choice in between the layers, and cover in chocolate buttercream frosting
- Bake a single 8″ or 9″ round cake layer, split in two, then stack/fill/frost on top of the 9×11 cake
- Use colored fondant to create the front facade of the hobbit house
- Press chocolate rocks into the frosting to make stone accents and a path
- Grow a garden of fondant veggies in a plot of chocolate frosting
- Cover the rest of the cake with green buttercream using a Wilton #233 Grass Tip
- Add LOTR/Hobbit character figurines
Voila! An impressive and delicious Bilbo’s House cake ready to go for the celebration!
Table Centerpiece/Display
You can get creative and use what you have handy plus a few inexpensive items to create your own display. Here’s what we used:
-Fabric remnant to cover table
-Stacked LOTR trilogy
-Dollar store candles and holders
-Map of Middle Earth
Download here: middle-earth-map-lotr-party-printable-wellroundedryan-com
-Deed of Contract (hiring Bilbo as the burglar!)
Print (preferably on distressed-looking paper), fold, and tie with twine.
Download here: deed-of-contract-lotr-party-printable-wellroundedryan-com
“Your Share of the Misty Mountain Treasure” Treat Boxes
Let your guests bring home some of the magic with personalized treasure boxes filled with loot.
LOTR Goody Bag Fillers
Hobbits love potatoes! Get these fun potato stress balls. These were a really unexpected hit at our party. The kids (and adults) couldn’t quit talking about them.
Also, “Gollum’s Goodies” (Swedish Fish and gummy worms) for a fun treat.
Other ideas are chocolate gold treasure coins, plastic swords, stickers, and faux gold rings
“Eye of Sauron” Treat Tower
Use a black plastic table cloth on the back of a shelf to make it black. Add cut-out poster board on the top (we drew on it with chalk markers for detail). Then, the “eye” drawn on a balloon with colored Sharpies.
We happened to have this particular shelf handy, but you could apply the same concept to any bookshelf, kitchen rack, etc for the same effect.
For some extra fun we put out some LOTR Lego sets that my daughter already had built to fill the other shelf.
No Admittance!
Welcome your guests with this easy sign that any fan will instantly recognize.
Here’s the “Hobbiton Brush Hand” font again–download here.
Help Defeat Smaug the Dragon
Let the kids take turns attempting to banish the dragon Smaug.
It’s the perfect pinata for a Hobbit birthday party.
Snacks Straight Out of Middle Earth
–Hobbit Door Cookies
Just press green fondant and a yellow Sixlet candy into Keebler Fudge Stripes Cookies.
–Counsel of Elrond Cookies
–Ring Buffet
Include anything ring shaped! Funyuns, peach rings, mini donuts, pretzels, etc.
Print out the story of the ring to explain the buffet to those who don’t get it right away.
Map of Middle Earth
To make the map we just used the same brown craft paper from the hobbit house, copied a map we found online in pencil, filled in with colors, and trimmed around it so it wasn’t’ a perfect square.
This was hung right above the cake table, adding some extra “Wow!” factor to party central.
We also had some of these Hobbit balloons on either side of the table.
Speak Friend and Enter
Invite your guests with the riddle from the entrance to the Mines of Moria.
Get the elvish “Aniron” font used for this sign here.
And this is the image used in the center of the display –
Download: moria-entrance-lotr-party-printable-wellroundedryan-com
Over the Misty Mountains Cold
I know not everyone has a piano for this. My daughter plays, and she used to listen to this song over and over again when The Hobbit movie first came out, so it was a no-brainer.
Here’s the printable sheet music –
Download: misty-mountains-sheet-music-lotr-party-printable-wellroundedryan-com
And with that, I’ll leave you with that awesome scene.
Good luck with your Hobbit or Lord of the Rings party. Have questions about anything? Just ask.
I’d love to see pics of what you do for yours. Comment below!