If you want to throw an old-fashioned movie birthday party, you have come to the right place! I will show you how to make a cake in the shape of an old movie camera. I will also tell you about some activities you can do for a movie party, besides watching a movie!
How to make an old-fashioned movie camera cake:
Let’s start with the cake. You will need to bake three cakes; the first two will be rectangle cakes, and the third will be divided between two circle pans. You will assemble the pieces this way:
I trimmed the sides of the first rectangle cake for the center section of the cake. I cut the bottom and side trapezoids from the other rectangle cake. (You can eat the cake leftovers while you work!)
I wanted the circles on the top of the cake to be smaller than a cake pan, so I used a round plastic container as a cookie cutter.
The finished cake is at the top of this post. I found some large letter stickers at a hobby supply store, and I stuck them down on white card stock paper and taped them to toothpicks before stabbing them into the cake.
Decorations for a movie party:
You can tape curtains to the sides of your television. We used the curtains from our puppet theater, but you can just hang some cloth and tie the sides. No sewing is required. I found a movie gadget that opens and closes for the scenes being filmed. I bought it at a party supply store. We used it for the skits described in the activity below.
I also found some Hollywood decorations at a party supply store, which I hung from the chandelier, but you could just cut out a silver star out of card stock paper. I had silver star confetti and silver streamers. I placed a black bed sheet on the table, and the silver streamers ran down the sides. A camera was placed in the middle of the table on top of the confetti.
Movie party activities:
Grab a basket or dress-up box and place different hats, scarves, glasses, and other accessories into it. (We found some stick-on moustaches at a costume shop!) The kids can break into teams and practice a fun skit with the materials in the basket. Then they can present it to the audience. You can film the skits.
During the second half of the party, we watched an outdoor movie. If you don’t have a projector, you can watch the movie indoors on your television. We hung a sheet outside and used the projector from my speaking engagements, and we watched “The Princess Bride” outside. We had a great time at our old fashioned movie birthday party!
Tags: baking, birthday parties, cakes, movies, themed birthdays
I remember showing my daughter The Music Man for the first time thinking she would never engage with an old movie, but much to my surprise she loved it! What a cute theme for a party!
Thanks. My kids have also loved old-fashioned movies, even ones that are black and white like “The Miracle on 34th Street.”
How fun! I really love the dress up box idea!
The skits were hilarious!
Heya.
This is a great idea. One year I decided to have a unique birthday party in order to celebrate. I planned most of it myself. There were two big sandwich platters and four entire bowls of cut up fruit on a table. There were colourful cupcakes and soft drinks as well. I then bought a few bottles of lemonade and water mainly. The other main attraction was the ice cream stand and a hired bouncy castle plus a story teller. There even was a old fashioned cupcake decoration game.
The party games were a complete hit. Other activities varied but included pass the parcel round and a movie fact game. Before the end of the festivities we ate the birthday cake and opened gifts. At one point we had the classic potato and spoon race. Finally we also had a timed treasure hunt and tug of war contest. We even fitted in a quick circus skills workshop and a photo opportunity.
Wow, it sounds like a busy party!