Adrian, you are NOT crazy! Just a devoted grandpa! Love that Chloe still loves Bluey at 12. My grandkids are all over the map – Emma (2), Theo (4), Cole (8), and Ethan (12). Guess who loves Bluey the most? Little Emma and Theo, obviously. But even Cole still giggles at it sometimes. We’ll watch it together when they’re over at my place here in Houston. So, a Bluey party is totally appropriate, no matter the age, if the kid loves it!

I’m a big DIY person, so I try to make a lot myself. Instead of buying a whole Bluey party party supplies set, I usually piece things together. Dollar Tree is my absolute favorite for party basics. I got plain blue and orange plates, cups, and napkins for probably $10 total for Emma's second birthday last month. They had these bright, solid-color ones that just screamed "Bluey colors" even without the characters. Then I printed out Bluey and Bingo cutouts from online (just searched "Bluey characters printable") and glued them onto the plain cups and also made little centerpieces. The kids actually helped with that part, which made it an activity itself. Emma mostly just gummed the glue stick, but Theo was a pro! Ethan, my oldest, even helped me string up a "Happy Birthday Emma" banner that I made from cardstock I bought at Hobby Lobby for about $7. He grumbled a bit, but he likes helping his little sister.

For decorations, I found some inexpensive blue and orange streamers at Walmart, maybe $5 for a huge roll. I also bought a pack of plain white balloons and had Ethan draw little faces on them to look like Bluey and Bingo. Saved a ton of money there. He's really artistic, so they looked surprisingly good, much better than anything I could draw. My biggest splurge was probably a small Bluey cake from Kroger, which was about $30. I refuse to deal with fondant – it just tastes like sweetened play-doh to me! So it was just regular buttercream. Everyone loved it, especially the kids who got the blue frosting all over their faces. My German Shepherd, Churro, even tried to get a lick.

We did a few Bluey-themed games too, like "Keepy Uppy" with a balloon (which lasted about 30 seconds with a 2-year-old, haha). We also did "Magic Claw" where they reached into a box for little prizes. I picked up some mini bubble wands and small plastic animals from Dollar Tree for that – probably $15 for all the prizes. One thing I learned: if you let the kids help decorate, it takes twice as long, but they feel so much more invested. We made a big "Welcome to the Heeler House" sign out of a cardboard box we had from an Amazon delivery. It wasn't perfect, but it was ours. Total cost for supplies was probably under $100, not including the food. You definitely went all out, but for Chloe's 12th? Worth it! Sounds like a blast, especially with those Party City balloons. I bet the kids went wild for them. Good job, Grandpa! You sound like the best grandparent ever. I bet that bouncy house was a huge hit!

Adrian, oh my gosh. My husband Logan would say you went overboard, but I totally get it. I’m Mia, here in Louisville. Single mom of Hazel (1) and Wyatt (7). Bluey is LIFE at our house. Wyatt especially still watches it. Hazel just points and coos at the screen. So we did a Bluey theme for Wyatt's 7th last year. And yes, I make spreadsheets for party planning. Don't judge.

I thought I was being so smart, you know? Found a bluey party supplies set online, a pretty cheap one from a place called Party Bargains. It had like, 16 plates, 16 cups, napkins, a small banner. All for $19.99. Score, right? Wrong. When it arrived, the colors were super faded. Like, washed-out Bluey. Not vibrant at all. Wyatt immediately said, "Mommy, why do Bluey and Bingo look sick?" Heartbreaking, honestly. My meticulous spreadsheet planning failed me! I had to explain to him that maybe Bluey just had a long week.

So, I had to scramble. This was like, two days before the party. Stressful. I hit up Five Below and found some solid blue and orange plates for a few bucks. Like $5 for a pack of 20. Then I saw a TikTok where someone used blue and orange construction paper to make little ears and tails for the balloons. So I tried that. It was... okay. Not nearly as professional as Adrian’s Party City haul, that’s for sure. The tape kept falling off the balloons and the ears looked more like cat ears than dog ears. My kids were just like, "Mom, what is that?" I also printed out some Bluey activity sheets from a blog (probably like What Do You Need For A Bluey Party type of thing) to keep the kids busy. Wyatt's friends mostly ignored them, opting to just run around and scream, which is fine, I guess.

For the cake, I tried to bake and decorate my own. HUGE mistake. I saw this amazing Bluey cake on TikTok, thought I could replicate it. Let’s just say it looked more like a melted blue blob than Bluey. The "blue" frosting was too dark, and the "orange" just looked brown. I spent like three hours trying to pipe the details and it just kept sliding off. Never again. Stick to grocery store bakery. Hates fondant, but at least they can draw characters on buttercream without it looking like a preschool art project gone wrong. My attempt cost me about $25 in ingredients and a lot of tears. I ended up scraping off the frosting and just putting sprinkles on it. Wyatt still ate it, bless his heart.

We did manage to get some cute party hats from Party City for like $6 for a pack of 8. I should have just gotten a pack of the Kids Birthday Party Hats 11-Pack, honestly, would have been easier. Lesson learned. Next time, I'm just buying a solid Rainbow Party Party Supplies Set and calling it a day, then adding a few Bluey accents myself. The spreadsheet didn’t account for faded colors or my terrible baking skills. Your $400 Adrian, sounds like money well spent to avoid my kind of stress! Especially for a 12-year-old. They notice EVERYTHING. You probably nailed it.