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DIY Soccer-Themed Birthday Party Ideas & Decorations

In this post you can find DIY soccer birthday party ideas, games and decorations for birthday parties of all ages.

I have been excited to write this post about Lennox’s first birthday party for a long time now. Now that the warm weather is here, I finally decided it was the perfect moment.

If you follow us on Instagram, you know that Lennox is a soccer fanatic. This boy will not leave the house unless he has a soccer ball under his arm. Forget a pleasant car ride unless he has a ball in his lap.

If you read any of my other celebration posts, you know I love myself a good DIY. Thus, a few months before his Lennox’s first birthday, I was super excited to start planning his birthday party, and what a better theme in June than his favorite thing in the world—soccer.

Below you can find some of my DIY and not-so-DIY soccer birthday party ideas to throw a supercalifragilistic soccer-themed first birthday party!!

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Soccer Birthday Party Ideas

Location

Since Lennox has a June birthday, we picked an outdoor location that has a pavilion and two soccer fields. It is the same location where we did his baby shower, and I couldn’t wait to host his soccer-themed birthday party there again.

It was the ideal location since we have a HUGE family (I kid you not, Lennox has 17 immediate cousins on his father side; Latinos rock!), and we also have a lot of friends. Check out this location, isn’t it just gorgeous?

Ideas for a Soccer-Themed Birthday Party for Your One-Year-Old Boy #Firstbirthdayparty #firstbirthdaypartythemes #birthdaypartyideasforboys #soccerbirthdayparty #soccerbirthdaypartyideas #soccerbirthdaypartydecorations

The soccer fields were great entertainment for all the kids, and adults as well. There was also a playground for the kids’ entertainment.

2. Invitation 

Once I knew we were going to throw a soccer-themed party, I decided to make my own invitation. It has a front side with all of the necessary information: when, where, and when to RSVP.

3. Colors & Soccer Party Supplies

Apart from the theme, the colors were the next step for deciding the rest of the party. White and black were shoe-ins, but then I decided on blue and green to add some pop to the party.

Therefore, I went searching around the town for economical party supplies. Below is a list of my party supplies and from where I got them:

4. Centerpieces

I had so much fun making my DIY Mason Jar centerpieces for my baby shower that I wanted to make more. This time around it was a lot more complicated with a 10-month-old from when I was pregnant and nesting. Lennox was very interested in touching all of the jars, and paint. 

Soccer Birthday Party Ideas

I love that the mason jars can be taken home as favors by the guests. First come first serve! I get so happy when I visit my family and friend’s and see these jars in their houses as flower pots, storage for pens/small items, etc.

At first, I thought these looked super easy to make, but they aren’t! I had a lot of trial and error with them. Thus, I will write a short post in the future on how to make them with ease. Feel free to reach out to me, or comment below for immediate recommendations!

5. Monthly Pictures

I spent so many minutes of each month taking monthly photos of Lennox, so why not display them?

I printed Lennox’s monthly pictures in 5’7’, then attached blue and white card stock. Then, I wrote the corresponding months on the card stock in blue and green permanent maker. Lastly, I attached them to a blue ribbon with tape and hung them up above our welcome table! 

It was hard to get a good picture of them, thanks to the wind, but get the gist. Note: don’t make my mistake of hanging them backward =)

6. Lennox’s first birthday picture photo shoot


The morning before Lennox’s party we went to a beautiful soccer field to capture some DIY first birthday pictures. I enlarged them into 8x10s, framed them, and displayed them at the welcome table. The only reason we took these images the day of the party was because we waited until the day before his birthday to get his luscious long locks cut. It was a big surprise for all of the guests!

Check out some of my favorite shots below!

7. Food

Since Lennox is half-Salvadoran, we almost always have a Carne Asada (literal translation is roast). Below is a list of foods we served. Our closest family and friends also provided side dishes which was a big help—thank you loveys!

  • Carne Asada– Fajita-type beef, cut very thin in a marinade and cooked all the way through.
  • Chimol- A Salvadoran resemblance of Pico de Gallo. It goes so well with the steak.
  • Rice
  • Homemade Tortillas
  • Chorizo 
  • Pollo Asado– Roasted Chicken
  • Ceviche
  • Baked Beans
  • Deviled Eggs
  • Hot dogs & Hamburgers for the kiddies
  • Taco Dip
  • My BFF made this awesome dish for Lennox’s party. Here are her instructions:
  • Ingredients: 
  • 1 container cream cheese
  • 1 container taco dip (salsa is okay) 
  • onions (chopped)
  • tomatoes (chopped)
  • shredded cheddar cheese 
  • iceberg lettuce (chopped)
  • black olives (sliced)
  • Mix cream cheese and taco sauce (electric mixer is easier). Put the mixture on a large serving platter or dish. 

Add toppings onto dip mixture in the order above (you can add or delete different ones to your liking- jalapeños, refried beans, avocado, cilantro- lots of options!) 

Refrigerate until ready to eat. Enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips.

To make the GOAL taco dip, I used the olives as the soccer players. I put sour cream in a ziplock bag and cut a small hole to draw goal posts and write the word GOAL.

Here are some of the deserts we had: 

  • Cupcakes

I found these adorable soccer cupcake rings on Amazon for $5.88 for 24 of them. I baked two batches of cupcakes, then made a homemade green icing. On half of the cupcakes, I smoothed the frosting on, and on the rest, I used a cake icing tool to make the icing look like grass. Then I popped the rings into the center. The kids loved these and took the rings home as favors!

  • Oreos
  • Tres Leches Cake

It’s not a Latino party without a tres leches cake or a sponge cake with three different types of milk; evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. It is complicated to make. I’ve tried once, and I will try again. This cake, however, was made from a small Salvadoran bakery. It turned out nice; yet, I’m not quite sure why they didn’t continue the cursive font through Lennox’s name. *Shrug*

8. The Mandatory Smash Cake

I am so thankful that one of my dear coworkers offered to make me this beautiful smash cake, free-of-charge after I showed her my failed attempt at making one myself. Look how gorgeous it turned out below!!

It does not even look like a cake. In fact, when I sat Lennox down in the highchair to eat it, he was so confused. He thought it was an actual soccer ball.

Check out Nicole’s cakes on Instagram Cakes_From_Nicole

The bib featured is from Amazon. We used this bib after his party. It’s big and would catch all his food and saliva from teething! It’s also adorable!

Soccer Ball Smash Cake #Firstbirthdayparty #firstbirthdaypartythemes #birthdaypartyideasforboys #soccerbirthdayparty #soccerbirthdaypartyideas #soccerbirthdaypartydecorations

9. DIY Soccer Card Box

At my baby shower I forgot a card box . Afterwards all of my cards were all over the place. I would not forget this time around for Lennox’s first birthday.

! I used the same design from the mason jars on a shoe box. It’s not Pinterest-perfect, but it’s cute, and got the job done!

Ideas for a Soccer-Themed Birthday Party for Your One-Year-Old Boy Card Box #Firstbirthdayparty #firstbirthdaypartythemes #birthdaypartyideasforboys #soccerbirthdayparty #soccerbirthdaypartyideas #soccerbirthdaypartydecorations

10. Soccer Birthday Party Welcome Stand

At the pavilion entrance, I created a picture stand that features two of the pictures we took the morning before the party. It included a photo album of all the images from Lennox’s first year of life, as well as the goodie bags for the kids.

Hanging above are Lennox’s monthly pictures! I sprinkled the table with soccer Hershey Kisses, which were also in the goodie bags.

11. Soccer-Themed Goodie Bags

Here is a list of items I had in my 60, yes 60 goodie bags. These bags were one of the most expensive and time-consuming factors of Lennox’s party. For this reason, Lennox will not have any more large birthday parties. I found items that weren’t expensive in cost, but unfortunately did add up due to the amount of goodie bags. I got the goodie bags themselves from Walmart, where they were super cheap; 12 for $1.79!

Related: DIY Crayon Molds. A Great Addition To Add To Your Party’s Goodie Bags

12. Soccer Photobooth Props

One of my favorite parts of the party was the soccer photo booth props, everyone had a blast with them.

 13. Soccer Birthday Party Piñata

Again, there’s no such thing as a Latino party without a piñata. I found this Piñata on Amazon. It worked just fine. However, I am excited to make my own piñata this year for Lennox’s second birthday party. Stay tuned =)

If you can’t tell everyone had a blast. We also had a couple of adult-beverage game stations around our party since this big bash I was able to take part in the festivities because I wasn’t pregnant like during the baby shower.

I hope you enjoyed Lennox’s Soccer-Themed First Birthday Party. We sure did. Don’t forget to share for later and to follow us on social media to see all of our soccer fun and more =)

Other posts you might enjoy:

Soccer-Themed Birthday Party Ideas for Your One-Year-Old Boy. #Birthdaypartyideas #soccerbirthdayideas #soccerbirthdayparty #kidsbirthdayparty

Kate

Thursday 1st of August 2019

There are so many cute ideas here! I especially love the decorated jars for the tables- adorable! I have 3 boys, and the oldest 2 are allll about soccer, so I'm sure this is a theme I'll be using sometime soon!

Laurin Ruprecht

Tuesday 13th of August 2019

Thank you. I had a lot of fun making the jars, and they were the perfect touch to the party. A lot of the guests got to take them home and I enjoy seeing them at their house. It's a great reminder of Lennox's first birthday.

Ceci Rey

Thursday 11th of July 2019

I love how you continued the theme throughout the entire party. Looked like a fabulous time!

Tricia

Thursday 11th of July 2019

Oh my goodness your sweet boy is so adorable!! You did a great job with his soccer themed birthday party!

Erin

Thursday 11th of July 2019

So cute! My boys are pretty soccer obsessed so they would love this!

Elizabeth

Thursday 11th of July 2019

oh my goodness, these ideas are adorable! Love it so much and such a cute baby in the photos <3 chub!!