My son only started asking to have "friend" parties when he turned 5, before that it was just a family party with whatever kind of cake he wanted.
That first party was a cowboy theme, we went to a farm where they rode ponies and each guest got a hat and bandanna (super cheap from Oriental trading company). Birthday Express - which gets way too much of my money! - had these cool plastic cups shaped like cowboy boots, too.
Last year was a jungle theme; we had an animal handler come to the house, all the kids got safari hats to wear and we played games.
This year - the infamous dogs!
My daughter has had lots of fun parties though. One year was a dress up tea party. I brought all her dress-up clothes downstairs and had them on a clothes bar, with my high heels and purses, hats, boas, gloves, etc. One of my friends worked for Elizabeth Arden at the time and did their makeup and nails. Then we had sandwiches and tea.
Another year, we had a Knights and Princesses party; guests created family crests, had a royal banquet, and went on a "quest" around the yard to find a treasure.
The year I had my son, she had to have a thrown together party, because I was just too pooped (their birthdays are three weeks apart). So that was just a cake, and running in the sprinkler,
My favorite party to plan was the Harry Potter one...I made everyone a simple cotton robes (well, more of a cape) and wands (painted dowels) and when the guests arrived they were sorted into houses, then we had a Feast, and played Harry Potter trivia while they ate, if they got the questions right they won points for their House. Then we had a Potions class which was mixing up different flavors of kool-aid, but the containers were all labeled with things like "asphodel of wormwood" and "crushed scarabs" etc. They added Sprite, so it foamed up. The idea was to create a Finding Potion, so they could find knuts, sickles, and galleons that were hidden in the yard. There was also one Golden Snitch. The person who found that got a special prize. The coins were just wooden craft circles that I had painted. So after everyone found their coins, they could go back inside to "Honeydukes" and use their money to buy Chocolate Frogs, Cockroach Clusters and other Harry Potter themed candy.
Afterward we had broomstick races, on actual broomsticks, and "duels" which we did by tying a balloon to each person's leg...they had to try and stomp on the person's balloon to pop it, while waving the wand around and casting spells.
Last year was a "Movie Premiere" where all the guests got to walk up a red carpet and get their picture taken by paparazzi, leave their handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theater (aka my porch). I took all the furniture out of the living room and made it into a theater, and they watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom while I served them drinks and snacks as if I were a waiter. After the movie, they made their own "screen tests" with our video camera and watched them back, and then we gave out awards for best actress, best costume, etc.
This year we are doing the murder mystery, it's all girls so the storyline is that they are all Miss Teen USA contestants and one of them "Kills for the Crown". I did cheat this year and bought the mystery story, it's a really good one though. I am thinking of doing it at a restaurant though, because it's a lot of work to move all the furniture around - we don't have a very big house!
My mom always made very fun parties for us, and all my siblings have inherited that tradition. My brother does incredible parties for his kids. My niece had an American Idol party last year that was hysterical. And my nephew's was a Lilo & Stitch Hawaiian luau.
As you can see from my Avatar Picture -- Taken on my DD's 6th birthday.
