INVITATIONS- For invites I took craft sticks(you can use just about every kind) took a piece of white paper and made them into flags with my brothers face on them( I used his favorite colors for designing it), and glued them to the stick. I wrote all the information on the back, also saying Come help us claim our part of space at Andrew's Birthday Party!"(hence the flag) DECORATIONS- I found this black cloth covered with stars at a costume store and hung it in the background of the table. I also bought small bouncy balls at the dollar store hung some plain and some I put rings around for the gas giants and hung them around the table and entry way. Don't forget to get a big ball for the sun too! I covered the table with aluminum foil and glued buttons or plastic lids on the side for controls. For plates I bought disposible square foils(like you would use to bake a cake in) that weren't very tall (so it looked like a tv dinner container) then crumpled up tin foil to make walls and glued it inside. I put one long section in the middle lenght wise then a small one in the middle of one side width wise. This was so they could "just add water to their food" and also make it look more like they were in a space ship. I got clear plastic cups and put twirly straws in them. To add to the spaceship theme I got silver napkins and plastic silver ware that actually was silver. In a small room or area(most will work) covered the area with tin foil and hung the pinata up in there. Kids loved this I think because it crackled so much. ACTIVITIES- I got green blue and red PlayDough so they could mold their own alien. I also had parents judge on the best one. Then I took a refridgerator box and covered it with tin foil so they could play spaceship. Games- Later on they played hide-n-go seek in the dark but earlier they had to put Earth in the right orbit(like pin the tail on the donkey but you have a picture of the solar system and the Earth is missing you just have to put it in the right spot in the line of planets) and a star shaped pinata to hit. Most of the time they played in the space station. COSTUMES- I had people wear casual clothes since my brother's requested we didn't. PARTY SNACKS- I cut cheese into star shapes and stuck them on crackers My brother didn't want me to make it in his word "fancy" so I put chocolate chip and Oreo cookies out mini chip bags ham and cheese and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. CAKE- For the cake I cooked a cake in a dome bowl when it was done I flipped onto a cardboard cirle. I mixed blue food coloring with white icing and put it on the cake. Then I cut shapes like the continets from green fondant then placed on the cake to give it a globe appearance. FAVORS- I got black mesh bags and filled them with glow in the dark stars Mars bars MilkyWay bars space themed stickers and "space" putty. "