Birthday party time again! Zander turns 10 this year. Wow.... double digits. Makes me feel old!

Every year Zander chooses a theme and I put together a party for him with games and party favors to match. It usually takes me a month or more to prepare for a party. This time around, he has chosen Yu-Gi-Oh!

You can check out some of his past parties here:

https://www.instructables.com/id/Naruto-Themed-Birt...

https://www.instructables.com/id/Digimon-Birthday-P...

https://www.instructables.com/id/Skylanders-Birthda...

To start with I like to make a logo if possible. I used photoshop to make him a personalized Yu-Gi-Oh logo. There are 2 slightly different logos I found on google search. The first image here is the first one I made. I was difficult to figure out the raised bits and took a while to do. When I found the simpler logo, I made one like it. It was much easier to make and will be easier to edit than the first one. The logos I design for my kid's parties go up in my Etsy shop for those who want them but don't have photoshop and need me to edit it for them, so making them easier to edit is a huge plus.

***I have closed my etsy shop. If you want me to edit the files, contact me and we can work through paypal***

The red text in the back is Zander in Japanese, well according to the translator I used anyway.

The last picture is the sign I made for the door.

Step 1: Invitations

For the invites, I went with a Yu-Gi-Oh monster card design. Typical Yu-Gi-Oh monster cards have the name of the monster, the attribute icon, the level shown in stars, the image, the type, the description, the attack, and the defense.

I changed the name to Zander the Celebrant

I chose light for the attribute on this design.

I gave him 10 stars since he is turning 10

His type is birthday boy.

The description section is for the party information.

The attack has been changed to "date" and defense changed to "time".

I made 10 variations. I just changed the picture and the attribute. This way it's kind of neat that not everyone has the same "card". Zander said that his classmates noticed right away that they had different pictures and thought it was cool.

Step 2: Deck Boxes

No Yu-Gi-Oh party would be complete without some dueling.

I bought some cards in bulk from Amazon and asked my friends on Facebook to donate old cards as well so that I could provide a 40 card deck to each guest. I never know how many people will show up to these things so I just make 20. Usually we have very few guests, which sucks a bit after all the work that goes into it, but I know the one time I only make a few is when everyone will come.

Now that I have cards for 20 decks and have gone through the tedious process of making said decks, the cards have to go somewhere. I found a deck box layout on a google search and edited it. I added some images and Zander's logo. I made 5 variations.

I have included mine with his logo and some without his logo so you can print and use them as well.

Print them on card stock or other heavy paper.

Cut them out and remember to cut the slits on the top and bottom flaps.

Fold them and glue the side. Then insert the flaps and done.

Step 3: Play Mats

Now there are decks to use but we need play mats to help all the kids new to yu-gi-oh to know where to put their cards.

Again, designed in photoshop. I found a reference mat on a google search and built mine. I made 4 variations. They measure 8.5" x 24".

The images here are first of my mats with Zander's logo, then each design in 3 parts: the whole picture, and then the design split in half to fit on 8.5 x 14 sheets of paper for easier printing.

These mats EAT up the printer's ink. I found it cheaper to get them them printed. I checked many places looking for prices on printing in 2 parts or printing in full. Printing in full would cost too much for my budget so I printed in parts instead. I ended up getting them printed at the public library. They charged 50 cents a page for full color legal size prints. But this is on regular legal size paper, not photo paper.

Once they are all printed, trim the white edges from all 4 sides on the 1st half and all but the left side on the 2nd half. This leaves some paper to make it easier to glue or tape the 2 parts together.

Line up the 2 parts with the first half on top of the second. I made them so they overlap to make sure nothing is cut off in printing. I rolled tape to attach mine on the front and used tape regularly on the back.

These mats are just normal paper, so they are flimsy. I wanted them to be as little more sturdy so I bought some poster board from the dollar tree for 50 cents each. One poster board is large enough for 2 mats. I used an odorless indoor spray adhesive I bought at Michaels using their 40%off coupon to stick the mats to the poster board. Then cut the mats out again.

Step 4: Gauntlet: Stars and Knuckles

In the anime, Yugi goes to compete at Duelist Kingdom. Each duelist started the competition with a Dueling Gauntlet, which is a maroon glove with gold embellishments on the knuckles and a large silver cuff that holds 10 gold stars. When the players win a duel they take one of their opponent's stars to add to his/her gauntlet. When they lose, they have to give a star to the winner. The players need 10 stars to enter the castle.

I want each child to have a Dueling Gauntlet and earn stars from the games we play through out the party. I went through quite a few trials and failures to come up with a design that wasn't too time consuming or too costly.

This step is making the Stars and the Knuckle embellishments. These were made with resin and molds. You can buy easy cast resin for around $20 and silicone mold putty for around $20 at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

For the stars, I found this chocolate mold for about $3 at Michaels. I was able to pull about 4 times with this mold before it started breaking. The stars became harder and harder to remove, even with mold release and eventually, I had to break the mold completely to pull my stars out. After this, I used the mold putty and pressed a few of the stars I had already made into it to make a new mold. The mold made this way is MUCH easier to work with but it made less stars at a time which slowed the process down.

For the knuckles, I used the mold putty and pressed the marble like pieces from our Mancala game into it to make the mold.

Follow the instructions on the resin and make as many casts as you need. My design uses only 6 stars per person instead of the Anime's 10 .

When all the casts are done, spray paint them metallic gold.

Step 5: Gauntlet: Glove and Cuff

The gloves:

I bought a pack of 24 gloves from Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JZN6PVU/ref=o...

They need to be finger-less though. Simply cutting off the fingers doesn't work because then the gloves begin to unravel and come apart. First you have to sew along the seam on the sides and in between each finger (as marked in red in the photo) Then cut off the fingers above where you sewed. (as marked by the blue in the photo)

The Cuff:

After all the trials for the cuffs, I settled on this one. I used thick felt paper to make them. You can buy the sheets at Michaels for about $1 each. You can get about 5 for every 2 sheets.

For the pattern you need one wide strip (mine was about 2 and half inches wide and ran the length of the short side of the felt paper, and the ring for the top and bottom of the cuff. I had a partially used roll of duct tape that i used to trace the circle for the outer edge of the ring and I drew an inner circle for inside inner edge of the ring.

Trace the pattern, 1 strip and 2 rings, on the felt paper for as many cuffs as you need. Cut them out.

Take a strip and curl it. You can hold the 2 ends and pull it back and forth over the edge of a counter or table to get it to curve. Take that roll of tape from earlier, and wrap the strip around it. Sew the end at the top and down to where the tape roll starts, remove the tape and finish sewing.

Put the tape roll back inside the cuff and place one of the rings on top of the cuff. Sew the ring to the cuff. Remove the tape roll. Then turn the cuff over and sew on the other ring.

When all the cuffs are finished, spray paint them metallic silver.

Step 6: Gauntlet: Attach Stars

I used velcro to attach the stars to the cuff. It seems to hold alright for our purposes.

Get sticky back velcro

Stick the two parts together.

Cut off pieces to fit the stars.

Peel off backing on the rough side and stick it to a star

Grab a cuff. Start near the seam. Peel the backing off the soft side and stick the star to the cuff.

Add 5 more stars in the manner, trying to space them evenly around the cuff.

When you finish, peel off the stars, leaving the soft side velcro on the cuff.

Use this first one as a guide for all the others. I put the next cuff on top of the first, lining up the seam to make placing the stars easier.

Step 7: Gauntlet: Dye and Attach Knuckles

The gloves in the anime are a maroon color. I bought purple and red dye Tulip brand and following the instructions to dye the gloves. The color didn't turn out. It just washed away. So I bought some red Rit brand and tried again. Same thing. The material of the gloves apparently wasn't compatible with the dye, which SUCKS. So I ended up with this weird, dull, faded pinkish. But, I was running out of time and didn't want to spend any more money to try to fix it.

To attach the knuckles:

Use a folded piece of tin foil or some newspaper or the like to insert in the glove to keep the glue from going through to the other side. Hot glue the embellishments in place.

When it is dry, you are done.

To wear, put on a cuff first and then the glove. Tuck the glove under the cuff.

**Press the stars on really well. We had kids losing stars left and right. If you use this at your party and you have time to consider a better way to attach them, I recommend doing so and then letting me know in the comments :)

Step 8: Millennium Puzzle Necklaces

When guests arrive, they will go to the first station. Here they will make a Millennium Puzzle necklace and get their Dueling Gauntlet.

I found a Millennium puzzle paper craft template online, but it was incomplete. It only had the full design on one of the 4 sides. I completed the template in photoshop and added marks to cut slits to make assembly easier.

Print out the template

Use an exacto to cut the slits where marked, including the two small ones on the base.

Cut it out.

Fold all the tabs back and on all the lines between sides. Set aside.

Take the 2 rings and glue them back to back except the white tabs.

This is how I left mine. The kids will make them at the party.

To assemble, Insert the ring in the small slits on the base. Spread the tables open like the prongs of a folder on the back side. Tape them down. Now fold the puzzle and insert the tabs. You can add glue for a better hold but it is pretty sturdy without it. Then add a chain.

The Chain:

I bought a spool of chain at Hobby Lobby and cut it into lengths to make necklaces. You also need a pack of split rings and clasps of some sort.

Put a split ring on each half of the clasp.

Attach the split rings to the chain, one to each end, to complete.

**These turned out to be a little too difficult for the kids to do. They ended up just taping the flaps down. Also make sure the ring is taped down good because we had a few come undone through the party.

Step 9: Blank Cards

While we are still waiting on all the party guests to arrive, the kids will go to station 2 where they will make their own cards and watch a video on how to duel found here: http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/gameplay/demo.html or here:

Here are blank sheets of spell, trap, and monster cards as well as the card backs. Also there is a reference sheet of the different attributes for the kids to use when designing their cards.

I printed them on card stock and provided pencils, pens, and coloring media as well as yugioh cards to use as examples. We also had some plastic card sleeves for the kids to put their creations in.

When all of the guests have arrived and watched the video, they all get their first star for the gauntlet.

Step 10: Heart of the Cards

The heart of the cards is a big thing in Yu-Gi-Oh. Yugi relies on it alot to win duels. In our version, the kids must predict the next card to be drawn in 3 rounds.

There will be 3 adults each with a pack of playing cards.

All the kids line up in front of the first adult. They must predict if the next card drawn will be a red or a black. If they are correct they go to the second round. If they are wrong, they go to the back of the line they are in.

The second round, they predict if the card will be LOW: a number card 1 through 10 or HIGH: Jack through Ace.

The last round, they predict what suit the card will be.

They play until they have completed all 3 rounds, then they all receive a star for the gauntlet. The first person to finish will also get to choose a yugioh card from the extras.

Step 11: Exodia Game

In the Anime, on the way to duelist kingdom, Weevil steals Yugi's Exodia cards and throws them. For our game, I made this puzzle sheet and printed some exodia cards. I made 4 copies.

The exodia cards will be hidden around the party area.

The kids will break into teams of 5 if possible. If there aren't enough for teams of 5, less will work, some members will have to go twice.

They will line up in their teams and get an Exodia layout sheet.

The first person will go search for a part of Exodia, bring it back, and place it in its correct spot on the layout. Then they will tag the next team member in line.

That person will then go find a piece they don't have, add it, and tag the next person and so on.

When a team has completed Exodia, They shout " We summon Exodia the Forbidden One!" and that team wins.

The winning team will get to choose a card from the extras and all players will get a star for the gauntlet.

Step 12: The Riddle of Para and Dox

During the competition at Duelist Kingdom, Yugi and Joey find themselves in a labyrinth. They find their way through but run into the Paradox brothers. They face them in a 2 on 2 duel and Yugi and Joey win. But there are 2 doors to exit the labyrinth and the brothers won't tell which is the right one and pose a riddle to figure it out.

For this game, have 2 adult volunteers. One will be Para and one will be Dox. Para will be the liar and Dox will be the truth teller. If you can, have each stand in front of a door. Choose which door will be the safe door. I would choose the door that the liar guards. Tell the kids the riddle in the picture here. They each get to ask one question and then have to choose a door.

The correct answer to the riddle is: Which door would your brother say is the door to doom?

The truth teller will point to the safe door because he would truthfully say what the liar would have said.

The liar will point to the safe door because he will lie about what his brother would say.

Therefore, the safe door is the one they both point at.

If anyone solves the riddle with the correct question, they will get to choose 10 cards from the extras.

Everyone will get a star.

***No one solved the riddle. They all asked questions to determine which brother was the liar, assuming that the truth teller would have the safe door. That's why you should have the liar guard the safe door. We had 4 out of 12 kids pick the correct door by guessing.

Step 13: Scrambled Decks

This game has no link to the anime but I needed another game so I came up with this one.

The premise is that Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, Mai, Pegasus, Weevil, and Rex Raptor's cards have gotten mixed up and the kids need to sort them correctly.

3 of them only have 3 cards and the other 4 have 4 cards. I have labeled them in the photo.

Print the characters and cards.

Cut them out.

I used magnetic dry erase boards so I added magnets to the backs.

Set up the board in columns. Just put the characters across the top.

Put the cards in a small box or bag.

Game Play:

Kids form a line.

First player comes up and draws a card, then places it where they think it goes on the boards.

The next player can either relocate a card a previous player placed or draw a new card and place it.

This continues until all the cards are sorted and the players agree they are finished.

If they are wrong, tell them how many are wrong and let them try to fix it.

When they get it correct, everyone gets a star.

You may add some challenge to it by making it timed and if they beat the set time, they all get a card.

Step 14: Find the Lost Souls

The last game to earn the last star. This one has loose connections with the show. Throughout the show, people's souls are taken and lost in the shadow realm. For this game, the kids need to save them.

For this I used the Punch board. It is always the favorite. You can follow the 'ible here: https://www.instructables.com/id/Punch-Board/

There was no image I was trying to portray like the car from last year, so I just used whole sheets of various colors. All black would have looked cooler but I used what I had on hand.

Print on card stock and cut out the characters. Use a glue stick to stick them to the back as seen in the photo.

Looking from the front, you can kinda see the shadows of where the characters were so I cut pieces of card stock and glued them at all the other holes to make it harder for them to know where the characters are.

The kids go one at a time and punch the board. If they find a character, they get to take it and choose a card from the extras. The game continues until there are no more holes to punch. I'm sure even if all the characters have been found, the kids will not leave any holes intact.

Everyone gets the last star.

*** This was the favorite game again this year. They loved trying to find the characters.

Step 15: Kuriboh Pinata

For some extra fun, I re-purposed a halloween jack-o-lantern pinata. I made it into Kuriboh.

Pull off all the old crepe paper.

Get brown crepe paper.

Cut off strips. Cut slits in the strips up to about half way as seen in the photo.

Use some elmers glue to stick a strip on the pinata. I would recommend starting as close to the bottom as possible and working up, layering strips to cover the whole surface.

I started in the middle and made a mess of things trying to work backward.

When the whole surface is covered, add the Kuriboh details.

Print and cut out the eyes and limbs, then just glue them on the pinata.

Isn't he cute?

Step 16: Cake and Presents

The cake was made by a local bakery and it turned out amazing!

We tried something new this year for presents time. We did a cake walk style game.

All the kids held the gifts they brought or an extra gift if they didn't bring one and stood on a number.

Music was played and they walked around. Music stopped and they stopped on a number. A number was called.

The child on that number gave the gift to Zander and then collected a deck of cards and a play mat.

We continued this way until all the children had given their gifts and then Zander opened any remaining gifts.

This kept the kids engaged and interested for the most part. The drawbacks were that we were rushed because guests were leaving and we didn't want the kids getting bored waiting to start walking again. Also. once a child gave their gift, they got bored so after they got their party goodies, they drifted off to play.

This idea would work a lot better if we weren't in such a rush. If we had time to have everyone watch him open the gift and then start walking again.