The answer is ALWAYS DIY! I made an awesome Coraline party for my kid, from DIY decorations to homemade food to a thrifted book and DVD all they way through to DIY party favors. Because I made everything myself, I was able to pull out the exact creepy and cool components that are my kid’s favorite, including a couple of elements that she kept for year-round bedroom decor. Here’s a list of my favorite free projects and tutorials that you can use to make your own DIY Coraline party.
Other Mother’s Sewing Box Party Invitation
I think unique, super special invitations are so fun for a kid’s party. Other Mother’s sewing box might be a pain to mail, but it’s perfect for handing out in person or doorbell ditching. Just put the recipient’s name on the top of the box and the party details on the inside of the lid. If you’re inviting small children, sub out the steel needle for a plastic one.
Giant Button Party Decorations
This oversized button garland is so easy to make from upcycled corrugated cardboard–all you have to do is cut them out and paint them! They’re creepiest when painted black, but for a younger kid’s party it would be fun to paint them in more playful colors. Young kids would also like having a mini version of this garland, ideally made from thinner cardboard food packaging, that they could paint themselves as a party activity. For even more party fun, turn them into button garland necklaces!
Coraline Charcuterie Board
This Coraline-themed charcuterie board manages to stay very kid-friendly with easy-to-love components like hummus, cucumbers, and grapes. You could extend the theme even further by adding in the Other Mother, the dancing mice, or even the mysterious portal to Other Mother’s dimension.
Other Mother’s Dinner
If there’s one good thing you can say about Other Mother, it’s that she can make a feast! Other Mother’s dinner works perfectly for a sit-down party meal, of course, but with a couple of hot plates and some pre-carving, it also works as more typical party food.
Button Eye Butter Cookies
You can’t have a Coraline party without some tasty button eyes of your own! My favorite part of this project is how vivid the colors turned out. These tasty button eyes are perfect party food, but they’d also make the perfect party favor when pre-packaged and ready to go.
Constellation Cupcakes
I love how well these decorated cupcakes fit into the overall theme of the Coraline movie. The best part is that the cupcakes can be any flavor or style, because the key is that blue frosting and the star sprinkles!
Wybie’s Banana Slugs
These banana slugs are definitely the most complicated project on this list, but they’re still totally doable by an amateur cook. And if the banana slugs are your favorite part of the film–and who doesn’t love banana slugs?!?–then they’re also totally worth it!
Button Glasses
Cutting out the buttons and cutting and even roughly shaping the wires would get you well on the way to making this a cute party activity. Provide paint, diamond art stickers, and other full embellishments, and soon you’ll have a party full of button-eyed guests!
DIY Coraline Doll
This project would be best-suited for older party guests who can handle some fiddly crafting, and even then you can make it easier by prepping all the doll bodies in advance. That way, guests can concentrate on adding the hair, faces, clothes, and other accessories to their mini Coraline dolls. This is a fun project for guests to do while they watch the movie, since it does take a bit of time.
Mysterious Key Party Favors
Everyone needs a spooky old key on hand, just in case they come across any mysterious doors that need unlocking. These particular spooky old keys are easy to make from vintage keys of all sorts–I’ve had the best luck sourcing them from a nearby architectural thrift store, but the Restore, Facebook Marketplace, and your own junk drawer are other possibilities. Again, you can turn this into a party activity by painting the base coat, but then letting kids embellish their keys at will. Nail polish works just as well on spooky old keys as it does on fingers! P.S. Do you have a favorite DIY project that would make a great component of a Coraline party? Tell us about it in the Comments!
