Lord of the Rings party favors, hobbit food, and all the fun ideas you need to throw a hobbit party
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I am, unashamedly, a nerd.
Especially when it comes to Lord of the Rings.
So by the time a second hobbit cookbook had shown up on my door for my birthday, I decided it was time to throw a hobbit birthday party. Not for me… for Frodo and Bilbo!
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When to Throw a Hobbit Party
Photos from when we visited Hobbiton!
A good time to throw a hobbit party would be for your (or your kids…) birthday! Especially your 33rd birthday, because hobbits don’t come of age until they are 33, so it’s definitely a cause for celebrating postponed adulthood!
Or you can celebrate it on Hobbit Day, September 22. That is Frodo & Bilbo’s birthday, so we threw our hobbit party on the weekend closest to September 22. Because it wasn’t for anyone’s birthday. It was just because we are nerds…
Fall is also a great time to throw a hobbit party, because the harvest decorations work great for that hobbity feel!
Hobbit Party Decorations
We had a rustic, woodsy feel for our hobbit party decorations.
I set the food table with mini birch tree candles and little wooden centerpieces that were leftover from our (fairytale forest themed) wedding.
(Had to throw in my favorite picture of our reception/wedding cake, especially since the cake topper is Lord of the Rings themed!) :D
We had someone cut them for us from a tree that had fallen in a friend’s yard, but if you don’t happen to have wood-cutting and tree-falling friends, you can easily buy them from any craft store or Amazon.
We also bought mini hay bales and pumpkins from the Dollar (and a quarter) Tree (or you could also find them online, especially if you’re not throwing your hobbit party in the fall).
Then Jason bought a pack of vintage travel themed Lord of the Rings posters and hung them up ALL over the house. His favorite was the Mordor poster, which he hung on the bathroom door. Then he added a note to it: One does not simply walk in. Knock First.
And then he stood there cracking up at himself (nerd!).
Then to help create a “Shire-y” atmosphere, we bought a Shire scented candle from Etsy. There were a ton of hobbit themed and Lord of the Rings themed candles to choose from, so you have a lot of options here.
Jason decided he didn’t want one with a tobacco scent, so we ended up with a flowery meadow sort of deal (it also basically smells like sugar…).
And then of course, you have to play the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the background. But if you really want to create a hobbit party atmosphere, choose one of the (many!) hobbit hole ambiance videos on Youtube.
I think it was a hobbit harvest festival video that originally inspired me to want to throw a hobbit party. I ended up using this festive video, which shows Gandalf’s fireworks, from both inside and outside the hobbit hole!
What Food to Have at a Hobbit Party
As I said, I really wanted to throw a hobbit birthday party after we got our second hobbit themed cookbook! We actually have… 1, 2, 3, 4…11 different fandom themed cookbooks… (nerds!).
Most of the recipes we used for our hobbit party came from our two hobbit themed cookbooks:
There are other Lord of the Rings themed cookbooks out there you can try (I think we have enough cookbooks though…), or if you don’t own any nerdy cookbooks, you can also find hobbit recipes online.
We split the cooking up between myself & Jason, and a couple of our friends who came to the party.
Actual footage of me planning the hobbit party menu… a year in advance!
Here is our hobbit party menu:
Forest fruit bruschetta (Recipes from the World of Tolkien)
Scones (An Unexpected Cookbook)
Dumbledor blueberry & honey jelly (World of Tolkien)
Pork hand pies (Unexpected Cookbook)
Mushroom pastry cauldrons (World of Tolkien)
A platter of fruit, cheese, pepperoni & crackers
Bilbo’s 111th birthday cake (World of Tolkien)
I labeled all the food with the leftover envelopes from our party favors. I just looked up a Lord of the Rings font and tried to match it by hand.
Hobbit Party Favors
Since hobbits give presents to other people on their own birthdays, I knew it was essential to our hobbit party that we also hand out presents (though probably much smaller than the ones Bilbo, a rich bachelor, handed out as his long expected party…).
Obviously the presents had to be hobbit themed, or Lord of the Rings themed. I think we ended up with a good mix of useful/fun presents.
For starters, we bought a HUGE pack of Lord of the Rings stickers.
Then we bought a giant package of hummingbird wildflower seeds and a custom made stamp from Etsy that said “Sam’s Sowin’ Seeds” (Jason’s idea!).
I searched all over the internet to find the right size envelopes that were big enough for the stamp we bought, but would also fit in our little burlap bags (not sure where the bags came from… maybe also leftover from our wedding. Maybe just from Dollar Tree). I ended up with these perfect envelopes for the seeds.
And then Jason decided to add chocolate gold coins, and scoured the town for them. He literally went to every store in town, and finally found some at… Rite Aid!
Now we see them everywhere…
But you could save yourself the trouble and just order some online with the rest of the favors!
Games to Play at a Hobbit Party
In lieu of shooting off some of Gandalf’s fireworks… no hobbit party is complete without some games!
We got this Lord of the Rings trivia game to play. Technically, you’re supposed to split into two teams, and it has actual rules to follow, but we just picked out random trivia cards and tested our knowledge.
There is even a special ring of power card, that will only show the answer when exposed to heat!
We also played our own “Guess Who” trivia game, where we took turns picking a character from Lord of the Rings, and then everyone tried to guess who it was in 20 questions. Movie and book characters acceptable!
There are a lot of other Lord of the Rings themed games you can play if you want a more involved board game. We also have this Lord of the Rings escape room in a box game that is fun to play with a small group.
What to Wear to a Hobbit Party
Dressed as a hobbit in Hobbiton! Wearing a green vest, black capris I picked up at Goodwill, and my dad’s old dress shirt.
I told my friends that costumes were not required for attending, but of course were very much encouraged!
And I am so glad that I have at least one friend who owns an elf ear headband, and will absolutely wear it anywhere, from my Lord of the Rings hobbit party, to a Dickens of a Christmas Festival, to a showing of Aquaman, just because it’s Christmastime (I also have a friend who didn’t know what to say when he walked into a room of people wearing elf ears… He was just there to pick up his wife).
Anyway, if you want to dress like a hobbit, think curly hair, hairy toes, pointy ears, vests, collars, earthy colors and flowers.
I have worn several different hobbit outfits over the years. Here are some of the accessories I used for my hobbit party outfit:
Flower crown (that I absolutely love, also left over from my wedding! I’ve worn it so many places!!)
Green fairy dress (which I have also worn everywhere!)
Pointy elf/hobbit ears (there are so many beautiful ones, but at the time I bought them I could only afford the cheapest. You can also find similar ears on Amazon. I particularly love these ones).
Corset belt (I’ve also worn with old bridesmaid dresses as an elf)
Or you could just get a Lord of the Rings t-shirt!
Dressed as a hobbit (to meet the 4 hobbits!!) at Steel City Con!
Reusing a bridesmaid dress (and my flower crown!) as an Arwen costume.
Have you ever thrown a hobbit party?
What foods/costumes/decorations did you use? Be sure to share your hobbit party ideas in the comments below!
Planning a hobbit party?
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