I've thrown lots of parties, people. Lots. So perhaps it was inevitable that I'd be in up to my elbows in Star Wars eventually. And here were are, in a galaxy not so long ago and not so far away, throwing a The Force Awakens themed screening party.

But as Yoda would say- "Do or do not. There is no try." And do we shall.

I figured the gaggle of middle schoolers would be mostly invested in watching the movie. This turned out to be a gross miscalculation on my part. Note to self: Unless you like refereeing a roomful of tween boys who just can't shut up and keep knocking each other over the head with make-shift light sabers, then avoid the screening party at all costs. You have been warned.

Because I focused the majority of the activities around simply throwing on a movie, it left me free to invest more time in themed decor and food. So I went all in, starting with a black cloth backdrop spattered with paint to resemble a starscape. I utilized an old hanging Japanese lantern and painted it gray, then detailed the DIY death star. I also used a black table covering and scattered it with white dots from a hole-punched piece of paper. Clever, right? I was pretty proud of myself.

I'm a busy lady these days so I'll confess to cutting some corners on this party. I used a ton of The Force Awakens print-outs from Printable Crush, including many of the food signs, photo booth props, and theater ticket invitations.

I try to do it all but sometimes I fake it just like everybody else. Comforting, right?

I also phoned it in with lots of Star Wars Lego themed displays stolen directly from my son's room. Nice to know we can put those thousands of Christmas dollars to good use.

While the viewing of The Force Awakens did take up a large chunk of the party, I tried to keep it fun with Star Wars themed Bingo from Get Away Today. Using old crayons and some pretty sweet molds, I turned out these fantastic crayons as game prizes. My favorite is Yoda. Cause how could you not?

Let's dive right into the food, shall we? I knew that's what you were waiting for.

So much Star Wars. It's like a Lucas film sponsored event or something. I know.

But understand that this is pretty much what living with my son is like. All Star Wars. All the time.

I'm gonna begin with libations. That's where all good things start anyway. And while these kids aren't old enough for beer, root beer definitely hit the spot. Starsparilla is a stretch, but I think it works. That and the Wookie water. So punny.

Have you seen those enormous bags of popcorn at Costco that mix cheddar and caramel corn? Well, that became our light and dark side popcorn. I'm not sure which is which.

I guess only you can decide, young Padawan.

When I saw these on Pinterest, I knew I had to try my hand at Yoda Apples. They were somehow easier than I expected, which is shocking. Not much works that way when it comes to party prep. Be grateful. You can find the tutorial for Yoda apples over at Bit Rebels.

Pretzel rod light sabers were a variation on something I'd already done for last year's magical Harry Potter themed birthday.

Light sabers and wands- pfft. Basically the same.

You can find directions over at The Lady Behind the Curtain.

My son isn't a fan of cake, so he opted instead to do cake pops. These BB8 bites were ambitious and time-consuming but I think the effort was worth it. Mostly. I also now have a cake pop pan. Because those are SUPER useful. (eye roll)

And last but not least, this is the power of Amazon in action. I dreamed up these various character chocolates days before the party and had the molds shipped.

Prime membership saving my butt. For the upteenth time.

Finally, it was time to pack the tweens home with a few favors to thank them for coming. I cleared out every bubble wand in a ten mile radius to do these. You're welcome. Also gonna trademark the term "bubblesaber" because that's genius just waiting to happen.