A Bohemian Crystals and Geology Birthday Party

A crystal themed party with Bohemian vibes is suitable for all sorts of occasions: birthdays, wedding showers, baby showers, and more. Shimmering crystals glam up earthy Boho decorations to create a casual, but elegant event.

Two tier cake that looks like the top layer is floating several inches above the bottom layer, and green sugar crystals are growing in the center, like a cave or geode. Green agate slices on white sticks create a modern cake topper. Text overlay reads "Boho Crystal Birthday Party."

A Boho Crystal birthday party is the theme my daughter chose for her 13th birthday party this year. I've been dreaming of doing a party like this for years! Emerald is May's birthstone, so we went with an emerald green and gold color scheme.

Crystal Birthday Party Invitation

Crystal Themed Birthday Party invitation with illustrations of green crystals in a watercolor style, and embellished with rhinestones, next to an emerald green envelope on a white wooden surface.

My 13 year old daughter actually came up with the basic design idea! She sketched out the concept, I created the printable design, and we watercolor painted all of the invitations by hand together. I added some rhinestones to the invitation to give it extra sparkle and dimension. Czech Preciosa rhinestones are my absolute favorite to use--the best combination of exquisite quality and an excellent price point.

Boho Birthday Party Decor

Bell tent set up in a backyard, with bunting decorating the exterior, and a bed, two beanbag chairs, a small table, and many turquoise, white, and peach pillows scattered on the floor of the tent.

We knew we haid some rain in the forecast, so I set up a bell tent in the backyard. It was the perfect boho addition to our crystal birthday party--looked fabulous, and provided a fun space for the kids to gather at the party. The bell tent was set up in a glampin style, with a full size (inflatable) bed, beanbag chairs, a small wooden table, and tons of throw pillows scattered on the floor for lots of kids to sit on.

Macrame bunting hung outside of a bell tent at a bohemian crystal themed birthday party.

I found myself hitting my head on the tent rope that is staked right in front of the tent entrance. Every. Single. Time. To make it more visible, I made macrame bunting and strung it on the line. That's all we needed to give a better visual cue, and nobody hit the rope with their head after that! Plus, it looked perfect for our Bohemian theme.

Wide interior shot of a bell tent set up for glamping, with a full bed, two beanbag chairs, two small wooden tables, and many pillows scattered around the floor. The closest small table is set up with materials for making glitter tattoos.

Doesn't the bell tent look cozy and comfortable? Now I want to go camping!

View of a bell tent in a backyard set up for glamping at sunset, with fairy lights glowing inside the tent and a beautiful orange sunset in the sky behind.

And it got even more magical at night, when the tent was lit by the soft glow of LED globe lights and a Himalayan salt lamp.

White and gold tissue paper tassel garland made from paper napkins, strung on a wooden buffet.

I also used one of my favorite tricks for making easy tissue paper tassel garlands: I use paper napkins! (Get the full tissue paper tassel garland tutorial here.) It matched the paper plates, cups, and napkins (obviously) that I bought for the party perfectly.

Crystal Themed Dessert Table

Dessert table at the Crystal Themed Birthday Party, with a sparkling gold background, green and gold balloon garland, tissue paper tassel garland, and green gift bags set in front of a wooden sideboard. On the sideboard there's a cake decorated with green crystals, lollipops that look like agate slices, sugar cookies that look like geodes, and green and gold rock candy.

The dessert table was all about crystals, sparkle, and shine. I made a geode cake, agate slice lollipops, geode cookies, and rock candy painted green (with food coloring) and embellished with flakes of real gold leaf. It was a smallish party, so I didn't make the dessert table as elaborate as I have in some past years. A dessert table doesn't have to be huge and abundant to be a fun centerpiece for a party.

Birthday cake for a Crystal Themed Birthday Party. The cake topper is made from 9 green agate slices on white lollipop sticks. The cake is two tiers of the same size, covered in white Italian meringue buttercream, and there's space between the two layers, where you can see green sugar crystals "growing" out of the top and bottom cake, like a cave or a geode.

The star of the dessert table was the cake, of course. I cast isomalt crystals to "grow" out of the center of my geode cake, and filled in with rock sugar crystals (often available for a good price at Indian grocers). Some of the sugar crystals I painted in a watercolor style with different shades of green food coloring.

Closeup of the Crystal Themed Birthday Party cake topper made from nine green slices of agate stone, arranged at different heights on white lollipop sticks.

The Cake topper was made with real agate slices (these agate lollipops were NOT the edible kind). I'll have a tutorial available in the next few days!

Closeup of the center of the cake, the space between the top and bottom tier, where green isomalt crystals appear to be "growing." Real gold leaf edges the top edge of the bottom cake, and the bottom edge of the top cake.

I used edible gold paint and real gold leaf (which is also edible!) to edge the open middle section of the cake. This cake was kind of like a combination of a geode cake and a fault line cake in concept. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I wish I'd bought more isomalt! I didn't realize quite how quickly I'd use it up making the crystals.

White rectangular tray of sugar cookies that look like geodes, in greens, blues, and purples. A crystal geode cake and gold sequin backdrop are blurred in the background.

I almost always make sugar cookies for parties, so I made geode cookies (tutorial here). The kids absolutely loved them, but that's too much sugar for me!

Three lollipops that look like agate slices in front of a gold sequin backdrop.

These agate slice lollipops were fun to make (and I'll have a tutorial soon), but man, I had to learn a lot the hard way making these.

Rock candy in shades of green with gold leaf flecks, in a small glass shaped like a crystal.

I bought plain white rock candy and colored them to match our emerald and gold color scheme. I used the same technique as my rainbow rock candy tutorial, but this time I added some specks of gold leaf, too, and I love how they turned out.

Three bottles of koolaid shimmering and looking like magical potions, nestled in an ice filled drinks bucket. The bottle on the left is filled with shimmering green liquid, the middle bottle with turquoise punch, and the bottle on the right with blue koolaid.

For drinks, we served ice water and this trio of shimmering Kool-Aid. You can find out how easy it is to make any drink shimmer and sparkle like a magical, mystical potion with this tutorial.

Crystal Birthday Party Activities

Bottles of body glitter arranged in the order of the rainbow, with glitter tattoo stencils and glue in front of the bottles, on a wooden table.

At age 13, kids pretty much just want to do their own thing, but I did set out a few different activities that were a big hit. Glitter tattoos have been a staple at our birthday parties for years, and kids and adults alike love them. Get all the details on DIY glitter tattoos here.

Pinata that looks like a green crystal hanging from a tree in front of a brick wall.

We always have a piñata at our birthday parties, so I made one shaped like a green gemstone for our celebration. Tutorial coming soon!

Two clear plastic boxes, each with twenty individual square compartments inside, each holding a different color of gemstone chip beads.

I also set out a table with gemstone chip beads, wire, jewelry findings, and simple jewelry making tools, so the kids could make their own gemstone jewelry and other creations.

Back Garden with a Stainless steel pizza oven with a fire in the foreground, and a white bell tent decorated in boho style in the background.

As always, we made pizzas for the party! Neapolitan pizzas cook in about 90 seconds, so it's easy to feed a crowd of hungry teens who all like different toppings.

Crystal Birthday Favors

Green gift bags embellished with a printable crystal gift tag that says "Thank You," attached to the bag with a gold satin ribbon tied in a bow. Iridescent cellophane peeks out of the top of the gift bag.

The favor bags were plain, emerald green gift bags that I embellished with a printable gift tag (post with free printables and all the details coming soon!), gold ribbon, and iridescent cellophane instead of tissue paper to add extra sparkle.

Gift bag at the Crystal Birthday Party on its side on a white wooden surface, with the contents of the bag in front of it: a clear bag with four green hand soaps shaped like gemstones, a gold shiny pencil, a rose gold pen topped with a large artificial diamond, and a necklace with a pale green crystal pendant and silver chain.

And inside the gift bags, I put bags of soap that looked like gemstones (Niamh and I made them together!), a sparkly pencil and a gem-themed pen I found at the dollar store, and an inexpensive crystal pendant necklace I got on Amazon. Total cost per bag was about $3.50.

As usual with any of my parties, there are tons of tutorials and posts coming up showing how I made many of the party elements. Stay tuned for all the details!