After "The Phantom Menace" came out my six year old daughter, Lisa, wanted a "Star Wars" theme for her birthday this year. She had a such a great time.

I thought the Darth Maul invitations Lisa picked out might be a little too scary, but she said he was her favorite. I think that scared me a little, but we sent them out to all of her friends. On the inside was written all the party details: Location, date and time.

Even though we bought party decorations of Darth Maul to decorate most of the house, we also wanted do something creative. We bought a few Styrofoam globes and painted them like Tattoine, the Death Star and Naboo with acrylic paint.

The guests were two boys and five girls, but a few of the moms stayed to help out. They helped supervise the children while they picked out a classic "Star Wars" costume to wear from the assortment I rented from the costume shop. Lisa's older sister, Julie, did the make-up. We had bounty hunters, princesses, fighter pilots and, of course, Jedi knights.

After everyone was dressed I took pictures Lisa talked with videographer about making a "Star Wars" movie of our own. Lisa wanted to be the director and of course she wanted to be the star as well. The kids got together and discussed what parts they wanted to play. She and her neighborhood friends put on plays all the time in the front yard. This was even better though, because of the make-up, costumes and larger cast.

It was so funny. We did everything in five scenes, which they rehersed a couple of times before they were recorded. The story was about Princess Lisa trying to escape a group of bounty hunters with the help of a couple of Jedi knights and fighter pilots. There were a few great fight scenes using Lisa's toy light saber and laser gun.

Every one worked up an appetite making the room, so I served lunch in the dining room. I used Blue Kool-Aid to simulate the drinks served at Mos Eisley Spaceport. I sprinkled food coloring on top of the French fries to give them an other worldly appearance. The kids mostly ate barbecued burgers and hot dogs Skip, Lisa's dad, grilled on the barbecue.

After lunch I brought out the cake. It was incredible. It was decorated with a "Star Wars" theme. "Happy Star Wars Birthday Lisa" was written in white icing. The vanilla ice-cream went perfectly with the chocolate mousse filling.

After dessert, the kids had fun acting out scenes from the movie until they were very tired and had to go home. As they were leaving, as an extra special treat, each child was given a custom made candy bar. It had a picture of Lisa's face and "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" written in the font from the movie title behind her. What a great idea. All the kids loved it and Lisa thought it was so cool to have her picture on a candy bar.

A week later, Lisa and I got together with the videographer to edit her movie. We sent a copy to everyone that came.

It was so much fun and it was easy. How much better could a party be?