My oldest turned eleven a week ago and we had the most awesome Cupcake Wars birthday party to celebrate. My kids love watching Cupcake Wars on Food Network and, apparently, their friends do too—which is the perfect recipe for a really fun party (see what I did there? #momjokes).

Samantha has actually been throwing the idea of a Cupcake Wars party around for at least a year now. For me, it always seemed like a big challenge. How would we do it? Where would we put all of the kids? Would my kitchen ever recover?

After surviving a wildly successful party of our own, I’m ready to give out some solid tips that will make your life a thousand times easier if you’re looking to host your own Cupcake Wars party for tweens.