When Ellie Palumbo began thinking about her 8th birthday party, picking a theme was a no-brainer. Will Arnett, of course.
"She loves him," mom Nikki Palumbo told TODAY Parents. "What’s so funny is that she’s a quirky kid, and did not care that (other) 8-year-olds really don’t know him."
Stumped on how to decorate, Palumbo reached out to a local community page asking for help.
"My soon to be 8-year old-daughter has chosen the theme of 'Will Arnett' for her upcoming birthday party," the mom of two wrote, adding that she needed help executing her daughter's wish. "I think her pick is hilarious but I can't exactly run to the party store for Will Arnett decorations."
The response was incredible.
"When I posted looking for makers, this one woman responded she had a laser machine," Palumbo said. "She made little Will Arnett faces."
The faces were turned into cupcake toppers, a banner, keychains, and a special shirt for the birthday girl.
The birthday celebration was hosted at a horse farm near the family's Charlotte, North Carolina home, where attendees painted a horse in Arnett's honor.
The theme did not come without questions from friends and classmates.
"They thought Will Arnett was the farmer that owned the horses," Palumbo said. "One asked if it was her dad on the invite."
But the newly minted 8-year-old didn't care.
"It didn’t bother her that nobody else knew who he was," Palumbo said. "She had great time at the party."
Palumbo also hired a local artist to paint a "spirit rock" for outside Ellie's school.
"Each of the schools in the area, you can rent it for like a week and paint it for kid birthdays," Palumbo said.
Ellie's love for the actor began when the family started watching LEGO Masters.
"We picked a show as a family we were going to watch," Palumbo explained, adding that their 9-year-old son watched it for the unique builds. "Ellie liked the LEGO builds, but she instantly saw that Will was so hilarious."
Palumbo told TODAY her daughter began watching the show solely to see the Canadian actor and "SmartLess" podcast co-host.
"She’s super chatty (and) she had a thousand questions," Palumbo said. "It became every single time we watched. It became all about how funny he is and how Ellie thought they would be friends in real life."
The little girl even keeps a folder of reasons why she loves Arnett in her room.
"I like Will Arnett because he is funny," Ellie wrote on one page. "He is great on TV. I bet he is more funny in real life."
When fellow parents applauded Palumbo for "going with it" for the birthday theme, she couldn't help but feel proud of her daughter's choice.
"How can you say no?" Palumbo said. "I love that she's confident enough. She knows what she wanted to do and it’s super cute."
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