Have a Halloween BASH!

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year! There is such a vast amount of ideas for great Halloween parties, I hope these concepts will help you put together an amazing event! Do you want to make a realistic looking ghost? These spirits are perfect placed outside wandering around your Halloween graveyard! Shape chicken wire into a ghostly figure and spray it with glow-in-the-dark paint. It will look like a real ghost standing in your yard. This is also a great prank idea! Conjure up a terrific entrance and have your guests walk through a Halloween themed Balloon tunnel using pearl arches in Halloween colors. We can help you with this, give us a call! These are impressive for school dances too! Glow in the Dark Star latex balloons added to Halloween Colored helium filled latex balloons become remarkable arrangements that can be placed around the room or use several as a backdrop for a photo booth area. Make your buffet a gruesome and tasteful display by making a zombie meat presentation. Meat selections are placed in aluminum pans and wrapped with real clothing you can buy at the thrift store. Add our custom Balloon Vampire for a fun sculpture the kids will love! Run classic horror movies on your DVD player during the party for conversation starters and have a howling great time!

“Smile” Your on Candid Camera!

Smile you’re on Candid Camera! I have such fond memories of the silly faces and circumstances captured on the show. Bring some of this fun to your kids today with a Photo Themed party geared towards 10 Years plus. Invitations can be made up on your computer with Film Borders you can find online. Add some silly photos of the Birthday Child and the party information. Snacks can be Photo/Movie themed items like popcorn, hot dogs and how about trying some Camera themed Brownies! The main event can be a Photo Booth. There are many ideas for photo booths online but a Balloon Photo Booth can be something very special and kids LOVE balloons. Pick up some inexpensive photo props at a local party store and add anything you have around the house like hats, shawls, glasses, Boas etc. Have a digital camera set up specifically for the photos. Do this at the beginning of the party so you have time to print out one photo of each child for a craft project later. More can be emailed to them at a later date. A fun party game for the kids is a Candid Camera list for them to take on their cell phones during the event. Give each child a list of the specific type of photos to be taken when they arrive (they will check off as they take the pictures and you can view on their cell phones), the child who takes the most pictures at the end of the party wins a prize. For a craft project have them make a photo frame with craft foam, buttons, markers, paint, glitter and anything else kids can create with. Hot glue their picture with a carboard back to the frame for a take home souvenir. Have fun and Snap Away!

Adults like to play games too!

Why is it we only think of games at children’s parties? Pin the Tail on the Donkey and such are fine but I think adults would like to laugh and carry on too at social gatherings. Here are a few ideas for your next get-together (that don’t include alcohol). Card games are always fun but one unconventional game, that causes constant laughter (by how silly we look), is “Blind Man’s Bluff”. Everyone gets dealt one card, you are not to look at it, and they put it on their forehead facing out so everyone else sees it. Bets are placed based on what cards are showing, the person with the highest card wins. Have a “Scavenger Hunt”. You can find ideas online (try scavenger-hunt-guru.com) and make it in the neighborhood, around the property or trek out to another location. “Charades” is a classic game which one player pantomimes the word or phrase chosen and the others try to guess it. This game can be played in teams and can match a theme you might have for the party (IE. Academy Award party = Actors or Movie names). A challenging and hilarious game is “Pass the Orange”. It is exactly what it says but the Orange is placed under your chin and it has to be passed to the next chin, without the use of hands. You make teams for this and the first team to pass it to all the players and back to the front without dropping it wins. And how about trying to keep a straight face during the “Laughing Game”? Players take turns saying Ha, Ho or Hee, anyone laughing is knocked out. You can have prizes or not, the most important thing is having fun!

Vintage Dress Up Party

This party is a delight for little ones because it revolves around imaginative play – dressing up in old grown-up clothes; something young children love to do! If you don’t have a trunk of old clothes in the attic make one up (in baskets or suitcases) with a trip to the Thrift Store. Be sure you grab up hats, shoes, scarves and costume jewelry too! You can turn this into a fun Tea Party serving finger sandwiches, mini scones, cookies & fruit along with punch or sweet tea. A great craft project is making button bracelets, old buttons are so ornate and colorful (again if you don’t have any, Thrift Store here we come!). Since todays Grandma’s are mostly from the 50’s, purchase the old “Little Rascals” DVD’s and let them play during the party. I loved watching these on T.V. when I was young. Make sure you take plenty of pictures to email to families along with your thank you for coming note.

Casino Parties for Young and Old

A Casino theme party can be for adults or children. A favorite for milestone birthdays (40-50-60), fund raising events, business and other social functions. Invitations can be written on play money or electronically create one on a money background for e-vites. Decorations are, of course, Cards, Dice, Chips and the like. We created the columns, centerpieces, arch and large hallway Balloon displays (shown) for a 40^th Birthday extravaganza. The cake, made by a local bakery, is amazing, don’t skimp on this part for your affair. Gaming tables can be hired by companies specializing in this service or you can find Black Jack/Crap Felt Sets that you can put on a standard table. The sets usually come with everything you need except chips which can be found at a local party store or visit casinosupply.com. Consider renting a bingo set. This can be played by children and adults. The set includes Cage, bingo balls, cards and marking chips. Plan on having some fun Casino/Gaming themed gifts for prizes! Card Memory is a simple game that only needs two decks of cards and a table. Take out all the Hearts, Clubs and Jokers. Shuffle the rest and place face down on the table. Each person gets to choose two cards, if they match the guest keeps them and continues play until no match occurs. The person with the most cards wins. A Photo Booth is perfect for this type of setting. Use Shimmer Curtains as a backdrop and some of the Casino Props: Large Card Cutouts, Oversized Foam Dice, Cutouts of Slot Machines and Casino Signs. Give people the usual Hats, Boas, Oversized Sunglasses and Fake Money for the pictures. Make up signs like “I lost my Shirt at Joes Party”, “I hit the Jackpot!”, “Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner” or “I got lucky at Sue’s 40^th Birthday Party”. Everyone “Wins” at this type of event!

 

Chef Junior Party

With all the kids cooking shows now a day’s, children love getting their hands dirty in the kitchen. You can find Downloadable Invitations on many websites or make your own using Card Stock from the office store. Decorate with Polka Dot Foil and Latex Balloons. This party lends itself to lots of activities. Get your craft supplies out! Your list should include – Markers, Paints, Glitter Pens, Sequins, Pipe Cleaners, Goggle Eyes, Craft Foam, Craft Glue, Card Stock, Tissue Paper and Clothespins. The projects will be Decorating their own Apron (you can purchase plain aprons from the Craft Store), Making their own Chefs Hats of Cardstock & Tissue Paper (go to pbs.org for instructions) and creating fun Refrigerator Magnets (see activitiesforkids.com). For the menu two items are simple and scream kids. Individual Pizza’s and Decorated Cupcakes. Make sure you have plenty of components for their imagination, Bon Appetit!

Clouds, Stars and Rainbows!

This Celestial party theme lends itself well for dress up and balloons. Two things kids are crazy about. You can find Rainbow invitations commercially which are great for this. Include the verse: WELCOME All angels, stars, rainbows, raindrops, moons, suns, lightening bolts, unicorns, airplanes and others. DRESS HEAVENLY! You can try your own hand to create or hire us to make clouds from white balloons to hang from the ceiling. The pictured Rainbow Balloon Sculpture can be placed on the food/cake table for a beautiful backdrop. Cover the walls with light blue plastic table covers. In another area use Silver Foil Star Balloons to make a night sky. You can cover those walls with dark blue or black plastic table covers. A fun game is to search for cloud 9. Hide about 20 white clouds made from white paper or cotton, each numbered, the one who finds “Cloud 9” wins! A wonderful craft project is making sun prints. This will amaze the children. Purchase light-sensitive paper (Amazon carries Sun Art Paper) and lay out a tray full of things like leaves, forks, cutouts, buttons, doilies, lace pieces, plastic snakes and lizards, coins etc. Each child places his chosen items on the paper and leaves it in the sun for about eight to ten minutes. Then remove the objects and dip the paper under cold water to permanently set the images. Instead of cake try making the adorable Cloud Cupcakes pictured – you can find the recipe on yourcupofcake.com. Hope this inspires and you have a divine time!

The Mingle Game-Let’s Talk!

 

When your guests overstay at a party that is certainly a kudos to the host. That means your planning allowed for perfect mingling. When building a traffic pattern use a three-to-one guests-to-seats ratio. Count all the places one could sit; sofas, rented chairs, ottomans, even wide windowsills. Aim for three people for every available perch so you have a good number of folks moving around. Also, consider renting Bistro tables that urge the crowd to stand and converse. Another way to ensure swirl is to keep the Food table and Drinks on opposite sides of the party area. Distribute three or four bowls of munchies (nuts, olives, pretzels etc.) around the room to ease the crush at the hors d’ oeuvres table and encourage guests to spread out. Provide a conversation Kickstarter. You can print conversation cards (find them online) and have them in a jar at the entrance. Ask everyone to pick a few and use them during the evening.

Bring out the Creativity in them!

What is the favorite pastime for most children: ART is it! For invitations purchase postcards from a local Art Gallery/Museum and enter the party information. Have multi-colored aprons ready for the artists. Set up three stations for Painting, Cartooning & Sculpture. Cover the tables with multi colored plastic table covers and place all supplies on each table. Put a small arrangement of colorful balloons in the center of each table. Decorate the walls with art posters, twisted multi-color crepe streamers and multi-color balloon clusters. Your painting station can include drawing with markers, crayons or paint. In your cartooning station supply small notebooks and let the kids create a flip book with their character(s) making a mini movie. For the sculpture station use clay or play dough. Since the activities take so much time and concentration the kids will not likely be able to sit down for a meal so have a snack station too, allowing the children to munch throughout the party

Streamline your Party Bar!

When planning a Cocktail Party don’t stress about stocking up on every possible liquor and mixer. Simplify your event by serving Beer and Wine and a featured drink. Make the beverages self-serve to cut down on bartending duties. Consider renting our Frozen Drink (Margarita) Machine. Don’t think it would work for your Christmas Party? Think again; offer red and green salt for the rims and voilà “Merry Margaritas”. For the non-drinkers create a “mocktail” Margarita that you can find the recipe for on the website shakentogetherlife.com. Need a Punch Bowl, we have one of those for rent too! Make sure you throw in some flavored waters for the designated drivers also. Now enjoy your party!