12 Dec 11 Prepping for a New Year’s Eve Party
So you’re throwing a New Years Eve party – now what? As the largest holiday party of the year, you need to plan, prepare, and get ready for the party, long before it happens. Weeks before the party hits, throw out the New Years invitations to friends and family, coworkers and associates, and anyone else that should attend. This gives people enough time to get prepared, especially if you throw a themed party.
One of the best aspects of a New Years party is this: it gives you a reason to celebrate, but it has no restricting themes. Christmas parties, for example, have the whole red, white, and green theme, so it is difficult to purchase themed party supplies outside of those colors. With a New Years Eve party, however, you have complete and utter creative freedom.
With the New Years invitations sent out, you’re going to need some tableware and utensils. Hungry guests ruin parties, and hungry, messy guests are even worse. Instead, snag some disposable tableware for your evening celebration. Guests can toss spent plates into the trash and continue with their business.
When guests arrive, hand out noisemakers. There is no celebration quite like New Years Eve – people go bananas for the concept of starting anew. With the provided noisemakers, you are doing two things: 1) telling people it is all right to make noise, and 2) encouraging celebration.
To finalize the party environment, grab some balloons. String them up around the location, or hand them out to guests. If you have a ton of balloons at the end of the night, release them when the clock hits midnight.
05 Dec 11 Themed Birthday Parties for Elderly Family Members
Over on the website Reddit, people are always coming up with crazy things to talk about. Take today’s heart-wrenching topic: My grandfather died this morning at the age of 102. We had themed birthdays for him every year and I thought I would share the memories. Sure, the topic sounds really depressing, but it’s also uplifting to see a family take such pride in making their elderly so happy. I mean, they went out of their way to buy the guy new themed party supplies each year. That’s dedication.
Get ready for some tears, people, because these pictures are absolutely adorable. It’s great to see a family take such good care of each other, even in old age.
29 Jan 11 Scheming Up a True Party Theme: Grandma Sweaters
All right, so you want to throw a party, but you have no idea what kind of party you should throw. Well, fear not, because I have the absolute best party theme you could ever want: grandma sweaters. That’s right – the whole party is designed around sweaters that look like they were sewn by your grandma. You know the kind – knitted, too small or too large, and extremely tacky. To take the theme one step further, every guest is required to wear one to enter the party. Now you have created a themed costume party of grandma sweater wearing friends and family.
This is the ideal sweater.
Obviously, you need party decorations that accommodate the theme of your party. To start, think about all of the knickknacks your grandma has lying around the house. These could be old teapots, sepia photos, more knitted clothes, comfy blankets, or antiqued ceramics. If you need help finding such items, check out your local thrift store. They are bound to have some party supplies that are right up your alley.
As stated before, you should require every one of your guests to wear a grandma-themed sweater. Send the word out in your party invitations. This will give everyone some time to find their tackiest, best sweater. To hype up the pre-party excitement, tell everyone that there is a prize for finding the best sweater. Now you have a contest running long before your party even happens, so people are talking about it and getting excited.
The main focus on the party is on the sweaters and the enjoyment people experience from talking about them. This gives you some freedom to not spend huge amounts of money on party supplies or party decorations. Instead, you can focus on the food and drinks supplied throughout the party. Remember to think like a grandma when choosing your food. Flan, strawberries, prunes, juice, raisins, Jell-O, and any other easily digestible perishable would be ideal. But, you make sure the food is still edible and somewhat delicious. You do not want angry, grandma sweater wearing guests – they get nasty real quick.
The whole idea behind this themed party is to have fun and let your creativity run free for a bit. It gives you and your friends a reason to show off your internal grandma, and nothing can be more entertaining than seeing your friends in tacky sweaters. Try it out for yourself and report back on the results.
21 Jan 11 Getting Ready for a Mardi Gras Party
Before you worry about your Mardi Gras party supplies, here’s some information about this splendid celebration:
Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday,†which refers to the night before the start of the Lenten season. Historically, the Lenten season was a time of fasting where you could not indulge in rich, fatty foods. Mardi Gras, however, was the time when you let loose and enjoyed these decadent foods before they were seen as taboo. These days, Mardi Gras is a time of enjoyment, noise, celebration, and friends, and now we want to help give you some Margi Gras party ideas for supplies and decorations.
Party Invitations
This celebration is all about color, excitement, and energy, so your party invitations should let your guests know what to expect at your party. If you want them to feel excited, decorate the front of the card with Mardi Gras party decorations and beads, or send a real bead necklace out with each of your party invitations. You could require your guests to wear them to gain entrance to your party, conveying the message of exclusivity.
Mardi Gras Themed Party Supplies
All of your party supplies and party decorations should follow a color scheme, and the Mardi Gras colors give you plenty of freedom and liberty. Green, purple, yellow, red, blue, pink, these are all acceptable Mardi Gras colors for your party decorations. Honestly, you just want your party to contain a sense of excitement for life – everything should focus on the act of celebrating because you can celebrate. If you want to combine green and purple, go ahead and do it. If you want your party decorations to be blue, red, and yellow, you are completely all right. If you have fun with your party supplies colors, your guests will feel it.
The Mardi Gras color scheme supplies your party with energy!
Mardi Gras Party Favors
The moment your guests hit the entrance of your party, you should be handing out the Mardi Gras party favors. Obviously, included in your party favors should be a bunch of bead necklaces, which people can adorn however they please. Also, noisemakers are ideal party favors for any Mardi Gras celebration. Again, the more energy in your party, the more people are going to get into it.
Party Costumes
Depending on the style of Mardi Gras party you are going for, you could make it a themed party with costumes, where everyone has to dress up in traditional Mardi Gras colors and masks. This would give your party an extra level of immersion that most other parties pass up. If you decide on party costumes, be sure to send out the word with your party invitations. Having guests show up unprepared would kill some of the energetic buzz of the party.
21 Jan 11 Celebrating the Winter Season
With the snowy season comes the majestic colors of blue and white, and nothing warms your guests up faster than winter party decorations. The pastel and navy blues, the soft and vibrant whites, and the accent of bright reds and greens can bring the elegant beauty of winter to life. Rather than succumbing to the cold, you can celebrate the warm comfort of friends and family. Now, let’s get you ready with some party supplies ideas and suggestions for throwing a successful party.
Winter party decorations capture the elegance and beauty of this cold season.
- With the party invitations, focus on the neutrality of winter, rather than the holidays celebrated during the winter season. Snowflakes, for example, are ideal neutral party decorations for conveying the beauty and simplicity of winter. Also, the colors for the party invitations can be much more liberal, breaking free from the traditional white, blue, red, and green. Instead, you are free to focus on gold, black, crimson, brown, to communicate the message of warmth.
- To maintain the sensation of warmth throughout your party decorations, place lit candles on dining tables, food stations, and social gathering areas. If you are placing them on colored tablecloths, use accenting candle colors. Along with creating a delightful ambiance, it will remind your guests of the frightfully cold weather outside, encouraging them to stay longer.
- Ice sculptures make the perfect party decorations, regardless of the party’s purpose. They capture the coolness of the cold season, yet they accentuate the beauty of it, culminating into a mixture of intrigue and awe. Ice sculptures also grant you the customization ability of designing your own party supplies.
- To bring the elegance of winter into your home, polyester batting can be used to imitate the look of snow. Sprinkle it on your party tableware, or down the center of your table, to give the image of a truly wintry party. Combined with winter themed party supplies, your guests will wonder how the food remains so warm.
- Rather than handing out traditional party favors, offer your guests a warm beverage the moment they arrive, such as apple cider, coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. This supplies your party with a sense of invitation and care, which is the perfect thing on any cold, wintry day.
- Before the party starts, designate an area for snow-ridden coats and shoes. Getting your guests comfortable should be the priority, and nothing kills socialization like wet clothes. Plus, this is just one of many party safety tips for ensuring that your guests remain uninjured – wet shoes and floors can lead to slips and accidents.
Winter is the month of relaxation and struggle, comfort and strain, but the proper planning can ensure that your party supplies your guests with only the positive aspects of this snowy season.
07 Jan 11 How to Throw a Successful Kids’ Movie Night Party
Take a moment and imagine the sight of your child enjoying a movie night with his friends. Picture the smile on each one of their faces as they laugh and eat candy or homemade cookies. Now, imagine that each one of these children becomes bored and goes on a sugar-fueled rampage through your house. Are you starting to panic? Were there always four kids, or was it five? Why are there screams of help coming from somewhere deep within the house? This is the exact scenario that we are going to help you prevent.
Throwing a successful movie night for kids is a multi-tiered process that starts with the movie. First, is it a scary movie, comedy, action film, or something indie that will breed the next generation of Wes Andersons? Once the movie is determined, pick up some child themed party supplies that will create the perfect viewing environment. To enhance the immersion, encourage the children to wear party costumes. If anything, it will teach them to emulate their idols.* Now that the movie environment is set, it is time to whip up some themed party invitations.
*Note: Not recommended for gory horror or action movies.
Young children make poor calendar organizers, so it is best to send out party invitations only a couple days ahead of the scheduled event. During the days before the storm hits, contact the parents of each child and ask about food allergies. Nothing kills a movie night faster than a dead kid, unless it’s a Halloween prop. Even then, you might get some strange phone calls the next day.
Before the children arrive, get some themed party favors ready for them. Each one should contain all of the essentials they need to have a successful night of fun. If it is a scary movie, include a small flashlight in each bag and turn all the light in the house off. You can always check out our party favors section for more ideas.
Feeding an army of hungry children is no simple task. The children are there to have fun and let loose, so you do not want to deny them the pleasures of sweet, sugary treats. But, you also have to think about their health. If you are baking cookies, use only the egg whites, and replace the oil and butter with applesauce or bananas. The kids will not know the difference, but their future health will thank you later. As for the candy, limit it or let it flow, it is completely up to you.
As a parting note, have some games or toys ready for children that get bored or too scared during the movie. You may think your night is boredom- or fear-free, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
