Carnival Theme Party

Creating memories is the purpose of an over the top birthday celebration.  Through the creation of there memories those in attendance will always remember the person being celebrated long into the future.  Creating these over the top celebrations is not always easy and can take a large amount of money to pull off correctly.  That is the purpose to this blog, to help provide ideas to others who want to throw the epic celebrations but do not have a lot of money to do so.  The great part about this is that all it takes is a little imagination, ingenuity and time to create a birthday celebration that is both well executed and memorable. 

In the past I have been involved in many different parties for numerous different purposes but the 30^th birthdays seem to be the ones that go a little beyond the rest not only in detail but also in scale, time and planning for an almost perfect execution.  As a result, a majority of the parties that are addressed in the blog are all 30^th birthday parties that I have been involved in creating. 

The 30^th birthday carnival began as a joke two years before the birthday girl’s actual 30^th birthday around a fire pit in the back yard.  She was talking with a friend; the two shared a 30^th birthday date within a month of each other and were talking about combining their parties together to make the celebration even more over the top.  They decided that they wanted a dunk tank, ball put, jumping castle and mini rollercoaster at their party.  In short, they wanted a carnival.  Fast forward two years and the financial realities were that none of the wish list was going to be possible so something else needed to be done.  There were talks of having a monster/horror themed birthday party, a 20’s themed prohibition/gangster party or to stay with the carnival theme.  In the end, one of the birthday girls backed out and had her own party with her own theme leaving the original birthday girl to have her own solo party.  It was decided to keep with the carnival theme because it would not be something that was expected, truth is that most guests would have expected the monster/horror theme so it was perfect.

With the theme chosen, not began the process of attempting to execute the party in the most cost effective manner possible.  A large chunk of the budget was already allocated to renting Sumo Suits, the only thing that was requested directly from the birthday girl (yes she knew the theme almost right away).  With over 1/3 of the budget gone just on one component of the party I needed to get creative.  Here is how I managed to pull of a full carnival on a very limited budget.

The venue:  Where to have a party is always a difficult part of the party planning.  Since we did not have very much budget remaining we asked a friend to host the party in his back yard.  After a little bargaining, and a plan for crowd control when it came to using the bathrooms inside his house he agreed.  Cost: FREE

Invitations: The invitations were created using a scrapbooking program on the computer to make them personalized as well as fun.  The invitation is the first step in the party, it makes the first impression and this invitation did just that.  In addition to it being a first impression it also helped to control the number of guests that were invited by having some only receiving an ADMIT ONE ticket to the carnival or couples who received ADMIT TWO tickets.  This also helped decrease the number of invitations that needed to be printed.  Once created, they were copied on a color copier at a local office supply store onto cardstock and assembled.  Again to save money, the invitations were divided up among close friends to distribution.  Only three invitations were actually mailed, this saved a lot of money on postage.   

The invitation and envelope

Games: Creating the atmosphere of a carnival was a combination of the décor and the games that were chosen. Here is a list of the games that we did:

Ring toss:  I asked a friend who is a bartender at a local pub to save empty beer bottles in the cases so that we can have a ring toss.  Another friend actually had rings and allowed them to be used at the party.  The rings were stored in a colorful sand pail when not in use so they would not get lost in-between players.  Placing the bottles on the ground with a piece of wood also on the ground to stand behind to throw the rings from and the game is complete.  Each person did their own thing and it was the honor system, if someone won then they could take a prize.  

Ring Toss

The prizes were handing in between two trees behind the ring toss.  This was not only practical but also added to the décor and overall carnival esthetic.  Prizes for the ring toss were noise making stuffed animal key chains that were purchased out of a clearance bins a local toy store, and I had a coupon for 20%off my entire purchase.  There were enough prized for each person to win one key chain.

Bean Bag Toss: Using empty juice mix containers and a large bag of rice, scrap fabric, needle, thread, paint and glue are all that is needed to create this carnival game.  I filled each of the empty plastic containers with rice and glued the lids on before painting the containers with bright colors.  The bean bags that were thrown at the completed containers were nothing more than bags of rice that I made on my sewing machine out of scrap fabric and rice.  The canisters were stacked up on top of a small table that was found in the garage and a piece of wood was placed on the ground to throw from. 

BeanBag toss

 The bean bags were stored in colorful sand pails when not in use so they would not get lost in between players. Each person did their own thing and it was the honor system, if someone won then they could take a prize.  The prizes were in a basket on the floor in front of the table.  Prizes for the ring toss were plush Angry Birds finger puppets that were purchased out of a clearance bins a local toy store, and I had a coupon for 20%off my entire purchase.  There were enough prized for each person to win one finger puppet.

Balloon pop game.  Complete with safety barriers, carnival bunting,
carnival "tent" and repursposed "balloon" throwing line.

BalloonPop:

This is the most dangerous game that we had at the party because of the use of real darts.  The darts that we used were found in a basement and were quite rusty so beyond the obvious concerns of someone getting hit by a dart, there was the added concern of tetanus.  As a result of these concerns, extra planning and precautions were made in regards to this game.  First was the placement of the game itself.  We did not want any part of the party events to be down range from then darts.  Also since there were four different dart boards that can be chosen from a plan for darts that miss all together needed to be put into place.  Additionally there was a concern that people might walk through the range and end up in the line of fire so the area needed to be secured in some way.  All of these potential problems were addressed, the boards were suspended between tow trees away from the remainder of the party and a tarp was hung behind the boards to catch any stray darts.  Behind the tarp was a row of trees that acted as a natural barrier but just to be safe additional banners were placed to discourage wondering. 

The entire area was also roped off to prevent someone wondering into the line of fire.  The boards themselves were made out of plain plywood (scraps from another project for this same party) that was covered with colorful fabric using a stapler.  Mini bulldog clips were attached to the boards using a stapler as well to hold the balloons.  This allowed the balloons to be easily replaced by everyone as the balloons were popped.  Each balloon had a small toy or piece of candy inside so as they were popped the prizes would drop to the ground so the winner to claim. 

Extra balloons for Balloon pop game

 Extra balloons were into an empty tub next to the game for easy restocking so the board reminded full at all times.  The line to throw the darts from was created through recycling the wood lollypops used in a previous party (Wizard of Oz) and repainting them to look like balloons on the reverse side.  The darts were placed in a colorful sand pail that was nailed to a tree so they would not get     

lost in between players.

Jumbo Bowling: This was the least involved game at the entire carnival.  I found this bowling set on sale for $3.00 the week before the party and just purchased it as something extra to have.

Décor: Creating the atmosphere of a carnival was a combination of the décor and the games that were chosen. Here is a list of the décor:

Entrance into Carnival

Entrance “Tent”: This was created using poles from an old and broken camping tarp that was found in the garage and some colorful curtains purchased at a local home good store in the clearance sections.  Using in store coupons brought the cost down even further.

The entire thing was assembled on the ground then stood up and anchored to the ground utilizing stakes and rope.  The rope was a potential safety hazard, so a few pieces of reflective tape were placed on the ropes so they could be seen after dark.  The Happy Birthday sign is something that has been used at Birthday parties for years, it was attached to some remaining poles from the same camping tarp and placed next to the entrance.   

Carnival “Tents”: Using a hula hoop and some old twin bed sheets that were cut into strips and a sewing machine these “tents” were created. 

Carnival "tent"

The tops are sewn together to give it some stricture but the bottoms were left unattached to allow them to blow in the breeze.  This also allow them to be used at a Halloween party in the future is desired because they are a little creepy when they are moving.  They were suspended from trees in location where they would be out of the way but still be effective as décor. 

Carnival Banners: There were also created out of old bed sheets that were cut into triangles and sewn to florist ribbon that was purchased at a local thrift store (50 yards of 2 inch ribbon for $0.50).  These were stapled to trees all over the party and created a sort of continuity throughout the entire space. 

 Snack Bar: This was created using cardboard, paint and some scrap fabric from left over from the carnival “tents”.   This was hung above the food.  While it was not all the types of food being served at the party it got the point across. 

Photo Wall: Created out of plywood and some old large picture frames that were painted bright different colors and attached to the plywood that was precut and covered in wallpaper.  The entire thing was stood up and different props were provided to allow for guests to create their own memories at the photo “wall”.  A camera on a tripod with a timer set allowed guests to take their own pictures throughout the event.

Fun at the photo wall

Misc: Plastic tablecloth purchased in a large roll provided barriers as well as other necessary elements of the décor.  Christmas light were placed in different areas of the party for when it got dark outside to provide some dim lighting.  Spot lights were placed on the games to allow guests to play long after it got dark.  Since this was an October Party in the evening, it got dark early, so lighting was very important.  Balloons of every color were attached to poles and placed in the ground for additional color. 

More to come...

Wizard of Oz Birthday Party

Trying to incorperate an individuals interests into a Birthday Celebration is always something that is important regardles of age.  The following decoration ideas were done for a 28th birthday party in early October.  There was a discussion between having a horror film theme party or a Wizard of Oz theme, both of which the birthday girl likes a lot but considering the time of year and upcoming Halloween Parties, the Wizard of Oz was the perfect decision to make it special and separate it from the upcoming holiday.

The idea of the party is that each guest will travel throught the movie as the walk through the party.  This begins at the entrance to the back yard.  Signs that were printed off the internet onto paper and mounted onto cardboard with spray glue were nailed to a nearby tree by the gate to the back yard.  On the gate to the back yard there was a sign the read "Now Leaving Kansas, Thank You for Visiting".  This begins the journey.

Once in the back yard, each guest is asked to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" created on the ground with yellow plastic table clothes and yellow tape for dimension.  Yes, I am aware that this part is a little out of order, but it made the most sense for the layout of the backyard that the party was taking place in. There is yet another sign printed out from the computer and mounted on cardboard with spray glue on a nearby tree letting guests know that this is indeed the yellow brick road and they should walk on it. 

The Yellow Brick Road leads right into MunchkinLand.  Large lollypops, in honor of the Lollypop Guild were created out of wood disks, pained in bright colors and wrapped in large clear gift bags with ribbons were staked into the ground in groupings.  A house was crated using cardboard boxes, duct tape and black paint.  Seasonal flowers that were meant for the front garden waited to be planted to help make this area more colorful.  A Certificate of Death was printed off the computer onto white paper and coffee blotted onto the paper with paper towels were used to give and aged look.  The wording on the certificate is a direct quote from the movie taken off a downloaded copy of the script, complete with the actual name of the coroner of MunchkinLand according to the script.  The Witch of the East stockings were purchsed at a local costume store and stuffed with pipe insulation for dimension. 

The scarecrow was the easiest part to create for this entire party.  I used the scarecrow that goes into the front garden every fall and pinned a printed picture of the scarecrow that I found on the internet over teh face that was already there.  Adding a black crow from my halloween decorations and the corn stalks that will eventially end up on the railings in the front of my house finish this scene.  This is located next to MunchkinLand.

The tin man is the only aspect of the entire party that I had nothing to do with.  I contacted a friend who is a handyman to get him to build something that I could attach a Tin Man halloween costume to. He said that he would take care of the Tin Man himself and this is what he arrived with.  It is a life size Tin Man made out of spare duct work that he had around his house.  A manaquine head, store bought "heart", oil funnel, fake wooden ax, and some logs made completed the scene causing the Tin Man himself to become the photo op location of the night.  Every person at the party had their picture taken with him!

The Cowardly Lion was the least involved scene created at the party.  This is a childs halloween costume that has been stuffed with pipe insulation and a printed face taken from teh internet was placed over the face hole to create the look.  He is hanged off a tree and appears to "stand" on a bunch of logs that were cut from a tree that had fallen recently.  Because the area that the lion is located in was the darkest and most overgrown area of the backyard (kinda like the woods that he was first seen in), some ground torches were placed to keep him visable during the night and to keep that area illuminated.  In addition, it kept the area looking a little spooky as it should be.  

The Emerald City was the largest and most involed part of the party decorations.  Not only was this where all the food for the party was located, it was the entrance into the house to get to the bathroom (you actually had to walk throught the city to get inside) but it was the only scene that complely transfromed once the sun went down. 

How this look was put together:

The Building: Using painted cardboard boxes but to lay flat and Duct tape they were atteched to a green canopy tent that I already owned.  Folding Tables were placed inside for the food and covered with green tableclothes.  The back wall was a piece of glitter green felt that was attached to the tent with cable ties.  This was actually functional as well since it did actually hide someone "behind the curtain" (the guy on the grill cooking burgers, chicken and hotdogs).  

The signs: "Bell out of Order, Please Knock" was printed on green paper off the computer, mounted onto cardboard using spray glue and attached near the 'door' to the city. 

"Pay No Attention..." was hand painted onto a piece of scrap wood and screwed into a stake and hammered into the ground near the Emerald City.  

The Decorations: A candle holder that was used at a previous birthday party has been filled with green Mardi Gras coins (Emerald City Money), green lollypops (free from a local bank) and childs toy fairy wands from a dollar store (Glinda's wand) with tea lights provide a form of light inside. 

Emerald City at Night: This was done with a laser light show device that was provided by the same person that created the Tin Man.  The photo does not do this effect justice becasue it was in perperual motion so it looked like it was always shimmering. 

  The Haunted Woods was what actually started the entire theme idea for this party.  When the idea was still to have a horror film themed party I began to use some scrap wood from a fence that we took out of our back yard to create the run-down looking directional sign and the idea just morphed from there.  Some old wood, wood glue and paint was all that was used to create this sign.  Now this sign lives at a Haunted HayRide in New York.  Adding cobwebs, fake crows, halloween themed luminarias, and a witches hat from a cotume store complete the Haunted Woods.  Additionally, this area of the backyard always seems to be the darkest because it is the only area that has evergreens so it works at giving the scary feeling indicitive of the Haunted Woods.

Misc Items: Every party has some things that are inbetween and cannot be categorized into other areas, especially when one is trying to follow scenes in a movie such as me.  So these are all of those other things that were done to help complete the overall look of the party. 

The centerpieces: were created using small baskets, blue gingham, and poppies purchased at a local craft store.  The party favors were the small platstic "Ruby Slippers" filled with candy necklaces that were purchsed on the internet.  These were found on every round table over green linen tablecloths.  Additionally, after the sun goes down, glass candles that were covered in printed pages from the script added light to the tables.  Because this was an adult party, some bad habits do exist so a ruby red cup serves a new purpose and should be labeled appropiatly to ensure that someone doesn't have their drink ruined.   

Birthday Cake: This was purchased at a local grocery store.  I actually drew on the order form exactly what I wanted in regards to icing colors and pattern so that I could add the plastic "Ruby Slipper" (from the party favors) on top. 

Garbage: Garbage cans were labeled with signs created on the computer and placed near Emerald City

Sign: Printed off the computer and mounted onto cardboard using spray glue and nailed onto a tree near the drinks.  It is not from the movie exactly but it is cute. 

Sign-In Board (not pictured): Instead of having a poster board for each person to write messages to the birthday girl small pre-cut hot air balloons were provided (purchased from a dollar store from the school supplies section).  Each balloon was attached to a larger board for the birthday girl to keep.  Some people did not actually write anything, instead they decorated their ballon and pit their name on it.  That is the sun part of this idea, each person can so whatever they want. 

Paper Products: Everything that we used was red.  The plates, napkins, cups, forks, knives, and spoons were all red.  This provided uniformity and was the color on sale at the time of shopping.

Hot Air Balloon: I contacted a local artist to draw a more modern version of Dorothy using a likeness of the birthday girl.  He did such an amazing job, even getting the tattoos she has correct and giving her ruby red converse instead of slippers!  It was a perfect representation and was what I used to creat the hot air baloon.  Using a color copier to make several copies I used elmers glue over a balloon to create the shape.  First I layered newspaper over teh balloon to give it the foundation.  Once it was dry I painted the entire thing white before attaching the repeating drawing.  Using yellow duct tape (from the yellow brick road), a plastic cup and some yarn complete the balloon.  This was hung from a tree.

Music: The Soundtrack for the movie was playing in the background for the first few hours of the party, until a majority of the guests had eaten, before being changed into current popular music selections. 

Food: The food was themed as well.  Here are a few of the examples of what was done:

• There was rice krispie treats cut into dog bone shapes labeled Toto Treats.
• Apples were placed in a basket with a sign that read Hand Picked from the Haunted Apple Trees.  There was a Haunted Apple Tree as well (no picture provided).  This was completed using apples, plastics baggies, and red ribbon.  Each apple was placed in a bag and tied to the tree with the red ribbon at different lengths next to the Tin Man.
• Beef Storgonoff was labeled Lion Chow.
• Auntie Em's Vegetable Meadly was a vegetable Meadley
• Corn on the Cob was Scarecrows Crops
• Chips and Salsa were Tin Man Tid Bits and placed in foil lined bowls.
• Bowtie Pasta Dish was labeled Wizards Pasta
• BBQ Chicken was called Munckin Legs

Finally the last piece of the party was the directional sign that was placed in the middle of the party.  This was created using pieces of wood and attacked to a central piece of wood.  Each sign was handpainted and the signs actually do point to the locations of the different scenes in the backyard accuratly.  Once the party was completed and clean-up was over, the birthday girl took this apart and kept the individual signs. 

Hope that you enjoy the ideas and what can be done with a little imagination.

St. Patrick's Day Birthday Party

When a person is born on a holiday it can be easy to run with a theme.  This is exactly what happened on St. Patrick's Day.  This year a friend turned 30 on the largest Irish Holiday celebrated in the US and we went all out, it helps that she is also Irish. 

There was a mix of store bought items along with hand made items, homemade sweets table, mini Reuben sandwiches along with lots and lots of green!  Even the guests all arrived wearing this color of choice.  Since I was unable to locate exactly what I was looking for when it came to decorations, I created them myself using my computer and printer, tissue paper, white (Elmers) glue, hot glue and floral ribbon to give everything a personal touch.  I even created a "Pub" sign that can be changed from "open" to "closed" depending on how people are feeling out of wood with the help of a friend.  Overall, the party was a success and cost effective.



Front of Oval from Custom "Pub" sign



Pub sign created out of plywood.  The wood was cut to the desired size and stained using leftover stain from a floor refinishing done earlier in the year.  The lettering and horseshoe were purchased from a local craft store unfinished and painted to the color desired.  The shamrocks are green stickers purchased from the dollar store and the green border was hand stenciled onto the wood.  The "open" portion of the sign can be turned around thanks to the addition of some hooks to reveal "closed".



Reverse side of oval

Decorations can be a difficult challenge for even the most experienced party planner to be able to accomplish, expecially with a $30.00 decorations budget and a large area to decorate.  I solved this problem with a variation of different methods that were all cost effective.

Some of the decorations

First, using leftover consturiction paper, computer paper and any green colored paper I could get my hands on without payinf for it and a stapler I created many paper chain streamers.  These decorations that we made as children brought much needed color into the space and the single color palate kept it from becoming too childish.  Some simple green curling ribbon attached these streamers to everything from the fencing to the windows and doorways.

Secondly, using green tissue paper that was leftover from Christmas wrapping, some floral wire and large green beads (I had to buy those) I created the green balls to hand around the party area.  These were made by taking one piece at a time from the center, creating a cone shape, I wrapped the wire tightly around the small (or point) of the cone. I continued to add pieces of tissue paper to the first piece until I got half of the desired fullness.  This entire process was repeated and the two pieses were combined to create a whole sphere using the florist wire.  The beads were added using more florest wire and curling ribbon was added to hand them.

  

Finally, the baloons, necklaces, hats, gloves and all the other funny party items were purchsed at the local dollar store for $24.74 bringing my total decoration budget to $29.57 plus my labor.

With decorations completed it was time to focus on the food.  I ordered some food from a local delicatessen including a tray of Mini Reubens in honor of the Holiday but the main focus was on the sweets table, most of which was homemade.   

Green Cake Pops: White cake mix, green gel food coloring, green melted chocolate, green sprinkles, white frosting, candy sticks and mini bags.

Green Rice Krispie Treats:  Rice Krispies, Marshmallows, Green Food Coloring, Butter.

Brownie Pops: Brownie Mix, Brown Choclate, Green Sprinkles, Candy sticks and mini bags.

White lollypops: Wilton Wedding party favors found at a local craft store

Green Cupcakes: White cake mix, green gel food coloring, white frosting, green sprinkles, and chocolate gold coins

Giunness Cupcakes: http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2009/02/guinness-chocolate-cupcake-with-baileys.html

Rainbow bags: Skittles, snack bags, custom label

Lucky bags: Lucky Charms Cereal, snack bags, custom label

Chocolate covered pretzels (in bags in the custom green bags scattered on the table): bag of mini pretzels, green chocolate, green sprinkles, snack bags

I could not find labels that I loved so I just created them for myself with my computer.  Here is what I came up with:



Skittles bags



Cupcake Tags



Lucky Charm Bags

Chocolate covered Pretzel Bags