I love giving parties, do you need some ideas?

[ShirleyKnot]

Hello!

If you don't know me I'm Shirley and I'm a great lover of planning parties. I do a blog about it (which I'm not going to link here, but if you look on the bloggers network for PartySpanner you'll find me)

ANYWAY

If you're chucking a do, I might be able to help - I'm not a business, I don't charge for my ideas or owt, I just love to trawl the internet find good invite ideas, games and food.

Jump in and I'll see if I can help.

You need trifle for a 40's party I think :)

Maybe individual ones in cocktail glasses?

ooh, 1940's party. Am assuming british - rather than American - theme?
You mentioned a village hall earlier - that'd be PERFECT. Think in the vein of (glammed-up) make do and mend spirit.

Bunting? Lots of, lots of union jack bunting still about and that'd be spot-on.
Love the idea of the vintagey Keep Calm... posters. You could even print out similar images from the internet and batter them up a bit for that authentic vintage look. Everything should look quite well-loved, I think.

Music should be big band, swing - Glen Miller stylee. Dancing will ensue.

Food could be all Enid Blyton-ish - eg cucumber / salmon / egg mayo sandwiches; fruit cake; ginger cake. Rationing was in force then, obv, but you don't need to be too literal.

Cocktails woud work, they'd be the glamourous US import (think Marlene Dietrich esque). Maybe served in teapots to bring it back down to earth? Maybe a 1/2 cask of local ale also?

Yes, definately British, Hazel. And like the Famous 5 angle - that works for us (oh, & dh makes his own beer so will have a few kegs going)

I had wondered about cocktails in teapots - but is that too prohibition?

Mmm, the cocktails in teapots is very prohibition, isn't it? Which I know ended in '33. I was applying a large helping of artistic licence there! Trouble is, I don't really associate cocktails with the british 40's thing, but with the golden age of Hollywood 40's thing across the pond. I could of course be utterly mistaken as I was not there!

Bwb - i made lovely invites for my dd's christening using vistaprint. They had little pink footprints on. Even had her name on the envelope seal. Cost me about 6 quid for 25 i think. Although be warned they bombard you with emails. I also did thank you cards and order of service sheets to match.

Blathers - i'll post your things on monday ive been away enjoying all that butlins has to offer!

Gruffalo party plans are underway. Party bag stuff obtained for pence! Got woodland stencils, little wooden animals, jumping squirrels, woodland notebooks. All for less than a pound all in!!

Going to local park next week to collect fir cones etc etc and going to scatter around with moss etc( then recycle for poncetastic xmas). Gonna make big trees to decorate the room and ive blown up big images of the fox, owl and snake. Gonna make masks of the mouse and gruffalo then everyone can choose which they want to be.

Dh is gonna read the story at the start and i'll put the film on towards hometime to allow for stragglers, hangers on and a general wind down. Gonna have little toadstools dotted about the wood and have some suitable red and white spotty bunting to pull it together.

Gruffalo food like owl icecream and im gonna get jelly snakes to mix into jelly for scrambled snake. Pass the parcel in gruffalo paper with a gruffalo prize. That should do it for three year olds shouldnt it?

Oh and of course a gruffalo cake!

No Hazel, I think you're right & I am shoe-horning cocktails in where we should probably all be drinking tea & bad moonshine
To be fair, I am not aiming to be strictly historically accurate, so maybe I should just get off my high horse!

(PS Gruffalo party sounds wonderful! I hope you're having some crumble...)

eeeeek! We've got dp's 70th birthday party tomorrow - we have photos on the wall of him from baby - present day, we have '70' banners and streamers hanging up everywhere, we have balloons (ordinary and helium) and we have enough food to feed the street (dp putting finishing touches to buckwheat salad as I type). We have a playlist set up on i-tunes with lots of his favourite music on (although how Leonard Cohen's going to go down at a party I'm not sure ). We even have an amazing 'allotment' cake - beautifully made (not by us!) with lots of little vegetables on the top made to look like his allotment - and it's gluten-free so I can have loads some

Thanks Shirley for the tableware link - got loads of the '70' stuff from there!

Any tips on how not to get roaring drunk before 3pm?

Ha! that should read "dp's Dad's 70th birthday party"! She won't thank me for that

at making your DP 70.

The party sounds great. I'd love to see the allotment cake if you fancy posting a photo.

In terms of not getting drunk, how about making some virgin cocktails and having one of those between alcoholic ones? They'd be great for any t-totallers and children you might have there too. If you serve them in the same glasses etc, they can't feel left out.

Mocktails

The Gruffalo party sounds amazing too. I need a pic of that cake too. Love the scrambled snake idea - that'd make a good Halloween party dessert too

Gruffalo party sounds SO cool. Were it not that one of her classmates had a (low key and not themed enough for my obsessive preferences) Gruffalo party I would have talked her into that - so many lovely opportunities for games and food (it sounds like you are making the most of them), plus I want to do a Gruffalo cake [stamps foot].

Hmm - I have a nearly 1yo GodDaughter - perhaps I can indoctrinate her in the next year or so?

Shirley - do you have your breadmaker pizza base recipe to hand? I tried the one from my breadmaker book today and was less than impressed... (plus, annoyingly, our tortilla press is not man enough for the job )

Nearly done with decorated wooden spoon invites for cooking party - and halfway (nearly) through making aprons .

Brilliant cake Stealth! Way to go to make me feel even more inadequate!

Giddly - difference is, that wasn't for one of my DC, so my sole responsibility was to turn up with cake leaving my entire kitchen coated in icing.

How are the scooby-plans going, anyway?

Stealth - I've had a good look at your flickr account and I just have to say WOW at your cakes!

Did you make that science one with the dry ice?

I've had a PM from someone asking for some help with a 40th. I'm going to ask if I can re-post it on this thread to try and get some wider help!

Yes, Shirley, I did do the science one (actually, all of the ones which are on Flickr) - science party was SO much fun - at least as much for the adults as for the DC

Seriously - that is impressive! Loved the castle one as well - you make me feel inadequate!

I might have a ponder over here actually, about a bit of a decision I need to make.

So, have been having Halloween parties for EVER. Big family tradition for us. This year though, my friend is having her birthday party on the 29th, which would have been the day I'd have thrown the bash. I really want to go to her party. I don't really want to do a party on the Sunday (am anticipating a hangover ) and I'm a bit iffy on doing it on the Friday the 28th (Although I could take the day off work to arrange it all)

I'm thinking about doing a Bonfire Night party on the following weekend instead, but...argh! I can't really incorporate the two (Halloween and Bonfire) and I'm worried () about breaking the tradition, but also kind of excited about trying something new.

AND I JUST CAN'T DECIDE

How hard would bonfire be? Do you have space and enough sober people to do fireworks safely? We used to do it but after a couple of scares have decided that home fireworks are not such a great idea. Also - apart from the fireworks themselves, it is hard to 'theme' bonfire to the same degree as Halloween.

I would be inclined to go for the Friday, I think - then you can spend Saturday recovering before your friend's party.

We do have the space and I never have a drink until all the kids have been collected, have been letting off fireworks in the garden for years, and my neighbour is making a big bonfire at the very end of the garden as well, and the big firework display in the borough is also visable from our garden.

HMMMMM. GAH! ARGH!

BUT! I think I might shit myself a bit about the kids spilling off the deck and too close to the "action" and..yes. Yes that scares me and would be stupidly stressful.

OK. So a Friday night Halloween thingie it is then. I think

Bonfire night could be fun. You could do pumpkin pie, and smores, ohh and baked potatoes and hotdogs to warm everyone back up again - maybe even make some "mulled wine" for the kids with hmmm, mulled wine spices and cranberry juice? Warm apple juice with the spices in would be tastier but wouldn't look the same. Cupcakes decorated with autumn coloured leaves made from roll out icing? I'm sure I've got a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes somewhere that i could find for you?

You could do the savoury food and the smores on a BBQ if the weathers nice to make it a bit more exciting.

Activities - you have the bonfire and the fireworks obviously, make a guy before the fire gets going, if you're feeling adventurous and can get hold of a load of branches, maybe even a 'Green man' to burn? Stick body, leaves for hair and a beard...

It might make a really nice change.

YES YES YES Blathers. See? Something different and that just sounds bloody lovely.

GOD. I am on the horns of such a dilemma.

Oh and of course you get to put "Remember, remember the 5th of November..." on all of your invites

Is there any way to cordon off the decking? Even just canes stuck into the lawn around the egde with ropes tired between? Or some autumnal coloured bunting? Something to make a barrier. Your children are old enough to understand a visual barrier I think, it wouldn't have to be string enough to hold them back

Oh they are more than old enough not to go careering (sp?) off the deck, but they're at the Stupid Enough To Think It's Funny stage.

I think I'm going to have a proper chat to the boys tonight and see which they'd prefer to do - I'm laying bets it's going to be the Traditional Halloween one.

PartySpanner, I would like to throw a (party) spanner into the mix - ahem - with the idea of a Mexcian Day of the Dead party. El Dia de los Muertos is on 1st and 2nd Nov but can of course be celebrated around that time. It does not sound it, but it is a very joyful and colourful occasion.

It is fab because you can buy loads of stuff for the main theme - skulls - from Halloween ranges, and you can zsush it up all sorts of other bits and bobs. Plus I love flowers, chocolate, booze and spicy food and all have a natural home at a Dia de los Muertos party.

Also, as I am not Mexican and nor are my friends, I can play fast and loose with the theme!

One of my Hummingbird Bakery books is sorted into seasons. The 'Bonfire and Halloween section has loads of wonderful looking recipes which would be perfect for a Bonfire party - Chocolate Chunk Pecan pie, Sticky Toffee Cupcakes, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Beetroot and Chocolate Cupcakes, Smores Cupcakes. Mmmm

Let me know if you'd like any of them

That's a great idea Hazel. I made gingerbread skulls with the children last year and we decorated them like Mexican sugar skulls, DS loved it