Seventies style party... ideas please!

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We're having a seventies-style party for my mum's 65th birthday at the end of May. The trouble is, I'm having a bit of trouble trying to find suitable decor etc. I can't spend a fortune, and I haven't had a lot of luck in charity shops so far. Any suggestions? Also, where could I get 70s clothes for DCs? I'm thinking more Abigail's party than comedy wigs. I've already priced the Mateus Rose-other than that I'm stumped already! Also ebay stuff costs tons! Thanks everyone, in anticipation of your funky ideas...

Ask friends with old houses if they have any wallpaper found in the loft - would offer some of the lovely garish patterned stuff we had, but ds has drawn on the back of it (then we binned it). If you can find this then blutack to the walls as a freize.

Friends may also have lava lamps you could borrow.

We hired clothes for my 30th - where are you based /

Put a bowl on the coffee table full of car keys.

Paper chains perhaps, prawn cocktail, fondues, posters on the wall of icons from the 70's..........

We're based in South Wales. at car keys...

sorry - js - nowhere near our local fancy dress hire shop

Do have a look at the other 70's thread for food ideas.

Am trying to think hat I wore in the 70's - do you have any friends/relations who are quick knitters? You could add a 70's style cardi or jumper to ordinary skirt or trousers (do you have boys or girls?). EBay is a good place to look for old patterns.

Have a look on eBay - Boden do some shift dresses for little girls - they had some last year - maybe someones selling some? They are slightly retro looking. Also Next sometimes do some retro stuff - I can only speak for girls, but last year they had a lovely blue/green dress which had a pattern a bit like some curtains we had in the 70's. Again, try eBay. Look for modern stuff that is a bit 70s as if you look for genuine 70s stuff it costs a fortune because they put the word "vintage" in.

If you have daughters, you could get away with school uniform but with a knitted cardi rather than modern sweatshirts. Also a blouse rather than a polo top. Long hair in bunches with ribbons rather than scrunchies.

A son could again wear school uniform, shirt not polo top and with a tank top (a knitter friend maybe?)

You must have half an orange covered in silver foil with cheese & pineapple/cheese & mini-pickled-onions on sticks in it. Sausages on sticks too. Black forest gateau. A trifle.

sausages on sticks and cheese and pineapple on sticks stuck into half a swede covered in tin foil !

Pineapple and cheese on sticks stuck onto a grapefriut to make a hedgehog.

Looks like we all had the same 70's experience re the pineapple hedgehog

These are all great. I was starting to think maybe it wasn't such a good idea, but these ideas are really helpful. What about music?

TinyGang -fond memories of birthday parties as kids

Could get a 70's compilation cd. I've seen them in supermarkets or Ebay.

Do you still have a record player? Charity shops are usually good places for LPs - some of the CDs in the supermarkets can be too full of the "trendy" seventies stuff - depends what you are after. If it was for my mum (in her 60s) I'd go for Nana Mouskouri, Jim Reeves, Val Doonican, Demis Roussos - easy (cheesy) listening stuff.

If you have pictures of her and family in the 70's, you cuold get copies of these and put them around the room - if you have a friend with a scanner you could do it on the cheap. For my husband and his sister's 30th, their parents did this with their baby pics (he had lovely long blond curls and flowery shirts!! they were occasionally mistaken for twin girls!!)

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful. Please, keep 'em coming

I think lots of people here watched "Life On Mars" last week!

If you hear me say "Santana" we're outta here.

and there was me about to chuck the car keys in the pot...

DH and I went to seventies party as punks - very easy to do and as everyone else had gone for the 70's retro look we felt quite original

We're having a 70s party for our annual bash in the summer. H and M has 70s style kid stuff. I'm using clear plastic tumblers for prawn cocktails, black forest gateau, cheese footballs, allsorts on sticks, space hopper races, twister ... I love parties. Already decided to be a punk.

haven't read all posts, so sorry if I'm repeating others.

If you have any records from the 70s, you can blue tack the record sleeves to the walls, they make very handy poster-type things and look really effective.

play Demis Rousos, lots of pampass grass, jazzy prints on settee. i love abigail's party

wow check out this lamp

Dcs could go punk - 77 new generation etc