19740

Grease 50's Party 8yr - Burgers & Fries

April 2009

Crystal in Kennewick, WA USA

Honorable Mention

INVITATIONS: Purchased from a party store, they were in the shape of jukeboxes.   

DECORATIONS: Our town has a 50's style diner, complete with vinyl records hanging from the ceiling, a jukebox, old style red upholstered booths, black and white tile floors etc.  So this saved me a ton on decorations.  And there was no cost to have the party there and they let me reserve half the diner.  I left most of the tables undecorated and just had the old fashioned napkin holders and ketchup bottles in the middle.  The diner also had fake ice cream sundaes made from sundae glasses filled with carnations (stem less) and straws sitting around so I grabbed them and made those the centerpieces. 

Then there was the cupcake table and a present table.  While the diner had the old fashioned napkin dispensers I wanted some themed napkins on the cake table so I found some that had juke boxes, records, music notes and old cars printed on them. I alternated the printed napkins with a plain light turquoise napkin.  Since the printed ones were expensive for a small pack at the party store, I bought the plain color in a larger quantity pack for a fraction of the price.  So it was affordable and I still got to have the themed napkins.  I use this tip for all her parties it saves money to be used for other things. 

I also rarely buy themed plates, the plain ones are way cheaper and you usually get more and there are tons of colors to choose from.  I just make sure the theme is evident with other touches.  The decorations were complete with a singing Sandy doll from Grease (bought at Wal Mart in the Barbie aisle) on the middle of the table where the birthday girl sat with her guests.             

ACTIVITIES/GAMES: Since there wasn't tons of space in the diner a game was out of the question.  Even though a hula hoop contest or other dance game crossed my mind I decided there wasn't room and went with a craft.  I bought small clear plastic cups with a base, they were supposed to be small throw away water glasses (Dollar Tree for 8 or 10 cups in a pack).  I bought a bunch of different colored pom-poms (Dollar Tree).  I smeared (with a paper towel) a little bit of Elmer's glue in each cup before I gave it to the kids (go easy with the glue so it doesn't show when it dries), they filled the cup with pom-poms of their choice, then we put a layer of glue on before topping it with the white whip cream pom- poms and glued one cherry red one on top and stuck a small straw in the side.  I didn't write their names on them or it would show.  I just sat a napkin under each one with their names on the napkin (tape would work too). 

The activity that took the longest was opening presents!  I always bring all my own supplies, of course anything necessary for a game or craft, but also scissors, tacks, tape, permanent marker and garbage bags.  The garbage bags keep the mess contained when opening presents and guests just tossed their garbage in too and I tied the tops and the diner took them out for me.  I think they were impressed with virtually no mess left behind by 30 some guests.  

COSTUMES: Her birthday is in December, so I was able to hit the 2nd hand stores and Halloween stores to get her a poodle skirt outfit to wear.   As well as a poodle skirt and short sleeved cashmere type sweater for myself and an old style bowling shirt for her dad to wear to the party.  Some of the guests dressed up as well from poodle skirts to her grandpa in cuffed jeans and a white t-shirt with rolled sleeves.  

PARTY SNACKS: We ordered burgers, drinks and fries for all the kids from the diner.  Adults that wanted to eat ordered their own meals.  Make sure to have a permanent marker handy to write names on cups for the kids, cuts down on confusion and shared germs :-)   

CAKE: I LOVE cupcakes.  Because they are easy, no plates, no cutting and serving just grab and go.  So I baked cupcakes frosted them with white fluffy frosting, topped them with a small red gummy candy that was the cherry and I took bright colored straws cut them down and put in the top off to the side so they looked like mini ice cream sundaes.  I displayed them on cupcake towers.  I offered up the cupcakes right as we were starting presents so that would keep the kids occupied and not all trying to rush the b-day girl as she opened presents and not allowing the adults in the back of the room to see.       

FAVORS: At the Dollar Tree I found hard plastic sundae cups that were tall and looked like a waffle cone in pink, yellow, light turquioise and green.  I filled each of them with a long handled sundae spoon (Dollar Tree), small bright colored notepad, glittery pencil (Dollar Tree), small jeweled lip-gloss compact (Claire's, found on a 10 for $10 sale), pixie sticks and some other candy and at the top of them I stuck a bottle that was shaped like an ice cream cone with a cherry lid.  The bottles were filled with lotion or sparkly body wash (Claire's, found on a 10 for $10 sale).  So the waffle cups looked like there was ice cream and a cherry with the spoon coming up the side. 

They turned out really cute.  I put them in the windows at the party as decorations and then gave each girl one as they left.  We had invited a few boys so for their cups I made sure the notebook and pencil were blue or green and included a deck of cards and a black comb instead of the lip-gloss and lotion.   

It was all a big hit!!!  Now to plan her 9th birthday!!!

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