By Kym Kostos

Copyright

© 2014 by Kym Kostos

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

ISBN: 978-1502484895

Chapter 1 – Kids Carnival Themed Party

Chapter 2 – Mexican Fiesta!

Chapter 3 – Killer Murder Mystery Dinner Party

Chapter 4 – Casino Themed Party

Chapter 5 – Hollywood Themed Party

Chapter 1 – Kids Carnival Themed Party

Ever give a party for child and it turned out to be boring and even you wanted to leave the party? Kids themes parties have been rising over the years. Whether it’s superhero, movie, book, cartoon, etc… theme; theme parties are becoming more and more popular.

The question is though, is what type of party do you want to give your child that will be memorable for everyone? Kids and adults alike?

I once gave my son a carnival themed party. He was a very young age and I wanted children and adults that were friends and family to enjoy it. It took about three months to plan, but it tuned out wonderful. I had so many people tell me that it was the best kid’s party that they had ever attended. It made me feel great! So, now I will share with you how I went about planning it.

Step One: Make your guest list.

This is important when planning any party. You want to make sure you have enough food, prizes, gift bags, etc… Always have more than what you need. Also, if you are on a budget, you want to set your maximum number guests and stick with that number. For my son’s party, I had 100 guests.

Step Two: Decide on the menu and snacks to serve.

I went to a bulk food store. There are some that don’t have a membership requirement, try to find one in your area, they can save you a lot of money! I bought hot dogs and all the condiments, chips, veggie platters and bulk potato salad enough to feed a little over 100 people. I also picked up various cans of soda and bottled water and large tubs to hold them in with ice. The carnival company that I hired also brought a cotton candy maker and enough cotton candy for everyone.

Step Three: Find a carnival company.

You can search online for the nearest place that will supply you with the carnival games, booths and any rides you would like to have. Ask your local church or school who they usually go with. The right company will set up and take down everything for you.

If you would like to take a cheaper route, you can just have carnival games and no rides, maybe just one of those kid’s bouncy things instead. Here are some games you can create on your own.

The Duck Pond Game

You will need: One kid’s pool (blow-up or plastic type), rubber or plastic ducks, black magic marker and a small fish net.

Get at least 25 ducks. Underneath them with the black magic marker, make sure it’s the permanent kind, write a number like 1, 2, 3, etc… this will determine how many tickets the child will win. Fill the pool with enough water to make the ducks float. Add the ducks and when it’s the child’s turn, give them the small fishing net. The best ones are the ones that have a handle and a small net, like for small fish in fish tanks. Let the child grab a duck with the net and whatever number is underneath that duck is the number of tickets the child wins.

The Ring Toss Game

You can find a ring toss game online or at your local toy store. Or if you want to, you can make one. Here's what you need: 3/8 inch or ½ inch rope, something to cut the rope with like a knife or scissors, ½ inch stick or dowel rod, masking tape or electrical tape, saw, sandpaper, paint, marker, water bottles, plastic cups, and sand. Read thoroughly before beginning to make.

How to Make the Stakes and Rings

1.Cut the rope to make three to five rings. Cut the length of the rope to measure 15 inches long, this will be for each ring.

2.To make the ring, you need to join the two ends of he cut ropes together in a circle and secure with the tape. Make sure you use a short piece of tape to hold the ends together, then you want to wrap the longer piece very tightly at the ends to secure he rope ends to one another. Take the wooden stake and drive it into the ground. Make sure that the sticks or dowels are cut to 15 inches long. Make sure one end is pointed by whittling it with a utility knife. Then you need to sand the stake smooth. Then make sure you paint the stake because it will last longer if it’s painted.

3.You can create indoor stakes or outdoor stakes. Depending on where you are holding your party and games. For indoor stakes, you need to take an empty water bottle and fill it with sand or gravel. Screw the lid on tightly and tape it to secure. You can also use this method if you do not want to put the steak in the ground in your yard.

Now you are ready to play the ring toss game. Depending on how may rings you made. Give the player the rings and have them toss them to make them around the stake. For children, put the stakes closer, for adults, put the stakes further away. Give out tickets for prizes.

The Football Toss Game

What you will need: Three Nerf footballs or regular footballs, a tire tube or pool inner tube will work, rope and two poles.

Take the rope and tie the tire tube or inner tube securely to the poles with the circle opening of the tube facing the player. Tying it securely will keep it from moving or spinning around. Once the tire is secure, you can have the children stand closer than the adults.

The object of the game is to throw the football through the opening of the hole. When the player gets the football through the hole, they get a prize ticket or tickets!

Pop the Balloon Game

What you will need: Bags of balloons, get at least 500 balloons in a bulk bag if you can, large cork board or flat wood panel, darts and tacks.

Set up the cork board at a distance. Blow up enough balloons to be able to tack onto the cork board, but spread the balloons out and do not cover the cork board with the balloons, leave some open space.

Once the cork board is set up. Have the children stand closer to toss the darts at the balloons and the adults can stand further away. Object of the game to pop as many balloons as you can. Give the player three or five darts and give out prize tickets for each balloon popped.

The Ping Pong Ball Toss

What you will need: Bag of ping pong balls, plastic drinking cups and water.

Fill the cups up with water and line them up in a pyramid position, one in the front, then two in the second row, three in the third and so on and so forth. Give the player five balls and have them toss the ping pong balls into the cups of water. Children can be closer and adults further away. When they get a ball into the cup, they get a prize ticket!

Okay, I have given you five carnival games that you can play at your carnival themed party. Now what will you be giving out as prizes? When I threw my son’s carnival birthday party, I went online to the Oriental Trading Company for the carnival prizes. I also bought the prize tickets from them and the bulk candy, balloons, decorations, etc… They are really well priced and they offer a lot of their stuff in bulk. Figure out what kind of prizes you want to give out for how may tickets. I had booths set up for the games and prize booth. The carnival workers worked the game booth while a family member of mine worked the prize booth. You can find clowns anywhere in your town. They are everywhere for kids birthday parties. If you can’t find a clown, then look for a magician.

Give yourself plenty of time to organize, order and build everything. It took me about three months to get everything planned out perfectly. And if you really want to have an added touch, I placed bowls of candy on every table that my guests were sitting at. Instead of goodie bags, I had gift bags for the kids to put their prizes in.

When everyone left at the end of the party, everyone was exhausted and had a great time, including my son!

Chapter 2 – Mexican Fiesta!

You don’t have to wait until Cinco de Mayo to have your own Mexican Fiesta! Whether it’s for a birthday party, anniversary party or just hanging out with friends to celebrate a sporting event, anytime is a good time for Mexican food!

What you will need: Mexican food (see below), sombreros, red, white and green balloons and streamers (Mexican flag colors), If you want to have real fun get a karaoke machine and get Mexican songs so everyone can take a shot at singing to!

Mexican Food

You can find a place that caters or you can make the food yourself. Here are some ideas if you want to make the food yourself:

Easy Nachos

What you will need: Crockpot, cans of nacho cheese sauce, sliced jalapenos, tortilla chips.

Start a couple of hours early and fill your crockpot with the nacho cheese sauce. Depending on how many guests you are having depends on how much nacho cheese and chips to get. Once you have your cheese heated up keep your crockpot on low to keep it warm, add a ladle and place the tortilla chips in a large bowl next to the crockpot and add the sliced jalapenos to a bowl with a spoon for your guests to top off on their nachos.

Easy Taco Bar

Once you figure out how many guests you will be having, then you decide on how many tacos to make or have your guests make at a taco bar.

What you will need: Pans with warmers like the caterers have. Have one for the taco shells and one for the meat.

-1 pound ground beef, chicken or turkey per 10 people

-Package of ten pre-made taco shells

-1 bag shredded lettuce

-Two tomatoes diced

-1 bag of Mexican taco blend shredded cheese

Cook meat and put it in the pan to keep warm. Next, heat the taco shells according to package directions and place them in the other pan. In separate bowls add lettuce, diced tomatoes and cheese. Have your guests make their own tacos!

Now you can make your own salsa or just buy it from the store. It is easier to buy it from the store and get several degrees of salsa; mild, medium and hot. Every person has their degree of hotness they like, so to accommodate your guests, have a variety for them. Place the salsa in different bowls and mark for your guests. If you would like to make homemade salsa, here is my recipe that I use:

Salsa Recipe

Ingredients:

-3 Serrano Peppers

-3 Jalapeno Peppers

-3 Yellow Peppers

-4-5 Garlic cloves

-1 can of low sodium diced tomatoes or 2 freshly diced tomatoes

-1 can of low sodium tomato sauce

-4 large whole tomatoes

-1 bunch of cilantro

-1 tsp. Garlic Powder

-1 tsp. Onion Powder

-1/2 tsp. pepper

In a big pot, add a small amount of water to steam peppers, whole tomatoes and garlic. Do not remove stems from peppers. Once steamed, remove from pot, drain, set aside to cool.

Remove cilantro leaves from stems, place in a separate bowl.

Now remove stems and seeds from peppers. Add peppers, tomatoes, garlic cloves, cilantro, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and can of tomato sauce to blender. Blend all ingredients together.

Pour into a container. Stir in diced tomatoes. Salsa can be frozen in freezer bags for future use. For hotter salsa, add a habanero pepper to the peppers list. For a milder salsa, add tomato sauce to dilute.

What’s a Mexican meal without Spanish rice and refried beans? You can find canned refried beans and mixes for Spanish rice in the grocery store. Make them according to their packages and keep them heated in the pans like your taco meat and shells.

If you really want to get festive, get a piñata. If it’s for a kid’s party, fill it with candy, if it’s for an adult party, fill it with lottery tickets, movie passes, gift certificates to various places, etc…. Use your imagination!

Chapter 3 – Killer Murder Mystery Dinner Party

What happens when you mix dinner, drinks and murder together?

You have a murder mystery dinner party!

So, you want to give your friends and family a dinner party with a theme that they will never forget? Why not throw a Murder Mystery Dinner Party? They are fun and different and it adds a lot of intrigue to an already delicious meal that you have prepared!

Create a recipe for danger and get away from that old boring dinner party where everyone talks about various things and gossips. Make it fun instead. You’ve decided to throw one, but you are not sure as to how or even where to begin. Don’t worry, I will take you step by step through for you to host your own Murder Mystery Dinner.

First things first. You need to determine what your budget will be for your party. Depending how extravagant you want it, it can get expensive. Figure out how much do you think you can afford to spend on your party? Once that is determined, then you make a list of everything you will be needing. This includes the murder mystery kit. Your best bet will be to host it at your own home or a friend’s home, this will save money on paying for a venue.

If you are throwing a large party, then find a venue that is suitable for your guests.

You will need cocktail drinks, appetizers and your meal, props, accessories and of course costumes. And there is always prizes to be handed out. When you purchase a Murder Mystery Dinner kit, they are usually designed for eight to ten people, so when you are planning your party, keep this in mind.

Ways to cut costs besides hosting the dinner party in your own home are to decorate less expensive, make your own invitations, and make or borrow props instead of buying them. You can go to thrift stores to find your props and costumes as well.

Now onto your drinks and food, a very important aspect of the party. You will need enough to feed your guests, between eight and ten normally. If it will be too expensive for you and not in your budget, host a pot luck party, where everyone brings a dish to share with everyone else at the party and you supply the beverages.

Now it’s time to come up with the plot for your dinner party. When you are searching for a Murder Mystery Dinner kit, check the box or packaging so you are able to read the outline of the plot for your murder mystery. Find one that isn’t too extravagant, especially if it’s your first time hosting one. Choose a kit that will enable you to pull it off without any hitches or obstacles that may occur. You can also tell what kind of setting you will need, such as a luau, a mansion, a haunted house, etc… Find one that is suitable for your home and budget.

When you buy your kit, it contains ideas for how to decorate to set the theme mood and it also gives you suggestions on how to create your settings. The kits usually cost between $25 to $100 or you can create your own or even hire a party planner o organize the event so you can be free to mingle with your guests.

So, you have gone with buying a kit. Now what? Open it up and read everything inside! But, do not read too far and discover who the murderer is.

Kits usually keep the secret of who the murderer is until the end of the game. Some games take up to three hours to play and some take two and a half hours. Depends on what kit you choose, how you will be serving the courses of your dinner, will there be cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and dessert? Let your guests know how long they can be expected to stay for the entire dinner and game. You can’t have anyone leaving early!

Depending on what kit you buy, invitations are usually included or you have the option of making your own. Include everything you need inside the invitation to let your guests know the details. Besides the normal details in an invitation like date, time, place, you need to include their character and their description. If they need to wear a certain time period costume, let them know as well. Make sure your invitations go out well in advance so your guests can make arrangements to attend and obtain any props or costumes needed.

When creating your guest list, create it carefully. Make sure you choose guests who are outgoing, fun, enjoy games and love acting. You don’t want any guests there who will not have fun or will feel timid, shy or awkward playing their role. It’s a party, after all and you want all of your guests to enjoy themselves.

Also, when you send out the invitations, enforce the R.S.V.P. date s that will give you time to plan and prepare what you need. Not to mention to make sure all the characters will be able to attend and play their role so that the conclusion of the mystery will be able to pan out accordingly.

Now it’s time to begin! Throughout the evening, clues will be given to your guests. The way it works is that clues are given out after every dinner course to your guests.

Your kit will include suggestions for a menu for your meal you are serving. But, if you really want to get creative, you can create your dinner menu around the game itself. Like if it’s a luau, you may want to serve tropical island dishes. If it’s a haunted house setting, serve food that is named with a spooky name, like lady fingers for dessert or death by chocolate cake. You get the idea.

Before your guests arrive, make sure you have the mood set. Dim the lights, if it’s chilly outside and you have a fireplace to light make sure you have it lit and ready, this casts shadows and gives that eerie feeling around. If you can, find music in theme where the murder mystery takes place. Or even have a sound effects CD playing that randomly has knocks, screams, footsteps, this is especially good when taking place in a haunted house setting.

If t’s your first time hosting a murder mystery party or you have never been to one, ask your friends, family and co-workers if they have ever attended one and how did it go. You want to keep a good pace going throughout the evening so your guests don’t get bored and that you can move forward to the ending and discover who the murderer is.

You can choose to narrate the story yourself or hire an actor or have someone else do it for you. It all depends on how much you want to participate in the game. Remember, you want someone who is really good at acting and hamming it up for your guests. They need to set mood and bring suspense to your guests.

At the end of the evening have your prizes ready to hand out. Prizes can be for fun stuff like loudest scream, best costume, best character performance, etc… Create the same number of prizes as your number of guests, so that everyone gets a prize. Select prizes to match the character or award, make it fun!

When your Murder Dinner Party is over and your guests are talking about it amongst themselves… you can pat yourself on the back for throwing a killer party… literally!

Chapter 4 – Casino Themed Party

Instead of going to Las Vegas, bring Vegas to you in a themed party! It’s a great way to keep your guests entertained and involved in the party games and to have a lot of fun in the process.

Every adult will enjoy the festivities and having fun in a casino setting in your home. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a Las Vegas budget, or the posh settings of a four star casino, you can host your own casino themed party regardless.

You can decorate your home inside and outside and give it the casino and Vegas “feel” for your guests. At a small scale level. Here are tips to help you plan and throw a successful casino party.

Your Invitations

Of course, as with any party, you need to create a guest list. Determine how many guests you can fit comfortably into your home with the card tables and other casino games you have set up. You can also use the space in your backyard if needed, this works nicely on warm summer nights.

Once you have your guest list, set your budget of how much you want to spend on decorations, food, prizes, etc… Then once you are done with that, it’s time to either create your own invitations or you can order them online at very cheap process, you just have do some research on the Internet and find prices that you are happy with.

On your invitations, make sure you let your guests know that it is a casino themed party. There are some people out there who may not like the theme and if they showed up, you don’t want to deal with any unhappy guests. You want everyone to feel happy and comfortable and not awkward.

Ideas for invitations are ones that look like oversized playing cards, like an Ace of Spades, postcards that resemble the ones you can buy in Vegas like “What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas”, etc…

Use your imagination, I am sure you can come up with some really great ideas for your invitations. Make sure you send them with enough time to reach your guests and make sure you are strict on R.S.V.P.’s so that you know exactly how many to plan for. You don’t want the embarrassment of not having enough prizes, drinks and food and you don’t want to overspend on the same items if you do not have enough people to attend.

Dress Code

If you really want to make it like Vegas, have your guests wear cocktail dresses and tuxedos or black ties, like in an upscale casino in the high rollers area. This will make it more realistic and have your guests get more into the theme. Make sure that if you do, you include the dress attire in your invitation. You don’t want any of your guests showing up and being embarrassed. Including yourself.

Decorations

In Vegas, the décor is bright, flashy and over the top. So, make your decorations for your patty the same way. Use glittery decorations, oversized and as flashy as you can make them! Go for the glitz and glamour that Las Vegas has to offer and bring it to your home.

Some ways you can do this is to switch out your regular white light bulbs to colored ones, add some strobe lights, especially if you are going to have music and a dance area. Hang white Christmas lights everywhere, including outside or blue ones. You can have oversized playing cards hanging everywhere as well. Add glitter to them to make them even more glitzy.

You can find decorations at a party supply store or on the Internet like oversized fuzzy dice or glitter dice to hang from the ceiling or outside around the tables. Create signs that read “High Rollers Area or Club”. And to add to the Vegas style, have your dealers wear vests and dealers hats. This will give it a more Vegas feel and setting.

Food and Beverage

Set up and have an open bar with a bartender and if you really want to be authentic, have waitresses in short cocktail dresses serving your guests drinks. You can hire them from a catering company. In Las Vegas, waitresses bring drinks to their guests as long as they are gambling.

Make sure you have a variety of cocktail drinks on hand, if you hire a catering company, they will usually take care of all the alcohol you need. Always have martinis available. It’s the number one drink at casinos. It gives that classiness to them.

Don’t serve a meal, instead have appetizers out for your guests. Finger foods that can be picked up with toothpicks always work well since your guests will be walking around from game to game and mingling with others.

Never serve food that requires silverware at this type of party or serve food that requires your guest to sit down and eat. You want the pace of the evening to be fast-paced like in Vegas. Instead of glass dishes, you can find plastic plates that resemble crystal dishes, this way, you don’t have to worry about anything from being broken and your guests and grab a quick bite to eat and throw the plate into the trash and this also keeps the momentum moving all round.

Casino Games

Have a Black Jack table, a Craps table, a roulette table and of course, a poker table. Also, have an area where someone is giving tips and pointers on how to play the games, this is good if one of your guests is not very knowledgeable about any of the casino games and it keeps the flow of the games moving for your other guests.

When your guests arrive provide them with a bag of chips to play the games and gamble with. The bags can be gold lame to give it that glitzy feel. Have your guests use the chips just like they would in Vegas and then at the end of the night, have a prize for whomever has he most chips. You can even have prizes for second and third place. Make it fun for everyone!

Have raffles as well throughout the evening. Give everyone a raffle ticket when they arrive and throughout the night call out the winning raffle ticket number and have a prize for them or even have more chips for them to play with.

Play casino background music to give it that extra Vegas feel to it. Play Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., etc… Give it that old Vegas feel to it. For some added touches, have valet parking for your guests. Have a coat checker who is dressed like a bellhop. To add even more authenticity, hire a band that plays all the older Vegas style music. Be creative and let your imagination go to work and make your Casino Night party the best anyone has ever attended!

Chapter 5 – Hollywood Themed Party

Continuing with the “glitz and glamour” theme, why not throw a Hollywood themed party? This type of party is great to have on Oscar night or Emmy night or for the upcoming release of a movie you have been anticipating. Or even, just to have it.

Bring out the glitz and glamour and become a Hollywood star! Who wouldn’t want to attend a party that celebrates money, stardom, fame and dreams coming true? I will tell you how to throw your very own Hollywood themed party.

First, you need to give your party a personal touch. Starting with your invitations. After you create your guest list and figure out your budget, you can move onto the invitations. You can personalize your invitations by using cartoons that look like your guests, engraved invitations that look like the Oscar envelopes complete with the wax seal or whatever your creative mind comes up with, just make them unique and personal.

Once you have your invitation idea, make sure you put a strict R.S.V.P. date on it, so you will know exactly how many guests are coming.

Find decorations that have to do with Hollywood. If you want and have enough time, make your own Hollywood sign and hang it on a wall or wherever your guests are going to be. Set up some spotlights around it to make it look realistic.

Also, set up spotlights around your party area as well, this will give the illusion of being on a movie set. If you can, find old movie set props to place around your home, like a director’s chair, a movie clacker, some scene props, etc…

Roll out the red carpet in front of your front door so that your guest can “walk the red carpet”, if you want to give a more authentic feel, hire a photographer to take photos of your guests as they are walking up the red carpet to your front door.

Upon your guest’s arrival, have a table of swag bags ready for each guest. Include stuff like lotions, candy, breath mints, etc… things they can use on a daily basis. Swag bags are always given out at Hollywood functions.

Have champagne served in champagne glasses. If you can’t afford champagne glasses, get the plastic kind and always have it ready for your guests. For those who can’t drink alcohol or for your younger guests, have sparling apple cider ready for them.

For food, have lots of finger foods and a table with sandwiches and other items that are served on movie sets at the catering table for the actors. You want to give the feeling of Hollywood and have your guests feel like they are the stars of the show.

If you really want to make your guests feel like stars, write a short movie script and give everyone a role and film it! Make a short fifteen minute movie featuring your guests.

If you have a widescreen television, have an old classic movie playing on it for your guests to watch. Or even have a video camera hooked up at the front door entrance so your guests can see themselves on the T.V. when they enter your home.

Write out some short skits and have your guests act them out, then pass out ballots for everyone to vote on best skit, but they can’t vote for themselves. Then hand out awards for best actor, actress, etc… at the end.

Throwing a Hollywood party can be fun and exciting and there are so many ideas you can use. Just use your imagination and creativity and make your Hollywood themed party a great one, just like the stars in Hollywood!