Category Archives: Parties

Farewell 2020, the Deco Way

Ring out the old, ring in the new (photo: flickr)

As the year winds down, it’s time to say Farewell 2020, the deco way! As we continue practicing safe social distancing, large New Year’s gatherings are out of the question.

Small partys are preferred (photo: adventuresinatlanta.com)

However, for those of you staying with family, let’s welcome 2021 with gay frivolity as they would in the day.

Joan Crawford in Our Dancing Daughter, 1928. Party like it's 1928.

Ready for a fun night? (photo: prohibitionparlour.com)

….

Turning to my trusty, The Party Book by Mary Breen, she states that this is one party where the host gets to inflict their own ideas of what their guest’s resolutions should be.

Billie Burke in Dinner AT Eight, 1933. She is looking forward to throwing the best party of the year.

It’s going to be a delightful evening! (photo: glamamor.com)

Starting with the invite, include the date and time, instruct them to “bring along something to get rid of” besides their bad habits.

 

A fancy party invite is always a hit.

Make your party invite as fancy as you’d like (photo: Pinterest)

 

And, “wrap it up so no one knows what you are trying to dispose of.”

What could it be? (photo: sporcle.com)

You can see where this is going.

Cut hourglass shapes out of stiff paper and write various times units – minutes, hours seconds, etc. – on them. Hide them all over the house before the party begins.

Simple hourglass shape (photo: kids-drawing.com)

Next, prepare a name tag for each guest and on the back, write a “resolution” the individual must adhere to the entire night. For example, the person who interrupts has to count to ten before responding to any statement made. An opinionated person cannot voice their viewpoint during a conversation unless asked for their opinion. A couple may not say anything endearing to their beloved.

Any dry bean will do. (photo: alibaba.com)

Each guest is given 30 beans. And, each time they are caught failing to follow their resolution, they pay a one bean penalty to the person who catches them. If someone loses all their beans, they must perform a stunt later in the evening.

A party favorite, the famous bean game in an elegant setting.

You keep her distracted while I grab her beans. (photo: gettyimages.com)

“Swaps” is an opportunity to get rid of, I mean re-gift, the present they brought. However, it is also an opportunity to get them to break their resolution during the bargaining process.

Using the beans as cash, players bargain each other for the gifts. Announce that a prize is given to the person who ends up with the smallest gift, largest gift and the person who ends up with the most beans. Players can keep bargaining as long as the gift is not unwrapped. Several people can barter for the same package at the same time. There is no limit in the bean price. And gifts can be swapped multiple times but everyone must end up with a gift.

,,,

The person with the most beans starts the next game, Preferred Personalities.  They pretend to be someone, living or dead, and the others have to guess by asking yes or no questions. The person who guesses correctly goes next. And so on.

In the meantime, prepare slips of paper each with a guest name. Guests randomly select a name and writes some “friendly” advice on the back. Collect the slips and redistribute them giving each person the paper bearing their name.  In turn, each guest reads the advice to themselves, declares what they think of it and what they intend to do about it. And then, they read aloud the uncalled-for advice.

Oh, the hilarity of it all.

Assuming your guests are speaking to each other, the next game is a pip!

The person who lost all their beans, or with the least beans, leaves the room. While absent, the other guests come up with some simple task they must perform. It can be something such as dancing with a chair or get on all fours and bark like a dog. The trick is, when the person returns, they have to figure out what they are supposed to do through trial and error. Clapping means they are cold. But foot stamping means they are warm.

 

Suggest dancing like Fred Astaire, you'll be the life of the party.

Suggest dancing like Fred Astaire (photo: pinterest.com)

Remember those hourglasses you hid? This is a party game that would be great for kids.  Players hunt for the hourglasses and the winner is the person who collects the most time, not hourglasses.

Small prizes are awarded to those with the most beans, and to those who collected the most time.

Being creative with food enlivens any party!

Get creative with Natalka UA on youtube.com

It is suggested that sandwiches be served decorated with thin slices of sweet pickles and a pimento stem. Cookies and cupcakes are decorated with citron “holly leaves” and red candy “berries”. Beverages can be coffee / hot cocoa and hot spiced punch.

Hope these games inspire you to have your own deco New Year’s party. Let us know if you tried any and how it went.

Marie Dressler and Billie Burke in Dinner At Eight, 1933. Billie Burke's party plans didn't pan out the way she expected.

I had a ball, my dear. We must do it again! (photo: deathlessprose.com)

Stay safe and see you all in the 2021. And support your local arts!

 

Keep the party small and have a swell time.

1922 actors fund (photo: flickr.com)

Happy New Year!

Chris & Anthony (the Freakin’ ‘tiquen Guys)

A Deco St. Patty’s Day Party!

That’s right, its party time again so why not a deco St Patty’s Day party? For those who have read the prior party posts, I turn to my trusted The Party Book by Mary J. Breen. To start, invite 40-60 of your closest friends for an evening of gay frivolity. Invitations can be shamrocks cut from green construction paper or card stock decorated with shamrock stickers. Don’t forget to inform your guest they will be expected to be “A wearing of the green”!

For the proper ambience, cut large shamrocks out of green card stock and attach to floral wire. These can be placed in potted plants or bud vases. Your artistic creations can also be taped to the walls and lampshades to set a festive mood. Dangling some from the ceiling off crepe streamers as well as setting out clusters of green and white balloons will set a jolly mood.

Now for the fun. Have ready an assortment of crepe paper, construction paper, glue, tape, glitter, string, pins and several scissors. As the guests arrive, they can spend some time creating hats, brooches and anything their imaginations can come up with to wear throughout the party. They can even make extras for your fashionably late arrivals.

Time for games! Blarney Stone is a nice ice breaker. Guests sit in a circle and a small stone, (the Blarney Stone) is handed to the first guest. They must wish aloud something they wish the person next to them must do. This continues until you, as the host, blows a whistle at unexpected intervals. The unlucky guest holding the stone must comply with the wish bestowed upon them. Oh, the hilarity of it all.

For something REALLY offensive: One Third of a Pig. You need to have one more female participant than male. Your male guests sit in a circle with an empty chair between them encircling the ladies. The ladies walk in that circle to a jaunty Irish tune played on your piano or whistled by your male guests. At random intervals, you give the signal to stop and the woman run to sit in an unoccupied chair. The unseated woman is “a third of a pig” (I warned you this was offensive). The women who are seated should engage in polite conversation with the gentleman to their left for one full minute. If the “third of a pig” sees a seated lady fail to engage in conversation with her partner, she may call her out and switch places. After one minute, the whole is started again with the next unseated lady becoming the “third of a pig”. This continues until one female guest loses three times and becomes a “whole pig”. She stands in the center of the circle giving her best example of a pig – oinks and all! (I can just imagine the looks on everyone’s faces as they read this now – priceless.)

Assuming you still have guests after the prior game, something a whole lot less offensive, Gumdrop Threading. Fill a large bowl with green gumdrops. Give each guest a needle with a length of thread. See who can string the most gumdrops in two minutes using only one hand. (I suggest keeping a few Band-Aids available.)

Here’s fun one, Irish Jack Straws. Arrange a pile of green candies in the center of the table and top with a small candy or plastic pig. (Hmm, I see a theme developing.) In turn, guests remove a candy from the pile and continue until the pig falls. That guest is “out”; the candies and pig are reset and the game play continues until only one player remains. The pig becomes their prize.

Now for some Irish Croquet. Create wickets out of heavy wire and set around the floor. Give your guests a wooden spoon and a potato. The game is played in the traditional way except cheating is encouraged. (I know a few people who would like that.) If caught, however, the player must start all over again.

To calm things down after all that revelry, guests join in an informal sing along of favorite Irish tunes such as “Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms” (it brings back such memories) or the ever popular “The Harps That Once Through Tara’s Halls”, “Kathleen Mavourneen” and of course, ”When You and I Were Young, Maggie”.

Don’t forget to feed your guests! A molded gelatin salad of finely chopped apple and cabbage shaped like a shamrock served on a bed of lettuce makes a tasty treat. Minced pork and relish on potato rolls, and cream cheese with nuts and chopped peppers or chives sandwiches served with Minted Fruit Punch follow. Pistachio ice cream and cupcakes iced with green tinted frosting ends the night on a sweet note.

May the road rise to greet you

Chris & Anthony (The Freakin’,’Tiquen Guys)