Set the Mood with New Year’s Invitations

If this year it is your turn to throw the highly anticipated party of the season for your friends or coworkers, don’t fret. Shindigz is here to help you with all of the sparkling details! Nothing says glamour and glitz more than a New Year’s Eve 2009 party supplies dressed up in gold, silver, and black! So get out the champagne glasses and your favorite party dress and get ready to celebrate in style!

As with any party, the invitation that you send will set the stage for the upcoming event — so choose one that will really spark interest and excitement among your anticipated guests! Here are a couple of options that we suggest:

• Set the hands on Clock Invitations to 11:55! Your custom message can be imprinted on the inside to explain all the details of the bash.
• Out of construction paper, cut a champagne glass shape. Use a piece of small bubble wrap on the top to look like some bubbly champagne coming out of the top. Write a note outlining the “when and where” of the party and attach it to the base of the glass using a piece of gold curling ribbon.
• An elegant choice for an invitation is the Star Lite Invitation. The translucent paper that holds your personalized wording is held to the black invitation with a “black as night” star. We also include a gold pencil for addressing the envelopes in style!

New Year’s Eve Family Party Invitations

If you are hosting a New Year’s Eve party for your family and are inviting your friends and their kids, we have several fantastic suggestions to make it a night to remember! Once you decide to invite the children, champagne toasts and the Times Square ball just won’t cut it for the only entertainment, so we’ve included some fun activities that all ages can enjoy! The decorations and food for this party are also more kid-friendly rather than impressive “bon appetite” appetizers and expensive bottles of bubbly! To set the mood for this fun upbeat gathering, send out one of these invitations that will make your guests drop all other plans and show up at your doorstep on the last night of the year!

Photocopy the December page out of your calendar. Fill in the party information in the December 31st box and roll the sheet up into a scroll, tie it with curling ribbon, and hand deliver or mail!

Using Glow-in-the-Dark Paint, write your invitation on black card stock. For example, you could write, “Join us after dark for a glowing celebration!” The kids will especially love this one!

Attach a note to one of our noise makers and tell the guests to bring the noisemakers with them for a wild celebration!

A cute idea that will let the guests know that your home is the place to be on December 31st is to include a small bag of confetti inside the invitation. Tell the guests to bring their bag to the party for a midnight full of madness!

Decorations for a Festive or Fancy New Year’s Eve 2009

New Year’s Eve Elegant Party Decorations

Whether you are holding your party at a reception hall, a country club, or your own home, you’ll definitely want to decorate the site to give it a spectacular look for the midnight celebration! We carry lots of great decorations that are perfect for creating such an atmosphere. We have listed some ideas that we think are especially perfect to set this year apart from others!

Outdoor Decorations:
• Add drama and provide an excellent photo background with Top Hat Kit Decorations. If the weather permits, place these outside next to your party entrance or on your front porch.
• Hang a large New Year’s Eve banner on the outside of your building for an attention grabber as well as a location identifier.

Indoor Decorations:
• Greet your guests with our fun-loving clock arch. It’s perfect for guests to walk under to get to the action. Have your camera ready to capture the moment!
• Clock columns are just the right prop to direct guests to where the bubbly is served!
• New Year’s Eve is one of those occasions that just screams for balloons and streamers! Hang streamers from wall to wall and have them hang down over your doorways. Add balloons to your tables as well as your ceiling! Fill hundreds of balloons with helium and let them pile up on your ceilings. For extra fun, add some confetti in each balloon prior to filling, and at the stroke of midnight, have your guests pop them to create a shower of celebration!
• Hang our gold and silver twinkle stars around your entire party site for added decoration. Make your room sparkle and dazzle your guests by hanging metallic foil curtain in strategic places. This is a great way to block off your messy kitchen or areas of your home that you do not want guests to enter!

Table Decorations & Napkins:
• Dress up your table with a Midnight Toast Tableware Ensemble including napkins, plates, and cups. Place them all over the cocktail tablecover for a bright and festive look.
• Down the center of the table, create a “runner” of white sparkle powder. On top of that, place some votive candles and our champagne candle wrapped in silver wire-edged ribbon.
• For a centerpiece, place an elegant top hat & tiara combo in the center of your table and surround it with the candles

New Year’s Eve Family Party Decorations

Start out by drawing attention to your party site by placing New Year’s balloons at intersections leading up to your home. This idea not only helps your guests with directions, but it adds an element of anticipation for the coming fun!

We offer several glow-in-the-dark decorations that thrill just about any kid regardless of age! Start out by illuminating your entryway with a couple of lighted star columns. A lighted base provides wonderful illumination on these corrugated columns.

Another glow-in-the-dark favorite is our glow balloons. Balloons are a great way to add a festive flair and how better can you add excitement to your party than with these unique balloons? Try filling them with helium to make the stars appear as if they are floating!

If glow-in-the-dark is not your thing but you still desire to make a huge statement at the entrance into your party, you will want to check out the New Year’s arch. This is also a perfect backdrop for a photo setting as each family arrives at your home.

New Year’s Eve 2009 Party Games and Trivia

You’ll want something to do to keep guests occupied until the 2009 New Year begins. Here are some of our favorite party games and activities, plus tons of New Year’s Trivia! Tell us about your New Year’s traditions!

DRESS UP GAME – To play this game, you will need to ask your guests ahead of time to come to your party dressed up representing a specific year or decade in history. The contest is to see who (if anyone) can figure out everyone’s year!

RESOLUTION GAME – When your guests arrive, have them write down their New Year’s Resolution. Collect all of the answers, read them out load, and ask the guests to guess whose resolutions are whose! Provide a piece of paper for each guest to write down their guesses and then tell the answers. Whoever gets the most correct wins a prize!

EVENT CHALLENGE GAME – Choose 12 events that have happened over the year. Pick a few obvious ones (like a news worthy event), and have the other events be something a little more subtle. For example, Mother-In-Law Day, National Secretary’s Week, National Ice Cream Week, etc. Ask the guests to give the corresponding dates (or maybe month depending on how difficult you make the questions!). Whoever gets the most right gets a prize!

CANDY BAR CRAZE – For a little physical challenge, try this relay race: Provide each guest with a candy bar and divide the group into two lines. The object is for each guest to run down to a designated spot and unwrap the candy bar using only the chopsticks – no hands or teeth allowed! Once they have it unwrapped, they need to eat it, and return back to their group and tag the next person in line. The team that wins is the team that gets all of it’s players done first!

I HAVE NEVER – Each person receives several counters (our Confetti works great for this!) Then take turns around the circle having each person tells of something they have never done (example: I have never broken a bone or I have never traveled out of the country). Anyone who has done this must give the speaker one of their snowflakes. After going around the circle several times, the person with the most tokens wins.

BUBBLE GUM GAME – Good For Families This game can be played as a relay race or be based on individual times. Split your guests into teams of 3-5 people. Get some of our Plastic Coated Paper Plates, bubble gum, and whipped cream (in a can). Put a piece of bubble gum on the plate and swirl the whipped cream over it until the bubble gum is completely covered. Then have your guests dig through the whipped cream and find the bubble gum. Here’s the catch, players must keep their hands behind their backs and dig through the whipped cream with their faces! Once they find it, they must chew it and blow a fairly good sized bubble. Continue until every one has had a turn. The person who blows the bubble first is the winner. You can also do several rounds until you have one winner. *Depending on what your guests wear, you may want to have a towel or garbage bag to use as a bib.

WHAT’S YOUR NAME SWEETIE – Materials:
• About 6 different candies that have given names like M&M’s, Crunch, Wrigley’s , etc.
• 1 Die (or 2 dice if the crowd is very large)

Everyone is seated on the floor in a circle. Packaged candy bars or candy are placed in the middle of the circle. Everyone starts by saying their own names. The leader then makes sure that everyone knows what candy is in the middle. Someone begins by rolling the dice. If they roll a 6, they can take one of the candies in the middle. The die continues to go quickly around the circle while people keep picking up candy. When all of the candies are taken, people then can get other people’s candy. In order to get their candy, they must state the person’s first name and the name of the candy they hold. The person who rolls a 6 and matches the name of the candy and the person takes the other’s candy. If they forget either name, they miss their turn and the dice goes to the next person and they continue to roll. (One person can get more than one candy and people can hide the candy behind their back). This is a great way of getting to know people’s name and getting your favorite candies!

DAIQUIRI RACE – Blindfold the men and line them up on one side of the room. Place the women on the opposite side of the room with a frozen daiquiri. The object of the game is for the women to take a spoonful of the frozen drink, carry the spoon by the handle in their teeth, and feed the drink to their partner. This game has to be done without using any hands, and the first couple to finish their drink wins! (This game is also a lot of fun with ice cream instead of daiquiris).

HAND TO HAND – Guests need to get into pairs and form two circles, one inside of the other. One person needs to be in charge of starting and stopping the music, and another person gets to be the leader. When the music begins, the two circles are to begin moving in opposite directions. The leader remains in the center of the circles barking out commands such as “Hand to foot,” “Nose to back of head,” “Elbow to hip,” “Cheek to cheek,” etc., and every time the music is stopped the people facing each other must obey the commands. When the music stops, the leader must find someone to pair up with, and then the person who is left out becomes the leader.

TO SPEAK, OR NOT TO SPEAK? – Give each player a bag or goodie box with 10 small treasures in it (candy, chocolates, little favors). Have bags labeled with players’ names, so they don’t get mixed up. Let players know at the start of the game exactly when the game will be ending—this game can be played throughout an entire party if you so choose. The object of the game is to catch fellow players saying one of the following words or phrases:

MILLENNIUM, NEW YEAR, TWELVE, CENTURY, TIMES SQUARE

To help players, post the words prominently on a board where they can be seen often. If someone is caught saying one of the words on the list, that person has to give up a treasure from their stash. The player with the biggest haul of goodies at the end of the game is the winner!

A Century of Trivia

1. In what year did the Dow Jones average close above 100 for the first time?
2. How old was Bobby Fischer when he won the U.S. Chess Championship, in 1958, for the first time?
3. In what year did the Concorde make its inaugural flight?
4. In what year did Alexander Graham Bell make the first transcontinental call, from New York to San Francisco, to his associate Watson?
5. What vehicle was introduced in 1908, and what did Henry Ford introduce in 1925?
6. Who played in the first Super Bowl in 1967?
7. What was Elvis Presley’s first Billboard Top 10 hit? (1956)
8. What year was the USSR’s Mir Space Station launched?
9. What year marked the end of the “Cold War”, and which two leaders presided over the proclamation?
10. In what year did Robert Peary and Matthew Henson drive a dog sled 400 miles to become the first men to stand at the North Pole?
11. What was the name of the biplane the Wright brothers flew in 1903 (it was airborne for 59 seconds, and traveled a distance of 852 feet.)
12. In 1901, the Panama Canal Treaty was signed, and construction commenced on the Canal. By how many miles did the canal reduce the travel distance (over water), between New York and San Francisco?
13. In what year was the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote, passed by Congress and ratified by the states?
14. Who led the overthrow of the Czarist regime in Russia in 1917?
15. How many people lost their lives when the Titantic hit an iceberg and sunk on its maiden voyage in 1912?
16. How many record-breaking points did Wilt Chamberlain score in a basketball game in 1962?
17. In what year did RCA manufacture the first color TV set?
18. Who was the first man to walk in space?
19. When was the Empire State Building completed and dedicated?
20. Who completed the first solo transatlantic non-stop flight in his mono-plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis?
21. Who discovered penicillin?
22. What year marked the start of the worldwide Great Depression?
23. In 1947, who became the first African American to play Major League Baseball?
24. How many home runs did New York Yankee Babe Ruth hit in his 1927 season, when he set a Major League baseball record that would stand for 34 years?
25. On September 1, 1939, what country did Hitler’s army invade, marking the beginning of WWII?
26. How many banks failed during the 1930’s great economic depression?
27. Who was the first American to break the record for running a 4-minute mile?
28. Who won the “Triple Crown” in 1973?
29. When was Margaret Mitchell’s book, “Gone With the Wind” published?
30. Where did the U.S drop atom bombs in August and September of 1945?
31. In what decade did the following items become the “rage” – hula-hoops, drive-in movie theatres, and frozen TV dinners on 3-section aluminum trays?
32. What #1 hit did Bill Haley & The Comets have in 1955, as Rock ‘n’ Roll hit the big time?
33. Which U.S. President broke the Democratic Party’s 20-year hold on the Presidency in 1952?
34. When was John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas?
35. What Apollo mission was Neil Armstrong on when he first walked on the moon on July 20, 1969?
36. In what year was the National Basketball Association (NBA) formed?
37. In what year did Martin Luther Luther King, Jr. deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C.?
38. How many people attended the Woodstock Music Festival in August 1969?
39. Who was the first woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice?
40. Who was the first U.S. President in American History to resign from office?
41. In what year was the Berlin wall torn down?
42. The Reagan era generated what new social phenomenon?
43. What did General Chuck Yeager do in 1947?
44. What was introduced in Mansfield, Ohio in 1955?
45. By the end of the 1998 baseball season, Mark McGwire had a record breaking 70 home runs. Whose record did he break?
46. How old was John Glenn, Jr. in 1998 when he became the oldest astronaut in space?
47. Which country suffered the greatest military losses in World War II?
48. Name 5 of the top 10 of the “100 greatest movies of all time”, as decided by the American Film Institute.
49. What is the top selling U.S. Music Album of all time?
50. Which Music Artist spent the most weeks with a hit on the U.S. “Singles Chart”?
Sources: Time™ Magazine, The Popular Music Database, American Film Institute

ANSWER KEY:
1. 1906
2. 14
3. 1976
4. 1915
5. 1908-Model T, 1925-40 hour workweek
6. Chiefs and the Packers (The Packers won)
7. Heartbreak Hotel
8. 1986
9. 1992 – Bush, Yeltsin
10. 1909
11. The Flyer
12. 8,000 miles
13. 1920
14. V.I. Lenin
15. 1,500
16. 100
17. 1954
18. Aleksei Leonov – USSR, 1965
19. 1931
20. Charles Lindberg
21. Alexander Fleming
22. October 29, 1929
23. Jackie Robinson, Dodgers
24. 60
25. Poland
26. 1,300
27. Don Bowden
28. Secretariat
29. 1936
30. Hiroshima, Nagasaki
31. 50’s
32. Rock Around The Clock
33. Dwight D. Eisenhower
34. November 22, 1963
35. Apollo 11
36. 1949
37. 1963
38. 400,000
39. Sandra Day O’Connor – 1981
40. Nixon
41. 1989
42. Yuppies
43. Break the Sound Barrier
44. Microwave Oven
45. Roger Maris
46. 77
47. USSR – 13,600,000
48. 1. Citizen Kane
2. Casablanca
3. The Godfather
4. Gone With The Wind
5. Lawrence of Arabia
6.Wizard of Oz
7. The Graduate
8. On the Waterfront
9. Schindler’s List
10. Singin’ in the Rain
49. Thriller-M. Jackson-25mill.
50. Elvis-1,586 weeks

Deck the Halls with a Christmas Tree Decorating Party!

The holiday season is a great time to celebrate. Kick off your holiday party season with a get-together to decorate your Christmas tree! This is a great party for family, close friends, and neighbors. There are tons of decorations and party supplies perfect for hosting this party. Check out our tips!

Welcome guests to your party with a personalized Christmas tree vinyl banner. It’s made from heavy-duty, weather-resistant vinyl that you’ll be able to use again and again.

Set up fiber optic mini-trees on tables for a lovely centerpiece that will tie the whole party together. For a more subtle approach try Christmas tree mylar balloons. Be sure to dress your table in bright holiday tableware ensembles and red or green tablecovers.

For a big impact your can use a pine tree standees, a dazzling snowflake arch or a Christmas candy cane arch. Guests will love taking their pictures under it! Decorate the entire room with evergreen standees, fireplace scene setters, and other Christmas decorating kits!

The most important part of this party is decorating the tree with your guests. Get some holiday music playing and some coffee or hot chocolate brewing and decorate the tree!

When it’s time for guests to go, there are tons of favors you can hand out. Decorate personalized ornaments for each guests or hand out a Christmas favor pack.

Tell us all about your holiday celebrations!

Invitation Ideas for a Let it Snow Party

Set the tone for your evening with one of our elegant invitations that will make your guests feel special and uniquely privileged to attend your Winter Wonderland party!

We suggest that for the occasion, you use a wintry color scheme of light blue, white, and silver. You can accent this with snowflakes and stars to make it festive and beautiful! So no matter what invitation you choose, our confetti is just the thing to sprinkle in the envelope for an extra sparkly touch!

For a formal printed invitation, we have the following suggestion:

A Cascading Stars Invitation in blue with silver foil print would be just the right invitation to send for an event such as this.

We also carry a Let It Snow Party Invitation — this is a quick and easy way to let the guests know that this party will be a wonderful winter festivity!

Let it Snow Party Decorations

There is no better time to go all out with your decorating scheme than for a winter or end of season celebration! Show your guests that you mean business when it comes to throwing a fabulous bash during this festive time of year!

We suggest that you create your own winter wonderland with our huge selection of snowflakes, snow, and evergreens. Here are some ideas on how to achieve this magical setting that is sure to whisk your guests away to an evening of winter magic!

Outdoor Decorations:
• Create a spectacular entryway to greet the arrival of your guests with a balloon column or Let It Snow Arch. Place some extra gossamer around the base of the columns for an extra special touch.
• Greet your guests outside before they even enter the party site with an impressive Corex Lighted Snowflake. It is 4′ high and illuminates the sidewalk or patio perfectly!
• Make sure there is no question where the party is with a personalized banner hung outside your door.

Indoor Decorations:
• These Evergreen Trees are covered with iridescent snow and provide a wintry backdrop when placed around the room.
• Our shimmering snowflakes can be hung around the room from the ceiling as well as the walls to help create some winter magic. Be sure to hang them at various heights for the most appealing look! Snowflake lights look lovely on pillars or along a railing and add a soft touch of light to the room.
• Highlight the buffet table by hanging a star on either side of the table. These lanterns are dressed up with beautiful blue stars that light up when plugged in.

• There is no better way to jazz up a dance floor than by scattering some sparkling snow over the entire area! It may be a little messy, but it is definitely worth the effort!
• If snowmen are appealing to your decorating needs, we have a few snow friends that are absolutely adorable! Our stand-ups are perfect for a photo backdrop or for a friendly invite to the buffet line or dance floor!
• You can never go wrong with our lightweight gossamer to help you create an elegant atmosphere for any occasion. Either solid white, snowflake gossamer, or a combination of the two could be used to drape, swag or create bows around your party site.
• Balloons are always an inexpensive way to add a big impact to a party site. Try using hundreds of balloons in silver, white, and light blue. We also carry a glitter snowflake latex balloon that can also be used to create arches, pillars, or more. Our mylar star balloons have an iridescent glow that adds shimmer to a group of balloons.

Table Decorations:
• Start by covering your tables with our blue paper tablecovers and add our beautiful light blue gossamer over it for a magically elegant touch. You could also swag some white gossamer streamers around the edges of your tables for added drama.
• If you are using a buffet table, highlight it by hanging our lighted icicles lights under the gossamer around the perimeter of the table.
• Add placecard holders beside each dish on the buffet line with a label letting your guest know what they are about to indulge in! Have an ice sculpture made in your company’s logo and place it in the center of the buffet table and surround it with our Candles for an elegant glow.
• Create a snowy look down the center of your tables with polyester batting spread in soft piles among your candles. Add some iridescent snow decoration on top for a bit of sparkle!
• For your tableware, we offer a wonderful new Let It Snow Party Ensemble! Top off the setting by bundling each napkin up and sprinkling some iridescent snow around each plate.

Activities for a Let It Snow Party

Many parties begin with a cocktail hour that helps the guests get acquainted with each other and meet those that they haven’t had the privilege of meeting before that evening. During this time, it is appropriate to play some background music and serve some light appetizers. This cocktail hour can last anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.

If a meal is going to be served, is perfectly acceptable to have either a buffet table or a sit down meal, which ever fits into your budget and timeline the best.

After the appetites have been satisfied, here are a few ideas for activities:

• Hire an ice carver to do a wintry demonstration!

• Hire a band or small group of musicians to entertain, especially if you plan to host a formal dinner and dance.

• Trivia — Never was a holiday more suited for playing trivia games. If you are having a sit down dinner, roll up various trivia quizzes and tie with ribbon to match your theme colors. Set the little bundles at each place setting. If you are serving food buffet style, put them in a decorative basket. We have provided a few ideas to build a trivia quiz around, or you can come up with other creative ideas. Think of the interests of your crowd before choosing a topic. Try to include trivia related to the topic with a broad range of difficulty. This will make it much more challenging, and your guests will leave the party a little wiser than they were when they arrived:
1. Sports – who holds what record in what sport, or match famous sports figures with the correct sport. Ask a sports fanatic to help you pull this together!
2. Inventors and Explorers – Provide a list, and have guests try to match inventors and explorers with their invention or discovery. Much more difficult than you might think!
3. Music – Either have guests try to match artists with song titles, match song titles with the year the song was a hit, or match songs with the decade they were from. Spend 45 minutes at a music store with a pad of paper, looking at the backs of compilation and “best of” CDs, and you’ll have enough music trivia to fill the whole year!
4. Movie Stars/Movies – Provide a list, and have guests match as many actors/actresses with the films they starred in, or have them try to match movie titles with the year the movie was released. Another fun Hollywood trivia game is to see who can name the most films that have won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
5. Make a list of the 5-10 most influential/important people of the year…many periodicals such as Time™ magazine will be featuring such articles between now and December 31st. Ask guests to decide what significant contribution each made in order to make the list. The prize goes to the person who has all 5-10 or closest to it! A great prize to award the winner of any of these trivia games would be Trivial Pursuit™, a subscription to a news periodical, or a coffee table book chronicling the past year.

Tell us your party activity ideas!