Halloween or Harvest party?

Some parents are not comfortable with taking their children trick-or-treating, or are looking for alternative ideas to the witches and goblins, etc. of “All Hallowed Eve” on October 31st. Some adults may just want to try something different from the “same old, same old.”

Planning a party is an obvious solution, but it’s nice to have a source of ideas. We’ve gathered together some suggestions and resources for you here.

If you want guests to wear non-scary costumes, you can plan a theme based party that will gently guide your attendees. Ideas include:
- wild animals
- pets
- robots
- a specific movie or book theme (though be sure the villains in these stories aren’t too villainous looking)
- a good guys theme such as superheroes (no enemies welcome)
- a Biblical story (i.e. Noah and the ark – for kids; the Garden of Eden – for a risqué adult only part)
Of course, you’d want to carry your theme through with decorations, food, and party favors.

Teenage or adult parties could be different with these themes:
- masked ball – think of the 18th century Europe and their highly decorated face masks
famous historical or political figure costumes
- tree theme – have materials around for guests to decide what kind of tree they are (strong like an oak, ornamental like some flowering trees, etc.)
- for adults only – a wine tasting

Think outside. What’s fun to do in your area in the big outdoors? You may find community events or fall festivals where you want to invite a group to share in the excitement.

You can do breakfast events, too.

A few resources to check out:

15 Fun Fall and Harvest Outdoor Party Games for Children

Autumn Outdoor Entertaining

A Fall Harvest Party

Halloween Drop-In Party Ideas

Teen Parties: Setting the Rules

And don’t forget to get your invitations at IBY.com – Invitations by you! Here are some fall themed invitations we have available.

Click here to read more!

Help! What do I say?

Don’t know how to word an invite? Try a simple poem.

Some easy types are:

Cinquain – a short, unrhymed poem of five lines. The first line has 2 syllables. The 2nd 4. The 3rd 6. The 4th 8. And the last 2 again. Want more info? Here’s another method: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/poetry5.html

Haiku – 3 (or fewer) lines of no more than 17 syllables total – go here for a good explanation on how to write one: http://haiku.cc.ehime-u.ac.jp/~shiki/Start-Writing.html

Light Verse – usually brief and humorous – check this site for more info: http://www.absolutewrite.com/specialty_writing/attempt_light_verse.htm

Limericks – you’ll probably remember these from your childhood – here’s a how to link: http://www.poetryamerica.com/Limerick.asp

Or change one.

Take a familiar poem and alter the last two lines:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Party time, we said,
You’re invited, too!

If you want more info on writing poetry, go to this site: http://www.poetry4kids.com/

If you get frustrated trying to create your own, here are some poetry sources. Note: Poets really appreciate it if you give them credit for their poems—this protects their copyright. You can do so at the end of a poem or under the poems name.

http://www.funnypoets.com/

http://www.poemsforfree.com/

And, of course, we do have some suggested wording on our site. Just look up an invitation by the specific occasion and see if something appeals to you. Then match it up with the design you like best.

Here's an example of a fall or halloween poem on one of our invitations.

Click here to read more!

Tailgate Party Ideas

The summer pool party season has wound down and it’s time to move on to other things. Like football and tailgate parties.

Family members who aren’t football fans? You can always plan a dual themed party at home – one room (or the deck or driveway) with the game on the tube and another room with card or board games. Everyone can meet together at the food “locker.”



Here are some resources:

How to Throw a Tailgate Party
http://www.ehow.com/how_11148_throw-tailgate-party.html

Official Tailgating Check List includes: Must Haves, Would Be Nice and Now You Are Just Showing Off.
http://www.tailgatingideas.com/2007/08/13/what-every-tailgate-party-needs/#more-5

And how about a football themed invitation?

Enjoy! Click here to read more!