DIY Invitations - DIYInspired.com
04th Mar2013

How To Throw a Party

by Dinah Wulf

If you are throwing a party for adults, whether it’s a birthday, an engagement do, a housewarming, an office bash or anything in-between, you want to make sure it’s remembered for all the right reasons and that everybody has a good time. So, make your party stand out from the rest with some little suggestions that should make it a fantastic event for all involved.  Here are a few tips on How To Throw a Party.

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how-to-throw-a-party

First and most importantly are the invitations. Make your own invitations right and you are halfway there. There’s no point in throwing the most fabulous party there has ever been, only for no one to turn up because they didn’t have enough notice. Make sure you get your invitations sorted and sent out in plenty of time so that people with responsibilities such as work, children or just hectic lives in general can make arrangements so that they’re able to come.

Making your own invitations is a wonderful way to add a personalised touch and will make them stand out. It will also save you money if you can make your own invitations, so give it a go and get crafty! Use whatever theme you go for in your invitations to decorate the house with as well. If you’ve got kids, get them involved in making things like bunting and table decorations, turning a money-saving tactic into a fun, family activity to stop the kids getting bored! Here is an example of a DIY Owl decoration.

Obviously any party needs plenty of food and drink, but a good idea is to have a theme running through this as well. So you could go for an Australian theme if someone is emigrating and make sure the invites and party decorations match the food and drink on offer or a hearts and flowers theme for an engagement; whatever is suitable for the occasion.  Here are some fun party theme ideas to get some inspiration.

Finally, some entertainment is what really makes a party memorable, whether it’s a band, a magician or, for something really different, you could arrange for everyone to have a tarot card reading! Do some research into online clairvoyant readings to find out what’s available for parties and events.

 

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07th Feb2013

12 DIY Theme Party Ideas

by Dinah Wulf

Looking back at my past 22 months of blogging, I noticed that my party theme ideas get a lot of love in the social media world.  I decided to put together this round-up of 12 DIY Theme Party Ideas.  These parties have been liked, shared, and pinned often and I also get several emails about them too.  Each link has the full details for each party and some parties have more than one post.

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Animal Print Tween Party

This is a collection of easy decorating ideas including food labels, paper medallions, and glittered wild animals perfect for the favorite tween in your life.

Butterfly Garden Party

A whimsical outdoor butterfly inspired party complete with DIY decorating tutorials, hot dog bar and recipes, and cupcake decorating station ideas.

Candy Land Party

A fun candy filled board game inspired party with life sized game board, peppermint, gumdrop, chocolate, and lollipop woods.

Carnival or Circus Theme Party

A true birthday carnival complete with DIY game ideas including ring toss, balloon darts, baseball toss, costume photo station and popcorn centerpieces.

Cherry Themed Party

A baby shower perfect for a mommy expecting twins.  This posts shows giant cherries, adorable party favors, and decorating ideas.

Colorful First Birthday

With Elmo as the special guests, this first birthday party has colorful inspirations to fit and type of party.

Golf Themed Party

This party was for a co-ed baby boy shower; however these navy and green party ideas are great for father’s day or for any golf lover.

Hello Kitty Party

One of the most shared theme parties in the social media world, this Hello Kitty party is all pink with ideas for games, dancing, dress up, and more for both boys and girls.

Mickey Mouse Party

Inspired by red, black, yellow, and polka dots, this party has ideas for Mickey Mouse sweet treats and food serving ideas.

Owl Themed Party

This cute owl themed party has tutorials on how to make your own owl invitations, party banner, and centerpieces.

Poker Party or Casino Night

This budget friendly party shows you how to use a regular pack of playing cards in your party décor with tutorials on how to make playing card drink umbrellas and personalized poker chip party favors.

Wine Tasting Party

Probably the most popular theme party on DIY Inspired, this party has tutorials for DIY wine charms, invitations, wine tasting rules, and bridal shower games.

I hope you enjoyed my 12 DIY Theme Party Ideas round-up!  Which one is your favorite???

 

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28th Jan2013

DIY Candy Valentines with a Free Printable

by Dinah Wulf

Valentine Candy Free Printable (1)

Even though my daughter is not yet old enough to be in school, I thought it would still be fun to come up with some DIY Candy Valentines with a Free Printable for my DIY Inspired readers.  I figured my daughter and I could pass the ones I made for this post out to friends and loved ones.  I have done a candy sayings post in the past to help cheer up my husband when he hurt his foot last year, so if you need more inspiration or want to use different candies check out that post.  If you like these, please help yourself to this free printable!

DIY Candy Valentines with a Free Printable

Here are the sayings that I used this time.  I tried to be creative and funny.  Let me know what you think!  If you have other ideas, I’d love to see your sayings in the comments below.

  • Fruit Snacks – “Orange you berry happy I’m your Valentine?”
  • Blow Pop- “Life without you would blow.”
  • Almond Joy- “You bring me so much joy it’s nuts!”
  • Chiclets- “You’re a sweet chick.  Will you be my Valentine?”
  • Pop Rocks- “You Rock, Valentine!”
  • Whoppers- “You’re a Whopper of a Valentine.”

I used favor bags, scrapbook paper, and ribbon to embellish them.  Double sided tape makes it easy to assemble.  Here are a couple more photos.  I had a lot of fun making them.

Valentine Candy Free Printable (3)

 

Valentine Candy Free Printable (2)

I hope you print them out! Enjoy and don’t forget to leave your candy sayings!

***Bonus alert! I am so excited to share two more bonus Valentine’s Day crafts from my friends, Loren from Pandora’s Craft Box and Barbara from Chase the Star!***

Here is Barbara’s adorable Valentine’s Day Banner!

Vday Banner Cover

And here is Loren’s cute Cupid Felt Valentine’s Snow Globe!

valentinesnowglobes

Happy Crafting!

 

 

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21st Jan2013

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations

by Dinah Wulf

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (6)

Uh… yeah… OK… when I first heard the term Ninjago, I think I responded with a, “God bless you.” I am familiar with Legos, of course, I mean who isn’t?  But I had never heard of Ninjago Legos until one of my best friend’s sons showed me what seemed to be 8 million tiny Ninjago Lego men all in a row.  Needless to say, with his 7th birthday just around the corner, he needed his Auntie D to make him some DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations.

I heart Google Images.  I use it almost every time I help with a character themed birthday party.  I’ve used it for and Elmo meets Little Einsteins party, Paul Frank themed party, Mickey Mouse themed party, and an Owl themed first birthday,  to name a few.  I picked two images for these invites and used a free photo editor to add the party information.  For the front of the invitation I used a picture of the Master Sensei character and added “ Sensei says, “Master Aidan is turning seven.”  I printed them out on fine art paper and cut them out.  For the bottom I used the green Lego Ninja mask (Aidan’s favorite).

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (3)

I cut out red scrapbook paper as well to use as a border.

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (4)

I used the layered the two pieces, punched a hole in the left upper corner and added a charm to attach the two pieces.  The charms I found in the sales bin of a craft store, 6 for $2.00!

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (5)

Here are some after photos.

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (1)

 

DIY Ninjago Birthday Invitations (2)

These were a hit with all the moms.  I didn’t have to worry about envelopes, because Aidan simply handed them out at school.

In case you missed them, here are some more budget friendly DIY party posts!

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28th Aug2012

DIY Photo Collage Card

by Dinah Wulf

Before we know it the holidays will be here so I wanted to share with you a way to make your own photo collage cards.  Photo cards are my favorite around the holidays because I’m one of those people that keep them year after year and like to see how my friend’s children age (along with the parents) and grow over the year.  I also have so many best friends back home on the East Coast and I don’t get to see them very often, so it’s always nice to have a recent picture of them.

The example above is a Thank You card I made for my daughter’s birthday party.  There are two things you need to make this DIY Photo Collage Card.  Well, three things because you need to buy envelopes.  OK, four if you want to buy stamps! J The first is a photo editor.  I used a FREE online photo editing program called iPiccy.  You may have noticed the collages I put on my site are similar!  It’s extremely easy to use and it gives you a variety of collage styles and fonts.  I originally found out about this program from a Blogger that I follow.  She has a quick video tutorial that you can watch that will walk you through the basic features of making your own collage.

Tip: If you decide to use this program, make sure to click the “enable local storage” button so that you can import several photos at once. Also there is no registration required! It’s awesome!!

Here is the actual collage I made for this thank you card on iPiccy:

The second thing you need is a good…I mean great photo printer.  Believe it or not I have gone through 4 photo printers in the last 3 years and the Epson Stylus Photo R2000 is BY FAR the BEST.  It’s the first photo printer out of all four that actually prints as if you special ordered large photography prints.

Some key features for the avid crafter of the Epson Stylus Photo R2000 are:

For crafting:

  • Professional media versatility — accommodates cut-sheet and roll paper in sizes up to 13″ wide; supports photographic and fine art paper, canvas, 1.3 mm thick board and inkjet printable CD / DVDs.  I can’t wait to try the canvas printing as well as the printable DVD and CD feature.  The canvas prints would make a fantastic DIY project and the CD’s are perfect personalized party favors.

For scrapbooking:

  • Optimal black density and superior contrast on glossy, matte or fine art papers from either Matte or Photo Black ink
  • Leading-edge image-quality architecture — smooth color transitions and outstanding highlight and shadow detail

I was able to print two 5.25″ collages on one piece of photo paper.  I used a paper cutter to easily cut them out.  Conveniently you can purchase 5″X5″ envelopes at any craft store.  There you have it! I will never have to special order my holiday, thank you cards, or invitations again!

 

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08th Aug2012

Owl Themed Invitations

by Dinah Wulf

I was asked to help with an Owl Themed first birthday party for the end of this month.  Naturally I’m SUPER excited about it!  My cousin (Hostess) was inspired by retro style cartoon owls.  She sent me a few pictures and I was able to come up with these DIY invitations.  I created a mock up for her (pictured below) and she was super happy.  Here is how I made these Owl Themed Invitations.

The size of the invitation was very strategic for me because it is the most budget friendly.  Therefore, using my measurements for this tutorial will be most cost effective for you.  One 12X12 sheet of scrapbook paper will make 6 base invitations (as shown).  This tutorial is for 24 invitations.

Here are the materials you need:

  • Paper Cutter
  • 1.5” circle craft punch (eyeball)
  • 1” flower punch (iris)
  • Small flower or circle punch (pupil)
  • Small whole punch to connect the wings to the body with a brad
  • Glue and double sided tape.
  • Brads
  • Circular Plate
  • Computer Paper to print information
  • Scrapbook Paper
    • 4 sheets patterned paper for the body cut in 6 – 4”x6” invites
    • 7 – 2”X12” solid color strips for the eyeball
    • 5 – 1.5”X12” solid color strips for flower iris
    • 3 – 1”X12” black or brown strips for pupils
    • 6 – 3”X12” strips for the wings in the same color paper as the eyeball

The photos are self-explanatory but here are some helpful tips:

  1. I found it easiest to use a small paint brush to apply the glue for the eyes since the pieces are so small.
  2. Create a pattern, trace, and cut, for the wings.  One wing strip will make four wings for two invitations.
  3. Use a circular plate and a pencil to trace out the owls ears and rounded bottom as shown.
  4. The envelop size is a standard invitation size of 4.75”X6.5”.  You can purchase a pack of 20 for about $5.00 and any craft supply store.

Here are some the AFTER photos.

 

Here is the YouTube tutorial I made:

 

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25th Jul2012

DIY Birthday Invitations

by Dinah Wulf

One thing I never buy anymore is invitations.  This is for two reasons: 1) I feel like I have an endless supply of scrapbook paper in my craft closet, and 2) I’m cheap.  I’ve made several invites before with spending little to no money including.  Some of them include, Bachelorette Party Boarding Pass Invites, Rocker Themed VIP Invites, and Cherry themed Invites.  This time, I made girlie invites for my daughter’s second birthday party.  I personalized them with a recent photo of her.  The only money I spent was for the envelopes.  These DIY Birthday Invitations work great for any type of party or event and are very easy to make.

Here is what you need to make DIY Birthday Invitations:

  • Decorative or scrapbook paper
  • Paper Cutter
  • Double sided tape or glue
  • One inch craft punch
  • Small hole punch
  • Brads
  • Photo Paper
  • Computer

First, I gathered several pieces of scrapbook paper that (kinda sorta) matched. And cut them in the desired size for each invite.

Budget Saving Tip: I find it most cost efficient to make six 4X6 invites out of one piece of scrapbook paper.

I printed my daughter’s picture on photo paper and cut them into 1.5 inch squares.  I used a one inch circular craft punch to cut out each circle for the front of the invitation to insert the photo. I printed the information for the party on regular paper, cut them out with a paper cutter and attached it to the inside of the invitation.  I attached the two sides of the invitation by using a hole punch and flower shaped brad.

That’s it! Super easy and cost effective :)

 

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07th May2012

Embossed Cherry Thank You Cards

by Dinah Wulf

Written By: Jennifer Hostetler

As a mom of two already you don’t expect anyone to want to throw you a baby shower, but when I found out I was having twins my girlfriends stepped up and threw one of the best baby shower ever. The baby shower was Cherry themed and they left no details to spare.

I decided that with all the work they put into the shower that I needed to hand make thank you cards to them and the guest. I had never embossed cards before but I thought this would be the perfect time to try and I found that it was very easy and a lot of fun!

Here is how I made Embossed Cherry Thank You Cards.

Materials:

-Embosser (Martha Stewart Crafts Embossing Starter Kit)
-Embossing Powder
-Clear embossing ink
-Red stamp pad
-Thank you stamp
-E6000 Multi-Purpose Adhesive-3.7 Ounce  (one of my favorites)
-Brown String
-Scissors
-Foam Brush
-Toothpicks
-Card Stock
-Envelopes
-Paper Plate

1st I used a red stamp pad and thank you stamp and placed it on the card stock. I positioned the stamp in three different locations; the bottom left, bottom right and middle.

2nd I used the clear embossing ink to make two circles next to each other on the card stock. (I was lucky that the top of the embossing ink was the perfect size circle I needed. Otherwise, you can use a 1” circle stamp.) Then, I sprinkled the embossing powder over the circles. I found that if you use a paper plate you could put the embossing powder that doesn’t stick back in the container. Tip: If you flip the paper over and flick the back of the paper the loose powder will fall off. If any remained on the paper I used the foam brush to remove it.

3rd Now is the fun part. You use the embossing tool to heat up the embossing powder. It only takes a few seconds; once you see it begin to bubble you are done. If you hold it to long you will notice the embossing powder start to move.

4th Cut the brown string to about 5”. Then I folded the string in half and tied a knot about ¼” from top of the string. Then I cut the loop that was created by tying the knot. The string now should look like two cherry stems. Then glue the stems to the card stock so they are just touching the red dots embossed previously.

This completes the card! Here are a few examples of the finished product!

I cannot thank my girlfriends enough for showering the twins with the most beautiful thoughtful Baby Shower ever! I truly appreciate you and your friendship!

 

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24th Apr2012

Cherry Themed Twin Baby Shower

by Dinah Wulf

Earlier I shared a sneak peek into this Cherry Themed Twin Baby Shower, showing you the invitations that I made and the game prizes that doubled as centerpieces.  We had such a great time and I wanted to show you a little more of some things my girlfriends and I did.

Party Favors

I found these cute little baskets and filled them with a liner and round red chocolate candies.  I simply made a label on my computer that said, “Double the Sweetness”, printed them, and used ribbon and cardstock in pink, red, and green to embellish each basket.  We had a favor at each place setting and scattered a few on the buffet table.

Food and Drink

We wanted the shower to be casual and fun so we decided to serve a buffet and had each guest help themselves.  I made signs for the drink table outside.  One for the guest of honor’s sweet tea craving and one for the Champagne punch.

I also made simple signs to “Please Help Yourself” so that guests would know they did not have to wait to dig in.

Instead of having a messy fruit bowl, I made individual fruit cups with cupcake liners and used a circular craft punch to line them with foil.

For dessert we had red velvet and chocolate cupcakes with two cherries on top.

 

Decorations

Outside we hung a clothing line with pairs of matching clothes for the twin babies.

The game prizes doubled as centerpieces and graced each table with two “twin” balloons to represent two cherries.

Small pink and red lanterns were hung in pairs with green ribbon to look like giant cherries.

We also had a cherry themed shirt made for the guest of honor to wear at the shower. Congratulations, Jen!

I LOVE MY GIRLS!! BTW, Watch out because I’m rallying for the favorite Auntie position!

 

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17th Apr2012

Cherry Themed Party Sneak Peek

by Dinah Wulf

My girlfriends and I are throwing a baby shower for one of our best friends who is having twins!  I was too excited to wait until after the party show you pictures so I thought I’d do a quick sneak peek of some of our Cherry Themed Party ideas.

We decided on a cherry theme because cherries are fun, vibrant in color, and typically come in pairs! Our mommy-to-be and guest of honor is having twin girls so we chose to use both red and pink for our color scheme.

Easy DIY Invitations

Of course I couldn’t BUY the invitations! I had to make them myself! So I followed my own Easy DIY Invitation tutorial, bought these supplies, and made these adorable invites.  See? I told you this tutorial would work ANY theme!

Baby Shower Game and Prize Idea

Next, I want to show you what I did for the baby shower party game gifts.  One of the games we are playing is called the dice game.  For this game, all you need is five or more prizes, a pair of dice, and a plate.  The game is timed, typically fifteen minutes.  Each guest takes turns rolling the dice one time per turn.  If you roll doubles, you take one wrapped gift. The gifts are not unwrapped until the game ends. Once all the gifts are taken, the gift stealing begins! If you roll doubles, you continue to take a gift until the allotted time ends.  It’s possible for one guest to end up with more than one gift.

Anyway, instead of using a gift bag and tissue paper, I wrapped each gift in a small picnic basket and used a cherry dish cloth to cover or hide the gift. Also, these prizes double as table centerpieces, cutting the cost of the party!

Can’t wait to show you the rest! Stay tuned :)

 

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26th Jan2012

Baby Shower Message Cards

by Dinah Wulf

This project was SUPER easy, but since I did it, why not put it on my blog? One of my very busy friends was throwing baby shower for her girlfriend and I gladly made these for her so she would have more time to do other projects.  She showed up at my house with all the supplies, and with the help of my craft closet, I busted them out in a couple hours while I watched The Biggest Loser.

These Baby Shower Message Cards are a way for the guests to write a message or wish for the guest of honor. Here is what you need:

Cards

  • Scrapbook Paper or Card Stock
  • Craft Punch of your choice
  • Glue
  • Paper Cutter

Sign

  • Wooden Frame
  • Craft paint
  • Paint brush
  • Computer
  • Scrapbook paper
  • Craft punch

The pastel colors for the shower are pink, yellow, and green. I used craft paint and painted the inside and outer edges yellow, and the main part of the frame pink.

I printed out a sign that said “Please write a message or wish for baby” (the baby’s name is a surprise!). Once the paint was dried (minutes), I punched and glued paper butterflies to the frame.

I used 12X12 scrapbook paper and used a cutting board. I was able to cut out six 4X6 cards for each sheet. One by one, I glued the punch butterflies on each card, making each one a little different.

Here is the after.

I tied them all up in a pretty yellow bow to give to send off with my friend.

That’s it! SUPER easy!

 

 

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26th Sep2011

Boarding Pass Invitations

by Dinah Wulf

DIY Invitations add a personal and creative touch to any event.  These cute Boarding Pass invitations are perfect for a bachelorette party, birthday party, or destination wedding.

What I love about these, is that there are limitless fonts, colors, graphics, and free clip art that is available to fit any theme, destination, or travel plan.

I made these invites for a bachelorette party.  We are driving to Las Vegas; however a few personalized and altered touches made it work. For example, on the bottom I put “Full capacity.  Please one small carry on only.”  For the brides invite, I wrote “shotgun” as her seat number.

When designing these boarding pass invitations on your computer, consider adding the following information to make your boarding pass invitation look realistic.

  1. Name of the airline. I used “Lady Luck Airlines” because we are traveling to Las Vegas.
  2. The words “BOARDING PASS” in all caps and in a larger font.
  3. The passengers name is, of course, the invited guest.
  4. The date of the event, “boarding” time, flight number, gate number, and boarding “zone”.
  5. For the departure enter the place you are meeting.  For the arrival, enter the destination.
  6. I also added a perforated line to the right on the boarding pass and on the bottom of that section I wrote “Passenger Ticket and Baggage Claim” in a small font.
  7. Add a barcode.

I also added a free Las Vegas Sign clip art that I found on Google Images. I printed the invitations on cardstock and cut them out.

These actually didn’t cost me a dime because I already had the cardstock and black envelopes… super cute, easy, and free!

Check out my other DIY invitations with full tutorials including a Rocker themed VIP pass invite and a simple invite to fit any occasion!

Here are a few more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

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05th Sep2011

Easy DIY Invitations

by Dinah Wulf

 Easy DIY Invitations

do it yourself DIY

I made these easy DIY invitations in a jiffy. If you are a fellow crafter, you probably already have these items in your craft closet.  These invitations are perfect for any party, and cost less than pre-packaged invites.

Do it yourself blog

Materials Needed:

  • Card stock and/or decorative scrapbook paper
  • Light weight Computer Paper
  • Hole punch
  • Ribbon
  • Double stick tape
  • Paper Cutter
  • Computer
  • Pre-packaged envelopes 4.75” X 6.5”

 

Step one:  Start by choosing the wording for your invites and type up the information in the desired font, style, and color on your computer.  Print on a lightweight paper and cut out.  The size of this information page should be 3.5” by 5.5”.  Another option is to use vellum paper.

Tip: There are several websites online with wording samples for any occasion if you get stuck!

Step two:  Prepare the rest of the paper by cutting out 4” X 6” base card stock for the bottom piece and 4” X 1” strips for the top strip.

Note: Three sheets of scrapbook paper will be needed for the bottom layer in order to make 24 invitations.  Less than one sheet of scrapbook paper will be needed for the top strip.

Step three: For 24 invites, cut 24 pieces of ribbon at 12” in length.

Tip: To save time, wrap your ribbon around a twelve inch ruler and snip each end.

Step four: Create an assembly line. Layer the 4X6 card, then 3.5X5.5 info sheet, then 4X1 strip in the desired position and adhere with double sided tape, on the top of the invite only.

Step five: Using a small hole punch, punch two holes approximately one inch apart in the top center of the invitation, thread a ribbon through the holes, and tie a bow.

 

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12th Jul2011

Creative Rocker Themed Party Invitation

by Dinah Wulf

Creative Rocker Themed Party Invitation

These do it yourself Rocker themed party invitations, using scrapbook paper, are SUPER easy to make.  I wanted them to look like VIP concert backstage passes, so I purchased lanyards to attach to each one.  You can purchase lanyards online for about $4.00 for a dozen.

The party details fit on the front and I made a medallion for the back encouraging “rocker attire”.  Each guest can wear them to the party as well if they choose.

Tip: Stuff temporary tattoos in the invitation envelope to get guests started on their Rock Star outfits.

 

Consider these other Rock Star themed ideas:

  • Make invitations that look like concert tickets or an ad looking for a new member of a band
  • Make a CD invitation and include the guest of honor’s favorite songs
  • Decorate with a VIP sign at the entrance of the party
  • Include a red carpet area with disposable cameras where the guests can be photographed by Paparazzi
  • Have a “Dressing Room” station with boa’s, sunglasses, hats, wigs, beads, ripped T-shirts, and face paint for guests to get creative
  • Include a “Hair and Makeup” station with glitter, mousse, mirrors, makeup, and colored hair spray
  • Have a “Tattoo Shop” with application instructions where guests can apply temporary tattoos of their choice
  • Set up a “Rehearsal Stage” and set up Guitar Hero
  • Give out favors like an autograph book or an inexpensive inflatable guitar

 

Need More DIY Party Ideas? Try:

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