Hey There!
Heather here.
A week ago I got a semi-panicked phone call from my friend Emily. She had a grand plan to throw her father, who she adoringly calls "Papa," a surprise 60th birthday party for him and 60 of his closest friends. But she's six months pregnant and her larger-than-life ideas were bigger than time allowed for her to go at it alone.
That's when I came in. She told me her idea to have a throwback 50s feel (the decade her dad was born.) Seconds after I got off of the phone with her, I got to work. Did I mention that I only had a week from the first phone call to the date of the party? It was a whirlwind but the birthday boy, his family and all of the guests were happy... and that's all that matters!
Here's what I came up with:
The Centperices
(Wine bottles spray painted white with jute twine glued to the neck;
a mason jar with red ribbon and a tea light;
old books (stolen borrowed from my parent's house;)
Dollar Store silver platters painted with chalkboard paint;
wire mesh "egg baskets" from The Dollar Store which we filled with old pictures;
unfinished wooded crates from Michaels;
the wine bottles were filled with "fun facts" from 1953, the year the birthday boy guy was born;
The Other Fun Details
The Gift & Favor Table
When the guests arrived, they were welcomed by 1950s tunes and a table that would surely make anyone remember the good ol' times.
A vintage inspired luggage box from Michaels that was adorned with a handmade banner that read "CARDS."
The guests could drop a gift or a memory into the luggage box.
Our goal was to have 60 memories for 60 years by the end of the evening.
The same table was home to swirl lollipops.
Gone are the days when candy was only 5 cents.
Let's Eat!
I wanted to fill the space with as much rustic/vintage decor as possible. I wanted guests to forget that they were in the fellowship hall of a church and instead remember their childhood.
I filled the food table with old empty frames that I painted white;
blocky wooded letters to spell out EAT;
And a rustic galvanized tin with M&M's and Hershey's Kisses.
A banner that read "DINING CAR" was pinned to the front of the table;
Silverware was wrapped in red and white bags from The Party Fairy and placed in a vintage farm tin that I scored at a garage sale;
I used a planter that I bought at Michael's for the plates and extra napkins;
I painted half of a thin canvas with chalboard paint and wrote "Good Eats" on it;
And I filled out the table with a sign that read "Stu's Diner: Now Open" and some of the "Fun Fact" wine bottles.
I also set up a "Milk & Cookies" station with vintage inspired milk jugs and glass cookie jars with chalkboard tags.
The milk was even placed on a vintage milk crate that I bought on E-bay last year.
The same table had paper straws from The Party Fairy;
a galvanized tin turned upside down to bring height to the table;
and blocky letters that spelled out "YUM"
The party was success and I was so happy to help a friend in her moment of "crisis."
I hope you enjoyed your trip back to 1953.
