Over the Hill Birthday Ideas: A "Not Dead Yet" Party Theme

  While they may be "Over the Hill", they're Not Dead Yet! Use these over the hill birthday ideas to have a fun party draped in black and crammed with old people jokes to celebrate the milestone. Youth may be gone, but hopefully a sense of humor isn't.

Over The Hill Birthday Invitations: fun wording and invite tips 
Send a funny invitation that celebrates the guest of honor and their impending doom birthday. Wording is important, so here are some Over the Hill ideas for invitation wording -
  • William is Over the Hill! Help us lay his youth to rest...
  • Come morn the passing of Jane's youth at a SURPRISE birthday party!
  • Over the Hill and picking up speed... a big celebration is what Mary needs!
  • Look, a Hill! Let's help Jimmy get over it!
  • We are laying John's youth to rest... will you come pay your last respects?
  • Jackie said "An Over the Hill Party? No way!", but we decided to have one anyway!
  • Paul isn't just "Over the Hill", he went off the cliff!
  • Brian has turned 60 at last, and all of the "good years" are now in the past! Help us as we lay his youth to rest...
  • Lordy Lordy, Sarah made it to 40!
  • Say it isn't so, James is turning the big 5-0!
Go with a custom Over the Hill birthday invitation -

A very funny "Over the Hill" invitation are these magazine cover invitations. Whether it's "Outta Time," "Hot Flash" or "Old Men's Journal," everyone will be roaring with laughter when they get them in the mail!

For a very special invite, have a custom caricature invitation made of the soon to be ancient celebrant. A caricature invitation not only creates a great piece of art you can use several times during your event but it will also let you feature hobbies and character traits of the guest of honor.
 
Invitation Tips: Traditionally, it is advised to send out invitations eight weeks before your event. At the very least get the invites out 2-4 weeks before the party. The sooner the better, but don't let this keep you from getting killer invitations at the last minute. You can always rush them if time is an issue.
 
Make sure you include the reason for the party (Jim's 40th Birthday), the date/time, and the location of the party. You can also include RSVP information and the host/hostess name. 

Over the Hill Decorations
Black decorations and a bit of humor are the perfect Over the Hill birthday ideas.
 
Start with the basics:
 
Black Balloons - Make bouquets in odd number of balloons (it looks better). You can go all black, black and whit over the hill patterned, or add in a few dark purple or blue. For balloon weights you can use an uninflated balloon filled with sand, or something fun like little tombstones, empty prescription bottles (fill with sand for weight), or packages of adult diapers.

Black Crepe Paper - Inexpensive and looks great, crepe paper all around the room! Be aware those with sweaty hands... the black will rub off!
 
Party Banner - I think this is essential. You can go with a custom Over the Hill birthday banner or a black over the hill birthday banner. Either way, it is perfect for greeting your guests out front or in the party room.
 
From there you can move on to adding more fun decorations. Here are our 3 favorite Over the Hill Birthday decorations - 
  • Fear The Reaper Open Grave - While the scene setter is actually more of a Halloween decoration, it is also perfect for an Over the Hill party!
  • Inflatable Walker - Funny prop for the guest of honor.
  • Ceiling Swirls - They really make a room look festive! They come in 3 "ages", 40th, 50th and 60th.
Over The Hill Table Decorations, centerpieces and menu ideas
Black table decorations are a given for an Over the Hill birthday party. You should decorate the tables and the buffet with creative ideas and your guests and the guest of honor will be rolling with laughter.
 
For the table, buffet and bar: 
  • Of course use black tableware. Black table cloths, black cutlery, black, black, BLACK!
  • You can make fun silverware bundles with black napkins and black plastic silverware. Wrap a strand of black beads around the bundle and you have tableware and a favor in one!
  • Over The Hill Paper Goods are perfect (and no dishes required).
  • Serve a "Screw Old Age" screwdriver or "Old as Dirt" dirty martini as your signature drink, along with a fun beverage napkin.
Here are some fun Over the Hill birthday ideas for DIY centerpieces you can make:
  • Use terracotta pots filled with potting soil as a centerpiece. Add a little plant sign stuck into it that reads "Old As" for clever "Old As Dirt" centerpieces! Throw in a few gummy worms and a trowel.
  • You can also use "old and outdated" technology as room or table decorations. Try the local thrift store for typewriters, floppy disks, 8-track player, or a rotary phone.
  • Or go with "getting old" decorations; Geritol vitamins, prune juice, adult diapers, wind-up false teeth, magnifying glasses, dentures adhesive, and copies of ARP magazines.
You can go with a menu of all black foods (olives, licorice, dark chocolate dipped fruit, black been salad, blackberry cobbler.) Unfortunately, black foods do not offer you a wide variety to choose from. I would go with the standard party fare, and add in a few "old people foods" for added humor:
  • Oatmeal
  • Prune juice
  • Ovaltine
  • Fig Newtons
  • Ensure
Another fun idea is to set up a blender on the buffet with a sign that reads "To help Jimmy chew his dinner."
 
Go all out for the cake! We have seen some great cakes; tombstones that read "Here Lies Pam's Youth", coffin with a little guest of honor inside, "full" toilets that say "Crap You're Old!", gray cakes with big black grim reapers on them, and cakes shaped like hills with a car/truck/motorcycle/bike riding over it. Tying the Over the Hill theme in with a hobby is always good. A golfer could have a golf flag with "Pretty soon, you'll finally shoot your age!" For the boater/fisherman..."The Old Man and the Sea." Be creative. Any decent cake decorator can do almost anything you ask.
 
Over the hill Birthday Activities

Have a roast. Make sure your guests know your plan, and ask them to bring a favorite story to tell. You can do a celebrity roast format where a variety of guests get "on stage" to poke fun at the star of the show. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings (at least not too much), so use this approach only if you know the guests and are sure they won't "cross the line." The other option is to have a single person do the roasting. Best friends are perfect for this. They know all the secret little stories, but they also know where to draw the line.

"This is your Life"  Have family tell stories from the early years (a very long time ago), and grab a life-long friend or a teacher for the school years. A co-worker can recount famous (or infamous) moments at the office. You get the idea. Put together a CD with pictures from the corresponding years, and this can be a really fun hour or so. This approach can, and should, be funny, but it also lends itself to many touching moments and memories.

Rent a Hearse (amazingly this isn't that hard to do) and tour some of the old neighborhood hangouts. This is a blast, and provides fabulous photo opportunities.

Over The Hill Party Favors
Send your guests off with a fun party favor as a reminder of the great party they attended. Here are a few ideas for Over the Hill birthday party favors -
  • Edible favors are a great way to go, here are some custom options -
  • Create a custom CD with songs like Highway to Hell by AC/DC, or Don’t Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.
  • Another fun idea is to fill a goody bag of all the items that the "elderly" cannot do without -
    • Hard candy (but nothing too tasty)
    • Brochures for nursing homes
    • Small pack of tissues
    • Some companies make cute chocolate aspirins

The guests and  the guest of honor will have so much fun they will eagerly await your next party!