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Fabulous Fifties

Ideas, Invitations, Decorations, Games & Favors

For great music theme decorating ideas, visit:

• Roaring 20s Decorating411

• 50s Rock n' Roll Decorating411

• 60s and 70s Hippie to Disco Rock & Roll Decorating411

• American Idol and Hip Hop Decorating411

Invitations

Send your guests fun and colorful Rock & Roll theme invitations in the 50s Kit n Kaboodle. Or maybe you'd prefer our Juke Box Invitation from Party411's Creations for You.

Design your own 45s, and make each invitation a different song from the 1950s. On the front of the record, write all of the party information using a silver paint pen. Send or hand deliver to your guests. This will be like no party they've been invited to before. If you can track down real 45s or have them in your basement, still, make custom labels to stick over the existing label. Mimic word placement and language.

Plastic 12 inch musical notes make the perfect invitations, too. Use a permanent silver or gold metallic marker to write all of the party details on the front of each note.

Send your guests their invitations and party favors all in one batch. A Rock and Roll CD or tape is a very cool idea.. Attach a piece of paper with the pertinent party information to the front of each cassette or CD or make your own label to stick on the cover.

If you really want to make things festive, ask your guests to dress in their favorite 50s gear, whether leather coats and blue jeans, poodle skirts, cinch belts and saddle shoes, or bowling shirts and capri pants. Of course you will be wearing a beehive hairdo to compliment your look.

Rock n Roll Decorations

Talk about nostalgia! This is the decade of reverie and contentment. Use your imagination and this list of things from the 50s to set the tone for your fabulous Rock Around the Clock Party. If you are having a big company party or have a big room to fill, check out the At the Hop Kit.

Play music from the 1950s in the background to get the party started. You know, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Dion, Bobby Darrin, the Platters, the Del Vikings - can you hear it now? Greet your guests with candy cigarettes and take their Polaroid picture with cutouts of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.

Liven up your party venue by designing it like a restaurant drive-in. Really set the mood (and fill a wall) with a 57 Chevy Convertible Mural. Stick a "James Dean Road" or "Elvis Way" sign at the end of your driveway to indicate to guests that they have arrived at your great destination. If you are really going to go all out, which the Party Girl recommends, make several little holes in your sign and stick little twinkling lights through them. Hook it up to your power source and let the lights dazzle your guests. Make a sign that says "Bob and Carol's Drive-In Burg-o-rama" and hang it outside. If you need help with the sign, let Party411's Creations for You do the job for you with great caricatures.

For a complete set of bright and colorful decorations, you can't go wrong with the 50s Kit n Kaboodle. Hang a sign that says, "Fabulous 50s" in the doorway to welcome your guests as well as a 6' Rock & Roll banner. Decorate the walls with records and 50s themed cutouts. Make "Guys" and "Dolls" signs to put on your bathroom doors.

For "le piece de resistance," place an inflatable jukebox where everyone can look and admire. Hang fuzzy dice everywhere.

Add a balloon arch over the DJ or band with mylar jukeboxes and primary colors -and you're set for one rockin' good time!

For great rock n roll decorating ideas, visit 50s Rock n' Roll Decorating411

Centerpieces

Place a different blow up instrument from the 50s at each table to achieve an authentic Rock & Roll look. Centerpieces can be 45 records with a base of balloons and/or more colorful balloons coming off for a room with a high ceiling.

Throw musical note confetti all around the instruments for festive decoration. Mini chocolate records are an even tastier way to decorate the table around each centerpiece. If you only have one table to decorate, make a collage of the blow-up instruments. Set them up like a band about to play. Tie balloons off the base in bright colors. Bobby sox should be at every seat in multiple colors for people to wear while they dance!

Another fun way to decorate the center of the table is to rent a mini jukebox. Place it in the middle of the table, and let the guests choose their own music.

For a fun way to give everyone their favors, tie the cutlery at each place setting to these great "Blues Brothers" sunglasses reminiscent of the 50s.

Set a glass sundae cup with balloons attached at each place setting to decorate the tables in a fun and fabulous way. Here's where you might start early and hunt for relics of the past at novelty and vintage stores. You'd be amazed at what people save and where they end up later. You will find lunch boxes, toys, kitchenware, LPs (that's records for you youngins) and more delectable goodies that will even enlighten the most cynical party-goer.

Other decorations can include model and toy Thunderbirds, hot rods or DeSotos (we all remember Mr. Cunningham's De Soto on Happy Days, do we not?). Come on, you can make this easy. Here are other remembrances of this era: Sky King, Daniel Boone, Rawhide, Cisco Kid & Poncho, the Lone Ranger, Cowboys & Indians, Rin Tin Tin, Mighty Mouse, Winky Dink & Me, James Dean, Rebel Without A Cause, Elizabeth Taylor & Rock Hudson, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Fels Naptha, Soap Operas, Diners Club Card, automatic washing machines, UFO sightings, Dr. Spock, bomb shelters, ducktail hair (DAs), motorcycles, Marlon Brando, Alan Freed (Cleveland's own!), Friday night Cantines, Sputnik, vacuum cleaners, garages, drag races, Barbie, West Side Story….and on and on.

Menu

Food will remind the guests (or orient those younger ones) of the soda shops and drive-ins that were so popular. Soda shops were around before cholesterol, so serve the greasiest cheeseburgers with the saltiest fries and the thickest milkshakes that you can create. Coca-Cola is an acceptable substitute for a milkshake, as is a malted or a chocolate phosphate. Don't forget root-beer floats. Ice cream sundaes are a must as well. Chocolate guitars, records and CDs should grace the table for after dinner (don't you think?).

If you divert from the drive-in fare, go for the at-home cuisine, namely TV dinners. Pigs in a blanket, Ritz crackers, Velveeta, Bosco, Ovaltine, mashed potatoes and meatloaf . You can see where this is going.

For drinks, in addition to the soda shop favorites, serve Manhattans, Grasshoppers and Martinis, too.

Activities

It wouldn't be 50s party without checkers, Mr. Potato Head®, Parcheesi, and dancing. Have a game competition or dancing contest. Music is a great social activator.

Have a lip sync contest using all of your Rock & Roll favorites from the 50s. Make sure to swivel your hips if you sing a song by "Elvis the Pelvis!"

The hula-hoop is a 1950's favorite. Make sure to have more than one hoop handy so the guests can compete to see who can hula for the longest amount of time.

Have a treasure hunt. Kids love these. Click here for a treasure chest full of fun toys and stuff from the 50s.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Party Favors & Prizes

Of all the themed parties we do, the Fabulous Fifties gives you the best chance to do some creative and fun party favors and prizes.

• How about some comic books?
• Pinwheels, a Rainbow Coil or Hula Hoops not only fit the theme, but give your guests something to play with immediately.
• My personal favorite is a light up yo-yo. Everyone will have fun "walking the dog" or going "over the falls."
• Mr. Potato Head is another favor/game that will have your guests laughing and bring back some great memories.
• And finally who wouldn’t want to pull out of your drive with some Fuzzy Dice hanging from their rear view mirror?