Creative Party Blog

Having a Birthday Dance Party for little kids was really fun. And what was more fun was to see parents and kids realizing that they can like the same music!

As part of the kids favors for this dance party, we put together a Dance Party Music CD that we gave to each family. We photoshopped the cover images and made a collage on the front of the jewel case. We could have gone a step further and made a sticker for the front of the CD but didn’t. They are easy enough to do. All you have to do is purchase the stickers from Avery or someone and then use their software. I hear it’s pretty easy.

Anyway, we wanted to share our song list with you in case you want to make your own dance party CD. Vogue, All Star, Gettin’ Jiggy, Faith, Can’t Touch This, Celebration, Come On Eileen, To Be Real, Hooked, Sweet Home Alabama, Joker, Comin’ Out, Tide is High, Curious George, YMCA, Jack & Diane, Dream Machine, When It’s Over and Brown Eyed Girl.

Enjoy your own dance party. This is just the beginning. There are many more popular dance songs to add to your music list.

Oh my goodness. My daughter’s birthday is just a few days before Christmas and so we are always battling something when planning and implementing her party. This particular year was no exception.

We had planned for this joint party to be held in a gym. There would be a stage as the big decoration focus for this dance party. Well, the gym was in a local community center. Mid December is started icing and snowing here in Portland and it snowed and it snowed and snowed. As a result everything was closed including our party venue!!!

What to do? Neither my friend or I wanted all these kids in our houses right before Christmas. Luckily my friend owns a restaurant in Nob Hill which is not far from our homes and because of all the snow and ice, her parties had cancelled and their party room was OPEN! Whoo Hoo.

We made the decision to change the venue at the last minute and phoned everyone of the change. Now what to do with a much smaller space and not much room to move around. Well, we had to set the stage with the decorations. And what better way to do that than with balloons!

After simply having star balloons at each eating table, we made these towers of balloons. A local party store had made candy canes out of balloons in their warehouse since it was Christmas time. So, to make it festive yet not too holiday, I just changed the colors. To make the tower you tie 2 balloons together the same color and 2 of an opposite color. Then you twist the 4 together to make a row. After you have made several of these sets, you simply wrap them around a vertical PVC pipe and place in a candy cane pattern.

To secure the balloon decoration, I put the PVC pipe in a small bucket filled with concrete. As the party went along they became part of the entertainment for the kids. We just pulled off the balloons and they batted them all around the room! Balloons are a hit at any party but especially can be festive decoration at a dance birthday party.

Favors for a Birthday Dance Party are pretty straight forward and ones that will be played with for hours and hours and hours.

For my daughter’s Dance Birthday Party, we gave cool glasses, mics and Cds of cool dance music. We still get in the car and she asks for her “birthday” song…..not knowing that millions of other people get down to these songs. We wrapped them in simple celophane bags that had disco circles on the bags and had them in a basket at the door for the kids to grab as they were coming in or leaving.

It was a hoot watching the kids dance to music that we danced when we were young. They loved it!

Top Photo taken by Amy Hall Photography, Portland, OR.

When reading this invitation wording, keep in mind that it was a joint party for 2 friends. AND the party was very close to Christmas as both their birthdays are only a few days before Christmas.

Our Dance Party Invitation Wording went like this:

Because our Birthdays are so close
We decided to make the most

Of the Holiday Time of Year
And ask our Friends all to Cheer

For Anne & Charley’s Birthday Toast
We’re going to ask you to Strike A Pose!

Date
Time
Location
RSVP

Photo taken by Amy Hall Photography, Portland, OR.

My daughter for her 5th birthday had a joint party with a friend and we all decided upon a “Dance Party” theme.

I couldn’t really find an invitation I liked with an image already printed on it. So, I decided to purchase blank cards and to draw a little girl striking a pose on the front. She is a child not afraid to strike a pose, so it was perfect.

I’m not an artist at all! But once I came up with a cut looking little girl, I was able to replicate her on each of the invitations. I found these great plain cards that I felt embodied the tone of the party. To draw the figure, I used Jelly Roll pins that moved very nicely over the paper and made a nice image.

I totally feel that the invitation sets the tone for the party. If you don’t spend much time on the invitation, guests will assume that you won’t be spending much time on the party. And if they have to make a choice between coming to your child’s party or another scheduled at the same time……guess where they might go?

Have a fun Dance Party. No matter if you find a preprinted invitation that you love or you draw on a blank card like this one, kids love this type of party.

Resources: Blank Invitation came from Paper Source.

Photo taken by Amy Hall Photography, Portland, OR.

When you are planning a Dance Party for your child, it can go in many directions. It’s almost tough to reign in this type of party because there are so many directions you can take it!

A Dance Party can also be hosted for a 2 year old up to a 70 year old. Now, the parties will be a great deal different, obviously but there are elements that could cross over many age ranges. Invitations could be one of them.

These are Photo stock invitations that are customized with your own photos and invite wording. The top invitation is a “Rock Star” party. Wording is such: “Our little rocker is turning 2! To complete his band, Ryder chooses you! Date, Time, Place and Regrets only.”

The bottom invitation is for a Rockin Birthday and wording is such: “Join Us for a Rocking Birthday!” It was as simple as that and then included date, time, location and rsvp info.”

Photo invitations can be a wonderful way to announce a birthday party. Especially with kids, not only do they love to see their own picture plastered all over everywhere but they love to also see their friends in “lights.” My daughter has been known to carry around pictures of her friends for weeks.

Resources: For Custom Party Photo Invitations, Cutie Pie Custom Creations.

Photo taken by Amy Hall Photography, Portland, OR.