• Have everyone bring their favorite board game and prepare to laugh your way through the night.
• You can keep everything simple and order pizza, or have everyone bring their favorite appetizer or finger food.
• Set up tables, you can mix it up with adults and kids, or if you have some little ones set up a table just for them. Then have the adults take turns being in charge of the kid’s table.

What games would be fun for a game night party? I think games that get everyone laughing, moving, and thinking are all fun choices. You’ll want to choose games that allow at least 4 players. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Twister or Twister Moves
• Scene It!
• Apples to Apples
• Dice Games
• Have a checkers or chess tournament

You can even come up with your own games to play, just have fun with it. You can add games to any party. Just keep a few games on hand, and if everyone’s standing around looking bored, pull out the games and watch them liven up.

Image Photoxpress.com

Post from: She Knows Parties

Here are some fun ideas for your pirate party whenever you plan to have it:

• Have all your guests come dressed in their best pirate costume.
• It’s not a pirate party unless you have a treasure hunt. Give your guests a map and some clues and send them to find the treasure.
• A treasure chest or pirate ship cake are in order, here’s a pirate ship cake from Family Fun.
• Save some large boxes, then break the party guests into teams and have them build a pirate ship with the boxes, and some craft supplies. Give a prize for the best ship.
• Give treasure maps, and chocolate gold coins for party favors.
• Roll your invitations up and put them in a bottle, then hand deliver them.

Have fun and send your guests home with plenty of loot!

Post from: She Knows Parties

• It’s not too late for a last minute Labor Day End of Summer White Party at Celebrations.
• This Apple Theme Cocktail Night had my mouth watering over at Divine Party Concepts.
• Our One Heart has ideas for a Violet Wedding.
• Check out the really cute Cookie Monster Party at Hostess with the Mostess.
• PartyBluPrints has a menu for a Make Ahead (No) Labor Day BBQ and it looks yummy!
• At Kid’s Birthday Fun I have Jungle Party Decorating Ideas.
• Woo! Jr. has a whole list of Scavenger Hunt Ideas, a great resource for your party planning.
• Here at She Knows Parties I posted Party Ideas Inspired by Sunflowers.

I hope these ideas inspire you! Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Post from: She Knows Parties

Combine them with greens, golds, bold yellows, or chocolate browns, like they did in this fall sunflower tablescape.

Image (c) L Gerlach

Don’t forget the invitations, here’s a beautiful  invitation featuring sunflowers courtesy of Invitation Consultants.

Or a sunflower wedding note card from Etsy.

I love these sunflower inspired cakes.

Via Flickr johnattebury cc

This sunflower wedding cake looks fabulous with the garden setting behind it.

Via Flickr Tracy Hunter

Mix and mingle fresh sunflowers into your tables, and food presentation.

Via Flickr Ken Mayer

Sunflowers can make a fabulous table centerpiece.

Image (c) L Gerlach

Mix sunflowers with fall leaves, and fall colors for a fabulous fall wedding or party.

Post from: She Knows Parties

Here are a few ideas for your preschool back to school party.

• If the party is for preschool, or kindergarten age children, use brightly colored letters of the alphabet, and numbers to decorate the walls and tables.
• Make buses out of boxes and let the kids break into teams to have a bus decorating contest.
• Make letter shaped cookies topped with royal icing and wrap them individually for party favors.
• Make a cake with brightly colored letters or shapes cut out of fondant.

Celebrate learning with your preschooler, and keep get them excited about going to school.

Image via Flickr Slamdogs

Post from: She Knows Parties

Here are some of my favorite party ideas from this week.

• Beach Anniversary Party Bliss at Mix Mingle and Glow
• Back to School Party Ideas from Divine Party Concepts
• The Perfect Setting For a Romantic Getaway can be found at Celebrations
• Modern Moroccan Inspired Dessert Buffet (I absolutely love this color combination!) from Hostess With The Mostess
• An Asian Inspired Baby Shower from Create My Event
• A Black and Blue Wedding Inspiration Board from Masterpiece Weddings

I hope you enjoy these ideas as much as I did. Have a wonderful weekend!

Image (c) L Gerlach

Post from: She Knows Parties

• Pretend you’re Betty and prepare appetizers including 60’s favorites – pigs-in-a-blanket, stuffed celery sticks and deviled eggs. You could even dress yourself up to look like Betty or Don!
• Set up a retro theme around the house, with retro plates, napkins, and decorations.
• Check out the Mad Men official website for more inspiration.
• You can’t have a Mad Men party without Don Draper’s drink of choice, Canadian Club. Serve it neat, as Dan prefers, or as part of a classic cocktail using one of these recipes.

CC Reserve Manhattan

In a tumbler add:

• 1 part Canadian Club Classic 12
• 1/3 part Sweet Vermouth
• Dash Angostura bitters
• Garnish with a maraschino Cherry

Old Fashioned Cocktail

• 1½ parts Canadian Club Classic 12
• 1/2 part sweet Vermouth
• Dash Angostura bitters
• Sugar
• Water
• Orange slice
• Maraschino Cherry

Mix sugar, water and bitters in a rocks glass. Drop in a cherry and an orange slice. Muddle ingredients (using a muddler or the back end of a spoon). Add Canadian Club 10 Year Reserve and Vermouth. Fill with ice cubes and stir.

Wouldn’t it be fun to kick back and relax with your friends to watch the Mad Men premiere?

Recipes and cocktail images courtesy of Canadian Club

Mad Men Image: Newscom

Post from: She Knows Parties

We picked out the best photos and organized them into a scrapbook, complete with funny captions. Today those are my favorite photos to look back at when I want to remember my wedding. For me they’re even better than the posed images the photographer took.

We had a ton of fun making that album. It was so fun to get together and talk. We actually repeated the scrapbook party each time one of us got married.

Girls night scrapbook parties are my favorite type of party. Pictures give you wonderful topics for conversation. You can laugh over them, cry over them, or just share memories. They’re a wonderful reason to have a party. The activities are already planned, you’re going to scrapbook and share stories. All you have to do is come up with food and drinks.

Simple fingerfoods, and wine go great with a scrapbook party, so don’t make the food too complicated. You can even have each of your friends bring a favorite dish.

You’ll have a great time, catch up on the latest gossip, and when you’re done you’ll have some finished pages in your scrapbook.

You can each work on your own scrapbook, or all of you can join together to complete a scrapbook project together, like the wedding album my friends put together after my wedding.

Image via sxc.hu

Post from: She Knows Parties

• Set up an ice cream sundae bar and let everyone make their own ice cream sundae.
• Get some yummy ice cream party favors.
• Make some homemade ice cream, this Tropical Coconut Ice Cream sounds wonderful for a summer party.
• Make a simple berry sauce from some of those fresh in season berries you have on hand.

Bobby Flay helps you make some classic vanilla milk shakes. Yum!

Break out the ice cream and celebrate!

Image via stock.xpert.com

Post from: She Knows Parties

For the cake she bought an edible Twilight image from ebay and had her decorator create a cake from that, check out all her Twilight cake details, and ideas.

The party decorations were fabulous, she set up a Twilight shrine, and used framed sayings from the movie with black and red balloons scattered around the room. Check out all the Twilight party decorating ideas Christine came up with to help you plan your own Twilight party.

Looks like a fabulous party!

Images courtesy of Mrs. Gooding

Post from: She Knows Parties