Beach bash party

SETTING THE SCENE

Ready to decorate?

A truly unique birthday experience starts with the decorations. Some effort here will help  bring your guests into the world that you are creating. We generally prefer not to spend a lot of money on elaborate decorations, rather our focus is on projects we can do ourselves and inexpensive store bought items that have a big bang for the buck. 

What will you need

Consider the items below as our wish list of decorations. Pick and choose what works best for your space and budget. The placement of each item will be described in more detail in the sections that follow.

To make:

- Beach signs (to look like old weathered wood)

- Sun shaped wall hangings (made from yellow poster board)

- Volleyball net (use your imagination to convert something you already have into a volleyball net)

To buy:

- Balloons (yellow)

- Streamers (blue)

- Beach balls (the bigger the better)

- Inflatable pool (keep your eyes open for deals at the end of the Summer)

- Inflatable palm tree (great for picture taking)

- Beach wall scene setters (we covered almost every square inch)

Room-by-room guide

Outside: Your decorating begins outside. Picture a beach rental after a one week stay: towels hanging on the porch, boogie boards and other ocean toys strewn about. A sign that looks to be worn by the sea and salt says, “This way to the beach” (see below). This is the scene that greets your guests. If you do not have a usable outside area, then consider moving the same scene into your entryway.

Project - beach signs: The signs are homemade, constructed out of cardboard, but decorated to look like driftwood. To start, sketch your design on a piece of brown cardboard. Your sides should be bumpy as shown in the picture. Draw horizontal lines from the low points of the bumps inward to look like cracks. Use white chalk to "age" the wood by rubbing over the sign and highlighting the cracks.

The meet and greet room: You can keep decorations simple here. This is a beach house, so it need not be overwhelmed with party paraphernalia. Almost any color scheme works here. Our suggestion is blue streamers (representing the sky or ocean), and yellow balloons (for the sun).

The beach: There is a lot you can do in the beach room, and some of it will depend on the games you choose. Your goal should be to turn your party room into a beach.

- Make some suns out of yellow poster board and place them strategically on the wall. Alternatively, there are hanging suns you can purchase

- Scatter beach balls around the area

- Place an inflatable pool in a corner and fill it with inflatable beach toys

- Place an inflatable palm tree in another corner

- Set up a small volleyball net

- Cover the walls with beach scene setters

- Place beach chairs around for kids and parents to sit in

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