24453

Sleepover Party -14yr- Lots of Lanterns

November 2013

Nicole in Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.A

Runner Up

For my birthday party, I wanted something special but intimate at the same time. I decided to have a sleepover party with six of my best friends and it turned out better than I ever imagined! With some help from family and friends I put together what I consider to be the best sleepover I have ever had.

INVITATIONS:  For my invitations, I went to a local stationary store and had my invitations printed up. They were pieces of thick baby blue stock paper with a piece of dark blue paper on top. Then there was a piece of white paper and a ribbon tying the three together. On the invitations, I listed Who? (me) Where? (my house) When? (party was on October 19th and began around 3:30 P.M) and What to bring? (sleeping bag/ blankets, pajamas, etc). The invitations were mailed out two weeks before the party giving my six friends enough time to clear the date, find a present and do whatever else. I also added the R.S.V.P number and everybody responded saying they could attend.

DECORATIONS:  I live in what I would like to think is a fairly large house. I have a 6 person family so we require a lot of space. I was able to get my siblings out of the house, curing some of the pandemonium. Over their doors, I put a strip of baby blue tape with the letters: OFF LIMITS clearly printed on them. My parents were pretty clear about that so I wanted to symbolize that this area was not to be gone into. The sleeping and activity would occur in my basement witch has a large, finished game room, a bathroom and a bonus room.In the game room, I cleared a large space by pushing the Foosball table aside. I also draped  white crepe paper on it to make it more decorative. This left the carpet as an open area. I also pushed the coffee table to the side.

I put streamers all across the ceiling.They were dark navy blue and light blue. Then I put baby blue lanterns from each of the corners. I also scattered some balloons across the floor to make the party vibe shine. The balloons were blue and white. In the bathroom, I cleaned up (obviously)and put these cool lighted candles in the room that used a light rather than a flame. I also put a girl sign on the door that would find in public areas. There was a strip of letter on the wall that said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY in navy blue script with a turquoise border. In the bonus room, I put some rolled up mattress pads in the corner that I had laying around. There were swirly things from the ceiling and streamer twirled on the wall next to my futon. On the futon, I tossed a blanket and some decorative pillows over it.

Lastly, I had lanterns with a light built inside them on the walls to create a clam atmosphere.  On the main floor, I put paper lanterns in the dining room and put a cloth over the table. In the living room, I simply cleared the table and cleaned up a little bit. However I did put light blue, royal blue and dark blue streamers on the walls to keep with the theme.In the back yard, I put lanterns on the grass (no flame)and I even set up a volley ball court with a net my mom had! Lastly, I moved the chairs onto the porch to make room for the net. 

ACTIVITIES/GAMES:  When my guests first arrived, I played some Foosball and talked with them until everybody got here. I also asked them if they wanted something to drink like cola, Orange soda, water, iced tea or lemonade. Each of their cups were labeled with there names so nothing could get mixed up.  After everybody arrived we played some volleyball outside. Then we went back inside and played a game. The game was called Jeopardy. The rules were just like the TV show. You picked a category and a number. (light blue poster board with dark blue index cards). Then you have to answer the questions. But the game had a fun twist, every question was about me. Like my givens (birthday, eyes, height etc.), favorite things (food, movies, books) and then other categories. The winner got a 15 dollar dunking doughnuts gift card.

After that, we had a fun contest. The contest was: make your own cupcakes. In this competition, we were all given a choice of cupcake,chocolate, vanilla or  strawberry. Then we were given 1 hour to bake the cupcakes and decorate them. I had a lot of fun and I think they did too. BTW: we all made four of them and baked them at the same time.Then we were given different tools and objects to decorate them like strawberries, fruits, chocolate and four different types of frosting (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and butter cream) Around this time, some of my family members were coming over. I had my aunt, my uncle, my cousin and my sisters and brother even dropped by. Once we were done with our cupcakes, my aunt, my cousin and my sister judged them in four categories. It was kinda like a cooking show but the people who made them stayed anonymous. The categories they were judged on were: presentation, texture, taste and  amount of effort. Once they were judged my friend Melissa won with her chocolate butter cream cupcakes with chocolate sauce.The winner got a ten dollar gift card to Starbucks.We made four so the fourth one was saved for dessert.

After that, we had dinner, cut the cake and then opened presents. Me and my friends have a long lived traditions of opening presents the hot potato way. We would pass them around in the circle and whoever's gift I had in my hands, I would open. After gift opening,I said goodbye to my family and went down to the basement where I played balloon volleyball with my friends. We then decided to watch failure to launch which is a romantic comedy movie. After that we talked a little bit and played some different board games. After that we were pretty tired and went to bed. In the morning we woke up around 7:30-8:00 and my mom said she had prepared a surprise for us. We piled into my car and then drove to this breakfast placed that served all kinds of Spanish and Mexican breakfast food. My mom sat at another table. After that we went back to my house and talked until people's mom came to pick them up. 

PARTY SNACKS/CAKE:  For the food, we decided to let the guests choose what they wanted. We had chips and dip, veggies and mozzarella sticks for a starter dish when people were arriving and something to munch on during activities and games. We also laid out some punch that tasted like watermelon lemonade. For dinner we had a choice of hot dogs, hamburgers or pizza from pizza hut. We also served salad on the side. For cake we had a small coconut crème cake with the numbers 14 on it. Then we had our beautiful breakfast.

FAVORS:  For the favors, I got little containers made form recycled paper. They were all different shades of blue. I put each the girls names on a little tag and gave them to them when they left. Inside were small photo frames, lip gloss, candy and a little baking kit so that you could make your own cupcakes and stuff like that. I also included a personal note thanking them for coming.  Overall, I tried really hard on this party. I never really celebrated any of my other birthdays so I wanted to make my fourteenth birthday something I will never forget.EVERYTHING YOU READ I BOUGHT MYSELF. I saved so that I could afford my food, favors, decorations... everything. The breakfast was the only thing my parents bought. I know this was long but I hope you enjoyed it.  

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