Nightclub party ideas - highlights from the suggestions

This is part of a series based on the nightclub-themed birthday party I held on 02/26/11. Over the next week or so I'll be posting several of the ideas and items that really helped make it a success!



Looking for more club party ideas? Check out my other party-related posts here.



There were some great nightclub party ideas submitted by readers during the Target giveaway. I asked everyone to "give me an idea for my party! It could be food, inexpensive decor, or anything else you think might help me set the club mood."

I got many fabulous answers. Here are just a few of the highlights:



From Sksweeps:

"I'd go with lots of jewel toned balloons like in your blog header, and you could echo that with the plates, napkins, centerpieces..."



From Stephanie:

"You can cover lamps/lights with inexpensive cuts of fabric or scarves to create a moody, club feel with lighting (just make sure the fabric doesn't touch the light bulbs), then definitely get some great music going. You can invent a special drink for the night in honor of your birthday to serve to everyone. Most importantly, have fun with it, don't stress over it and celebrate another year of life!!!"


From Dawns41:

"I would have Creme Puffs as a dessert. You could put them in the Gold Foil baking cups and arrange them on a tray."


From BethElderton:

"Change to combination colored and black bulbs; move the furniture back for dancing,set a long playlist for music, don a fabulous gothic ball gown!"


From Yaz:

"To get a club feel i think it would be good to have somewhat an upscale club scene. I would say have a few friends serving drinks like as waiters but you want them to have fun too so not too much of that. But you could have refreshments such as chips and dip, meatballs or chicken wings,a fruit tray, or even a oster fondue pot which can be purchased for $25 at Target. You can always keep this for the future. For music you should have a friend control what is being played. I know it may take time but have cds that someone can pop in and out with your music everyone will enjoy. If you have lamps in your house then you can easily replace the bulbs with different colors bulbs to have a great effect!"


From Deanna:

"have a red carpet outside
place snacks like nuts and pretzels around
Have a person walk around with trays of small food like mini burgers or chicken on a stick
create fun drinks with colored sugar around the edge of the glasses
disco ball
have a cool DJ
dance floor"


From Erica C.:

"Go buy a sexy outfit to feel awesome during the party!"


From Taleah:

"Christmas lights! They're great for low lighting, and you (hopefully) have them in different colors!"


From Hippie4ever:

"How about one of those balls that has different colored circles inset and rotates around an internal lightbulb. Finger foods, but not to messy...stained clothes, rug, furniture: maybe delectable sandwiches cut into small portions, rolled lunchenmeats/cheeses around roasted red pepper, olive assortment, a chocolate tray might be nice - bite size variety of different chocolates...Ghiradelli has a # of different bagged and individually wrapped varieties, nuts (try to be sparing on salt...it will make your guests thirsty and if you're serving alcohol make sure each group has a designated driver or plan for a sleepover). "


From Dandmrobbins:

"Have someone at the door pretending to be the bouncer and stamp their hand"

From Amied027:

"Mardi Gras beads would be a fun addition! They are cheap and everybody loves them!"


From Beeb:

"Check your local dollar store for inexpensive decor! They often sell party supplies, tinted lightbulbs, even cocktail glasses and ice trays."

From Kellyr78:

"You could decorate with old records or paint old cds on one side and hang them from the ceiling."

From Kpintn:

" love using the novelty ice cube trays for drinks....my favorite is the one that makes round solid ice balls.

Oh, and those do-it-yourself ice sculpture/molds makes for convversation........"


From Nancy:

"Some ideas: select a couple of colors and go to a dollar-type store to get tablecloths, cups, plates, napkins, etc for just a dollar each. Get some clear glass vases and fill with colored glass marbles or colored glass rocks that match your colors. Use colored light bulbs to give a nice glow. Have a signature drink - either alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic versions can be made. Have finger food that is OK at room temperature - that doesn't have to stay hot: chips, dip, small sandwiches, chocolate cupcakes, etc. Have fun!"


From Dave:

"My idea would be whole grain crackers next to the veggie tray as so many are trying to eat better. This way they can throw sliced cucumbers, or another vegtable slice on it."


Thanks for all the wonderful ideas, everyone!

Play with your food - Creative Breakfasts

"Breakfast is a notoriously difficult meal to serve with a flourish."

~ Clement Freud








Bill Wurtzel has been making creative breakfasts for his wife, Claire, for years; now he's channeling that artistry into a book designed to help kids and adults alike make healthier eating choices through fun food. His designs are interesting and sometimes a little bizzare, but they're always full of the fresh, vibrant colors that are the hallmark of a well-rounded diet.

Want to see more of his egg-stremely artsy breakfasts? Check out the New York Times' gallery here.

Three Poems from Ms. Dorothy Parker

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.




A Very Short Song

Once, when I was young and true,
Someone left me sad-
Broke my brittle heart in two;
And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,
Love is but a curse.
Once there was a heart I broke;
And that, I think, is worse.




One Perfect Rose

A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.

New free photo-manipulation site from Casio

Casio (the international electronics company) has launched their new Imaging Square website where you can play around and alter your photos. It's free for now, so it's worth checking out.

To celebrate, they're giving away 5 trips to New York City and 12 digital cameras. All you have to do to be entered is register for a free account on the new site.




The virtual painter works similarly to the filters in photoshop. Uploading and editing was really quick; it took me less than two minutes to go from this:



To this:



You can also cut out someone/something from one photo and add it to another using the dynamic photo option. Here's me as a mermaid hanging out with, well, me as a mermaid:



They also have it set up where you can make your gallery visible to others, so it can be a quick way to share pictures.

Since I have photoshop I probably won't use the site much, but it was pretty simple to figure out and would be really great with a few more features. I'll be keeping an eye out to see if they add more because again, everything was super fast and very easy to use!

Apparently Nature's packaging wasn't good enough!

"Quite Possibly the World's Most Perfect Food!"
~ Chiquita Banana Ad







Yep, you're seeing right: those are individually-wrapped bananas. Apparently these are now going to be sold for $1 each. The plastic bag is supposed to extend shelf life for another 6 days, which is how Del Monte is justifying the new offering - even going so far as to call it a green measure.

What do you think?

Personally, I think adding more packaging is just bananas.



Check out Geekologie's post to read more.

Winning Things Online - How to Win Stuff

"You can't win if you don't enter!"



If you're currently reading this blog, there's a good chance you found me through a giveaway I've run. I started entering giveaways and sweepstakes in 2010, and here are some of the prizes I've won:

* Trip for two to San Francisco plus a few extra perks (ARV $2,000)
* $100 Office Depot Gift Card
* Gift cards worth $20 or more to Target, LL Bean, Gordman's, Dollar General, and more
* Random items including (but not limited to) a stuffed orca, an IHOP t-shirt, video games, a magazine subscription, snacks, wine...the list goes on.

If you've got a fast internet connection, an email address and a lot of patience, you too can be on your way to winning.

Remember, nothing is guaranteed! The more giveaways you enter, the more chances you'll have at winning something, but they're still just that: chances. That being said, if you enter a lot of giveaways your chances start to get pretty good that something will pay off!

Also, read the rules for each giveaway carefully - you don't want to lose out on a prize because you didn't enter correctly!

I use Google Chrome to enter most of my giveaways; the browser has a good built-in form autofill that helps speed up the process by entering common data for me (name, address, email, etc). There are also some autofill browser ad-ons out there that are even more customizable and sometimes even password protected to help safeguard your information. Anything that cuts down on the number of keys you need to hit will help increase the number of contests you can enter.


Right now there are three big categories of giveaways/sweepstakes I run into a lot online:

Blog Giveaways

These giveaways are usually sponsored by the company providing the prize, though sometimes blog owners themselves will put up prizes to celebrate milestones, increase site traffic, or simply share a product they love. These can be more work than other types of giveways but usually have fewer entries overall.

Most blogs either use a form you fill out or ask that you leave comments on the giveway post for each entry.

There will usually be a "mandatory entry" that must be completed before any others count. This could be nearly anything: simply making a comment on the giveaway post, checking out the sponsor's website, following the blogger/sponsor on twitter/facebook/readers, tweeting about the giveaway, posting a picture...it's simply whatever the blogger decides entrants must do to have a chance to win.

This mandatory entry may or may not be followed by "bonus entry" methods that can earn you extra chances at the prize. This is where these contests can be a lot of work! Beware of giveaways that offer too many bonus entry methods - while you can still enter by doing the mandatory step, it's worth a lot less as far as your chances to win go. You might be better off spending your time entering other giveaways rather than doing lots of extra bonus entries on just one. If the prize is something you really want, though, go for it!

Some abbreviations to know in blog giveaways:

GFC - Google Friend Connect
FB - Facebook
RSS - A type of web feed you can subscribe to


Instant Win Giveaways

These giveaways will offer instant feedback as to whether you've won or not. Often these have smaller prizes than the more traditional, drawing-based ones, but they're usually pretty quick to do and often can be entered every day. Sometimes they have you answer trivia or play a quick game to find out, but usually it's short, sweet and to the point. This was how I won my $100 Office Depot card.


Traditional Sweepstakes

These are your basic "enter into a drawing" sweeps and giveaways. There are a large variety of these, and most really big prizes will be given out this way. Sometimes they ask you to do something (post a picture, send in a recipe, etc) but usually you just need to give them some information.


Notice: if you give a company information by signing up for a sweepstakes or giveway, they most likely will use it in some form or another. Unless they specifically say they will not, assume they will. I get some...interesting...mail sometimes, both in my physical mailbox and in my email.

You might want to set up a seperate email account for entering contests. Just make sure you check it to see if you've won anything. Companies are more and more likely to contact winners through email and if they don't hear back you might lose your prize! Also make sure to check your spam folder - lots of valid prize winner emails look like spam.

So, you're ready to start entering giveaways but...where to look? Here are a few giveaway sites that I've used:

www.online-sweepstakes.com - this site is wonderful. It has giveaways galore and lets you search by different contest types, end dates, prize types and more. They offer a free membership and a premium one. The free membership will get you tons of giveways and is a great way to start out, but premium will get you access to even more and only costs from about $2.50 - $4.16 per month depending on how long a subscription you purchase.

MyCardz.net - This site has only been around for a few months but they do a gift card giveaway every day. I've won 3 since September! All you have to do is comment once to be entered - no extra entries, no fuss, no work! Your comment doesn't even have to really make sense. They also give away cards to users who have been the most active over time through their AP system. I'd suggest subscribing to their emails - you'll get a daily reminder along with a quick link to the newest giveaway post. It doesn't get much easier than this.


Well, that's it for now - I'm sure there's plenty more to be said on this subject and I'll probably be adding to this over time. Good luck and happy entering!

Club Party Decor - Fabric, Fabric and More Fabric

"The fabric of existence weaves itself whole."
~ Charles Ives







This decorating tip is part of a series based on the nightclub-themed birthday party I held on 02/26/11. Over the next week or so I'll be posting several of the ideas and items that really helped make it a success!



*** Note: Images in this post might not 100% reflect the actual effect since they were taken with normal lighting instead of the actual lighting used in the party, which was too dark to get good pictures. ***



Turning an open, cheerful livingroom/kitchen/dining nook with white walls and light woodwork into a darkened, seductive club environment was a bit tricky. One way to give a plush feel to the space and connect all three areas was to use a dark fabric throughout. I happened to have a half-dozen or so nice sheer maroon curtain panels that I picked up at a thrift store last year. The picture above is of the main window, which was a crucial thing since it takes up most of one wall in the area where the dance floor was. Here's another shot, but with some sunshine coming through (picture was taken in the daytime):



I also used the curtains in the food area to cover a door:



And in the kitchen to cover my light cabinetry and a few smaller windows:



Curtains make a great option for getting lots of fabric at fairly low cost if you hunt around. I got all of mine for under $10 in a lucky thrift store find, but you can also get them on sale/clearance online or at your local stores. For example, these purple panels are a great deal (2 for $4.47):



Don't forget dark tablecloths!




You can also use different fabric as an accent decoration. I'd recommend sticking with dark colors, like this deep green velvety scrap from my sewing/cloth box I threw on a side table:




Overall the fabric really helped in transforming my home into a dance club. There's no way I would have gotten the same atmosphere without it.

Well, that's one way to get people to notice - Bench Ads Leave Their Mark

“Advertising is the art of convincing people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need.”
~ Will Rogers







You know the marks you get when you wear shorts on a patterned bench? It's usually a sort of latticey pattern. Well, one New Zealand advertising agency has decided to put benches to work - they temporarily brand sitters with ads!

The above picture is an example ad for a sale on "short shorts". You can read more about all of this here.

Build-A-Bear Workshop {Giveaway}

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Up for grabs this week is a $10 Build-A-Bear Gift Card.
  
 *** Contest is now closed *** 
 I'm interested in hearing what you think about the other stuff I've been posting, so that's the main entry for this giveaway!
 To enter:
 Leave a relevant comment on another non-giveaway post, then come back here and let me know you did! (Only 1 entry per person this way)
 
 For bonus entries (leave a comment for each bonus activity completed):
 Subscribe to my feedburner emailsFollow me via Google Friend ConnectFollow me on Twitter
 
 
 The last day to enter the giveaway is Sunday, March 13 (03/13/11). I will use random.org to choose a winner and will contact him or her by email (please leave an email if it is not visible in your profile).

Club Party Reviews - Rhapsody Music Service Free Trial

"Without music life would be a mistake."

~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche







This review is part of a series based on the nightclub-themed birthday party I held on 02/26/11. Over the next week or so I'll be posting several of the ideas and items that really helped make it a success!



What would a dance party be without great music? While planning out what we wanted to play for the night club party, we ran into a bit of a blockade: if we bought all of the songs we wanted, we'd have to pay a lot, which we'd rather not do. We didn't want to download them illegally. We also didn't want to use a dance radio service (even though I love Pandora) because of any commercials or songs we didn't want.

What to do? The answer: Rhapsody online music service. The cost? Zero (they offer a 14 day free trial), but we had such a good experience we might keep it if we throw more parties like this.

Rhapsody lets you create playlists and play music from their HUGE database. We were able to get every song we wanted, make multiple playlists, and even edit them on the spot or change songs.

We hooked up a computer to our sound system and Rhapsody worked like a dream. The songs buffered well and the music kept everyone dancing all night long!

Rhapsody is now on my must-have list for any party, and it should be on yours too!



I am not being compensated in any way for this; I simply want to let you all know about how great Rhapsody was for party music.