Roaring 20's

You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone. - Al Capone

A bunch of us recently threw one of our best friend's a 30th birthday party in homage to her Roaring 20's! We had a great time researching one of the best decades ever and turning one of our houses into a retro Speakeasy! Invites included 20's slang and the Speakeasy password!

The spring off point was a vintage photo of a 1920's party decorated in streamers which we replicated in the dining room! We kept a simple black/ white/ silver theme running throughout all the little touches including feathers, flowers and fringe curtains. Other fun accents included squirt guns lying about and fake bullet holes in the walls... but of course we posted a sign "All Firearms Must Be Checked At The Door"! However, the best decoration of all was everyone's fabulous costumes including flappers, bootleggers and gangsters! And with a bit of photoshop, a friend made an Al Capone style "Wanted" poster featuring the birthday girl as the outlaw of the hour!

Lots of research went into the appetizers for this party. Aside from the requisite "Bathtub Gin", "Hooch", and "Giggle Water"... we served up some treats either invented or made popular in the 1920's including:

• Peanut Butter & Jam Sandwiches
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake
• Jell-o
  
• Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Charleston Chews, Milk Duds, Gummi Bears, Twizzlers, Babe Ruth Bars, Reese's PB Cups

One of the hostess's got crafty and made fun food picks out of vintage head shots of 1920's party goers wishing a Happy Birthday!

Also, a friend whipped up some chocolate covered pretzel rod "cigarettes and cigars" featured on silver trays at 1920's prices.

With everyone dressed up it was a great excuse to set up a photo booth! We hung some fabric and hired a friend to snap goofy photos of the guests using props like an inflatable saxophone, a chalkboard, sparkly glasses, boas, and the most popular: homemade felt mustaches glued on dowel handles. Everyone (including me of course) hammed it up and loved it!