~MAD HATTER PARTY!!!!~

by Mimi
(San Jose, CA)

Every 15 YO girl wants a complete special and unique and DIFFERENT Sweet 16 party.

You do research, make a poll, ask personally, and nothing comes to mind. Well, how about being a Mad Hatter for a day?

DRESSING UP:

You don't have to spend a hundred bucks on a fancy dress or a mad hatter costume. I say just about $20-60 on a crazy, wild, prints-and-patterns formal Juniors' dress from Macy's or Forever 21 should do the trick.

And instead of heels or flats, go for your regular everyday sneakers, like Converse or Vans.
Your makeup: A bright-color lipstick like red, pink, purple, or even yellow (absolutely stunning on everyone.

I've seen this color lipstick on the runway and let me tell you it is GORGEOUS!!!). Don't go too wild on the makeup though...

And definitely NOT like the 2010 movie Disney's Alice in Wonderland mad hatter (Johnny Depp being the actor)!!! Or maybe even some super gloss or glitter mascara to stand out a little.

Accessorize with a huge crazy top hat from Party City or Party America or even your dad's tie, and if you want, maybe even a neck ruff to stand out even more!

For your hair I say go for big, bouncy curls and maybe even add hair glitter! :)

DECORATION:

On the dining table(s), drape a simple white tablecloth on the table then gather a bunch of different tableware and eating utensils, from huge plastic beer mugs and pink polka-dotted plates to tiny tea cups and neon yellow paper plates, go random!

To make the seating different, staple or tape on different fabrics or paper to differ the chairs.

Actually, practically all the decorations should be random :) You can hang cut-out flowers that you or a sibling colored as a preschooler, and different colored streamers, and a huge homemade sign that your family helped you decorate.

Maybe even a bubble machine would do :)

ENTERTAINMENT:

Music can be anything the birthday girl wants :) Whether it's hiring a band, DJ, or placing a big stereo, I'm pretty sure the mad hatter is too mad to care about the music :)

While the music plays have the guests dance, like a dance party. Strobe lights in a dimmed/completely dark room are appropriate.

Games are essential too. One game I played at my 5th grade Science Camp is very fun and called The Shoes Game. Only play if you have more than 20 guests. Here are instructions:

-Have your guests pick even-numbered teams (2 teams), then take off all your shoes (not socks) then place them in a pile a the center of the room. Make sure all shoes are shuffled and random, so that no two eact shoes are easy to find. One team goes on the farthest left side of the shoe pile, and the other team goes on the opposite side.

-One person will not play, but rather be the "Caller." The Caller will stand near the shoe pile. Have each team yell out a 15-second countdown. In the meantime, the Caller will study the shoe pile and find a category of shoes. The Caller must find at least 2 pairs of shoes in that category. Ex.: If the Caller chooses the category "shoes with yellow on them", the Caller must find at least 2 pairs of shoes in that category. When when the countdown is over, the Caller will yell out the category name. For example, the Caller might say, "Black sneakers!" or "Purple boots!" or "Red flats" or "shoes with shoe laces!" or "shoes with gold on them!" etc. When the Caller does so, everyone who has that kind of shoe must run to the pile, find their shoes, put them on properly, then run back to their team. Repeat process. When there are no shoes left then each team counts how many shoes there are. The team with most pairs of shoes wins.

FOOD:

Anything.
For the cake I suggest a crazy, fun cake with the candles in random places and a fun color

FAVORS:
When a guest arrives, give each guest a hat to choose, or have guests bring their own.

INVITATIONS:

Use construction paper and hand-decorate them with glued-on cut-outs, ribbon, glitter glue, sequins, etc.!

Type up a short rhymey "You're invited!" poem then glue it to each card.