fortieth birthday decorations Archives

Milestone Birthdays

There are those certain age special birthdays — forty, fifty,sixty. The fortieth birthday is a huge one. Perhaps turning forty is the most difficult transition. After that,your fiftieth birthday and your sixtieth birthday seem much easier to handle. For the person throwing the birthday party, there is likely a wish to make this birthday different. Here is a collection of hints and tips to make the certain age birthday party truly unusual. It takes a little planning in advance to get some of the props you need.

The first big question is whether to focus on the decade when the person was born or on the decade when the person was growing up. Your best bet is to focus on the year that the person had their first big transition birthday, which typically is the thirteenth birthday.

If you are the same age more or less as the person, you will be able to remember what would have been served at this party. Celery sticks with Cheese Whiz stuffing? Chips and onion soup mix dip? What kind of food and drink was most popular for the birthday person when he or she was thirteen? Ice cream sundaes? Cherry Coke? It might take a little effort to pull together the ingredients but having something specifically from the birthday boy or girl’s youth is worth it. Just in case, here is a recipe for Cherry Coke: Fill a regular glass 3/4 full with Coke, stir in 1 tablespoon grenadine syrup and 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice. Add ice.

While it would be fun if people could dress in the style of that era, it is not always easy to find outfits from the period — and if you have saved your old clothes, chances are they don’t fit like they used to. Don’t make it complicated by suggesting that people dress from another decade. Just focus on the ambiance of the room. Rent a movie that was popular from that time and have it playing in the background. Turn the sound off on the movie and put on some music from that period.

Set up a table with punch. You can have two punch bowls,one with alcohol and one without. Have finger foods. Save your energy for the cake and ice cream (or ice cream sundaes). You can dress up the theme by using serving dishes from the era — you will likely be able to borrow these or find them in thrift shops. If not, and the birthday is a fortieth birthday look for something tie-dyed to use as a tablecloth or find a disco ball. Ask around, there are likely people you know who have such objects in stored someplace in their attic.