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Party Planning
- Theme Party Ideas
- Baseball Party Theme
Take
Me Out to the Ball Game!
The key to pulling off a coordinated
event: Evoke your theme throughout the affair. Whether that theme is
as general as a season or a feeling, or as specific as a special flower, it should be the subtle thread that ties
everything together. Your location, invitations, flowers, menu,
cake, and favors should all cleverly reflect one common concept.
Then, get as creative as you can!
We have some baseball party
planning ideas to help get your creative juices flowing.
Motif:
Here are a few ideas to get you
started, have a brainstorming session and we are sure you will
come up with lots of additional things to add to this list. Use Bats,
Soft Baseballs,
mitts & other baseball equipment, pennants, cheer phones,
popcorn
boxes, peanuts, hot dogs, Cracker
Jacks™, Baby Ruth™, bubblegum, beer
cans,
Baseball Hats, uniforms, stadium, diamond, cheerleading
costumes, baseball
posters, life-size
stand ups of baseball players,
Baseball Wall Mural
Party
Slogan:
After selecting this theme for your party, choose a slogan to use in
your invitations, and to use in tying in decorations and personalized
favors to your super sports theme. Try one of the following, or
brainstorm with the birthday boy or girl to come up with the perfect
slogan for your party:
”Corey’s Home Run Happenin’!”
“Grand Slam Gathering!”
“Hey now…You’ll be an All-Star at Jaysen’s Party!”
“We’re gonna have a BALL at Taylor’s Baseball Bash!”
Invitations
Treat the kids to an invitation
that will transport them straight to the 7th inning stretch at
Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field
Attach a box of
Cracker Jack to the invite with Curling Ribbon, and you could
paraphrase the wording to "Take me out to the Ball
Game!" to create a very clever invitation. For example,
"Take me out to Cameron's Birthday Ball Game....Buy me some
peanuts and Cracker Jack, etc."
Be sure that the invitation notes that kids should come dressed
to participate in sporting activities, including the right kind
of footwear. If girl's will also be attending your party, they
could come dressed as cheerleaders and you could provide each
girl with a
Pom Poms as they arrive. The Pom Poms also add a great
splash of color to your decorating!
top
You won’t
have to wait for the World Series to experience the thrill this baseball
party is sure create! We’ve gathered everything you’ll need to
decorate and celebrate grandstand style, and to guarantee all-star
action for everyone! Decorating for this party can be fairly simple,
because typically this party will be held at a ballpark, schoolyard,
backyard, or gym and the focus will be on playing the game. Try to greet
guests with a festive welcome, and create over-the-top tables for
eating, and for food and gift display!
Start by hanging a
Custom Baseball Banners at the entrance, with your personalized
message.
Line a walkway with red stars, writing each guest’s name on a star. Tape the
stars with masking or duct tape to the sidewalk, walkway or exterior
walls leading to the site of the party. The stars can also be used on
the food table and as place cards.
Attach a bouquet of helium filled
Balloons
and
Baseball Balloon to a light post or mailbox so there will
be no mistaking where the fun will be that day!
At some point during the planning stages of your event the subject of how to decorate your tables will arise. When it does stop and think of all the possibilities available to you before you go with standard issue tablecloths. Remember the tops of the tables provide you with a very large surface area and covering them with a theme paper tablecloth or specialty linen print tablecloth is the easiest way to change the feel of a room.. It is also the most cost effective way to decorate.
Get Inspired!
Start by setting your table with these baseball
paper goods. Create a place
setting at the table for each birthday guest. Setting the table with all
the tableware creates a much more dazzling effect.
If you are planning a
more up-scale event then we would suggest renting a
specialty baseball print overlay for your tables.
Add one or a few of the following touches to make your tables pop:
Fill a large
popcorn container with flowers, prizes,
candy or even popcorn. Cute in the entrance hall to give
the immediate feel of a sports party or use as a
centerpiece Wrap
Baseball Beads
around napkins for a cute napkin
ring or tuck napkins into a pair of
Baseball Eyeglasses
.
Place a beautiful
Baseball Folding Fan at each place setting.
Cover the gift or food table with runners made from wheat grass cut into
diamond shapes or use Grass
Green Floral Sheeting Vinyl to create a clever surface
that resembles a ball diamond. Use white athletic tape to create the
bases, home plate and foul lines.
Place a diamond shaped piece of the “infield” under each plate as a placemat on the table where the
kids will eat.
Hang pennants down the back of each chair around the table. A
treasured pennant will hang in the birthday boy or girl’s bedroom for
many years to come!
Set a cheer phone at each place setting as a place card.
Turn well-washed batting helmets upside down, and use them as serving
bowls for dry snacks such as chips, pretzels or Cracker Jacks.
Display your birthday cake in the center of the table…if the party is
for kids, they will love the close up view!
Why not use our
Baseball Sports Bottle for your drinks. It will be an instant hit at your
table.
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Baseball
Room
Decorations |
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Baseball Wall Mural |
Transform
Your Party Room
If your budget is low,
but your dreams are grand, consider the depth of a giant
photo mural. They fill an entire wall, and better yet,
they provide guests with the most realistic setting
imaginable. They also
make an excellent photo background too. |
Megaphones (sport cones) are great for
adding a splash of
color to any party location!
Use a
Baseball Cooler
, fill with a few six packs
and ice. Great for a centerpiece or just an accent.
If girl's will also be attending
your party, they could come dressed as cheerleaders and you could
provide each girl with a
Pom Poms as they arrive. The Pom
Poms also make a great decorating item adding a great
splash of color to any party location!
Carry your theme through, even to the bathroom. Look for items to place in your bathroom like: baseball guest towels, a baseball toothbrush holder and tumbler. Cover a tissue box in a baseball print fabric.
Put me in
coach…I’m ready to play! You’ll score a home run with this party. Balls, bats and mitts are the most
critical element for a baseball party!
Field
of Dreams! Start by accenting your baseball party with lots of
baseball noisemakers. Dress your guests with baseball hats and
beads and make some noise for your favorite team. This
Home Run Derby Pack
Favor
Pack is the perfect addition to any Baseball theme event. Great
for Little League events, too.
Use a
Baseball Pinata . We’ve yet to find a child who doesn’t want
to take a swing at one at a party. For a fun twist, use a bat as the
stick to break the piņata. Use caution other things including your
guests have been known to get hit by sticks used for breaking pinatas.
Or use some of these baseball
favor items. If the party is being held in a
gym or backyard, add a pitcher’s mound, bases and home plate. Plan
time for the kids to play as they choose. They will enjoy this as much
as anything you might organize.
If your party will be held outdoors, prior to the party blow up
approximately 3-4 water-filled Balloons (5”) per child. Have the kids play a traditional water balloon toss game, instructing
them to try to master their pitching skills!
Divide the guests into two equal teams for a Home Run Relay.
Create two starting lines with masking tape, and place two bases about
15-20 yards away. Line the teams up with the uniforms at the starting
line. At the sound of the whistle, the first player on each team quickly dresses
up, runs the course, and then returns the uniform to the next player.
The first team to have all of its players complete the course wins. A
batting helmet, oversized baseball jersey, men's sized cleats or
cross-trainers, and a bat for each team will lead to some homerun fun!
Baseball Balloon Relay. Divide the party guests into two equal
groups. About 25 yards away, place mounds of inflated balloons by
two orange cheer phones. These balloons should be over-inflated to make
popping easier. At the sound of a whistle the first two relay
contestants, one from each team, run to the cones and remove one
balloon. Each must sit on a balloon until it pops. Once the balloon
pops, the players run back to the starting line, and tags the next
player in line. The first team to complete the course wins. Not a quiet
game…but a guaranteed favorite!
Set the stage for “Game 7 of the Birthday Series” complete
with dazzling player introductions, pumped up music, and play-by-play
commentary. Moms and dads can be invited back to the party early to
root, root, root for the home team, and to witness this spectacle.
You’ll definitely want the video camera running!
Gimmicks. All the finest sporting venues have a gimmick for
introducing the starting lineup! Start with a budget priced Solid
Color Flat Paper.
Prior to the party, cut the paper into 6’ sections. Using poster
paint, write each child’s name, nickname and number in large print on
the paper. Have an adult helper hold each end of the paper at the start
of the game, and let each player crash through the paper as his/her name
is announced. If the children are younger, you may want to perforate the
center of the paper with a pin or small nail before the party to make
the big entry easier.
A Karaoke Machine is the perfect tool for a sports commentator to call
the play-by-play! Recruit dad or another sports nut for the job. Give
the announcer the kid’s names and numbers, and some pre-scripted notes
with a little personal bio of each child. Give each child equal airtime,
despite the fact that some may be gifted athletes, while others will
have had little or no experience with the game. Depending on the ages of
the guests, you may want to have a batting tee available.
Ya’ll ready for this? Pump up the jam with some great sports arena
music and sound effects. The ESPN Jock Jams and Jock Rock series of CDs
are great. The background sound will relax the kids who might be a
little intimidated, and fire up the whole team! Let the “G” rated
trash talk begin! “Hey batter, batter!”
Take party guests to a facility with
batting cages or to a high school, college or pro game if a baseball
field isn’t available.
Keep it simple. A baseball party calls
for baseball park food.
- Hotdogs – a must.
- Soda and beer.
- Don't forget the peanuts and Cracker
Jacks™.
For many, this would be enough. But I
can't imagine serving just hotdogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks™, so add
other picnic/summer foods.
- Baked beans
- potato salad
- macaroni salad
- cut veggies and dip
- chips
- Jell-O mold
- anything all-American
- Serve apple pie for dessert or create
a fun baseball cake.
Another idea: Mark out a diamond on the center of a square cake. Make up
fondant squares for each of the bases, use a hair/grass tip to pipe out
your grass around the bases, sprinkle some vanilla cookies that have
been crushed around the field for the sandy areas, or use chocolate
cookies if you want it to look like dirt. Then get plastic
team figurines. Place the various players around the field and
bases. For the borders around the cake, pipe out large round
balls and perhaps mark them so that they look like baseballs (make them
look like they have the red or black stitching as a real baseball does).
Get some of the baseball
cake candles and some
of the hard sugar Baseball
Mitt Icing Decorations from
Wilton.com. Put those around the sides of the cake. Then I would
make up a sign board using fondant as well for the birthday message
greeting as though it was the scoreboard.
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You can use a
Sports Ball Pan Set, all
the instructions for various different sports balls come
with it, including the baseball. Just put it on a cake
board like you would for any other cake. This is a small
cake though, if you need a bigger cake you could make
several balls or use the half ball pan and place it on
top of a square or rectangular cake. If you use the
sports ball, for an extra touch, add a bit of grass
(green coconut) around each ball. If you don't like
coconut use some green shred. |
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