Thread: Too many people now...help needed!

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Well obviously mother doesn't know best...

This "party" was supposed to be a movie night with mom, her friend, my sis, dad, me, my 2 friends, my gf. However she decided to ask a lot more ppl. It became 12 last week...now 20. And even worse her friend asked my sis (not me) if it could b a surprise bday party for my mom.

So now movie night is out of the question >

Mom bought 3 blacklights for the ceiling fan over our table, and those along with 4 candles and our fishtank is our only lighting in the dining room. So the lighting will blow.

I'm kinda screwed with this whole party. It went fro
8 people to adding another 12 of her friends from high school that she hasn't seen in a while in a week!!!!

Food won't be te problem because everyone is bringing something, my problem is lighting, what's too dark and too much light. Also our house isnt the largest the largest house, so can anyone suggest some cheap ideas for engaging the outside? Also just help to make the part not suck lol. Next year I'm laying ground rules. Thank you so much for your help.

This is my first party thrown and I have no clue what to do since she invited all these people...

uuhhh? Boy did you get screwed. Did you ask your Mom why did she do that? ha um. Mostly people dont mind camping out on the floor to watch a movie with each other throwing popcorns.

First of all, if your mom bought the cheap incandescent black lights replace those right away with the CF black lights that screw into the socket. They are about $6 apiece, you can get them at any large home store like Home Depot or Lowes. Really, they do light up a room pretty well. Also, you can get candles and candle holders at any thrift store for cheap. They don't have to match, just get some that suit your fancy.
Secondly, you might want to look at some of the other threads with party game ideas. I like "winking murderer" and "tempt your fate". And if you want to get people outside, what about a scavenger hunt?
Hope this helps.

You should get some strings of orange lights - it'll help brighten up the room. Or use candlelight.

It will be fine - you can handle this!

White sheets to cover the furniture like in the old haunted house movies. I've heard that asking at hotel/motels for their old to-be-thrown-away sheets works - that would be free if so. I've purchased white sheets from the thrift stores for 3-4 dollars each.

You can throw them over a dining room table too and add some dyed cheesecloth to give it a creepy old cloth effect.

Cheesecloth. It can be the dollar store "creepy cloth" or check out a fabric store for some in bulk. You can dye it with tea or coffee or even a small amount of gray acrylic paint (not watercolor, acrylic won't run if it gets wet once the fabric is dry), then shred it and tear holes in it. I use it for: curtains, drape around dining room light fixture, hang from ceiling fan, stretch out over the tables.

You said that your mom got blacklights for the light fixture over the table - I hope it is this kind:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1099&bih=646'

and not like this:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:0,s:0

The second image is of the fake blacklight bulbs that don't make things glow and get REALLY hot - they are dangerous and I'm not sure why they still get sold.

If you've got real blacklights, then you could just wash the sheets in regular detergent and they will glow - you could even soak the cheesecloth (or get a spray bottle and fill it with water with a few capfuls of detergent or Woolight (I got the generic version from the dollar store for this) and spray down the cheesecloth that is near the blacklights and they'll glow too.

You can get candles and put them in jars and have them scattered around the areas too for more ambient lighting. If you have mason or jelly jars, you can use this tutorial to make them look creepy.

Scatter some halloween props and stuff (skulls, spiders, whatever you have) it will look pretty darn good. Definitely do have your movies and folks can sit down and watch them or go into the other room if they want to socialize. Just remember that the folks coming to the party will probably not be expecting much of anything in the way of decor, so anything you do is going to be just fine!

I like the battery tea lights, especially if people are drinking. Then no one has to keep an eye on the open flame.

Look for a string of the big christmas lights in orange... they put off a ton of light. String them around the room or put them on a ficus tree or something.

I painted my light bulbs orange with a glass paint and change out all the bulbs in the house. I won's swear it's completely safe, but I've been doing it for 7 years and never had a problem.

I don't think the movie night is killed - make the inside the movie viewing area, and the outside your visiting/chatting area. Since inside is for viewing movies, you can leave it dark and not have to worry about lighting. You can use orange string lights for the outside - they provide good lighting and are very in the spirit. Haha. Put together a playlist of music and leave playing outside. Just those two things of brighter light and music should draw people outside - at least, it seems to work at our parties. You might even think about putting the food outside, which will also encourage folks outside. Purposing the two areas should also help with folks who are inside actually watching the movie, as opposed to half wanting to watch and the other half interrupting or not paying attention and chatting through it.

I agree with everyone, orange string lights are your answer! You can get them pretty cheap right now, at stores like Walmart in the halloween section. The purple are great but don't give off much light. You can even put lights on the table around the food. All they need is a plug in. Have fun!! Next year you will be back on the forum planning your big bash of 2011