Rainbow Brite party idea

Many of the Gen-X-ers are turning 40 this year. What a great opportunity to throw a retro party for them. Here is one idea that works great for a girlfriend. Some of the ideas for this party were pulled from multiple sources including Family Fun recipes, Joy Shop, and Celebrations among others who's links I've included.

Rainbow Brite (Gen-X) party idea

Decor:  Keep the decorations simple solid colors of the rainbow. Trust me when I say you will have plenty of rainbow items to set atop the solid backgrounds. You can decorate with items such as balloons, paper lanterns, streamers etc. Consider using a solid white tablecloth to frame your beautiful rainbow items. Solid color paper ware is recommended, just buy several rainbow colors and layer them together for beautiful place settings. Make sure that you include something with the Rainbow Brite character to anchor the theme down.

Getting Crafty: This is the time to dig out those scissors, glue gun, scrapbook paper etc, and get creative.

• Place mats are a great place to start. For your place mats you can use a simply 12x12 sheet of sold scrapbook paper, or if you are more crafty you can embellish them into place cards. Be sure to put the names at the top so that your plates do not cover it.
• Consider making some rainbow colored display trays as your centerpiece of your table. Here is a DIY version that can easily be done on a small budget.

Food: Be sure to have finger food available like fruit plate and a veggie plate to go along with the birthday cupcakes.

• Those custom made display trays go FANTASTIC with rainbow cupcakes, just be sure to use a cupcake liner with them. I personally like a silver cupcake liner (to hide the surprise) with white icing and rainbow sprinkles (or nerds candy).
• Fruit plate ideas - strawberries, orange slices, pineapple chunks, kiwi, blueberries, purple grapes.
• Veggie plate ideas - red peppers, carrots, yellow squash, cucumber, purple asparagus.

Drinks: Of course this is a great opportunity for some great fun. Here are a few links to help you find your inner bartender. Please make sure you guests drink responsibly. It's a good idea to have at least one non-alcoholic "fun" drink available. If you are short on glasses, consider buying a case of mason jars. The large jar opening can sometime be troublesome to drink from, so grab a inexpensive bag of rainbow straws to go with them.

• Rainbow shots
• Jello shots
• Skittles vodka
• Margaritas can be made in all different colors. The problem with this is that you will need a dedicated bartender to keep up since the drinks take longer to make.
• Rainbow soda (non-alcoholic). Simply make rainbow ice cubes using 1/2 water and 1/2 colored fruit juice ahead of time. Then when its time to serve, put the cubes into a cup and pour ginger ale over the top.
• If nothing else, whip up a few pictures of colored Kool-ade. I think lemonade seems to go over the best. Not exactly gourmet, but it is definitely budget friendly and fits the retro theme. You can dress it up a bit by putting it into a glass dispenser with ice cubes and slices of fresh lemon. To keep the drink from diluting, make a few trays of ice cubes ahead of time from the same batch. Then as they melt, it won't be adding water to the mix.

Entertainment: A great game to play is era trivia. You can purchase a pre-made trivia game, or simply make some cards up yourself and make one up. Just remember to keep it simple and include some Rainbow Brite questions. Here is a link to get you started.