by Veronica Sosa

Created on: March 09, 2009

Ideas for an Original St. Patrick's Day Party

Even if you have never attended a St. Patrick's Day party, you could easily guess that it often includes shamrock dcor and green food coloring. While this is typical, traditional, and in the spirit of the holiday, I wanted to provide ideas that would spice up an ordinary St. Paddy's day party into a memorable success.

The first thing to consider when planning any party is invitations. While you could easily purchase a number of St. Paddy themed invitations at a number of stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, or online sites, nothing screams originality better than getting creative and making your own invitations.
Here are some ideas when making your own:

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Buy some green, gold, yellow, or white cardstock. These can be found at stores such as Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, and several online stores. Type your own text in Word, using a fancy or playful font, and print it on the card stock.

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Make your own limerick in the text, or present a theme. One idea would be to request that everyone must wear the most hideously, over-the-top St. Patrick's Day outfit they can think of. Another option could be to ask guests to wear the most original St. Patrick's Day t-shirt they can find. These options get your guests involved in the party, and are a variation from typically requesting that everyone wear green.

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Get creative! Go to craft stores, such as Michael's, and purchase stickers or scrapbooking materials to decorate and give the invitations a personal and interesting look. A less pricey and time-consuming option would be to download some free St. Patrick's Day clipart, cartoons, and photographs online, and use them to create your own template.

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Get your postage stamps personalized at sites like Zazzle.com, and order St. Patrick's Day Party Invitation postage stamps.

The next thing to think about is decorations. Green everything always works; green paper plates, cups, napkins, etc.
Green, white, and yellow streamers and balloons are a popular option, but there are more original things you can add to your house to set the mood.

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Decorate with green bouquets or actual shamrocks. To get green flowers, buy white carnations and have them sit for a few days in a vase filled with water and green food coloring. The flowers will eventually turn green. You can also buy potted shamrocks at 1800Flowers.com. If you live in an area heavy in clover, considering collecting the clover and tying them with gold ribbon, and putting them in

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