Life is a gamble. What better way to celebrate that gamble than by rolling the dice or playing cards all night? A great casino night is definitely a lot of fun to be had by all. You can choose. Of course you will not be able to use real money for this but can allow each guest their own set of chips or monopoly money to play with for the evening and have fun prizes for the winners and funny parting gifts for those who do not fare so well. The important thing is that you are celebrating the great gamble that life really is in the perfect style for doing so.

Whether you go for a grand James Bond Style Casino event complete with tuxedos and a full and flowing bar or go for a more tropical sort of casual casino theme it is important that the music and drinks flow freely and that everyone has the opportunity to have a great time. Great decorations for your casino night will differ according to the style of casino you are attempting to incorporate. Needless to say gaming tables, a roulette wheel, and lots of dice are sure to please your guests as great party décor. Otherwise go with the sub theme of your party.

Be sure to let your guests know if there is a dress code for the evening when sending out invitations. You may purchase your invitations online quite easily or print your own. Again you will want to go with the method that works best with the theme of the Casino birthday party you are throwing. If it's an over the hill sort of birthday party you might want to make the invitations humorous with some sort of reference to the fact that lighting the candles on the cake may be a gamble in and of itself. Remember to let your invitations begin the party theme and work from there to build things up.

On the big night you can raid your local party supply store or an online party supply shop for all sorts of gambling related decorations. From fuzzy dice to oversized cardboard cards and hundreds of things in between you can go as elegant as you'd like with your casino night birthday party or go for some of the more 'party' themed casino settings that you will find as well. You are only limited by your imagination and personal tastes when it comes to properly decorating for your casino birthday party. With that in mind, make the decorations as fun or as elegant as you can stand.

As for the food, what sort of self respecting casino wouldn't have a grand buffet prepared. Display your food buffet style and if possible have a catering staff circulating with drinks throughout the room. For your casino night birthday party finger foods are the best. Shrimp cocktail, crab puffs, petit fours, cocktail sausages, meatballs, sausage rolls, pigs in blankets, dips with appropriate bread and crackers, finger sandwiches, and any other great finger food you can think of. Another great addition to your buffet table would be a chocolate fountain with plenty of marshmallows, pretzels, and fruits to cover.

You will want to be sure to have appropriate casino sound effects. While it isn't possible to have a wall full of slot machines, at least not in my neck of the woods, you can get the slot machine sound effect for a more realistic feeling in your casino or you could skip the slots and keep this a table games only section with great music overhead. The choice is yours and the sky is the limit.

Be sure to take plenty of photographs in order to create a scrapbook of the grand event. Not only will this help preserve your own memories of the evening but it also makes a great gift for the guests who have shared moments in your life and make the gamble worthwhile.

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Television shows such as CSI (and the subsequent CSI Miami and CSI New York), NCIS, and Cold Case Files have made crime scenes and crime investigations the new murder mystery parties. They are a great deal of fun when properly planned and well executed but leave a lot of room for failure if poorly planned or inflexible. If you are considering a party such as this, a great party for teens and adults alike be sure that you either have an actual mystery to solve as the evening progresses or that you simply use the theme as a backdrop. There is no real right or wrong way to do a birthday party but if you want to throw the party that everyone will be talking about you'll need to create a crime for the scene you're investigating and leave clues all around to help with the investigation.

Decorating your crime scene party can be a lot of fun with crime scene tape and chalk outlines on the floor. Be sure to make them realistic in size by having someone actually lay down for you to draw the outline. You can leave fake footprints, fingerprints, and clue cards throughout the room (not too well hidden unless you want people snooping). You can even enlist plenty of help when leaving the clues and decorating because of the novelty of this sort of party. You do not have to limit the festivities to one room and you can, if you are feeling truly adventurous, have a different case going on in different rooms and have the kids draw numbers for teams and race to solve the crime first.

You might also do well to set up a lab, complete with microscope and tables dedicated to sorting out the evidence and make notes for the shocking conclusion of the crimes in question. Of course you will want to make the crimes simple and solvable by leaving clues that the kids will have no trouble finding or deciphering without making it too easy. Use your favourite episode for inspiration if you must and throw in a red herring or two to keep things fun. Young and old alike, the kids will have a good time arguing over the clues and trying to determine who really committed the crimes (and of course making up their assumptions and stories as to why the crimes occurred in the first place).

For food you can have an actual CSI cake or go with cookies that are shaped like footprints or thumb print cookies for an excellent play on words. Of course by the time kids are old enough to enjoy a party such as this they probably would be happy with good food rather than themed food and pizza, sloppy Joes, finger foods, chips and dips, and cookies and cake will make an excellent food addition to the party without needing to fit in with any one theme. Be sure to have plenty of pop and bottled water on hand though because crime solving is thirsty work.

In real life it is best to leave the jobs of solving crimes up to the men and women who were trained to do so. In the world of birthday parties however, crime solving and crime scene investigating reign supreme as the next great thing in birthday party ideas.

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Grown ups merit to celebrate their birthdays too. Birthdays are after all a celebrating of life and another year in the world. It is smart that grown ups would like a little something more important than the classic cake and ice cream and childish fantasy theme for their parties. This doesn't suggest that grown ups can't remember their fantasies however and this leaves a large amount of room for interpretation on the theme of barbecues when it comes to a great birthday party. You can go the Cowboy way when it comes to a birthday celebration barbecue and throw a shindig that would make old "W" proud. Texas sized ribs, burgers, steaks, hot dogs, and country music for all. Be certain to wear your cowboy boots and have gingham table garments for this event that should be a family friendly way to go.

Do not forget to bring all of the "fixin's" or ask the guests to pitch in their best dishes in true southern custom. This is a good way to go for those with large families that need nothing less than a reason to celebrate their lives together. If the cowboy way doesn't precisely ring all of your bells and whistles there is always the concept of a Caribbean barbecue. This is a party that would make Jimmy Buffett proud.

Talking of Buffett it's doubtless a smart idea to bring some of his music along to set the tone and there are loads of other Caribbean or island electrified musicians to get you thru the evening. Caribbean Jerk is a great rub or sauce for the chicken or fish you throw on the griddle and you can put up with other conventional Caribbean fare for your dining pleasure and that of your visitors. You might also go the funny route for your important day and go the redneck barbecue party route. You'll need to use inexpensive paper plates, inexpensive plastic furniture, a metal tub full of ice and RC Cola ( r ), plastic forks and knives ( the Sun. best naturally ), and everyday redneck food like pigs in blanket, gumbo, fried chicken, and potato salad.

This may be a fairly fun party if all of the guests get into the festivities and dress and act the part. It is certainly a barbecue that'll be remembered, and discussed. One of the favourite sorts of BBQs for a birthday whack is the Luau.

There are some things about those Hawaiians that actually understand how to do a barbecue the right way from the beginning. Decorations should be island and tropical in nature. Be certain to use coconut cups for drinks and have masses of Spam available ( it is a delicacy there ) ! You may also wish to be certain to have masses of leis for all of your guests and grass skirts, hula music, and lots of loud Hawaiian shirts for the duration. In truth, a Hawaiian shirt contest ( for the loudest naturally ) is just about a pre requisite. A barbecue is a way to bring buddies and family together to celebrate birthdays.

If you're a little lost as regards what to do to celebrate your grown up birthday or that of a loved one, try one of the ideas above or select your unique spin on the theme of a barbecue.

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