Irish / St. Patrick's Day Theme Party Supplies

At the entrance to your party/event, station a live person in character to greet them as they enter with some traditional Irish music playing in the background. A few examples are described below:
......A flight attendant welcoming everyone ‘off the plane’ and to enjoy their stay in Ireland (or better a specific city in Ireland that you’ve chosen to ‘host’ your party.)
......Anyone dressed in traditional Irish clothing ready to welcome your guests ‘into their country’
......Someone dressed as a leprechaun wishing your guests a ‘lucky time’ as they enter.

Hang fabric for simple decoration. Near larger metropolitan areas one can always find some type of ‘garment district’ or wholesaler shops for fabric - otherwise consider saving that Joann's 40% off coupon they send out to those on their mailing list once a month. These are great for finding a high variety of prints for prices that are a steal. Have fun searching for appropriate prints to hang like pinched tapestries on the walls. This simple trick does wonders for decoration (especially when the decoration supply is pretty thin.)

Irish Treasure Gems - CLICK HERE!

This game would work for older children as well. Look up at your local library (or online) how to say the following words in Gaelic: Yes, No, Please and Thanks. (I say look them up because spelling them in Gaelic won’t help pronouncing them with a native tongue.) Provide these words and translations for each of your guests and explain that the English versions of these four words are not to be used (either for a specified period of time or for the duration of the party/event.) Additionally, arm each guest with three markers (coins, fake jewels, etc.) If a guest uses one of the four English words in any way (even in casual conversation) the first other guest to notice gets to ask for one of the markers. At the end of the specified time, the one with the most markers wins.

Plan a fun treasure hunt for leprechaun gold! Either design one yourself or download one from the Internet. For a pre-designed leprechaun themed treasure hunt, CLICK HERE

Play a game of Irish themed Bingo - to download a complete Irish themed Bingo set, CLICK HERE

Make sure that every guest has a sticker-tag with the name of a fictitious stereotypical Frenchman/woman on it (i.e. Fifi the Can-Can Dance, Jacques the Painter, etc.) Then, below that name, write a small fact about that fictitious character (i.e. Got lost in the Louvre, Has never been to the Eiffel Tower, Loves to eat croissants, etc.) Then, give every guest a pencil and piece of paper. Explain to your guests that they must write down the names of every ‘character’ present in the room while they are having conversations and meeting others (a great way to initiate mingling.) Be sure to tell them ahead of time how many guests there are so that they know when they’ve found them all. Throughout the evening, call out at different times ways to cross names off their list. You see, one of the characters in the room has just stolen a painting from the Louvre Museum (for example) – but which one? At some point you might give a clue “The character loves the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower” – then everyone would cross those names off their list. A half hour later, you might say “The character hates croissants” – then they would know to cross off the name who had that detail (they may need to go searching again among the other guests to remind themselves who had that fact on their sticker…) Again, it’s a casual game that can keep the party moving, without asking a lot from your guests.

For a great refreshment, consider serving Shamrock Shakes! Although it might not be a traditional Irish dessert, it can be fun for westerners and kids will LOVE them. Make milk shakes using your own personal recipe, just make sure to substitute the vanilla ice cream for mint chocolate chip ice cream! If the color isn't green enough for you, feel free to put in a couple extra drops of green food coloring!

If you have a large stone in your backyard, clean it off and bring it in as a Blarney Stone for your guests to kiss for good luck before the big Fighting Irish game!

For fun snacks, pass out licorice shaped Irish pipes. These are a standard shape for many candy companies. Check online if you aren’t able to find any at your local nice candy store.

If you are planning to have a pot gold as part of your table centerpiece, consider this rainbow trick. Get several colors of the rainbow in party streamers. You'll have to decide the specifics on how it will look depending on your own party space, however it goes like this: Attach one end of each colored streamer to the pot itself and the other end to the ceiling. When all of the colors are lined up side by side, it will look like a rainbow coming down and ending at the table...with a pot of gold sitting at the END of the rainbow!