That’s right, its party time again so why not a deco St Patty’s Day party? For those who have read the prior party posts, I turn to my trusted The Party Book by Mary J. Breen. To start, invite 40-60 of your closest friends for an evening of gay frivolity. Invitations can be shamrocks cut from green construction paper or card stock decorated with shamrock stickers. Don’t forget to inform your guest they will be expected to be “A wearing of the green”!

For the proper ambience, cut large shamrocks out of green card stock and attach to floral wire. These can be placed in potted plants or bud vases. Your artistic creations can also be taped to the walls and lampshades to set a festive mood. Dangling some from the ceiling off crepe streamers as well as setting out clusters of green and white balloons will set a jolly mood.

Now for the fun. Have ready an assortment of crepe paper, construction paper, glue, tape, glitter, string, pins and several scissors. As the guests arrive, they can spend some time creating hats, brooches and anything their imaginations can come up with to wear throughout the party. They can even make extras for your fashionably late arrivals.

Time for games! Blarney Stone is a nice ice breaker. Guests sit in a circle and a small stone, (the Blarney Stone) is handed to the first guest. They must wish aloud something they wish the person next to them must do. This continues until you, as the host, blows a whistle at unexpected intervals. The unlucky guest holding the stone must comply with the wish bestowed upon them. Oh, the hilarity of it all.

For something REALLY offensive: One Third of a Pig. You need to have one more female participant than male. Your male guests sit in a circle with an empty chair between them encircling the ladies. The ladies walk in that circle to a jaunty Irish tune played on your piano or whistled by your male guests. At random intervals, you give the signal to stop and the woman run to sit in an unoccupied chair. The unseated woman is “a third of a pig” (I warned you this was offensive). The women who are seated should engage in polite conversation with the gentleman to their left for one full minute. If the “third of a pig” sees a seated lady fail to engage in conversation with her partner, she may call her out and switch places. After one minute, the whole is started again with the next unseated lady becoming the “third of a pig”. This continues until one female guest loses three times and becomes a “whole pig”. She stands in the center of the circle giving her best example of a pig – oinks and all! (I can just imagine the looks on everyone’s faces as they read this now – priceless.)

Assuming you still have guests after the prior game, something a whole lot less offensive, Gumdrop Threading. Fill a large bowl with green gumdrops. Give each guest a needle with a length of thread. See who can string the most gumdrops in two minutes using only one hand. (I suggest keeping a few Band-Aids available.)

Here’s fun one, Irish Jack Straws. Arrange a pile of green candies in the center of the table and top with a small candy or plastic pig. (Hmm, I see a theme developing.) In turn, guests remove a candy from the pile and continue until the pig falls. That guest is “out”; the candies and pig are reset and the game play continues until only one player remains. The pig becomes their prize.

Now for some Irish Croquet. Create wickets out of heavy wire and set around the floor. Give your guests a wooden spoon and a potato. The game is played in the traditional way except cheating is encouraged. (I know a few people who would like that.) If caught, however, the player must start all over again.

To calm things down after all that revelry, guests join in an informal sing along of favorite Irish tunes such as “Believe Me if All Those Endearing Young Charms” (it brings back such memories) or the ever popular “The Harps That Once Through Tara’s Halls”, “Kathleen Mavourneen” and of course, ”When You and I Were Young, Maggie”.

Don’t forget to feed your guests! A molded gelatin salad of finely chopped apple and cabbage shaped like a shamrock served on a bed of lettuce makes a tasty treat. Minced pork and relish on potato rolls, and cream cheese with nuts and chopped peppers or chives sandwiches served with Minted Fruit Punch follow. Pistachio ice cream and cupcakes iced with green tinted frosting ends the night on a sweet note.

May the road rise to greet you

Chris & Anthony (The Freakin’,’Tiquen Guys)