Having A Party? There’s An App For That…

May 15, 2012 – 9:00 am

Having A Party? There's An App For That…Technology and fun have long gone hand in hand, or mouse in hand, and when it comes to throwing a party it seems that there really is an app for that. We’ve been having a look around at some of the currently available iPhone apps specifically designed to help organise your party, and make sure it goes with a bang. We’ll let you decide just how effective these apps are, and whether perhaps you’re more likely to find yourself sharing a lonely white wine spritzer with Siri.

Invitations

On our website we have a whole heap of party invitations which you can send out to friends and family giving them all the information they need to come along and have a great time. But perhaps you find writing personalised invitations on gorgeous paper and sending them by post or handing them over in person something of a chore. Perhaps what is missing is the lack of personal touch. Nothing says personal invitation as much as mass messaging.

There are several iPhone apps designed to let you send invitations to everyone you wish to invite to your party. Most of these apps give you a huge choice of almost 6 different designs, most of which can be partially customised. Of course, the beauty of sending out an iPhone party invitation is that you don’t have to feel forced to invite those neolithic technology-averse friends and relatives who have still not yet crawled out of the primordial soup and got themselves a smartphone. If they don’t have an iPhone, they don’t get an invite. Simples!

Drinks Planner

You know how it is, you invite a whole heap of friends over for a party, and then have absolutely no clue what drinks to get. Will three bottles of wine be enough for your party of 20? Will a four pack of lager be sufficient for your 12 raucous friends? Should you get one bottle of vodka and a couple of lemons, or a couple of bottles of vodka and a pomegranate? Decisions, decisions.

The drinks planner app allows you to enter the number of guests coming to your party, the length of time your party is likely to last, and the type of drinkers who will be there. The app will intelligently deduce how much of each type of drink you should order. To be honest, if you feel you need an iPhone app to work out how many drinks your friends are likely to consume, it is fairly probable that these are likely to be the sort of friends you’ll be meeting for the first time. For example, I know full well what drinks to buy teetotal Tina, and what my 28 stone alcoholic Aunt Maud with a face like an embarrassed beetroot with varicose veins is likely to be able to pack away.

Party Blowout

So you’ve invited your technologically obsessed friends over for a party, and you managed to calculate that the six of you will require approximately 13 bottles of ouzo, 4 gallons of cheap cider and a grape, but somehow the party lacks a certain pizzazz. You know what is missing? Party blowouts!

Of course the only problem is that getting some party blowouts either means being organised in advance, and sending off for a box, or actually going out into the real world to something called a ‘shop’, and buying some. No problem, because even here the iPhone can save the day!

Yes, there really is an iPhone app which simulates a party blowout. Frankly, if you feel this is genuinely a good idea, you have our deepest sympathy. There simply isn’t anything else we can say about this one, except watch the video below.

By jarnold | Posted in Interesting Party Facts, Party Planning and Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Four Things To Consider When Choosing Party Plates

May 5, 2012 – 10:48 am

The Gruffalo Paper PlatesPaper party plates are certainly a good deal safer and more convenient than handing out your best china plates for your six-year-old and his dozen or so friends to eat from. But there is a good deal more to choosing paper party plates than simply electing not to use your best china.

Today we’re going to look at four things which are helpful to think about when choosing party plates for your children’s birthday party. Often people tend to overlook at least one or two of these points, and so we hope it may be useful to draw these to your attention.

Themed, Coloured Or Plain?

There is a bewildering array of themed paper plates for children’s birthday parties, with everything from dinosaurs to Dora the Explorer, from rock music to Princesses and fairies. It is easy to assume that if you are having a themed birthday party for your child that you necessarily have to have themed plates.

Certainly children will be thrilled if they do have themed plates, but of course in many cases these can be a little more expensive than the ordinary coloured or plain white ones. Ultimately it will depend upon your budget as to whether you can afford themed plates or not, but of course it’s worth being aware of the fact that children will not be able to spend very much time admiring the picture on the plates, since they are likely to be full of food fairly quickly!

It is also worth bearing in mind the fact that coloured paper plates, which are often cheaper, can still tie in with the overall theme you have chosen. For example, if you have chosen a prates theme then you may find that either black or gold party plates tie in perfectly. Similarly if you have chosen a Disney Princess theme then pink paper plates are also perfect.

Size

Paper plates do vary in size, but essentially the two most popular sizes you will come across are 7 inch and 10 inch. Obviously it will depend upon several factors, including whether the children will be being given a fairly substantial dinner, or a light lunch. But as a general rule you will find that small children do better with smaller plates, partly because they are easier to carry without them drooping or tipping, resulting in food going on the floor, and also because children often tend to fill up their plates with nibbles, cakes, sandwiches, crisps and other goodies, pretty much regardless of how big the plate is.

Giving children a 7 inch plate means that their plates appear fuller more easily, and that the food will therefore go further, with less wastage. On the other hand, for older children you may find that paper plates up to 10 inches in diameter allow them to place their food on the plate without having to create interesting pyramids which turn their meal into an archaeological dig!

Shape

Not all paper plates are round. Granted, this is the most common shape, but if you look through the range of party plates on our website you’ll notice that there are several which are square, and even a few which have unusual shapes. For example we have an animal themed paper plate which is shaped like a farm barn, an army camouflage plate which is shaped like an army jacket, a Tinkerbell party plate shaped like a flower, and firefighter party plates shaped like a fire engine!

To some extent having a shaped plate is of course a novelty, and certainly something which the children will adore. But you might also consider whether perhaps a shaped plate to some extent makes it easier for children to pick up food. Sometimes younger children may find that they are chasing things around the edge of a circular plate, whereas the angles of a shaped or square plate make it a little easier to pick up food. It’s a very small point, but worth considering perhaps.

Depth

The depth of party plates does vary quite a bit, with some of them being extremely flat, and others having a much deeper raised edge. The advantage of having deeper plates, such as our dogs party plates, is that for younger children who may have to walk back with their plates from a buffet table there is less chance of food slipping off the edge of the plate. If you are serving a meal which includes something like baked beans or gravy then of course deep sided plates help to prevent any potential leakage.

Safari Party PlatesThese are the four main issues which it is helpful to consider when choosing party plates for your children’s birthday party. No doubt there are other factors which will come into play, but we always recommend that if possible involve your child in the decision-making process, making them aware of the fact that there is obviously going to be a limited budget. Determining right from the start exactly how many children will be invited to the party will help to set a specific limit on the budget. If children are involved then it can help them feel even more excited about sharing everything with their friends on the day.

If you think there’s anything we have missed as far as choosing paper plates is concerned, or you have any comments about the use of party plates please feel free to drop a little comment in the box below.

By jarnold | Posted in Party Food and Drinks, Party Planning and Entertainment, Party Themes and Occasions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Eight Points To Consider When Choosing Children’s Party Bags

May 1, 2012 – 7:40 pm

Eight Points To Consider When Choosing Children's Party BagsNo children’s birthday party is complete without of course giving away party bags stuffed full of goodies to every single child who is gracious enough to turn up! But getting the children’s party bags ready is no easy task, and in fact even before you think about filling them, there are several points to consider before even choosing them.

We have an enormous range of children’s party bags and believe we know a thing or two about choosing the right one for a child’s birthday party. So here is our quick rundown of eight points which you will probably find it helpful to consider when it comes to making the decision about the loot bags for your child’s party.

Names

Some children’s party bags have a space on the front where you can write the name of the child to whom the bag will be given. This is particularly useful if you intend to place prizes won by the children in games throughout the party into their own respective bags.

It also makes it much easier at the end of the party when you’re handing out bags, because you know exactly who has received a bag, and who hasn’t. This avoids the otherwise necessary running about trying to work out whether everybody has got a bag, and why some children appear to have two or three.

Handles

Some party bags have built-in handles, and some don’t. Whether or not handles are useful will depend partly upon the sort of things you’re likely to be putting in the bags, as well as the age of the children. If you’re putting fairly delicate things in the bags such as a cup or mug, cake or otherwise potentially fragile items you may feel that having handles is an advantage.

On the other hand it is also the case that the handle can potentially reduce the size of the bag itself. Small children will find it easier to carry a bag with handles, whereas older children will be fine with or without.

Size

Some people tend to buy party bags first and then decide afterwards what to put in them. This isn’t always the best way round, and can end up forcing you to spend more money on smaller items whereas you may have been able to save money by buying fewer larger items.

Think about your budget first, and about the number of children to whom bags will be given. Try to have an idea of how many gifts will be in each bag, and how large the gifts will be, and then choose the bag which fits the contents.

Prizes

Will your party bags be complete before the beginning, or will you be adding prizes to the party bags for those children who win games?

If you intend to add the prizes to each child’s party bag, which can be a good idea because otherwise they do tend to go missing, then it’s important to make sure that you think about the amount of space left in each party bag after the other gifts have been put in, as well as allowing a space on the front of each bag for the child’s name.

Visibility

Do you want children to be able to see at a glance exactly what is inside their loot bag, or do you want it to be a bit of a surprise? You may not have considered this point, but it is a valid one nonetheless because some party bags are completely opaque, whereas others such as the organza bags which we stock allow you to see right through them.

Some bags such as our cellophane bags actually come with twist ties, which means that not only can you not see inside the bag, but they’re not easy to quickly open and peek inside either.

Theme

Is your child having a themed birthday party? If so then you may wish to have themed party bags, and for popular themes such as dinosaurs, Scooby Doo, Doctor Who, pirates, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine and so on you’ll find a wide range of suitably themed loot bags. But it has to be said that a themed loot bag tends to be a little more expensive than non-themed bags.

However, you can still think about the theme simply by choosing the appropriate colour. For example, if you are planning a pirate themed party you may find the black cellophane bag with a tight twist looks remarkably like a sack of treasure. A Dora the Explorer themed party or Disney Princess themed party may well go well with a pink organza bag or even a pink paper party bag.

Fillings

Would it be easier to have your party bags already filled for you, or do you enjoy going out and choosing items to put inside them? Some people love going out and selecting the individual toys and gifts to put inside the bags. Others prefer to have a suitable selection of toys and gifts already packed inside the bags, saving time and money.

We can provide a range of suitable toys and gifts for party bags, and of course we also stock a wide selection of party bags themselves. But we can also provide filled party bags, and if you feel this may be useful then it’s another option to consider.

Disposable

A lot of party bags tend to get thrown away quite quickly after the party. However, you may decide that this is not ideal, and that children may well enjoy being able to keep the bag itself.

Of course some of the plastic bags and paper bags aren’t going to last for very long, but if you take a look at our tote bags and organza bags you will see that there are party bags available for children to keep for a very long time afterwards. These are bags which actually make good gifts in themselves, and although a little more expensive they are likely to be kept for much longer.

We hope these points help you in choosing the party bags for your child’s birthday party. But if you have any points to make or any questions please do feel free to leave a comment below and we will do our best to reply quickly.

By jarnold | Posted in Party Planning and Entertainment, Party Themes and Occasions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

When Is Inflation A Good Thing? When It’s A Helium Balloon!

April 19, 2012 – 11:50 am

Helium balloons - great fun until you need to land.Here’s a quick question for you: how do you make a helium balloon stay up for longer? Answer – stick the letters ‘MP’ after it – that should create enough hot air to keep it over inflated for years!

Helium balloons are incredibly popular, and today there’s a huge range available to choose from (just have a look at our shop for inspiration!) But whilst they may look beautiful and be great fun, they can be a bit of a problem.

For many people the experience of getting helium balloons for a birthday party or other special event goes something like this.

You drive off to your local party shop or florists and have a look at the range on offer, before placing your order and waiting patiently whilst they inflate them all for you. You hang around for ages, spending money you shouldn’t on a whole selection of party products you wouldn’t have otherwise looked at, eventually taking collection of a small mountain of helium balloons.

You then try to make your way out of the shop, making every effort to minimise the number of things you knock off the shelves on your way out. You then wait outside for a few moments while your friend pops back in to pay for the damages.

Damages paid for, you resume your trip back to the car, noting with interest the fact that you feel as though you may have lost weight. After knocking four hats off, three elderly ladies over and causing two car accidents you manage to find your vehicle, and then try to find your key.

Juggling the balloons from one hand to the other you eventually resort to holding several of the strings between your teeth, whilst making a valiant attempt not to sneeze. Once you find the key and unlock the car you then try to push the balloons in. Almost as though the balloons and the car are magnets repelling one another the balloons won’t go in easily, and so you end up having to push each balloon in one at a time.

The trouble is, every time you push a balloon in it seems to bob dangerously back towards the open door, and before long the first balloon manages to bounce its way out and fulfil its lifelong ambition to become a cloud.

Eventually you decide to try the boot, and so you push as many balloons in as you can, trying to quickly shut the boot lid before they get away. Fortunately you succeeded in shutting it quickly enough to stop the balloons escaping. Unfortunately you burst three balloons in the process. Back round the side you successfully squeeze the remaining balloons in and shut the door gently, before slumping exhausted into the driver’s seat.

It’s then you realise that you can’t see a thing. The balloons are blocking your view through every window and mirror, except for a small clear patch right in front of you. You decide that as long as you’re the only car on the road, that there are no pedestrians or cyclists out today, and that you don’t need to navigate round any corners, bends, turns or roundabouts, you’ll be fine.

The police officer disagrees, resulting in a ticket. Still, at least you got some points for your effort. Sadly, they’re on your license.

Of course, you could have simply avoided all this trouble by buying your balloons online, ordering a disposable helium tank and inflating the balloons at the party location at the time they’re needed. But where would the fun have been in that?

By jarnold | Posted in Party Planning and Entertainment, Party Venues | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

A Quick Magic Trick To Impress The Kids

April 18, 2012 – 11:30 am

Playing cardsOne of the things we often look at on this blog are simple magic tricks which are virtually self working, but which can be good fun at a party or get together, either for helping you obtain free drinks, or simply impressing the children with your godlike powers. In order to help keep those powers alive, here’s another simple trick you may like to try.

The effect is quite simple, although it’s up to you just how far you go with hamming it up. You give a volunteer a pack of cards, or you can even borrow one. There is no preparation needed at all. Ask your volunteer to shuffle the pack thoroughly, and then hand them back to you.

You place the shuffled pack of cards down onto the table, face down. You asked your volunteer to cut the deck, lifting up a portion of the deck and placing it to one side of the remaining cards. You then pick up the remaining pile and place it at a slight angle on top of the other pile of cards to mark the cut.

Now comes the hamming up bit! The simplest thing to do is to simply get out a pen and paper and then talk whatever mumbo-jumbo you wish in order to try to persuade them that you are communicating with a spirit guide, entering into a trans-dimensional state of consciousness which allows you to glimpse the near future, or even stare wildly into their eyes attempting to persuade them of your mind reading powers. Whatever you choose to do, you eventually write down a prediction, and you place this face down on the table.

With all the drama you can master you ask the volunteer to turn over the card they cut to, and when they turn over the prediction you made of course they will match! So how was it done? Well obviously I will tell you, but you’ll have to come back to this blog in order to find out!

By jarnold | Posted in Party Tricks | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Decorating Children’s Glasses For A Barbecue Or Picnic

April 17, 2012 – 10:15 am

The other day I was talking on here about how it might be worth considering swapping glasses for plastic glasses when it comes to launching into the season of barbecues and picnics. But I focused almost exclusively on wine glasses, champagne flutes and cocktail glasses. The one thing I didn’t look at were children’s glasses.

Of course one of the reasons for this is that often when going on picnics or having barbecues children are by default given plastic glasses to drink from rather than real glass. But there is still no reason why you can’t have fun decorating children’s glasses for parties, picnics or other events. Whilst you can still use acrylic paints, I would tend to avoid this simply because children do tend to end up with more of the glass in their mouths than adults, and there is a risk of them ingesting fragments of acrylic paint, which won’t do them a great deal of good.

But whilst thinking about decorating children’s glasses it is important not to forget the fact that children themselves love being involved in decorating things and making things. A barbecue or picnic gives them a chance not only to decorate something that has practical use, but also something which will be seen by other people.

There are plenty of children’s party cups available, such as those you can find on our shop, but you can have just as much fun making your own decorations starting out with ordinary plastic cups or beakers.

All you need is some PVA glue, and a variety of things such as googly eyes, pom-poms, coloured paper, water-based child friendly paints, and any other bits and pieces which could conceivably be glued to the outside of a plastic beaker. Your children will have enormous fun decorating their own cups, perhaps turning them into monsters, daleks or anything else their imagination can come up with.

Whilst it is probably not practical to do this for a large party of 20 or 30 children, if it is just two or three children who are going to be at a barbecue or picnic and they are old enough to be able to do much of the work themselves then there’s no reason at all why they can’t have a go. After all, it’ll keep them out of trouble for a good 20 minutes if you’re lucky!

By jarnold | Posted in Party Food and Drinks, Seasonal Parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Preparing For The Summer With Fantastic Plastic

April 16, 2012 – 10:20 am

Plastic Martini glassAs the weather has generally been improving lately and the long-term weather forecasts indicate that we could be looking forward to a good long summer many of us are already starting to think about having outdoor barbecues, picnics and days out with the family.

But one of the things which can often cause a problem is drink, or specifically, the things you use to drink from. Having a barbecue on the patio can be great fun, but the moment a glass is dropped the entire event becomes more like a tap dancing contest with people mincing precariously between virtually invisible shards of glass which threaten to seriously hamper the efforts of those people who rely on their toes for counting in decimal.

The same is true when going on a picnic, although often what you find here is that your lovingly packed picnic which then bounces around an overly stuffed boot as you drive into the forest ends up being somewhat crushed. Coincidentally, your hopes for an enjoyable picnic are similarly crushed when you realise that one of the glasses you packed has shattered, and eating your innocent egg sandwiches has now been turned into a bizarre form of Russian roulette.

Where children and adults are concerned it is particularly important to make sure that there is no risk of even a small sliver of glass being overlooked. For this reason now is probably the best time to start ordering in plastic glasses.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, they’re either plastic or glass, but they can’t be both. Stop being so pedantic. You know what I mean. Alright, have it your way then. For this reason, now is probably the best time to start ordering in plastic drinks containers. Happy?

You might also be thinking that you would not really want to offer your guests their drinks in plastic beakers. Especially if you are serving champagne or cocktails. But the truth is that plastic glasses (stop it!) are available in a staggering variety of shapes and designs, and they are often made using a sturdy form of plastic which looks virtually identical to glass. In fact your guests may not even realise at first that they are plastic. Towards the end of the party, of course your guests won’t care one way or the other.

With plastic glasses now available in the shape of wine glasses, goblets, cocktail glasses, champagne flutes and many more there is no reason why switching from glass to plastic should in any way compromise style.

However, here’s an idea which you might like to try, but you can’t really do as effectively using glass. Pick up a pack of acrylic pens. You can buy these from any craft store, and there are several sets available on Amazon for just a few pounds. You can use acrylic paint, or even enamel paint, but pens allow you to create finer detail.

You can personalise each glass with people’s names on, or decorate them with flowers, patterns or even images relating to the theme of your party. So if you’re celebrating someone finally passing their driving test you could draw red letter ‘L’s over the glasses. Use your imagination and go wild! Just make sure that you don’t draw using acrylic paints on the inside of the glass, or too near the top where people’s lips might come into contact with it. Keep the decoration to the middle or lower portions of the outside of the glass.

By jarnold | Posted in Party Food and Drinks, Seasonal Parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

How To Blow And Decorate Real Eggs For Easter

April 15, 2012 – 12:29 pm

Decorating real eggs for Easter can be a great activity to share with the children, and it’s pretty straightforward. By picking up a box of eggs, some pens, paint and other optional accessories such as googly eyes and felt shapes you can have a lot of fun.

With this sort of activity it’s often helpful to see how it’s done rather than read about it, and having done some research I’ve selected the following video as offering the best and easiest tutorial to follow on how to make and decorate eggs for Easter. Personally I’m fine with letting my child blow an egg himself, although obviously it’s important to wash the egg, and to clean it again after you’ve pierced a hole, but this is entirely up to you.

In this video it is recommended to hang the eggs up using thread, but they can also simply be piled into a glass bowl for a fantastic table decoration. They should also last for years, as long as they were thoroughly cleaned to begin with, and you don’t forget where you put them and end up stacking a box of books on top!

If you try this yourself do please send us a photo of your finished artwork so we can share it with everyone. Obviously we’ll give you full credit!

By jarnold | Posted in Party Themes and Occasions, Seasonal Parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What’s In A Name? Today You Can Be Someone New

April 14, 2012 – 9:00 am

Do you like your name? If you do, then that’s great, but if you don’t feel it’s ever really suited you, or you now find you share your name with a rather less than admirable celebrity, or your parents gave you a name they thought was terribly witty, then today you can celebrate!

March 27th - National Joe Day

That’s right, today is ‘National Joe Day‘, which gives you the chance to be someone else for 24 hours. Ditch your name, and become Joe (or Jo) for the whole day.

Feel free to answer the phone as Joe, introduce yourself as Joe, and generally discover what you might be like as someone called Joe.

In a way you might find it almost liberating, being freed of the one thing that has remained constant in your life since the day you were born. But for some people having the chance to change their name is of particular interest. Occasionally children can end up with rather unfortunate names through their parents’ complete lack of awareness as to what they were thinking, and in other cases a marriage following a divorce can result in a change of surname with rather unhappy consequences.

But in many cases the blame for having a less than ideal name falls squarely at the feet of the parents. It’s easy to look down at the few pounds of burbling pink dribble-producing creature and see a cute or funny name as being a novelty. However, when that person is working as a 40 year old senior executive in a pharmaceutical corporation it’s slightly less amusing.

So in celebration of National Joe Day we thought we’d gather a list of some of our favourite funny names. These are all genuine, if unfortunate names.

• Abel N. Willan
• Adam Baum
• Alan A. Daiswerk
• Aldo Kingsmen
• Alex Blaine
• Anita Bath
• Dot Matrix
• Gladys Friday
• Levon Time
• Lou Pole
• Marie D. Ajurck
• Maura Plause
• Miles Apart
• Morrie Pulsive
• Phylis Teen
• Polly Ester
• Rankin Smellie
• Robin Cradles
• Russell Leeves
• Sam Diego
• Scott Free
• Sonya Mind
• Stan Back
• Tanya Hyde
• Tyrone Shoes
• Will Barrow
• Willie Maykit

Then of course there are those people who had perfectly good names, which they then went and screwed up through their choice of career:

• General Incompetence
• Major Disaster
• Major Problems
• Private Parts
• Dr. Aikenhead
• Dr. Bonebrake
• Dr. Hurter
• Dr. Myracle

Next time you’re at the dentist, be thankful you’re not registered with Dr. Yankum or Dr. Fang (both real, registered dentists), and when checking in to a hospital, make sure you’re not seen by either Dr. Kwak or Dr. Pain.

Have you come across a funny name? Do you know someone who has a rather unfortunate name, or have you yourself been blessed with a lifetime’s free humour? If so, please feel free to share using the comments box below!

By jarnold | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

A Perfect Excuse For A Party – It’s Make Up Your Own Holiday Day!

April 12, 2012 – 1:00 pm

There are many great excuses for holidays throughout the year, from saints’ days to religious celebrations, and from right royal knees ups to bank holidays. Although quite why we all celebrate having a day off because the banks are shut I don’t know. Imagine if we all had a day off because the greengrocer was shut. Or the Post Office. If we all had a day off just because my local Post Office was shut we’d never get anything done. But I digress.

Bank Holidays - Celebrating unpredictable weather since 1871

Because today, March 26th (just in case you hadn’t quite twigged what the date was and by the way, it’s Monday), is ‘Make Up Your Own Holiday Day‘. Honestly, it’s official. Not that your boss will probably appreciate you taking the day off. In which case your special holiday will probably be St. P45′s Day.

So anyway, I’ve been having a think about this, and I’ve come up with a couple of holiday ideas of my own. See what you think, and let me know your own suggestions using the comments box below.

Oh No Not Another Monday Day

Most of us hate Mondays. Mondays were a bad idea right from the start. What a way to begin the week, getting up at the crack of dawn to sell another part of your soul to your boss, with only the prospect of the entire rest of the week to keep you going. I propose that we don’t just have Bank Holiday Mondays off, we take all Mondays off.

Monday should be a celebration of new beginnings after all. It’s the start of a brand new week, a week full of untold promises and possibilities. It should be a joyous day full of optimism. Not a damp, dark, grey miserable reinforcement of how mundane our lives are compared to the plans we had when we were thirteen.

Mirror, Signal, Manoeuvre Day

On 26th March 1934 the driving test was introduced in the UK. Yes, it’s now been 78 years since some little person with a clipboard began hitting our dashboards for no apparent reason, make us do thirteen point turns whilst being scowled at by dozens of other drivers, and lurching like a hyperactive but slightly self doubting kangaroo on a pogo stick when confronted by a light turning from red to green. 78 years of learning how important it is to signal correctly at roundabouts, never exceed the speed limit and to be courteous to other drivers who may cut us up, and 78 years of then blatantly ignoring most of what we learned.

So let’s have a day off each year when we can all take to the roads, let everyone out of side roads, wave cheerily at people who may be driving four inches behind our rear bumper, and complement the driving skills of those who keep us waiting whilst they take twenty minutes to reverse park their Smart Car into a space recently vacated by a bus.

So what do you think of these? Do you have any holiday suggestions of your own? Please share your ideas below! You never, know, this could be where it all begins…

By jarnold | Posted in Interesting Party Facts, Party Themes and Occasions, Seasonal Parties | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)