Author: Spring (Jordan)
As I mentioned on Tuesday, we recently hosted a movie party on our lawn. The evening went off without a hitch, and I am excited to share the details with you. You can read about how to make your own invitations here. Even though it is almost fall, we decided to show the summer classic, “National Lampoon’s Vacation”.
Syracuse is a rainy city, so, I was a little worried about the weather. With that in mind, I had a back up date in case Mother Nature wanted to remind me of who’s the boss on the night of the party. I also checked to make sure it was not a night with a full moon. We wanted it to be really dark so we could see the movie.
We made our own movie screen at the back of our yard. I bought a white king-size sheet. I also wanted to hide the neighbor’s garage, and so, I purchased two red full-size sheets to act as the curtains. We lucked out because we have two large trees in just the right places to hold the screen and curtains. The red sheets looked like the old velvet curtains from the old movie houses of days gone by.
Here is another shot of the screen. We used the tiny table you see there to set up the projector, the dvd player, and to hook in the speakers. As for projectors, you can rent them. However, I happened to be at Kohl’s one day, and they had projectors on sale for $100. It is by far not the best projector, but it worked perfectly for our party. Plus, it has already paid for itself because renting one here would have cost $100. We had extra light bulbs on hand just in case.
You can’t have a movie without popcorn. We ended up renting a theater-like popcorn machine at a local party store.
Mr. Spring was making some popcorn and noticed this in the directions. We thought it was pretty funny and wanted to share with you. Now we know why movie popcorn is so good. It must be the flavacol!
I bought these popcorn containers at Target in the dollar section. They are plastic, and we can use them year after year.
Candy was another easy movie food we had available for our guests. We tried to have similar selections to what you would find at the theater.
I have been wanting to make cake pops, and I thought this was a good excuse to make them. I painted the styrofoam holder red to make them pop a little more. Overall these were a big hit and fun to make. I will do a post on how to make them soon.
I have been busy traveling with work and didn’t have a lot of time to hunt for table decorations. I decided to use some frames I had around the house and print out some pictures from the movie. I had the pictures placed around the snacks and drink table.
Glow sticks were fun to have on hand once it was dark.
The bugs can come out at night so I made sure I had a variety of bug sprays and ointment in case someone did get a bite. I hung this basket on a hook we had on our fence. I didn’t want it near the food.
Hope you enjoyed the viewing. We plan to do this again next year, and we are starting to think about which movie to select. If you had a movie party, what movie would you show?
Cheers!
Linking to http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Linking to http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
Kat Griffin says
how absolutely wonderful…I am amazed at all you did to make such a wonderful night happen. The screen is very good idea…and i love the cake pops those a re a great idea. How about the movie “What About Bob? ” with Bill Murray it is so funny
– KAT –
Debbie refresh restyle says
I think I’ve said this before…I wish I were your neighbor! What a fun idea, and I’ll have to think about what movie I’d show.
Debbie
shelia says
Oh, this must have been such a treat for your attendees! You thought of everything and I love your screen and all your goodies – those little cake pops! 😉
Be a sweetie,
shelia 😉
Coop says
I have always wanted to do this…I’m sure if was FUN
karen says
What an awesome idea!!!… and I love the cake pops, look forward to the tutorial.
Sherry says
This looks like such a fun evening. Sitting under the stars watching a movie and eating popcorn and candy.
~Sherry
CAS says
I just love this idea, Jordan! I live in AZ, so we could have movie nite later in the year, or early in the year. I would probably opt for Christmas Vacation, because it’s our top favorite of that whole series! I’m so glad the weather cooperated & that it was a wonderful success!
🙂 CAS
Spring says
If the weather is nice later in the year Christmas Vacation would be a great movie to show! I love that one it is a classic.
Diann @ The Thrifty Groove says
How fun! I want to g to the next movie night at your house! I love the screen and red curtains. It looks like it was a fun evening! thank you for joining TTF and have a fun weekend!
Alexa says
Loved this post! How many people did you entertain? I might want to do this when I get to Newport for my Dept Head class!
Kelly says
This looks like so much fun! I didn’t know Kohl’s sold projectors!? I am going to have to get busy planning my own party now! This may be the birthday party of choice for next year for my little guy…..maybe Cars 2 on the big screen?? Good thing I have until June to plan!
Spring says
Kelly,
I was shocked they had a projector at Khol’s It was the Discovery brand and worked fine. This would be a fun birthday party. Have fun planning!
Cheers!
Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking says
Wow you did such an amazing job!! Everything looks so awesome! I know everyone had a great time and I love how you made it look and feel like you were at a real movie theater!
Sherry says
Oh, you thought of everything! How fantastic! Thank you for linking it to Home Sweet Home!
Sherry