Understand the Goal
To get the most out of your American Idol party decorations you will need to understand the goal of decorating for the party. Your goal is to set the mood. You want to use color, visuals, and sound to achieve this goal. The mood of your party will determine how people respond at the party and the feeling you take home with them afterwards.

Plan!
As with each other element of party decorating, you must plan your party decorations. Plan early, plan details, and plan realistically. Add to your plan over time. Every little idea you get can be kept on a notepad to make sure that all your creative ideas are remembered and planned out. The sky is the limit! Don’t let small hurdles stop you from making this the most amazing birthday party your Superstar could ever imagine. We've created a full list of necessary party supplies including decorations.

American Idol Posters
Print or purchase posters of the top 3 American Idols or your families favorites. You can hang these around the room. Everyone will love it as they recognize each contestant and have their own tidbit of information about them. It’s certainly a conversation piece. You can buy American Idol Posters from Amazon or the FoxShop.

Personal Banner or Poster
Make it known who the real star of the show is by having a poster with their picture boldly displayed. You can use their best picture or plan a little photo shoot to make it more specific. A local film processor can take your picture and turn it into a real poster … full size. You can even add a border or other details to make it look like a real celebrity poster. Another alternative is to get a personalized banner printed which can have a specific message and your child's name on it.


Balloons
Balloons could play an enormous role in decorating for your American idol birthday party. The best colors are the theme colors, blue, white, and silver. Fill some of them with helium and some with air. You want them everywhere. Hang some from the ceiling, hang some on streamers, put them on and around furniture, throw them around on the floor. Even consider getting a few mylar American idol balloons.

You could also buy helium balloons in the shape of a star. Get at least one blue, one red, and one silver. Of course, adding many would be fantastic, but stay on budget.

Streamers
Most birthday parties are heavily decorated with streamers, and an American Idol birthday party is no exception. In fact, you will want to do more than your average party to bring the flashy background like that of the American Idol stage. Don’t limit yourself on how to hang the streamers … paint a picture with them. Celebrate Express has a large selection of streamers at a very reasonable price.

• Hang streamers from the ceiling to floor. You can create curtain effects.
• Hang streamers vertically from corner to corner.
• Hang streamers horizontally along walls.

Decorate with SOUND!
The art of decorating goes far beyond just sight, you need sound. When we picture a successful birthday party, do we not hear the noise of children playing and the sounds of celebration? Helping to set the mood with sound will change the scene of your American Idol birthday party big time.

• Have clips of past American Idols playing on TV. No one may sit down to watch it but the sound will put them in the American Idol mood. Check out an American Idol DVD here.
• Put on the American Idol song favorites or your birthday boy/girls favorite season tour. Check out an American Idol CD here.

The American Idol party favors will vary depending on ages and genders of the party Star and their guests. You will want to give the girls DIVA GEAR and the boys ROCKSTAR GEAR. A few American Idol themed favors would also be great in everyone’s bag!

Regardless of whether or not you are looking for themed party favors or the little unique goodies, you will want to do some shopping online. You can find basically anything you can think up. Do your price comparisons and find the best deals. When in doubt Celebrate Express has exclusive American Idol party supplies at one of the lowest prices.

American Idol Party Favors for Girls
Your American Idol party for the girls will be easy to come up with and easy to find. It is all about being a DIVA! They want to be fierce and feel like the next American Idol, beautiful. A large part of your focus for their favor bags will be on items to make them feel and look glamorous!

• glitter nail polish
• nail accessories – stickers, pendants, etc.
• glitter makeup
• American Idol Microphone Candy
• headbands and hair accessories
• big shiny jewelry – costume
• American Idol posters
• American Idol novelties
• American Idol cards

American Idol Party Favors for Boys
Your American Idol party favors for the boy guests will most likely be a little tougher to find. It is all about the RockStar factor: they want to be tough like a rocker! They want to look expensive, and feel important. Taking this and your basic American Idol favors will create a great American Idol favor stash.

• American Idol Microphone Candy
• drum or guitar keychain
• American Idol Tattoos
• men’s jewelry – AKA “bling”
• flashy shoe laces
• blowup microphones
• guitar or drum novelties
• American Idol cards
• American Idol posters

Design Your Own American Idol Favor Bags
You can have the perfect bags to match your American Idol birthday party by making them yourself. This is a relatively inexpensive option but can be expensive depending on how creative you are going to get. Depending on materials you could spend as little as 15 cents per bag or $5 per bag. The other alternative is to order empty American Idol favor boxes and load them up.

• Use brown paper bags or colored gift bags. These are very cheap at local stores.
• Print out color images of American Idol logo (symbol). You can glue these to the bag.
• Also print out color name tags to put on all the favor bags. This makes party-goers feel very special which will make your party boy or girl very proud – Everyone likes to see their friends happy!
• That's all there is to it! Load them up and Pass them out!

American Idol Birthday Cake it is the two things that people show up expecting. At an American Idol birthday party you can’t let anyone down! It is going to have to be amazing to make your little star proud! Don’t hold back. All the little things and seemingly overboard embellishments will add to the flare!

Simple Cake

If creativity is not your thing try making a simple American Idol birthday cake that relies mostly on the colors of American Idol and cake toppers!

• Bake your cake according to directions.
• Once cake has cooled completely frost it with white frosting.
• Sprinkle with blue sprinkles.
• Use sparkle candles for some flare.
• Add an American Idol Cake Topper

SuperSTAR Cake
There is no doubt your little Superstar will love a tribute to them … a SuperSTAR cake! This is the easiest theme cake you could ever have to make with very simple steps, and not too many at that. The dramatic effect, however, will be incredible!

• Bake 3 cakes according to directions.
• Let all 3 cakes cool for 5 hours. No jumping ahead … you will end up with a mess!
• Print out a template of a star. Printer size paper will make the perfect size star. Cut the star template out as perfect as possible.
• Take your star template and place it on top of the cake in a position which the whole star is on the cake.
• Cut along the edges of your template. Be careful. If you do make a mistake it is not a big deal, the cakes will be frosted soon!
• Once you have your 3 stars you are ready to decorate them!
• Frost them with white or blue frosting. You can use food dye to change the white frosting to blue.
• Decorate each star with colored sprinkles, hard candy cake decorations, and lots of candles.
• If you are using more candles than the birthday boy/girl will be years place the number candles to represent the age. It is okay to use stick candles for decorating purposes only

Think creatively and add what you want. There is so many great ways to embellish cakes. Some are edible and some are not, so you have lots of things to pick from! When in doubt add a few cake toppers on a simple cake and you'll be set!

All the food, snacks, drinks, and goodies served at your American Idol party can be tied into the theme for a little extra dramatic effect. Food is surprisingly one of the most important details of your birthday bash and should be thought of accordingly. When serving your food don't forget your American Idol themed plates, napkins and cups. This helps to add to the American idol themed party and will have all the guests wondering where you found such wonderful tableware!

Meals
Pizza
Choosing your menu for your American Idol birthday party will be easy. Pizza! It has become an American tradition for families across the country to enjoy pizza on what has been declared “American Idol Night”. Playing into this tradition will make your catering responsibility an easy one.

• Order enough pizza to offer at least 2 slices per guest.
• Order the pizza 45-60 minutes before the party starts. You can ask the pizza restaurant to make and deliver it at a certain time.

Nachos
Making nachos will please many guests. The preparation is a bit intense but their deliciousness may be worth it. To make serving the nachos more practical make a plan.

• Shop for all the makings a day before your event to make sure everything is fresh. You will need: nacho cheese (Velveeta), tortilla chips, ground beef, salsa, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, sour cream, and guacamole.
• Prepare toppings early. Dice the vegetables and brown the ground beef an hour or two before the event.
• Encourage parents to dish up their own child’s plate. This will take some of the responsibility off of you and speed up preparation.

Snacks
American Idol Cookies
Making American Idol cookies is very easy and inexpensive. You can bake the cookies the day before the party to free time on the big day.

• Bake sugar cookies. You can get the mix at your local grocery store
• Frost the tops with white frosting.
• Sprinkle each cookie with blue sprinkles.
• Serve proudly!

Yes, American Idol is all about the singing competition, and you should incorporate that into your American Idol birthday party games but that doesn’t mean it should be the only activity. You might want to go even beyond that … especially if your party guests are a little older.

American Idol Singing Competition
An American Idol singing competition may be perfect for those RockStars that know they got it going on … or it might be a devastating reality check. Choose to play this game at your own risk, it could get personal. All feelings aside, this could be the BIG hit of your American Idol birthday party.

• Use an American Idol karaoke CD.
• Get each participant an American Idol Contestant Number
• Have each participant sing.
• They each get one song.
• No need for a real microphone. If you have one great! If not, oh well.
• The person who sang last is the next singer’s judge. The rest of the audience votes anonymously with index cards. Yes, you get to vote as do the other parents attending.
• Set a rule. The judge must say something positive and negative. This will help keep any participants from feeling attacked or taking things personally. Everyone gets feedback for being good at some parts and bad at others.
• Make sure everyone knows that this is strictly for fun. It can get ugly when judging is taken personally. You may need to remind them often … especially with the younger “contestants”.

American Idol Pinata
A fun activity or game at any party regardless of age is a pinata. If the party is older guests then you can blindfold them and spin them around before they're allowed to hit the pinata. If they're younger than with or without a blindfold is a fun activity! Get an American Idol Microphone Pinata here!

American Idol Trivia Game
Loyal American Idol followers don’t just follow their favorites on the show … they follow everything! From gossip and rumors about the judges, to the personal stories and triumphs of the competitors; they know it all! What better way to get the American Idol spirit in the room then to bring it all in with a great American Idol trivia game. For those without time to do research or setup the game there are games already put together at your local store? They come in card form and computer disc form. You can purchase a trivia game online or if you have the time tons of information can be found online to put together a trivia game yourself. Include questions from many categories and don’t be afraid to really challenge the guests … they will surprise you with all their American Idol facts.

• Go straight to the source for your trivia questions and answers. American Idol has a website that has tons of information about the show, the judges, the contestants, and backstage.
• Use index cards. Write the questions on one side and the answers on the other.
• When someone gets the answer correct let them hold the card to keep track of who knows their American Idol the best.

American Idol Video Games
There are many different American Idol video games for essentially every video game system. You can choose from several activities with each game offering a different activity. Some of the activities available are:

• Singing Competition: You sing into a mike and are then evaluated by the judges. They will grade your singing and even tell you what your strengths are.
• Trivia Games: Interactive trivia games let players work as teams or individuals to see who really knows their Idol and who may not be as on top of things as they claim.

One of the greatest hurdles you face to throw a successful American Idol birthday party is getting the crowds to come. You need people to make the event feel big, to share the experience with, and to make all your hard work pay off big time. To get the word out you are going to need some pretty amazing American Idol party invitations!

Need to just get it done?
If time is of the essence then selecting a premade invitation may be the best option. You could go for a themed invitation, a neutral invitation, or a personalized invitation. A great place to explore your options and find the perfect fit for your party is CelebrateExpress.com.

Themed Invitations
CelebrateExpress has American idol themed party invitations for boys and girls. You have several to choose from. All of the invitations represent the theme well with lots of color, stars, glitz, and trendy images.

Personalized Invitations
If you don’t have the time to make invitations but still want the personal touch take a look at the personalized invitations at CelebrateExpress.com. You can add picture of the Party Rockstar, and choose your wording or message. This is great for those with little time but lots of hopes to make a party with a BIG BANG right from the start!

Need the invitations to be just perfect?
If you are feeling creative and thrifty then making your own party invitations may be just what you have in mind. Making the invitations yourself gives you total freedom and control to make them 100% personalized for your little, or big, stars birthday bash.

Golden Ticket … to the party!
It is the ultimate symbol of American Idol, the golden ticket to Hollywood. What better way could there be to invite your party guests with a golden ticket to an unbelievable American Idol birthday party? Supplies are minimal and inexpensive. This can also be done in about ½ an hour with just your computer, printer paper, and printer.

• To get all the inspiration, have a look at an American Idol golden ticket.
• Use golden printer paper to print the invitation on.
• Change the wording to fit your party. You can get creative with this. Here is an example:
• Congratulations! You have made it to “name” American Idol Birthday Bash!

Location:
Time:
Please RSVP at:
By:

• Use word art to make the letters big, small, and give them some detail. Don’t be afraid to go all out … this party is for the big and bold so show them what you got!

Getting your American Idol party supplies together may be the biggest challenge you think you will have to face in pulling off this elaborate party. That doesn’t have to be the case. There are some simple tips to eliminated wasted time and money while getting everything you need and want for your plan to go off without a hitch.

Form a Plan!
All your hard work pulling things together could be for nothing with a plan … that you plan on sticking with, of course. A successful party plan will be formed 2 weeks or more before the event. This gives you time to shop for supplies (online and local), change your mind a few times, and make certain that all your little plans within your Big Plan can actually be executed.

Shop Online
One of the best things you can do to keep some money in your wallet is shop online. You can also shop online to locate hard to find items and items specific to the american idol party theme. We highly recommend Celebrate Express for the selection, customer service and low prices.

To help you get your act together we have created a shopping list with basic party supplies and a few extras according to our American Idol birthday party plan. Take advantage of this list by printing it out. Add extras to the back. Then get to shopping!

• cake
• order pre-made or purchase mix (If using a mix to try our American Idol cake idea you will need to add all the supplies for decorating it.
• birthday candles
• nacho supplies (Velveeta, tortilla chips, ground beef, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, sour cream, guacamole, jalapeño slices, salsa, etc.)
• sugar cookie mix (white frosting, blue sprinkles)
• drinks (Kool-aid, Gatorade, soda)
• invitations
• plates
• bowls
• cups
• napkins
• utensils
• tablecloths
• streamers – get lots of them!
• balloons – helium and oxygen
• party banner
• party posters
• personal poster
• favor bags or boxes
• party favors – choose just enough to fill a favor bag
• candy!
• piñata or materials to make one (tissue paper, poster board, glue, tape)
• wrapping paper
• gift bags
• ribbons and/or bows
• tape – LOTS of it!
• American Idol party music
• American Idol DVD
• American Idol Tour CDs
• American Idol DVD or video game
• index cards (for singing competition)

Opening the gifts is perhaps the most exciting and anticipated activity of the entire birthday party. You can easily add to this excitement by giving gifts that fit the theme of the party, American Idol. Finding the perfect American Idol gift is easy if you know what you are looking for.

American Idol is all about the glamorous life, being a StAr! At some point everyone wants to be famous, and have their talents displayed for the entire world to see. While you may not be able to bring the eyes of the world to your birthday angel, you can make them feel just as famous, just as talented, and just as gifted.

Karaoke Machine
A karaoke machine for a music lover is a given. There are hundreds of types to choose from suiting any budget, from $25 to $2500. Don’t forget the American Idol karaoke CDs! Check out a selection of Karaoke machines here.

American Idol DVD Game
The American Idol DVD game is a crowd favorite among all diehard American Idol fans. You put the DVD in, hook up the microphone, and sing your heart out. All the judges (Randy, Simon, and Paula Abdul in the current version) offer their critique. Of course, you have to be ready for charming Simon and his wonderful way of making a person feel loved.

Dance Mat Game
Dance mat games are available in DVD format as well as most video game console formats. The game usually consists of a mat which you lay on the floor, and instructions on the television screen. There are many different levels to keep it age and skill appropriate. Dance mat games also come in many price ranges so you are sure to find something no matter how tight your budget is.

Lessons
Vocal lessons, guitar lessons, drum lessons, and dance lessons are all a great way to let them express themselves through their talent, whatever it may be. Age doesn’t matter when it comes to helping them establish their talent to reach their full potential. Choose the lessons that suit their style. If they are into drumming, choose drum lessons.

American Idol Gift Wrapping
Putting a little detail into the way you wrap the gifts can add so much to your birthday party decorating. Make a statement by using color, and some pizzazz!

• Wrap in solid colors. Use blue, white, and silver to stick with the color theme.
• Embellish with lots of ribbons and bows.
• Use gift bags. Create contrast by using a white gift bag and blue tissue paper or vice versa.

	Washburn Lyon Idol Guitar Signed by Mike Kennerty AAR All American Rejects LK		US $179.95	More Details

	JENNIFER HUDSON 2009 UPPER DECK AMERICAN IDOL FAN FAVORITE SEASON 5 22 xXx		US $.75	More Details

	Jennifer Lopez J LO AMERICAN IDOL Plastic Collectors Card Jenny from the Block		US $4.99	More Details

	2004 Fleer American Idol MATT Matthew Rogers Auto Autograph SSD MR		US $3.99	More Details

	Josh HartnettAmerican Idol by Lorelei Lanum 2002		US $10.99	More Details

	JAMES DURBIN SIGNED PHOTO 8X10 RP AUTO AMERICAN IDOL		US $19.99	More Details