Nostalgic Americana Party

Americana Themed Party with red, white and blue decorated cupcakes and American Flag on cake server

Celebrate Inauguration Day, Election Day, Fourth of July, or any Patriotic Holiday with a Nostalgic Americana Theme Party! Go back in time and use crafts, homemade candles, old fashion candies, and delicious recipes to bring back an era long gone. Serve snacks and foods from different States and play fun games that tie the states together into one nation with a new president!

Nostalgic Americana Candy Supplies

Nostalgic Americana Decor Supplies

Inauguration and Nostalgic Americana party, cupcakes, party recipes, and party decor

Nostalgic Americana Party Plan

Nostalgic Americana Party Invitations

Vintage Postcards. Go to thrift shops to find vintage postcards and use them to mail out invitations. Stick to the front of an off-white or cream blank card and write your party details on the inside. Use a traditional font like “Bickham Script Pro” to type up your invitation so it looks hand-written.
Hand-made Stamped cards. Make your own stamps out of sponges and use them to stamp your cards. Get inexpensive muslin and dollar store sponges. Cut into star and stripe shapes. Stamp using colors red and blue to make a flag or any other design. Let dry. Cut a small piece of your hand-stamped fabric to fit the front of the card and glue in place. Write party details on the inside.

Nostalgic Americana Party Decorations

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The Look:

Dish Cloth Decor. Get Patriotic dish cloths in red, white and blue and use them as part of your table decor and as an accent topper. If you don’t have enough napkins, use them as napkins for your guests.
Themed Candy. Get red licorice wheels and use them to decorate cupcakes, and drinks. Use old fashion candy like Necco candy, Mary Jane candy, and candy buttons as treats and decoration.
State Labels. Print out state names in old fashioned typewriter fonts and attach to toothpicks. Use them as labels for food and snacks for each state they represent.
Vintage Coke Items. Get drinks that were popular like Coke and Dr. Pepper for the party. Coke is still bottled in glass bottles though they are getting harder to find. If you can also find any old vintage Coke items, like wooden crates, posters, vintage tin signs, wall art, etc., use them as decor.
Ice cream soda fountain cups. Use old fashioned ice cream cups to hold snacks. Just fold some parchment paper into cones and fill with snacks. Place the parchment cones into the cups. When snack time is over, take out the cones and use the clean cups for ice cream sundaes!
Paper Bags. Use paper lunch bags to hold snacks at the party table. Just roll down the sides of the bag and fill with candy or fruits.
Ribbons. Use red, blue or red-white-and-blue gross grain ribbon to decorate tiered servers, bowls, trays, bottles, napkins, etc.
Buttons. Accent with vintage buttons, patriotic buttons and miniature old fashioned signs. Stick them on napkin rings, paper bags, trays, etc. to tie in the theme and the look.

Special Guests

President Obama. Invite President Obama to your party and stand to greet your guests. If you are able to find and hire someone (doesn’t have to look like him, just wear a mask) to show up for autographs it can just bring out some fun and giggles.
Sarah Palin. Get a Sarah Palin mask and let an adult lead the Where in the Nation is this State? game during the party. Practice winking and saying the words “maverick” before hand. If you will be having a few Fifth graders at your party, you can play “Is Sarah Palin smarter than a Fifth Grader?” by having “Sarah” participate in the game - Where in the Nation is this State? against the Fifth graders.

Nostalgic Americana Party Crafts

Make home-made crafts with kids and even adults! If you will be having younger kids

Tin Candle Votive. Make your own tin candle votive out of cookie sheets. Make sure to have kids bring mittens or gloves to work since edges of the tin are sharp.
Make your own soap. Purchase soap blocks from the craft store and melt in the microwave following instructions. Let kids put in dried flowers, herbs, or patriotic confetti. Let cool down. Pop out of tray and package with pretty paper bags and tie off with ribbon.
Wooden Toys. Get a few wooden toys from the craft store and let kids assemble, paint and decorate them.
Popsicle Creations. Large boxes of popsicles sticks are inexpensive and kids can use their creativity to make their own creations. Use a rectangle piece of foam core as a base for them to build things on and supply lots of tacky glue.
Felt animals. Great project for teens and tweens. Use leftover felt and cut into various shapes. Try to find stuff you would have lying around the house like buttons, yarn, etc. Use buttons for eyes and sew in place. Use black yarn and make a mouth by stitching on an ‘x’. Stitch up the sides and fill with filling, left over fabrics or even tissue.
Sit Upon. Make a traditional sit-upon and use during the party for sitting to play games, to eat or just as a take-home craft. Take outdoors for your guests to sit on while kids are playing games and doing the treasure hunt.

Nostalgic Party Recipes and Food Ideas

State-Your-State Geography Snacks

Print state names on paper in typewriter fonts and attach to toothpicks as banners and place with the food that comes from each state.

Obama Chili. Make Chili using Obama’s family recipe. Serve with Arizona Cornbread and Wisconsin Cheese.
Arizona Corn Bread. Serve Chili with cornbread and Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese.
Coney Island Hot Dogs. Serve with lots of condiment options, like sauerkraut, peppers and onions, relish, pickles, mustard, ketchup, onions, cheddar, and some Obama Chili!
Maine Blueberries. Put delicious blueberries in a rolled up paper lunch bag.
Washington Red Cherries. Serve fresh cherries if in season otherwise get dried ones or serve cherry topping with ice cream.
Pennsylvania Chocolate. Hershey, PA is the home of the Hershey chocolate! Put variations of chocolate for a chocolate taste test.
Georgia Peanuts. Add some delicious peanuts to the mix. Serve honey peanuts, beer nuts, for a peanut taste test. Check for allergies first.
Idaho Potatoes. Roll up some parchment paper and place in a cup. Fill with shoestring potatoes.
Hawaii Pineapple. Obama’s birth state. Serve some delicious cut up pineapple. Create custom Obama toothpicks by printing out his picture and attaching them to several toothpick for the pineapple tray.
Florida Orange Juice. Serve fresh orange juice from Florida as drinks. During the hot summer months, consider making orange juice popsicles instead.
Wisconsin Cheese. Serve different cheeses for guests to try and serve shredded cheddar cheese with the Obama Chili.
Illinois Popcorn. Illinois is the official state of popcorn! Make popcorn the old fashioned way and serve in popcorn cartons. Obama served in the Illinois senate from 1997 to 2004, representing Chicago’s 13th district.

Dinner Food Ideas:

All-star American Meat Loaf
Barbecue Ribs
Crispy Fried Chicken
Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey
Boston Baked Beans
Mashed Potatoes with gravy
Macaroni Salad
Coleslaw
Green Peas
French Style Green beans
Chicken Pot Pie
Homemade Apple Pie
Cranberry Nut Bread
Blueberry Pie
Fried Dough

Nostalgic Americana Party Cakes

Patriotic Colors. Decorate cupcakes by icing in white icing. Sprinkle some blue icing on top. Top with a red pin wheel licorice and a blue m&m candy in the middle.
American flag. Use red licorice and blue m&m candy to make a flag on your cupcakes.
Funnel Cakes. One of the most popular treats to have at fairs, sporting events and perfect for a nostalgic Americana theme!
Apple Pie or Apple Pie Bars. Nothing more American than apple pie. Try making apple pie bars instead. They are easier to grab and eat especially for kids.

Nostalgic Americana Party Games

Celebrate the 50 diverse states with a quick trip across the United States with kids and adults. Play games that tie the states together while teaching kids a little bit about geography in a fun, interactive way!

Where in the nation is this State? Play a guessing game and see can find the states the quickest. Give one person a map of the United States and have that person ask a question about the location of a state. Like so, “Which state is directly north of Kansas?” The first person to answer the right answer gets the map and ask the next question. If kids will be playing perhaps having a blank map will help with the game. Other state games.
20 Questions. One person thinks of a state. The other guests ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions, which the person answers. For example, guest can ask questions the same as the “20 questions” game format: “Is it surrounded by water?”, “Is it a blue state?”, etc. The first one to guess the state tries to stump the group with the next state. Other state games.
State Facts. Match states with their state birds, nicknames, state flowers or foods. For example, the Mountain Blue bird is Nevada state bird, and Georgia’s nick name is the “Peach State”. Great resource for state facts.
Compass Treasure Hunt. Do a little orienteering or scavenger hunting with a compass. Provide compasses to guests and teach them how to use a compass. Design a simple course for them to follow and to look for hidden objects. For example:

Walk 5 paces to the North.

Walk 15 paces to the West. Look for hidden clue under rock (put the next clue there).

Walk 20 paces to the South.

Walk the same paces as your last clue to the East. Look for hidden clue under the rock marked with star (put next clue there).

Walk 15 paces to the North. Do 15 jumping jacks and look for your next clue under the sleeping tree (put clue under fallen tree).

Walk 5 paces West. Look for hidden treasure. (Guests should end up where they started. Hide treasure under leaves, behind bushes, etc. If indoors, hide under pillows, throws, etc.)

Nostalgic Americana Party Favors

Old Fashioned Bees Wax Candles. Get some beeswax candles, wrap with a pretty ribbon and decorate with a vintage button.
Old Fashioned Bees Wax Soap. Wrap in paper and tie with a ribbon. Finish off with a patriotic vintage style button.
Star shaped candle. Use them to light up the party table or give away as favors to your guests.
Old Fashioned Candy. Use a paper lunch bag and fill with all sorts of old fashioned candies. Scrunch up the top and tie with a ribbon.
Take Home Crafts. Any of the above craft items made during the party can double as favors.

Resources: Obama Party Supplies
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Nostalgic Americana Party