1920s Party Decor On a Budget

This year for our Gaslight Baker Theatre Gala (aka yearly fundraiser), the board of directors picked the theme of Speakeasy. First, my decorating crew met several times and came up with some really fun decor. I’ve included a step-by-step guide to our low-cost, fancy centerpieces and other fun party tips! Moreover, what was a cool stroke or serendipity was I had just published by 1920s time-travel, murder mystery, paranormal romance novel: THE FLAPPER AFFAIR, and my mind was dancing with ideas!

1920s Party Decor Centerpieces

To begin with, we decided to go with three different variations of our theme for 1920s party decorations with an eye toward art deco.  Subsequently, pairs of wine bottles would suggest a hot jazz couple, single bottles, and votive fans reminiscent of 1920s sconces.

Wine Bottle Pairs

The idea began with leftover wine-bottles from our concessions at the theatre. Concession workers collected them for weeks. We used what we could get, but if I did it again, I’m not sure I would use the green glass ones. Once the lights were in the bottles, the green glass really gave off a green glow. Or, perhaps use ALL green bottles? Either way, I wasn’t crazy about the mix of gray glass, clear glass, and green glass. What do you think?

Second, we boiled the labels to soften up the gummy glue. Interestingly, some labels seemed to be put on with cement. Those we scrubbed, washed, and reboiled–scrubbed again. So once, the bottles came to a nice boil, we used dish soap and a steel-wool scrubbie.

TIP: Finish off with Magic Erase and soap for a smooth, label-free finish.

Third, the next step was painting the bottles. I used a flat black paint and painted only the top three-quarters of the bottle, leaving a quarter to a third unpainted. Fourth, once that dried, I finished off with gold glitter paint. It has to be glitter paint, the metallic gold is not opaque enough. Spray several coats, overlapping a little into the black until the concentration of glitter is on the unpainted part dusting into the black.

Tip: Spray a tiny bit at store into cap to make sure it works. I would usually NEVER do this, but I took home two spray paint cans that were clogged and never would work. The other tip is to use the entire can of glitter paint. It is essentially spray glue with glitter and therefore becomes very sticky on your hands and everything around where you spray. Not to mention, the spray nozzle quickly gets gummed up. Try to spray in one session, taking short breaks between. This seemed to be the best way to not waste the glitter and have it clog. Wear GLOVES!

Sixth, in a jolt of inspiration, we found books of used old sheet music and accordion folded them into fans, trimming the ends to give points or scallops to add as toppers for the bottles. You could easily print something like this out on a black & white printer as well. HERE is a link to some downloadable sheet music.

1920s Party Decor Finished Wine Bottles (singles & pairs)

Seventh and most importantly, to complete the look we added ostrich feathers we bought on etsy  (the most cost effective–better than Amazon) and equally wound pearls around the bottle necks to achieve an art deco 1920s party decor look. Besides that, to save on the amount of pearls used (decorating on a budget), we mostly did “pairs” of bottles: one with a necktie, and one with a necklace so the bottles looked like couples, tying sparkly tulle ribbon around the “couple.” Last but not least, on the single bottles, I grabbed twigs from my garden and spray-painted them gold with a little more elaborate draping of the pearls.

Continuing with the 1920s party decor, we glued the paper fans together to create a half circle and then glued them down to simple glass discs, adding tea lights we picked up at Dollar Tree on each side. As you can see the effect was very art deco.

To top off the decorations we added simple silhouettes cut from black butcher paper, as well as setting up a photo booth with a “paper moon,” (that I painted over the course of a week with cheap thin board from the hardware store) which added to the 1920 party decor. Unfortunately, I also forgot to snap a photo of the stack of suitcases topped with an old typewriter that hid the keg by the bar. All items we borrowed or took from our props department.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall the patrons were amazed at the 1920s party decor, the food, the music, and the silent auction. As a community theatre on a budget, we came together and created an art deco atmosphere with a lot of work and creativity. We used items we had available and bargain-shopped for the rest. For a small non-profit, homespun event, we had record numbers and record sales. I hope these ideas will inspire and help you create a dynamic, beautiful 1920 party event.

::

Have you any other ideas that have worked well for 1920s party decor? Have you been to a 1920s party before? What’s your favorite part about theme parties? Do you have any questions on how we created our 1920s party decorations? Don’t forget to check out my novel: THE FLAPPER AFFAIR if you love this era!

Tam Francis is a writer, blogger, swing dance teacher, avid vintage collector, and seamstress. She  shares her love of this genre through her novels, blog, and short stories. She enjoys hearing from you, sharing ideas, forging friendships, and exchanging guest blogs. For all the Girl in the Jitterbug Dress news, give-aways, events, and excitement, make sure to join her list and like her FB page! Join my list ~ Facebook page