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This party season continues to see the Gangster theme near the top of the popularity charts. And with Valentines just around the corner combined with the unceasing popularity of the Gangster Movie it's easy to see why this theme continues to capture the imagination.

So if you're thinking of planning a gangster themed party, it's time to dust off the violin case, dig out your flapper beads or spats and send out an invitation that no-one will be able to resist.

Fun ideas for your Gangster Party Invitations

The Speakeasy Invitation

The Speakeasy was a secret location where prohibition beating booze parties were held and was the home of the Flapper. Kept secret for obvious legal reasons, an invitation to a Speakeasy would be expected to be in code. Using code is a fantastic way of preparing invitations but it does need careful planning. Easiest method is to detail everything the invitation is to contain, we would suggest that it include; the name of guest, name of party giver, date, location and start time. This is a minimum information required for any invitation and don't forget to include to note if you want everyone to dress up.

Having gathered all of the information you want to include the next step is to encode it. How you construct the code and how complicated you make it will depend, to a large part, on the age of the guests. Across all age groups visual clues always work and puzzle books will provide you with plenty of examples to follow. The code should be fairly easy to decipher and you should always include the correct answer on the back of the invitation.

Speakeasy or 'The Warehouse' Location Invitation

This is based on the old treasure map invitation where you draw a stylised map of the area surrounding the party venue. Use plenty of Gangster symbols and naming - like warehouses, Italian Restaurants, Nightclubs and have a large curved arrow pointing to the position on the map where the party is to be held. As an option you could include the party details into the map in gangster talk like; 'you've had this coming for a long time', 'now you're going to get it' etc.

As with all clue based invitations, be careful to ensure you include enough real information and the solution to the map should be included on the back.

The Hostage Invitation

These take a considerable time to prepare although the advent of the computer has really come to the assistance of party hosts. Either cut the individual letters from newspapers and then use different sizes mixed and stuck to paper to create the invitation. This is the old school method but produces the best results. The modern way would be to download a font (Google 'free fonts') and then create your invitation electronically. This has the benefit of being far quicker and ultimately cleaner than the old school method.

For either method, you could start with the fact that the party is being held hostage and that to free it, guests are required to attend and are also required to pay a ransom of a bottle of bootleg hooch.

These are tried and tested Gangster themed party invitation ideas and here are some additional tips to make them even more successful. All of these invitations are based on disclosing a secret party venue so they should be kept in keeping with this and should look a little tatty and crumpled. They look great on scraps of paper rather than on square cut fresh stock. A great tip for aging new paper stock is to stain it in a weak solution of tea and then leaving a few (not too many) coffee granules to add darker spots - these will spread with the dampness in the paper. When dry, crumple and tear as required.

If it's an invite to a St Valentine's Day massacre then you could add a few drops of fake blood fluid to the paper as it dries to achieve the ultimate Gangster effect or for a very simple idea you could cutout the template of a machine gun from black card and use a silver gel pen to create the invitation.

Having spent the time to create great looking invitations, don't spoil it by giving them out in plain envelopes. Use your imagination to decorate standard envelops; the theme of this decoration will depend on the overall theme of your party. If you are using the St Valentines Day Massacre, you could apply 'crime scene - do not cross' tape to the envelop or alternatively for a speakeasy theme you could scent the envelope with some whiskey or brandy and perhaps add a feather or small length of flapper beads.

Or, if you can afford to do it, buy an old violin case and a machine gun shaped purse (handbag) and keep the invitations inside the purse and keep the purse inside the violin case, the when you give the invitations out you will be opening the case and taking the machine gun purse out - just like the stylized black and white movies - before you reveal the invitation. And both accessories will be valuable for the party.

Also remember that a great Gangster themed party requires great Gangster themed fancy dress costumes and accessories. These are readily available in stores or alternatively through the internet from either specialist Gangster themed websites or from general fancy dress costume providers.

Lastly, whatever invitation style you choose and however you hand them out you will be getting the party off to a great start by building a sense of excitement, after all, if this is how good the invites are, how great will the party be..... Have a great time.

You'll want to head for the best selection of Gangster costumes and themed accessories and Karnival Costumes is the place to go. With thousands of costumes and accessories for all themes you're sure to find something to suit your requirements. Select this link for Gangsters and Molls fancy dress; http://www.karnival-house.co.uk/acatalog/Gangsters_and_Molls.html

Karnival Costumes also has a large selection of articles covering a wide range of party topics. Why not join our newsletter for up to date information on the latest trends in costumes, news and notification of our special offers?

Article submitted by: KV Sinclair who has nearly 40 years of business experience and in addition to being a part time University Lecturer on Business Studies, he is CEO of Karnival House; a group of companies operating in the party sector. Karnival Costumes is part of this group and specialises in fancy dress and fancy dress costume accessories. Karnival Costumes can be found at http://www.karnival-house.co.uk and is one of the UK's fastest growing internet Fancy Dress Retailers. With massive stocks for immediate dispatch and an ever expanding range, Karnival Costumes continues to strive simply to offer outstanding service combined with outstanding value.

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