Why Go to An Outdoor Movie Event?

Going out to see a movie a tradition that is enjoyed by individuals, families, groups of friends, and couples out on dates. If you have seen advertising for outdoor movies in your area, you might be curious about what these events are like. Here is why you should consider skipping the movie theater next time you head out to see a movie and giving a movie in the park a try.

Human Interaction Going out to see a movie is a very social event; one of the reasons you might choose to go out and see a movie, rather than renting a DVD, is because of the chance to meet and interact with new people. Outdoor movies are made for socializing. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, without the need to be quiet like in a movie theater. You can bring a picnic, eat, and play cards with friends before the movie begins. In addition, a typical movie theater holds about 200 people, while some outdoor events host up to 10,000 people.

Comfort No need to be confined to one seat the way you would be in a busy movie theater. At an open air cinema event you have the freedom to stretch out and sit however you would like. Bring a comfortable chair, a blanket, or even an air mattress to lay down on. You also won't have anyone kicking your seat like you might in a movie theater. Children are typically also more comfortable in an outdoor setting.

It can be frustrating to bring young children to a movie theater, where they need to sit still and watch quietly. At an outdoor film event, children have the freedom to get up and play during the movie. Depending on the venue, pets are even allowed at many outdoor movie events, making a movie under the stars fun for the entire family.

Wallet Friendly Movies shown outdoors in parks are an affordable way to enjoy a night out, since communities often host open air cinema events for free. You can spend a few dollars on snacks and drinks if there is a concession stand, or keep it completely free and bring your own movie snacks.

A Unique Experience An film shown outdoors can take place almost anywhere; flicks can be shown in parks, pools, historic sites, and other beautiful locations. These events offer a unique chance to enjoy what is usually an indoor activity in an outdoor setting under the stars.

Visual Display Another reason to go out to see a film rather than viewing one at home is the chance to see the movie on a big screen. Movies under the stars events are often shown on inflatable projection screens that are even bigger than those found in movie theaters.

Try something new and attend a local outdoor movie event this summer. Chances are you will enjoy it even more than seeing a movie in a theater.

5 Party Ideas the Kids Will Love

There are many considerations to make when deciding what to do for a children's party. On the top of the considerations list is the actual theme of the party itself. What you decide to do for entertainment can make or break a kid's party, so you need to ensure that you've thought that part through. If you're stuck for ideas or could use a bit of extra inspiration then this article will highlight a few things you can do that always get you in to the children's good books.

Get a bouncy castle

There's no doubt it... bouncy castles are a great source of fun. They are always a favourite with the kids and they go down pretty well with the adults too. We all need a good old bounce now and again. Hiring a bouncy castle for a few hours is often more affordable than most people realise. The only thing you have to be sure of is whether you have the space for a bouncy castle. If you do, then there's no reason not to get one and have some fun.

Organise a paddling pool party

If you don't have a swimming pool at your disposal then you're just like the majority of us. However, not having a swimming pool doesn't mean you can't have an awesome pool party for the kids. All you have to do is cover a nice sized are with paddling pools and voila... you have your very own pool party. This party idea can be great for doing something a bit different and pretty much every child loves splashing about. You may get a little wet, but the smiles on their faces will make it worthwhile.

Plan a night full of games

We all love playing games and kids' love nothing more than a bit of healthy competition combined with fun. There are plenty of game ideas you can use to create a fun and memorable party. Pass the parcel, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, piñatas, and other games all make for great entertainment. Choose a select few and you'll have the party covered.

Go to a soft play area

These play areas have been on the rise in recent years. If you do a quick search on the World Wide Web then you'll probably find one in your local area. This option is guaranteed to make you a hit with the little ones. There's also something in it for you. As these play areas are supervised by competent staff you won't have to hang around while they're playing. This frees up your time to relax and have a chin wag with the other parents or friends, or you could go shopping for an hour or two and treat yourself. It's a win-win situation for you and the kids.

Hire a children's entertainer

This is probably the best option for a kid's party. A good children's entertainer forms a part of a dynamic breed. They have plenty of tricks up their sleeve to keep the kids laughing out loud. From magic tricks to Punch and Judy shows, if you're looking for a versatile party that's full of fun, then hiring an entertainer is always a wise choice.

Japanese Tea Ceremony: Bringing Family and Friends Together

How about entertaining your guest creatively with an ancient tea ritual. With its roots in Buddhism, Japanese tea ceremony involves far more than a tea party among friends. It is instead closer to a spiritual experience. The host strives to create the perfect atmosphere for his or her guests, called "wa-kei-sei-jaku" in Japanese, or "Harmony, Reverence, Purity, and Tranquility". Therefore, the host must give extreme care to all details - the surrounding gardens, the paper walls of the teahouse, the stepping stone path leading to the tearoom, and of course, the tea set itself. On our own side of the pond, we may not have the Zen rock gardens or paper wall panels, but that doesn't mean we can't appreciate the details of a beautiful tea ceremony. Since tea gained prominence in Japanese society and the mores of this tea ceremony tradition developed, artists strove to perfect the tea set, and so all over Japan, different localities have developed their own unique styles of teapots - different colors and designs, unusual handles, and distinctive embellishments have become trademarks of different regions. Whatever your taste, Japanese artists have created a nearly endless variety of tea set styles to choose from.

Like Japanese tea sets, the primary focus of Japanese tea ceremony is beauty. Guests and host alike sip their tea while commenting on the beauty of the season. Tea ceremony is often accompanied by admiring flower blossoms or other seasonal fauna. A purist holding a Japanese tea ceremony will invite his or her guests to a space free from distractions, where all can sit and appreciate nature's beauty, so the ceremony may be held outdoors in the garden, or a dining room adorned with fresh flower arrangements and floral prints. The table can also include pieces of seasonal foliage, but most importantly, the most attractive side of the teacup must face the inside of the table. Hosts often customize their table settings, picking specific teacups for particular guests.

Once guests arrive and the tea has brewed, pour the tea for the guest on right first, and then continue around until all are served, making sure to serve your self last. Pick up the cup with your right hand, but then move it to your left hand, keeping your right hand on the rim of the cup - don't forget to bow your head to express gratitude for the guests' presence! As a guest, make sure to rotate the most attractive side of the cup towards yourself and appreciate its beauty - after all, the host picked that cup especially for you. Sip your tea, compliment its flavor, and once finished, wipe the rim with your right thumb and forefinger, but make sure never to set down a half-drunk cup of tea - doing so implies the tea doesn't taste good, and so may be insulting to your host!

Of course your own tea ceremony doesn't have to be so formal. Modify the ceremony as you see fit, but remember that at its roots, the tea ceremony is a celebration of beauty, especially natural beauty. Make sure to compliment your host on the quality of the tea, the beauty of her home's décor, and of course comment on the loveliness of the season

Whether you're looking to quench a spiritual thirst in the Buddhist tradition, decorate your home with the adornments of a distinct piece of art, or hold an Asian-inspired tea party for friends, there are tea sets galore to complement your purpose. Japanese and Chinese tea sets range considerably in price and condition. A collectable or antique set may cost in the hundreds of dollars, whereas a newly made set or the work of a relatively unknown artisan may only run you fifty dollars. If you're in the market for a genuine antique, a professional tea set appraiser would definitely be recommended, but for the rest of us, a decorative tea set for the home can easily be purchased from online vendors as well.

Whichever style tea set or ceremony you settle on, keep the roots of Japanese tea ceremony in mind while entertaining your guests. As the Japanese tea philosophy says, "We only have one chance to enjoy this present moment. Let's do our best." Whatever the price or style, a lovely Japanese tea set can bring beauty to any gathering of friends.

How to Get Custom Designed Invitations and Announcements on a Budget

Get Beautiful Custom Made Invitations or Announcements on a Budget: The Where and How

There are events in our lives that we want to be perfect, and planning every detail of an important event can be crucial. For the party planner on a budget, I have one solution for getting amazing, beautiful custom designed invitations or announcements made specifically for you and your event, for a fraction of the cost from a large invitation company that will run anywhere from $1.50 - $7.00 PER Invite - plus shipping. There are places where you can find amazing quality, attention to detail custom made invitations that will wow your friends and family and make them think that you spent a fortune - all while saving you extra dough - more money left over for the rest of the party details.

Aside from designing and printing your own invitations or announcements, the next best way is to buy a digital file that you can have printed yourself. There are many amazing designers out there that have stores where they sell their custom invitation designs, personalized however you want. When you are happy with the way the invitation looks, you are emailed the file that is ready and optimized for printing.

You then can upload the file to the photo center of your choice - Walmart, Walgreens, Costco, Shutterfly - etc. and pick up your beautiful new custom designed invitations or announcements within an hour for as little as 0.10 per invite! For the most eco-friendly and cost effective way possible, digitally send your custom designed invitation file to friends and family via email, Facebook or twitter and save even more money - not to mention trees!

Etsy, eBay and Artfire are just three of the places you can find quality, high end custom designs for under $20. Especially for specialty themed parties, shopping through on of these sites will get you the most unique, priceless finds anywhere at great prices. For themes like mustache parties, divorce celebrations, girl's night out parties and other unique events, finding an invitation to suite your style could be challenging when relying on the standard cookie cutter invitation company. In addition to custom invitations, there are many designers on these sites that create all types of party printables - and not only at great prices, but also beautiful party decorations and supplies that can be printed from your home computer - saving you time and money across the board on your next party.

Five Useful Tips to Help You Prepare For Your BBQ Garden Party

The sun is shining and the weather is not so cool, what a perfect start for this year's barbecue season. It's now time for you to get that BBQ out from hiding, dust the cobwebs off and get cooking.

Now we all know that there is no fun in cleaning your barbeque, getting rid of all that burnt on grease and sticky residue left from a successful evening cooking, and it's even enough to put some people off. Furthermore, the inevitability of creatures joining the party, such as wasps and ants is a given,

However, not all is lost. There are five simple tips on how to set your barbeque alight.

1. Preparing for a barbecue

The easiest way to clean is by not having to clean at all. By this we mean try not to allow meat and food to stick to your grill in the first instance. A simple and effective tip is cover your grill in a generous amount of oil before you cook. Voila.

2. How best to clean your barbecue

Like some of us, if you didn't clean your BBQ properly before putting it away last year then there is a handy tip to remove the dirty. Let the grill soak in water with a touch of white vinegar and washing detergent, this will help loosen the dirt and be easily scrubbed off with a wire brush afterwards.

3. Cleaning your barbecue with a wire brush

The most essential tool in your cleaning kit should be a wire brush, this will help tackle even the toughest of grime on your cooking rack. The best time to clean your barbeque is actually when your BBQ is still warm, NOT HOT, after cooking as the heat helps to lift the burnt on waste easier. You can do it when the BBQ is cooled completely but this will be much harder.

4. Combat any Ant annoyances

A good home remedy to fight invasion is Cinnamon. Simply sprinkled whenever you see ants and you'll quickly see them retreat away. This won't harm any ant but will just deter them from going in the area.

5. Make a natural wasp repellent

Finally the most annoying of all pests, wasps. They can be a really nuisance around food and sweet smelling drinks and are often the cause of the one man Mexican wave. If everyday repellents aren't working then a top tip is to recreate the smell of the wasps natural enemy, the hornet. If a wasp smells this particular smell then they, just like the ant and Cinnamon, they will retreat. All you need to do is take a brown paper bag and whilst blowing air into it, tie the end with a rubber band and hang in a prominent area of the garden. For normal flies, some Citronella oil or candle works perfectly.

5 Tips For Renting The Perfect Bounce House

Let's face it: Planning a birthday party is extremely difficult! There are ton's of choices. Choosing a bounce house rental can be a great way to celebrate just about any special event. Today, we're going to give you five questions that you NEED to know the answer to before you schedule your event:

1) How old is the inflatable rental? To save money, many companies by old, used, dirty bounce houses from larger companies. What they don't tell you when you're ordering your bounce house is that the unit often looks old, used, and dirty. Reputable companies are constantly buying new inventory to replace the old, used, dirty inventory. Make sure to ask about the age of the bounce house rental that you will be receiving for your special event

2) What happens if the owner gets sick? Does everything shut down? For whatever reason, there are thousands of people that think they can own an inflatable rental business. So people buy a jump thinking they will set it up on weekends and make some quick cash. But what about weekends when the owner of the business gets sick. Well, normally, business shuts down. A reliable company will have the staff and inventory to make your party a success no matter what!

3) Do they return calls in a timely manner? In the party rental business, customer service is everything! Unfortunately, there are many companies that treat this business extremely casually. Small, unreliable companies will stop returning phone calls as it gets closer to the time of your event. Make sure you're happy with the customer service of the company that you decide to use from the very beginning. How you're treated at the beginning of the process is a good indication of how much integrity your chosen company has.

4) What type of inflatables does the company offer? Many rental companies rent bounce houses, or water slides. However, larger, more reputable companies will rent combo units that include both a jumping surface and a sliding surface. These inflatables cost more to buy, so many smaller companies can't purchase these types of units. But, renting a combo unit will give your guests twice the entertainment and hours of jumping and sliding fun.

5) How's the heat? Summer is here... and it's hot! The material on bounce house rentals can get extremely hot during the summer time, which can easily detract from the fun of your party rental. However, renting a water slide is a perfect solution to the heat! Water slides offer protection from the heat while kicking the fun factor up to the next level!