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Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

The Essential Burning Man Costume Checklist

Friday, August 11th, 2017

Black rock desert burning man

It’s that time of year again! Mutant vehicles are popping up on the highway, Burning Man costumes are for sale in department and thrift stores, and the Black Rock Desert is requesting our attendance to the biggest art and culture festival in the world: Burning Man.

Radical Expressionism At Burning Man

The iconic festival, called “life-changing” by the majority of attendees, was built on 10 principles. Today we’re going to talk about the principle of “radical expressionism.” Burning Man invites individuals from all over the world to express themselves in all different ways. Clothing is one of the most popular outlets for expressing personality in ways that might be deemed strange in regular society.

It’s All About How You Put it Together

When it comes to radical expression, buying a ready-made Burning Man outfit doesn’t always illustrate a person’s authenticity – but if you’re not a master sewer, ready-made wearables make an excellent base to your handmade costume. It’s all about how you put them together!

Bandanas, for example, are used to keep dust out of your face during dust storms. There are so many bandanas, buffs, and face masks to choose from based on your personal style and preference. In fact, you can choose a different bandana to match your costumes throughout the week. Each year there are different theme days throughout the week. Some are honored every year, like Tu-Tu Tuesday, while others change based on the year’s theme.

bike riding on the playa at burning manSelf-Reliance at Burning Man

While this festival is rooted in radical expressionism, another principle of Burning Man is radical self-reliance. In order to really get something from this festival, there are a few essentials to pack that will help you fulfill the 10 principles and make this festival all the more enjoyable.

Your Burning Man Costume Checklist: Clothing, Costume & Misc. Necessities

Suspenders, bandanas, buffs, hats, and goggles for Burning Man are among the most essential costume/clothing pieces, and they are also a good starting point for packing a wardrobe that expresses your individuality. Here are some other essentials for fashion, expression and function:

  1. Craft and Expression Kit

    Put together a craft or expression kit as your gift to other Burners. To make your kit, fill a box or some form of container with enough crafts for a person to make cards, a personal journal, a puzzle, or whatever else you can think of!

  2. Lights

    You are in charge of your own light out there, so use lights to express your individuality at night, and be seen by art cars and bike riders!

  3. Glow sticks

    These are perfect for lighting yourself up too.

  4. Costumes

    Wigs, suspenders, dresses, anything you want, especially steam punk. Keep the theme of the festival in mind so you can be sure to participate with props and accessories.

  5. Bandanas or buffs

    These will be your best friend. Those dust storms plus the sweltering heat can be unbearable without the help of your bandana.

  6. Fur Coats and cloaks

    The temperature drops quickly when the sun goes down.

  7. Keep a clean set of clothing in a plastic bag for the ride home.

  8. Hats

    The more the merrier: decorative, protection from the sun, and at night for warmth.

  9. Sunglasses

    A couple of pairs, in case one breaks

  10. Goggles

    Decorate them with embellishments to make them your own!

  11. Skirts, sarongs

  12. Fishnets, hose, bodysuits

  13. Comfortable shoes/boots

    Be sure to bring a selection of shoes for camp, day time and night time.

  14. Funky shoes

    But avoid stiletto heels!

  15. Make-up

    Body paints, and face paints, nail polish –  no loose glitter!

  16. Rain gear/poncho

    You never know what the weather will bring out there.

  17. Gloves

    Decorative and for warmth.

  18. Blinking lights

    Battery operated to wear at night.

 

Whether this is your first time at the festival or your twenty-first, we wish you a once-in-a-lifetime experience and good luck!

Come on into the store for your costumes, crafts and other wearables today! If you’re in need of helium for your camp, come down to Paper Plus, we have helium tanks for rent!

Simple and Creative High School Graduation Party Ideas

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017

high school graduation caps being thrown
High school graduation day is a big milestone. Caps are tossed, speeches are shared and plenty of photos are taken. On such an important day, your grad deserves to be celebrated in a BIG way!

After all, this day is going to be one your grad looks back on through their lifetime. So choose a unique graduation party theme and grab your crafting supplies, it’s time to celebrate!

For their big milestone, throw a high school graduation party that really captures their personality. From handmade graduation party favors and decorations to games and activities based on their personality, there is so much opportunity to make the grad in your life feel extra special.

 

Graduation Party Decoration Ideas That Delight

Create a photo collage of all the beautiful memories that led to this special day! We are particularly liking photo wreaths this year. They are simple to put together, and you can decorate them in any assortment of colors. Feeling ambitious? Make a photo wreath for every year of your grad’s life. You can even make a graduation party game out of it and ask guests to try and put them in the right order. Whoever gets them in order wins a prize.

 

high school graduation party capKeep Track Of Those Graduation Cards!

With all the excitement on graduation day, it can be a bit difficult keeping track of all the graduation cards. Make the graduation cards even more exciting and decorate a box for them. Paint it with the grad’s favorite colors or school colors, add embellishments and set it on a gift table for guests to fill as they arrive.

 

Make An Entrance!

Make their entrance to the party a moment to remember with a balloon arch! This will also make for a great photo area. Check out this post for more graduation balloon ideas!

 

Graduation Party Decoration Ideas: Year Signs

Sometimes the cleverest crafts are also the simplest. That goes for graduation party centerpieces, too! Create a tissue paper graduation year sign centerpiece with this simple tutorial:

  1. Select enough tissue paper for your desired sign size. Consider buying the grad’s school colors.
  2. Cut out the shape of the number of the graduation year from cardstock or something sturdy.
  3. Glue the tissue paper to the numbers. The fluffier the better!
  4. berkeley school color balloons red yellowWhile your numbers dry, decorate 4 glass bottles to match the tissue paper
  5. Attach a wooden dowel to the back of each number, and place them in the bottles
  6. There you have a simply spectacular graduation year sign!

 

Capture All The Fun!

Set up a photo booth with fun and festive wearables, photo props and more! Create your own props with popsicle sticks or dowels, construction paper and pens.

Stop by the store today to talk about a balloon arch (remember they are a great photo background), centerpiece making supplies and everything you need to decorate for your graduation party!

 

Creative Oscar Viewing Party Decorations and Ideas For 2017

Wednesday, February 15th, 2017

red carpet and streamer for oscarsThe Oscars are a celebration of exceptional talent and spectacular film … but that doesn’t mean we just have to sit and watch all the excitement! This year, host a festive Oscar viewing party with decorations, games and fun details! We thought about what would make a spectacular party, and we’re excited to share these ideas with you! And the winners are …

Decorate For A Glamorous Evening

Host a Hollywood glam Oscar viewing party with glittering decorations, trophies, and even reserved seating. Make the event extra special with handmade name cards and tables with Oscar-themed center pieces. Come on in and we can set you up with seating and craft inspiration! Some of our favorite craft decorations are:

  • Star garlands
  • Admit one tickets
  • Photo both props

Make Your Guests’ Entrance Magical

Make every guest feel special and greet them with a red carpet, a photo, and a special “Oscar” award for being a great friend and guest. Give out awards for anything you appreciate them for, like being the best cook, funniest friend, or best-dressed guest! This is a perfect way to start off the evening!

Dress Up Like Your Favorite Nominee

We’ve got wigs and costumes to help you transform into your favorite Oscar nominee! Choose an actor or actress from this year’s awards or a classy Hollywood star like Marilyn or Robert Redford.

clapperboardSet Up A Photo Booth

Make your own Hollywood photo booth or red carpet area:

  1. Simply hang a curtain or sheet for a backdrop.
  2. Get crafty and make your own Oscar photo props like masks, top hats, popcorn, red lips, glasses, bow ties and more!
  3. Provide a list of suggested iconic and silly poses.

Make Your Own Awards Game

Hold a game of Academy Awards Charades using only this year’s nominated films. The winning team gets their own Oscar trophy!

Need extra seating for your Oscar viewing party? Rent your table and chairs at Paper Plus today!

 

4 Super Fun Super Bowl Party Tips

Monday, January 30th, 2017

Superbowl party supplies - plate napkin cutlery decorations

 

Super Bowl L1 is February 5th, 2017 and everyone is gearing up for the face-off between the Falcons and the Patriots! Even though the main event is on the big screen, Super Bowl Sunday is about so much more than who wins and who loses. It’s about coming together with friends and family over good food, great fun and lasting traditions. Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or you’re in it for the half-time show, Super Bowl is a blast, and we want to help you celebrate in style!

Do you have everything you need to celebrate the biggest game of the year? Check out our Super Bowl party tips for making your Super Bowl party super fun!

 

1. Show Me That Team Spirit

Make the most of being the host and help your guests show their team spirit! When people arrive, hand out football themed costumes and other wearables! We’ve got temporary tattoos, boppers, football themed decorations and more! Come on in and we’ll help you find the perfect fan costumes.

2. For The Snack Table

What’s a Super Bowl Party without a decked out table of wings and snacks? Display all those delicious chips, dips and wings on our football themed party trays. Feeling extra festive? Decorate the food table like a football field!

Football helmets balloon beer wings pizza for superbowl party3. Get Your Game On

When the big game is over, play your own games! Our favorite game is the football edition of pop the balloon! It’s simple:

  1. Pick the Super Bowl team colors for balloons.
  2. Write words like “penalty” or “personal foul” on slips of paper. On one slip, write the score of the winning team.
  3. Place a slip of paper in each balloon.
  4. Ask your guests to pop the balloons.
  5. The guest who gets the winning score slip is the winner!

This game is lots of fun, especially if you have silly gifts for the winners and participants! Check out our football themed necklaces, hats and other fun wearables for gifts.

4. Football Fun For The Kids

If you have little kids attending the party, set out some football themed crafts so they can participate in all the festive fun. If the kids are a bit older, set up a mini football toss with streamers and, of course, a football!

Maybe you’re hosting your big annual Super Bowl party for hundreds of people, or maybe you’re gathering in the living room for a more intimate gathering. Whatever your plans are this Sunday, we wish you a wonderful day full of good laughs and lasting memories! Go Team!

4 Items to COMPLETE Your Super Bowl Party

Friday, January 29th, 2016

As the San Francisco Bay Area prepares to host Super Bowl 50, party people across the land are gearing up for their February 7 viewing parties. It’s time to buy that gallon-tub of nacho cheese, dust off the flatscreen TV and pull the spare chairs out of the closet. It’s also time to visit Paper Plus Outlet, where you can find Super Bowl party goods to delight your guests and kick up the charm.

Here are a few ideas to take your Super Bowl party to the next level of NFL fan-dom:

1. Balloons

BALLOONS are perfect for sports events! The balloon artists at Paper Plus have come up with some awesome balloon designs for Super Bowl 50, including the “50” logo, doorway arches with team colors, pom poms, and so many more. Have an idea? Pitch it to one of our talented balloon artists, or browse the catalog. There is no party without balloons – they’re fun for the whole family!

 

2. Serving Ware

superbowl balloonsNo Super Bowl party is complete without a spread of delicious food, and our Super Bowl-themed SERVING WARE provides the finishing touch to any table or countertop. We have plates, cups and napkins in the competing teams’ colors and logos. We also carry a great selection of utensils, including sturdy/reusable, compostable, bamboo/sustainable and standard plastic. Need frill picks (those tufted toothpicks) for your finger foods? We have them in an assortment of colors and sizes!

3. Flags

Show your guests (and everyone else) who you’re rooting for with our assortment of FLAGS! We have colorful pennant flags in various sizes and colors. Decorate the table, tack them to the wall, display them in your car, or wave them around while your team scores a touchdown! These flags make great gifts for the football fan in your life.

4. Party Supplies

Paper Plus also carries PARTY SUPPLIES  like platters, including sectional platters, disposable chafing dishes with sterno for keeping foods warm, ice buckets and much more. These reasonably priced party goods are high quality items that will serve you and your guests well!

 

The Super Bowl 50 festivities all start with a visit to Paper Plus Outlet, conveniently located on San Pablo Avenue in North Berkeley.

Looking for something special or out of the ordinary? Call our friendly staff at (510) 525-1799.

 

How to Get Jolly for San Francisco Santacon

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

Set of red Santa Claus hats for SantaconSantacon — the annual flashmob parade of slightly sober Bay Area people dressed in Santa suits – has officially entrenched itself in the past couple years as a San Francisco public tradition.

Also known as “Santarchy” and “The Red Tide,” the city-wide pub crawl starts with toy donations in Union Square this Saturday, December 12 at noon and proceeds to pretty much cover the city’s landmarks, bars and dance clubs until well into the night.

What do you need to participate in Santacon? A Santa suit, of course!

But that’s hardly a simple answer, because there’s so much you can do with a Santa costume. Paper Plus has everything to outfit the budding Santa within you, including not only the tradition soft red-and-white Santa suits, but also the largest selection of Santa hats.

Authentic Sinterklaus’ will appreciate our selection of white beards, gloves, and suspenders.

Feeling like going dressy this year? Classy Saint Nicks might prefer our miniature Santa hats or Santa hat clips, which pair well with a cute flannel dress and ho-ho-ho boots.

Give your Santa costume some California sunshine love with our Santa sunglasses. We even have Santa themed tutus!

Watching the fun from afar? Throw on one of Paper Plus’ twenty-some Santa headbands. They’re easy to put on and take off when the Christmas mood suits you (or when the bar you want to patronize has a No Santa policy).

Get over to Paper Plus in North Berkeley before this Saturday and stand out in a sea of Santas.

Looking for something in particular? We’re friendly! Call us at (510) 525-1799.

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