Western Themed Party Ideas

Our western party set up was AMAZING!!!!!! And can I just start off by saying how wonderful my husband is to go along with this crazy party throwing scheme? He really is the sweetest to spend his time after work helping me implement all my ideas and add several of his own. I love to work with him and watch our ideas come together!

There was a lot to share from this party, so I broke it up into two parts (click here for the first part which is the western party itself). This post will focus on the details in how to throw a western themed party and will hopefully help you in planning your own shindig!

Cardboard is Your Friend!!!

Yes, cardboard was used a lot for this party. It is amazing the things you can do with cardboard! Thankfully my husband has access to large pieces of cardboard from his work. The ‘RATTLESNAKE SALOON’ sign over the bar and the ‘SALOON’ sign over the entry were made out of cardboard. I penciled out the letters then used markers and paint to finish them off.

Not bad, huh? 😉

The batwing doors were made from cardboard as well. Since the cardboard was so thick, my husband had the idea of taking off the top layer on each side to help give it texture. The job was a little tedious but well worth the finished look.

We used a staple gun for several things (my husband is a BIG fan of the staple gun) including hanging the batwing doors.

We don’t have a round table but decided to improvise. We placed five sheets of round cardboard on top of our rectangle table and secured it with tape. The layers of cardboard helped keep the edges firm and although it wasn’t perfect, I was satisfied with the result.

We cut out strips of cardboard to cover two big 55 gallon water containers. I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sure that lovely blue would have stuck out like a sore thumb if we hadn’t!

We created a fake wall (like we had at our Hat and Soup Party) with some heavy material from my husband’s work. We stapled it to the ceiling and taped it to the floor, covering it with the brick pattern. This gave us the backdrop for our bar and helped to hide the distractions of the kitchen. We wanted to keep the entryway to the kitchen open but wanted to conceal it as much as possible so we hung beads to help divert people’s eyes.

Just in case you think I was pulling your leg about a ‘fake wall’ below is a picture of what the kitchen/eating area normally looks like.

Yep, the wall definitely makes a difference!

We added a touch of western where ever and with whatever we had. Our friend has quite the collection of rabbit furs that she was kind enough to let us borrow.

Keep to the Time Period

We had bottles of store bought root beer and filled up old wine bottles (which we had purchased at an estate sale for our 1920’s party) with homemade root beer as well as A&W and Mug. Our shot glasses were actually old candle holders we took the candles out of and cleaned. Water bottles would have been easy but would have been a BIG eye sore, so we used mason jars for those who wanted water.

It’s in the Details

The pictures on the wall were photos from the wild west of landscapes, cowboys, and Indians. We had old saloon music playing in the background. We covered window blinds and silver folding chairs with fabric and pieces of leather. We placed bullet holes on the walls throughout the room, cowboy hats and boas hung from our coat hooks, and our thermostat was concealed nicely thanks to a cowboy hat.

I created a few wanted posters which at first had legitimate people from the wild west, like Billy the Kid and Jesse James, but my husband thought it would be fun to insert the faces of party guests instead. I still have the real outlaw posters so if you are in need of some for a party just let me know!

And you must have a moon on the bathroom door! Which was made from cardboard, of course!

And this is how I found my little one dressed up while we were decorating. 🙂

Are you thinking of throwing one in the near future? What ideas will you be using? Hope these ideas for a western themed party help!

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