Glow!

LOTS of blacklights! I was needing to light up an entire house, so no single source of blacklight was quite enough. I had to use a combination of:

---Strip lights (found on Amazon for around $15 for fifteen feet strips. I got two and put them all along the cabinets in the kitchen and around the fireplace that isn't being used since it's summer)

---4 of the four foot tube lights (Home Depot - $13 for the fixture which was the cheapest place to get these, and $15 for each bulbs. I could have gotten these bulbs cheaper at Walmart but they never have them in stock so I just went to Home Depot. Total cost for one fixture was $45)

---Some of the really pricey black light bulbs from Home Depot. I tried using some of the cheaper ones but they just didn't cut it. If you want to use bulbs, just pay the $15. TOTALLY worth it.

I read a ton about black light parties before I started to decorate and MANY people had fantastic advice, the biggest of which was that the things that glow in black light are a hit and miss. I had a black light flashlight in my purse while I was shopping for stuff and I was surprised by the things that did and didn't respond to the black light. This was the key to not having to return a bunch of stuff that I would have purchased.

Things that responded to blacklight:

Fake white flower petals (found in the wedding section of Dollar Tree)

Neon Pom Poms

Toy Slinky's

Toy water squirt Guns

Neon Socks

NEON PAPER! (what we used to decorate the ceiling and the shapes on all the walls)

Neon green, pink, and orange liquid, washable window pens like the ones you use on your car. The yellow color didn't work, but these pens are what I used to decorate my table cloths and backdrop with the big dots. I originally tried to use neon spray paint, which might have worked on a white backdrop, but with the black back drop, it just didn't work.

Glow sticks that had already lost their glowing light. These still lit up under the black light like they did when we first popped them.

• What People Ate

  Taquitos, Burritos, Empenadas, Chips and 7-Layer Dip

• What People Drank

  What most grownups drink :) Lots of drinks with Tonic water since Tonic water reacts to black light and turns green!

• Desserts

  Ice Cream Cake, Cookies

• Party Favors

  Neon Socks and glow stick bracelets. This was an adult crowd so not much going on in the way of favors.

• Activities / Games

  Glowing Beer Pong Glowing Makeup Area GOOOOOOD Music to dance to