My daughter is having a circus party for her 6th birthday. Her birthday is in July so we will be using our pool as part of the entertainment since it will be so hot.  Her invitations are cut up popcorn boxes. They are the four-sided, cone shaped boxes. I printed on my color printer "Schuyler's Big Top Birthday Bash" as the heading. In the body of the invitation it says the party is in the center ring at the circus tent with our address listed under that in italics.  RSVP are listed as being to the "strong man" (my husband's name) or the "bearded lady" (my name). I used the typical circus wording:  "step right up to the greatest . . ." and "the performance begins . . .". I just cut and pasted it into the cut popcorn box. It turned out great.   I hired a friend to do magic tricks and keep the kids laughing. Her birthday cake will actually be a bunch of cupcakes with bright icing in the circus colors (mostly red and yellow with some of them purple - her favorite color). I will be taping a ribbon to the bottom of the cupcakes and grouping them together to make it look like a bunch of balloons. I have purchased from a party store a centerpiece of a clown that I will unfold halfway to lie flat on the table. It will look as though the clown is holding a bunch of balloons.  Next, I have rented a popcorn machine, a snowcone machine and a circus house bouncer for the kids to have fun with. I have decided to use bunches of balloons in the same colors I mentioned above as decorations around the backyard and on the mailbox. I've decided to use crepe paper streamers to create a kind of circus tent but it will only stretch from the house to the umbrella over the patio table. Maybe it will look kinda like a tent - fingers crossed!  I've created two signs for the decor. The first says "Welcome to the Midway" and it will be put above the door leading to the outside pool area where everything will be waiting for the kids. The second sign says "Schuyler's Big Top" and it will be placed on the gate leading to the backyard.  The tables will be covered with cloth bought on the clearance table at Walmart. I found some that had clowns on them and some that are just solid colors (red and yellow).   We will be serving popcorn, cotton candy, roasted peanuts, and snow cones. I have decided to also create a cheese dip and a vegetable dip for the parents since they probably won't want the junk food! We will be serving juice boxes, sodas and lots of bottled water for everyone.  The gift bags will be giving at the end of the party and they will also be popcorn boxes. The contents will be a package of microwave popcorn, a circus sticker book, a box of cracker jacks, a clown nose and a small bag of circus peanuts.    I know we can't wait for the party. I hope you find some of my ideas useful.