Dinner and a Movie. We decided soon after her 7th birthday party that my daughter's 8th b-day party would be much simpler and smaller! She agreed to having dinner & seeing a movie with just her closest of friends. The only problem was that there were no age appropriate movies out at the time of her party. So we came up with the idea of renting a movie and having the party at home. We sent out splashy inviations going with the "Dinner & a Movie" theme. We turned our kitchen and family room into our own movie theatre. I purchased actual carton popcorn holders from the local party rental store. (very inexpensive!) I also used them as the party favor bags! We made a "red Carpet" out of contruction paper and placed it in front entrance. I also made marquee signs, (printed out from the computer using the biggest fonts available and then gluing the sheets to red contruction paper as the background.)showing the event name: "XXXX's 8th Birthday Party" and listing all the "guest stars" attending, and the next showtime which was the starting time of the party. So as the guests arrived, they walked up to a red carpet and saw their names in lights. As they came, they were each given a "wallet" (made out of contruction paper), that contained 5 dollar bills that they would later use at the "Snack Bar" (I made them their own personalized money by scanning in an actual dollar bill and putting their pictures over Washington's face. This way, everyone knew who's money was who's!) We played a few games to get started, Twister is a bit hit at this age as is Freeze Dance. Then dinner was served. Pizza is the easiest thing to serve! Along with a few other munchies. While they were busy eating, we set up a "Concession Stand" in our kitchen. I bought different types of candy that you would find at the movies and made lots of popcorn. I printed out a big sign saying "SNACKS" and hung it in the kitchen. I also printed out a price list listing the different prices for the snacks & drinks. This was the biggest hit of the party!!! They loved that they could "buy" whatever snacks they wanted. Free refills on the popcorn!!! I did limit them to their $5 to make sure no one got a tummy ache. It was fun to see who ran out of money first and who was a penny pincher! At one point some of them were trying to "borrow" from each other and one even asked if she could work at the snack shop to make some more money! Once everyone was situated with popcorn & candy, it was showtime! The lights dimmed and the movie started. We closed the snackbar down as the movie was finishing up. We had to make sure they had room for cake & ice cream! Some of the leftover candy I put into their treat boxes. As for the party favors, we kept with the theme and gave them each a bag of microwaveable popcorn, a gift certificate to the local video rental store, and everyone also won different prizes throughout the night. This party was the most fun and the most EASIEST party to plan!