Western theme 40th Surprise Party! It all started when my mother-in-law showed me a picture of my husband age 5 on a pony with his cowboy hat on. With a guest list of 40 friends and family members i chose this theme for a cost efficient party.  The menu was as follows; A Hot Chili & A Med. Chili left in the big pots for the campfire effect, corn bread & buns, pepperoni sticks, etc., and this was set out on a red checker table cloth. Pie tins were used for serving the food on.  The most fun i had was with the decorating of my friends house where the party was being held, by luck her home had a country look, bonus. I found old maps at the library and printed copies of which had te'pees with different Idian tribes, such Cherokee and others, i then took the copies and tore the edges and stained with wet tea bags to age paper, these were 11/ 16 and i placed them in a plastic sleeve & were used on all of her tables for protection.  For the Covered wagon which i placed at the front entrance, i used an old spring horse and i took a childs tent and configured it to fit on a childs wagon and made a white cover for it. I put the driver leaning up against the wagon with a childs gun laying across his lap, an empty tequilla bottle beside him and made money bags out of white linen tied with a piece of rope with a money sign marked on them with a few bills hanging out (play money). I bought lots of pasely scarfs at the dollar store so each of the guest could wear to help the theme.  I went to video stores and asked for any old posters they were throwing out that had a western flavor to it, they gave me four free of charge.  I then made a black jack table, black bands for the dealer and had no problem geting the men to take charge of this. I rented a roulette wheel and made my own sayings on the wheel & if they hit one of theese they had to follow the instructions ( let your crowd determine your sayings) have fun with it.  Prizes were awarded to the one with the most play money at the end of the evening. I made two boards up with pictures, first one with his cowboy picture on the pony, family and his friends. The second started with when we met and our times together and funny sayings were put under each picture, which i laughed till i cried, my sister was in on this one.   The very last picture was a bonus, from our wedding album i had a picture of him & his family/ then one of my side with myself included, ( i wore a hat with my wedding gown), i titled these pictures ; the Hat Fields & The McCoy's.   I took our address, some of our past experiences and made a small skit to the theme of Green Acres which i included my husband in.  I dressed us both up like the characters, him in his jeans & pitch fork in hand and myself in a flowing nightgown.  I waited till about eleven after my husband had had a few cocktails then i sprung it on him and to my amazement he was in great character. I had a friend video tape the event so i could enjoy later. My friends and family came to the party in jeans, with denim shirts and most of them were wearing cowboy hats, some wore the boots and the dollar store paisley scarfs added finishing touch.