READY OAR NOT: Our Next Party Theme Revealed!

Happy Friday, Skippers!

You've been telling me how much you miss the ridiculous holiday parties John and I used to throw pre-Covid, and believe me, so do we. So much that we decided we just couldn't wait for December to roll around again, and are planning a party in two weeks for my birthday. (Eep!)

May is already hectic with MegaCon and whatnot, and we only gave ourselves about a month to plan, AND we're throwing an elaborate baby shower this weekend that's taken most of our spare time 'til now... but are we going to let that stop us?

HECK NO

Here's the deal: I like puns. Big puns, little puns, really really bad puns: just... gimmie.

My idea, therefore, was to throw a pun party like the ones you've probably seen floating around TikTok. (If not, go see, they're great.) Those are all costume-based, though, and we needed a theme for decorations. It's not a Yates party 'til we build something as ridiculous as it is large, right?

I was stumped for the better part of a week, until Katie over on FoE asked for help with the menu for... drumroll, please... her niece's Jungle Cruise party.

(art by Mini Pandas)

It was a light bulb moment, gang.

I was a Jungle Cruise skipper back in college; it's actually where my love of puns began. So not only is this the perfect birthday theme, I can't believe I didn't think of it first. C'mon, me. Get it together. And thank you, Katie and Katie's niece.Your contribution rocks, and will not be taken for granite.

After smashing the two themes together, there we had it, skips: A Jungle Cruise Pun Party.

Start brainstorming now, because I'm going to ask for your most excruciating puns at the end of this post: costume puns, food puns, game puns, visual gags, you name it.

But first!

Want to see what we've built so far?

Please say yes.

I'm... going to assume you said yes.

Our very first project was a sign for the front door. All of our parties have had foam signs (remember the Bog of Eternal Stench?), which we usually keep and display afterward as party mementos. Not to brag, but this is definitely my favorite one so far:

I love how the textures turned out! You'd think this was made of wood, right? Ahhhh I love aging things.

Here's how it started:

This design isn't an exact copy from the parks; instead I asked John to layer the center part of this sign in Disneyland over a ship's wheel:

Once John photoshopped a mock-up, we projected, traced, and cut it out of pink insulation foam.

Stick around and I'll convince you to craft with pink foam eventually.

That's John adding another detail layer with craft foam.

I sanded the edges to round them slightly, then got to the fun part: painting.

This is all basic craft paint. In fact this whole sign was a freebie, made with foam scraps, twine, and paint we already had.

I lightly traced the lettering, then painted it in by hand. (Vinyl lettering would have been a different sheen, so I went the old-fashioned route.)

Done!



My "wood grain" is a basic dry-brushing, nothing fancy, but look how it sings on these foam layers:

Yesssss. I'm telling you, you should try this.

*****

K, let's move on to something bigger.

Much bigger.

Here's a hint:

... which is also a GENIUS Dollar Tree DIY I discovered in one of my Facebook craft groups. The screwdrivers are 2 for 1.25, so total cost for the wheel was just over $6.

Here I am figuring out that wrapped twine helps disguise the screwdrivers:

And here it is installed:

Whoops, heh, getting ahead of myself.

Suki, would you care to introduce this next build?

Thanks, Sukes.

From that all-important blue-tape size reference John moved on to this:

And this:

Which he then clad in Masonite and more pink foam:

The PVC canopy was when it really started to come together for me:

Oh yeah. Here come the waterworks.

John: "Hey, we never use these bed sheets anymore, right?"

Me: "Which ones? And why do you ask?"

John:

That grin is how we don't spend much on builds, but also don't have many spare bed sheets.

Some primer and red craft paint later:

EEEEEEEE

Gettin' excited, y'all.

The current JC boats are are more drab & beige, but my heart will always belong to the retro striped canopies of my Skipper days:




I wood-grained the top deck (poorly, so we'll be viewing it from a distance), then we added Styrofoam ball finials and a snappy red stripe at the bottom of the hull:

Hard to see, but John even made the lever for the throttle, which is amazing. Plus the wheel spins!

I painted the ship wheel black; the aged "wood" was looking too rustic.

This isn't the finished display, but the boat itself is done. Woot! We may add a name on the hull (current favorites are "Jungle Jen" and "Age De-Nile", any preference?) and maybe some colorful string lights to give it more of a party boat vibe. Any other suggestions?

Oh, and I'll also wrap our Slytherin plush snake around one of the canopy pulls, to stand in for Monty Python. Hee.

I hope this already has your creative gears cranking, but here comes one last batch of silliness for your consideration: the menu. This is what kick-started the whole process back with Katie's post on FoE, as I kept going back to give her more suggestions, and also write down my favorites from other people. So brace yourself, and here goes:

The Jungle Cruise Punny Cannibal Cafe:

Always Looking For Better Ways To Serve You

Starters & Sides:

- Back Side Of Watermelon
- The Yolk's On You Deviled Eggs
- Hippotatoes

- First Cole Slaw Of The Jungle (I'm most proud of this one)

- Ca-noodles

Mains:

- Schweitzer Balls
- Point In The End Skewers
- Boat Tie Pasta

Desserts:

- Ginger Snaps

- Rock Candy (Not To Be Taken For Granite)

- Jeep Turnovers
- Monty Pie-thon

Drinks:

- Shirley Temples

- Ele-Fanta

- Jungle Juice

- In De-Nile (non-alcoholic)

I know there have to be more great jungle-y food puns out there, so what am I missing?

I'm also looking for costume puns ala "Bear-ista" or "social butterfly" - ideally with a jungle or animal twist. We've asked our guests to either dress as a pun OR a skipper-era adventurer, so it should be a hilarious mix.

I'm also looking for games, decor ideas, etc. Remember, the more terrible the puns...



....the more I want to hear them!

 I love y'all very much, thanks for being here and joining me in another round of party silliness. I have even more groan-worthy things to share next time (the games are gonna be a HOOT), but 'til then, I hope you have the best weekend possible. May your conversations and your couch naps be deep, comfortable, and uninterrupted.

::hugs::

*****

P.S. This book has been a best-seller for years over on Cake Wrecks, and this is the week I finally break down and buy a copy myself:

Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes

There's also a volume 2 with an even prettier cover, if you'd like the set.  :)