Family Fun Friday- Blast From the Past Family Night

Well, here it is- the day you've all been waiting for! Today is the last day of our introduction of new features here at Life is Great in a 31 by 8. We're excited to bring you... Family Fun Fridays!

Before I share tonight's Family Fun Friday activity, you have to promise not to laugh, okay? Yonder follows a rather embarrassing picture of me. Hey, I'll do anything for my family's fun!

At Family Fun Friday, we'll be sharing fun, easy ways to spend some QT with your family. We'll bring you game ideas, cool things to do together, activities to do together with the whole family, pretty much anything that falls under the topic of family togetherness, ways to spend more time with your family, ways to make family time more fun, or things that bring families closer together.

Tonight's Family Fun Friday requires a little preparation, but it's well worth it! Pick a time period... hubby and I are both children of the 80's, so we chose the 80's. Help everyone develop a costume out of clothes and accessories you already have.  By the way, these costumes may come in handy if your school, church, etc. has a Dance through the Decades, Sock Hop, Blast from the Past, or anything like that. Or, hey, Halloween!

Madison and I used puff paint to decorate two of Brian's old t-shirts with sayings like "Like, totally", "Radical", "Valley Girl", etc. and cut the neckline so it would hang off our shoulders. We found plenty of play jewelry that worked perfectly, used existing skirts/jeans/socks/tanks for a layered look, and cut a pair of long socks into legwarmers. It was hilarious to hear, "Mom, did you really wear this? Are you sure it's supposed to look like this?" (I'm ashamed to admit that, yes, I did indeed look that goofy.) I got out the curling iron and lots of hairspray and recreated some awesome 80's big hair and sidewards ponytail. Oh, and lots of blue eyeshadow (Embarrassing to admit I had this on hand). None of it cost a penny, and was a lot of fun to get together!

The boys, on the other hand, had 80's outfits much easier than we did. They layered pastel polo shirts, flipped up the collar (WHY is this back in style? I keep trying to flip kids' collars down, till they correct me and tell me it's supposed to be like that!), brushed back their hair, and wore some authentic 1980's Ray- Bans.

We had a little fashion show of our ensembles, to the tune of some 80's music (Hey, Mickey, you're so fine!), then cranked up the tunes and danced. We all had a blast! Cost- nothing. Prep time- a little, but it was fun. Memories- Priceless!

You could also end the evening watching some movies from your decade. Youtube is a great place to find commercials and TV shows from the past also.

What other ideas do you have for a "Blast from the Past" family night?