Okay, so my niece wants an 80's theme for her "13th" birthday. Have you figured it out yet....she wasn't even alive in the 80s! So I'm having trouble figuring out what to do. She probably wouldn't understand alot of symbols, fads from the 80s....any suggestions?? TIA

You're probaby right that she doesn't know a whole lot about the 80's, so the first thing that came to mind was just to do something with flourescent pink and black, polka dots were big. And then whatever you write on the cake should be like, totally awesome.
Crissy

There's a huge thread going around right now on this subject. Check the forum archives.

Theresa

I did one of a Rubik's Cube. They did all the centerpieces based on the cake.

What about a record player, with a record (yep, actual ALBUM on top) with her name and some title for her birthday? Maybe ask her why she wants an 80s theme, and get some ideas from there (like for example, if she liked to watch Miami vice..you could go far with that one lol)

Ohhh, I like the Rubik's Cube ides.

how about a rubix cube? a symetrical square cake, iced black, then multi colored fondant squares added to the sides. you could give her a real rubix cube as a gift- and let her in on how big they were back in the day.

chrissy, love what you said about it being like totally awesome!

my thoughts also turned towards neon pink, green, yellow. as well as big big hair. maybe a can of hairspray

What about break dancing? It's making a comeback - so surely she would know what it is.

If she's going to be 13, she probably wants an 80s theme thanks to a major comeback in 80s style.

I'm thinking lots of plastic jewelry w/flourescent colors.

hmmm stuff that she'll 'get'- that's a tough one lol

pacman, sony walkman, leg warmers, zebra print, trivial pursuit, gumby, rubiks cube, (there are some things that have made/are making a comeback- that she'll probably know of) i like the 'totally awesome' idea, along with maybe writing a phrase or two maybe like ohmygod fer sher like (valleygirlese lol), Michael Jackson's glove? LOL
Go check out www.80s.com under resources maybe you might find some more ideas. Surely there is something that a present day kid will 'get' - I mean rubiks cube is making a comeback. Maybe look at Degrassi High website? If there is one, the show has a new bunch of kids now, (looking at 80s TV show list lol). Alf, Garfield, Smurfs (maybe too 'young' for a 13 yr old lol), Strawberry Shortcake, oh I can think of lots of other things like Superman and Freddie Kruger and what not, but it's a girl's 13th bday lol. Makes me think of wide pink belts and lots of garrish makeup and side ponytails and Nike hightops lol and hot pinks and yellows and blues. That's about all I have in my head, sorry LOL
Good luck!

Thanks everyone!!! Tomorrow's the big day so we'll see what I can come up with!

Yeah I would have asked what it is about the 80's that she likes. I loved the 80's!! WooHoo

80's fashion was all about leggings, big shirts with big belts, and BIG HAIR. Glad those days are over but unfortunately have pictures to prove it! Good luck with the cake!

What about a Madonna cake...fishnets and black rubber bracelets. lol

OOOH, or her vogue years (I think that was much later though) with the cone bra....I get out those sugar cones for that bra! LOL

The madonna idea seems more like a cake in the adult themed cakes if you ask me [/quote]

I would probably do the hot pink with black polka dots. Maybe a Record on top. Another Idea is use the ball pan and make a Disco Ball.

Hi - I had a huge 80's party for my hubby's 30th a few years back. For his cake, I did a 1/2 sheet, all white, decorated in BRIGHT pink, green, and teal swirls with a 1/2 dome shaped cake on top. I decorated the dome portion to look like the moon (white and grey swirly shades with "craters" pressed into the icing) and I put an astronaut figure on top, posting the mTV flag into the moon, like the original mTV commercials. WQe placed the cake on a table that was decorated with 80's rock star cutouts from the internet and old magazines.

what did you decide on Lee Ann?

I totally wimped out---she couldn't really tell me why she wanted 80's or what she really new about it...all she said was pink..so.....I made 1/2 sheet white-iced in neon orage with neon pink, yellow and green polka dots and 1/2 sheet iced in neon pink with the other colors of dots---I wrote "Have, a, like, totally cool 13th birthday" on one and on the other I just put her name in really puffy letters across the cake.
I also had to think about the fact that it's for a 13 year old's party (she invited 100 people by the way, what???) and they didn't ask me until last minute and wanted to pick it up the day I was leaving for vacation with my own family (no, I don't need to pack, do laundry, or go to wal-mart to get snacks--I'm just twiddling my thumbs, looking for something to do, oh how about an underappreciated cake, that sounds like fun!) Oh well, it's over now, I'll post pics soon!!
Thanks for all of your input
Cute MTV cake, BTW!!

you went in the right direction for the cake then! my goodness- i would have done it the easy way too considering your time frame!

100 people??????????????? who the hell invites that many people to their THIRTEENTH birthday party? Are these people related to queen of England or maybe the president? LOL
Well for all that not knowing really what they wanted, it sounds like you came up with something really groovy!
Hope you enjoy(ed) your vacation!

she probably wanted something 80's because of that movie 13 going on 30. my 12 year old sister is majorly addicted to that movie and now she has become crazy about the 80's but she cracks me up automatically labeling things as 80's no matter what decade they are really from.
as for the time frame, are they insane to ask for a cake then? i would have told them NOOOOOOOOOO! why do people think that you can just slap together a cake in no time?

100 People that sounds llike a breeze to my daughter. She will invite her intire class than we have my family and then my husbands family. So your looking at 150 people easy at any given party. And that is a simple one. My son had 80 kids at his birthday party in Nov. that was just kids. Now you add the adults and the number is over 100. Her birthday is coming up now in May (2 but party will be the 12th) so we are getting almost ready. FUN FUN FUN FUN!!!!!!


Vic

WOW. How in the he** does everyone do it? Geeze in my family you might have like a handful of friends and a handful of family members....like maybe a dozen people total.

All I can say is that you're brave.....