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Party Themes and Ideas

Beach Party Ideas

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Coral Reef Centerpiece
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Coral Reef Centerpiece

Whether or not you have a beach house, you can bring seaside ambience to your summer get-together with these decor and menu ideas.

An inspired arrangement of glowing votives and fiery coral (made from spray-painted branches) brings a romantic coastal feel to any table.

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Nautical Flag Garland
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Nautical Flag Garland

Salute guests at your next outdoor party with garlands made from ribbon in nautical-themed stripes and solids.

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Glowing Shell Arrangement Photo: Ellie Miller
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Glowing Shell Arrangement

You can use oversize shells to bring a touch of the seashore -- and a romantic atmosphere -- to an evening at home. We used "lion's paw" shells (Lyropecten nodosus), available inexpensively from online auctions and souvenir shops. Fill a shallow tray with sand, arrange pairs of your prettiest specimens, and place a votive candle at the center of each pair (leaving room for the flames to flicker safely). Set the tray on a low table, and gather your guests for a drink on the patio.
Sand Centerpiece
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Sand Centerpiece

Light up a table with this sand-and-shell centerpiece. Use candle adhesive to secure slender tapers to the bottom of a clear glass vase. Carefully pour in a few inches of sand, then arrange shells on top. Besides refracting the candlelight for added ambience, the vase will protect the flames from breeze.

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Seashell Lights
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Seashell Lights

A string of beach treasures casts a dreamy glow on a patio or porch. To get the look, decorate a string of small white lights with clean, dry shells.

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Knotted Napkin Rings
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Knotted Napkin Rings

Set a fun, nautical table at your seasonal soiree. These easy-to-make napkin rings are summery and sophisticated at the same time.

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Shell Salt-and-Pepper Dishes Photo: Ellie Miller
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Shell Salt-and-Pepper Dishes

A half shell was good enough for Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." Can humble condiments require more? Four clam or scallop shells make a summery set of salt-and-pepper dishes. First, run four shells per set through a dishwasher, secured in the silverware caddy. For the base, turn two shells top side up, and hot-glue them together at the hinge. Glue together the other two shells; then lay them face up and crosswise over the base, and glue.
Seashell Napkins
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Seashell Napkins

Even if the only water in sight is in a pitcher, you can still bring the feeling of the beach to your table. Iron these vintage shell designs onto your light-colored linens.

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Sand Candles
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Sand Candles

These charming candles are inspired by the free-form sand candles of the 1960s. Use a variety of sand castle molds to bring the beach to your table.

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Seersucker Napkins
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Seersucker Napkins

These easy-to-make napkins bring a breezy, beachy feel to your celebration.

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Beach Bucket Cachepots
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Beach Bucket Cachepots

Free from gritty sand and briny water, beach pails are pleasing to the eye, with their sturdy proportions and bold palette. So put them to decorative use, on display as cachepots hiding less attractive flowerpots within. Collect your favorites from the local discount store.
Wave Ware Picnic Plates
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Wave Ware Picnic Plates

A picnic at the beach deserves the proper dishes -- what could be more fitting than colorful plates posing as a lobster, sun, and seagull?

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Portable Windscreen
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Portable Windscreen

Don't let a stiff breeze chase you off the beach. Bring along a windscreen to protect your party from gusts and blowing sand, as well as to enjoy a little surfside privacy and shade.

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Decorate with Nautical Stripes
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Decorate with Nautical Stripes

Use painters' tape, fabric paint, and canvas drop cloths or cushion covers to create seafaring stripes.

How to Decorate with Nautical Stripes
Throw a Stove Top Clambake Photo: Raymond hom
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Throw a Stove Top Clambake

No need to dig a pit in the sand! Steam lobsters, clams, mussels, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, and chorizo in beer from the comfort of your kitchen for a casual summer dinner party.

How to Throw a Stove Top Clambake
Shrimp Cocktail with Three Sauces
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Shrimp Cocktail with Three Sauces

This recipe for shrimp cocktail is three times more delicious than ordinary versions of the classic appetizer, thanks to a trio of dipping sauces: a traditional tomato-horseradish sauce, a mango-basil sauce, and remoulade sauce. Leave the shrimp with their peels on for a bit of hands-on fun.

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Clams on the Half Shell Photo: Katherine Wolkoff
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Clams on the Half Shell

Raw clams, such as these cherrystones and littlenecks, are easiest to open when they've been chilled for a few hours; the cold relaxes the muscle that keeps them clamped shut. Use a thin-bladed clam knife, which, unlike a pointed oyster knife, has a rounded tip and one sharp side. Serve them on a bed of ice with chilled glasses of rose.

Watch the Video on How to Open Clams
Lobster Rolls
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Lobster Rolls

Dress sweet, tender chunks of lobster meat with mayonnaise, lemon juice, and a sprinkling of chives and tarragon to make the irresistible filling for this classic of New England summer dining. Toast the buns in a buttered skillet just before filling them.

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Watermelon Boats Photo: Ellie Miller
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Watermelon Boats

What beach party is complete without the finishing touch of perfectly ripe, icy-cold watermelon? Enliven the presentation by serving the fruit in crisp wedges standing tall like little boats (cut a sliver from the rind so it stands level), with jaunty nautical flags made from colored masking tape flying from toothpick masts.
Shark and Beach Cupcakes
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Shark and Beach Cupcakes

Look out for blue paper fins slicing through icing waves. Some might prefer a sandy beach, so stand a drink parasol in a dune of icing dipped in finely ground graham-cracker crumbs.

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Sand Tarts
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Sand Tarts

Cinnamon-sugar sand and sliced almond adornments transform these lemony sugar cookies into sweet sand dollars.

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Sand Bucket Angel Food Cake
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Sand Bucket Angel Food Cake

Crabs crawl across a sweet sand dune topped with a starfish in this sculpture that looks as if it was just tipped from the pail.

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Strawberry Shellies
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Strawberry Shellies

Store-bought madeleines edged with pink sanding sugar resemble delicately scalloped clam shells. Fill them with strawberry ice cream and serve on a bed of graham cracker "sand."

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