Honky-Tonk Takedown

From Bucking Buckaroos to Rough and Rugged Outlaws.
Saloon Owners to Southern Belles.The Honky-Tonk has everyone!
Look here for ideas on what to wear or
an accessory that will complete the outfit!
Just a few ideas of what to dress your little buckaroo in!

• Plaid
• Denim
• Vest
• Big belt buckle
• Cowboy/girl hats
• Bowler hat
• Bandanas
• Shoestring tie
• Bow Tie
• Mustaches
• Braids

• Boas
• Wigs (think any variety)
• Gloves
• Fancy Head dress
• Feathered hair pieces
• LARGE hats
• Fake eyelashes
• Timepiece
• Stick horse
• Toy guns
• Holster

• Spurs
• Chaps
• Rawhide

Outside the Saloon

• Place real hay bales outside the entrance. If you have a saddle, put them on or around the bales of hay.

• Construct a hitching rail outside the venue and (if at all possible) a horse trough or tin bath equivalent will almost certainly result in someone getting a dunking before the saloon closes.

•  Make a hitching post using a wooden palette and a sign (included with the mystery).

• Create a sign post with different directional signs. You can have signs pointing people to: The Bank of Deadwood, telegraph office, jail, stagecoach, etc. (There are directions and templates on how to do this with the mystery.

• Make and hang a sign for your saloon. (Instructions and templates included with mystery purchase.)

• You can order some really cool saloon doors:

• OR, construct your own saloon doors. Find out how to do so here.

More examples of how hosts built their Saloon Doors

• Not up for building? Order your saloon door here.

• Cut out cowboy and a cowgirl silhouettes and hang them on the windows.  

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<

Inside the Saloon

  • Place oak barrels and/or growlers around the party space.

• Make a Saloon Bar out of a picket fence, 2 palettes for sides and a large piece of plywood for the top!

• If you can find/obtain large cable spools, use them for saloon tables!

• Hang “wanted,” “reward” and other themed posters all over the walls. (These templates and two more included with mystery purchase.

• Print out and hang other “saloon” signs. (These templates and two more included with mystery purchase.)

• OR, you can make your own saloon signs on wood! Simply cut a wood palette to the dimensions you want and paint your design on!

• Create your own branded root beer. (Label designs included with purchase. Just adhere to root beer bottles.)

• Don’t forget to give your guests a place to use the bathroom….

• Use scene setters to create your saloon wall or a western scene.

• Wagon Wheel Tables

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<

A Little Western

• Bandanas, bandanas, bandanas! Order a plethora of bandanas and use them for everything! You can make banners out of them, use them as napkins, as apart of a table arrangement and/or runner, etc. The ideas are endless and having them handy will only aid in your decorating!

• COWBOY HATS! Order them in bulk (we found some here) and  use them to decorate within the party space. We:

• Took down photos on walls and replaced them with cowboy hats
• Had them hanging on coat racks
• Turned them upside down and served chips out of them
• Used them in table decorations
• Spray painted them gold and had them as awards
• Had them avaiable for props at our photo spot
• Had them available for anyone who forgot a hat!

• Compile an assortment of western objects and create displays around the party venue. Place them somewhere where everyone will see them – by the food, place where you get your nametags, etc.

• Make lassos from thick rope and hang as garland.

• Have small, tin buckets filled with peanuts.

• Use bandanas as napkins. You can even use metal sheriff’s badges as napkin rings (pin one in the middle of each napkin).

• Use a real cowboy hat, turned upside down and line with a check napkin to hold chips.You can place bowls inside the hats, too, if you are hesitant about napkins.

• Place a small bowl in the top of a cowboy boot and fill it with salsa. Use boots of different sizes to give your salsa bar depth and variety.

• Arrange bunches of wheat, daisies, sunflowers or wildflowers in cowboy boots, metal coffee pots or tin pitchers.

• Bring in camping or storm equipment such as oil lamps, lanterns and cooking pots to add to the theme.

• Use potted cactii for your table centerpieces.

• Soak the labels off beer bottles and use bottles as candle holders.

• Spray Paint rocks gold and use them to decorate.

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<

Food and Recipes

 HERE IS JUST A SAMPLING OF IDEAS FOR FOODS THAT YOU CAN HAVE AT YOUR SALOON:

Snacks: beef jerky, pickles, licorice and old-fashioned, hard candy sticks are all authentic Old West snack foods. Trail mix and buffalo wings add a Wild West flavor to the appetizer menu.

Main Vittles: cowboy stew, pork ribs, steak, brisket, chicken fried steak, barbecue ribs, roast, chili, Virginia ham and buffalo steaks or burgers. Teens may enjoy sloppy joes and/or roasting hot dogs over a campfire.

Side Kicks: potato salad, cowboy potatoes, corn fritters and cowboy beans (slow-cooked barbecued beans topped with bacon and pineapple).

Sopping Material: corn bread, baking powder or sour dough biscuits. Real butter adds a nice touch.

Cowboy Sweets: Wild West dessert menus may feature Old West favorites that are still big hits today, such as berry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie (for autumn parties) and strawberry shortcakes (for summer parties) made with sweet biscuits and topped with real whipped cream.

Belly Wash: Whiskey-infused drinks, margaritas, beer and/or Wild Wild West Cocktail (bourbon, peach schnapps and cranberry juice) for your saloon specials.

Non-alcoholic drinks popular with the times: cowboy coffee, tea, apple juice, lemonade, root beer (sasparilla) and cactus juice. To make cactus juice, pour cold lemon lime soda into a punch bowl and add lime sherbet.

Find recipes, templates and directions to make all the western goodies pictured above easily and affordably when you buy Honky-Tonk Takedown.

Includes: Ideas, directions and templates on how to make gold, money bags, bandana napkins, more elaborate nametags and recipes for Cowgirl Cocktails, On-The-Trail Cheesedip, Cowboy Chili, Desert Dessert, Cactus Cake and Sheriff Badge Cookies… and much, much more.

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<

MENU: Along with purchase of the mystery, you will receive a designed menu that you can customize with YOUR own appetizers, entrees and desserts that you will be serving at your Honky-Tonk Takedown!

ROOT BEER: Serve up these saloon favorites with their own, branded labels. (Label designs included with purchase. Pictured below.) Just adhere to the bottles and woohla!

Tips for serving up your food!

• Purchase red gingham or burlap to use as tablecloths, table runners, etc.

• Consider red plastic-ware.

• Use bandanas or burlap for napkins.

• Have mason jars for your guests to drink from.

• Serve bottled and canned beverages from old tin tubs.

• Give your food western names — Cowboy Chili, Old West Wings, Get Along Little Doggies (cocktail weiners),etc.

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<

Music

Saloon Music– Find some authentic tunes from the old west to play at your party. Find it here.

Saloon Music– We downloaded an album from Sqeek Steale on iTunes for some good saloon piano music!

Cowboy Music– You can stream music from this internet station.

Cowboy Music– Play real cowboy music by the original western sweethearts Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Find it here.

Other classic country artists— Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, June Carter Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings are a few suggestions.

For Free Music– Visit your local library for a number of compilations from the time.

<<Click on tabs to the left for more ideas<<