As GenXers, we are often nostalgic for the 1980s, and love to throw parties with an 80s theme. We have thrown 80s themed birthday parties and corporate holiday parties, and have so many retro DIY projects that fit in perfectly. From games to decor to party printables, we've got tons of 80's party planning ideas to share from the 80s parties we've thrown.

Memphis-style 80s party printables

The key to any good party theme is plenty of coordinating table decor, and we've got just the ticket with our Memphis-style 80s party printables. From invitation to banner to cupcake wrappers, this set has tons of decor items that will bring a totally tubular touch to your rad party table.

Pac-Man balloon arch

At one party, we decided to welcome our guests with a real wow moment in the form of a Pac-Man balloon arch. With a simple balloon arch kit and a bunch of black balloons, we built a big arch over the entry space. Then we attached a giant Pac-Man and some ghosts that we cut out of poster board. When we added tiny white balloons to be the dots, we knew we had a winning piece of 80s decor. Each end of the arch was anchored with a giant Rubik's Cube, and the whole thing was the perfect welcome to the party.

Etch-a-Sketch photo booth

A photo booth is always fun at a party, so for our big 80s holiday party, we made a giant Etch-a-Sketch. We built this by sandwiching an inexpensive garment rack between two large sheets of foam insulation, cutting a giant hole in the middle, and then wrapping it all with glossy red duct tape. A couple white plastic bowls for knobs on the front and a stenciled name across the top and we had an amazing photo booth that had a line all night. Ronald Reagan certainly like it!

Oversized 80s decorations

The giant Rubik's Cubes we used for the balloon arch work great all over the party space. They were surprisingly easy to make, too. We just spray-painted some 30" x 30" x 30" cardboard boxes black, then attached squares of colored paper to them with spray adhesive. They looked so awesome up on stage, along with an inflatable boom box decoration.

At the other end of the stage, we put a giant MTV logo that we made on a thin sheet of plywood. We just projected the image onto the wood, traced it, and painted it in. The band felt pretty special to perform with this giant logo nearby.

We scattered more oversized decorations around the party space, including giant cassette tapes that we made by gluing simple designs onto flat cardboard boxes, again spray-painted black first.

Trapper Keeper party games

We developed a fun 80s party game centered on the classic Trapper Keeper. We designed mini Trapper Keeper folders filled with party games and handed them out to the guests to complete throughout the party.

Giant Lite Brite game

The biggest decoration at one of our 80s parties was the Giant Lite Brite that we built from scratch. It was a huge hit, and worked equally well as an impressive decoration and as a fun party activity.

Before the party started, we set it up with PacMan characters to get the ball rolling, but it didn't take long before everyone was moving pegs around to create their own Lite Brite masterpieces. Be sure to check out our detailed DIY giant Lite Brite tutorial if you're interested in making your own.

80s table centerpieces

For 80s table centerpieces, we went super retro with faux cans of Aqua Net hairspray filled with lots of colorful 80s icons and highlighted with accents of bright pipe cleaners. We found the printable Aqua Net can labels on Etsy and added them to Pringles cans. We poked holes in the top and stuck in our decorations. It was totally rad!

Mini button favors

Our favorite 80s themed party favors are mini buttons with 80s characters and themes. We bought a ton and spread them out on a table for people to choose from. Everyone had a great time choosing and then showing off their favorites.

Retro Atari cupcake display

We like to go all out with the dessert table, so for our big 80s party we made huge cupcake displays that featured retro Atari games First there was a 3' tall Qbert cupcake tower, complete with cursing snakes.

Then there was an even bigger Donkey Kong game board, filled with barrel- and fireball-topped cupcakes.

Be sure to check our our full 80s cupcake display tutorial for more details about how we created these over-the-top displays.

80s slang holographic stickers

Stickers were iconic in the 80s, and my favorites were the holographic ones. Oh, how I used to marvel at that silvery rainbow look when I would put a new sheet of holographic stickers in my album.

To bring the magic of holographic stickers to our 80s party as a favor, we printed a bunch of custom stickers with classic 80s slang on them. This was so easy with our Munbyn thermal label printer.

First, I printed a bunch of slang stickers to serve as the favor itself, and tucked them into brightly-colored paper bags. Then I used more of the stickers to seal the bag and give a clue as to what was inside. This was such an easy and affordable party favor that could be done way ahead of time.

Thermal printers are my go-to for favor labels for a few reasons. First, they print FAST. I mean, it knocked out hundreds of these custom favor labels in just a few minutes.

And guess what! Thermal printers don't require any ink — EVER. They "print" onto thermal labels using heat, which turns designated parts of the label black. The design is permanent, and won't ever rub off or run.

And there are so many amazing labels available! The custom labels run the gamut on shape, color, and size.

Besides the silver holographic labels that I used, there are also 3D Effect holographic stickers and these awesome rainbow scalloped stickers that remind me of classic Lisa Frank designs.

In case you need a list, here are some popular 80s slang terms that I used to print my custom favor labels at home: Grody to the Max, Chill, Cool Beans, Choice, Bodacious, Dude, Gnarly, Radical, Totally Tubular, Like DUH, Gag me With a Spoon, Psych, Bogus.

80s Polaroid guest book

For my husband's 80s themed birthday party, I wanted him to have a record of the guests who attended, so I made a Polaroid guest book that guests filled with Instax snapshots and personal messages. Tracing the outline of the camera on the cover was such a subtle yet perfect way to make the book fit the party theme.

80s slam books

If you want a little ice breaker activity for guests while mingling and waiting for food to be served, why not make a classic Slam Book? I decked out a Mead composition book with some 80s stickers and then titled the pages with classic Slam Book questions like "What three words would you use to describe the guest of honor?" and "What was your favorite Saturday morning 80's cartoon?". People had fun reminiscing and after the party, we really enjoyed looking through them.

80s tech, TV, and movies

If you happen to have a collection of old 80s tech and media, it makes great decor for an 80s party. I set up a few tables with some of my husband's old computers, Atari video games, and other retro items we had. I even set up a television that playing 80s television commercials and television show intros throughout the night. (You can easily find these on YouTube and create a playlist.)

Classic 80s movie posters are also a great way to decorate the party space. Some of my favorites are Ghostbusters, E.T., and of course, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

80s candies and toys

Another thing that's great for decorating your 80s party space is retro candies and toys. Sprinkle things like (#ad) PopRocks, Rubik's Cubes, Lip Smackers, vintage 80's trading cards, and jelly bracelets in your centerpieces and let your guests have fun eating and playing with them.

Pac-Man cake and cookies

For one of our 80s parties, we created a whole dessert table that was a giant Pac-Man game board. We covered the table with a black plastic tablecloth and then used blue painter's tape to lay out the game grid. Then Chica added a Pac-Man shaped cake, plenty of cake ball dots, and a bunch of cookies made with Pac-Man cookies cutters.