Throw a Hobbit Party
Celebrate...Halfling Style
A hobbit party is just like any other kind of party...only more so. You'll need to cook more food, stock up on more beer, ready more games, hang more party lamps, buy more fireworks, and cook up way more food!
An Unexpected Journey, the first part of a trilogy based on the book, The Hobbit, was released in December and quickly became a megahit. The Hobbit, prequel to The Lord of the Rings and written for a younger audience, turns 75 this year. Sounds like a great reason for a celebration. Hobbits love a good party. Go at it in a big way! I've found some great resources for throwing the perfect hobbit party. My own event will be for kids, but you should find lots of inspiration here for any age.
Photo Courtesy Peter Bengtsson, http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Fireworks_red.jpg
An Unexpected Journey, the first part of a trilogy based on the book, The Hobbit, was released in December and quickly became a megahit. The Hobbit, prequel to The Lord of the Rings and written for a younger audience, turns 75 this year. Sounds like a great reason for a celebration. Hobbits love a good party. Go at it in a big way! I've found some great resources for throwing the perfect hobbit party. My own event will be for kids, but you should find lots of inspiration here for any age.
Photo Courtesy Peter Bengtsson, http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Fireworks_red.jpg
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
Hobbit Day Party from Facebook
Hobbit Day Party from Facebook
Table of Contents
Find a Friendly Tree to Act as Host
Photo by TF Sherman
What Are You?
The average hobbit is 3'6". Set up a tape measure at your party. Are you hobbit, elf or man? (Or orc?!) Maybe you should just have some more ent juice!
Craft and Decoration Links
- Generate a Hobbit Party Name
- Cool! My hobbit name is Ryna Fallohide of Buckland!
- Elvish Decorations
- Celt and leaf stencils from the craft store give a beautifully Elvish Middle Earth touch.
- How to Make Cardboard Shields.
- A very nice, basic shield.
- Origami Dragon How-To, ranging from intermediate to more difficult.
- Even if you don't do these as a craft, they would make beautiful decorations.
Hobbit Crafts
Make a treasure map! Post one with a “You are There” beginning, and some landmarks in place. “You’ve been living ordinary, hobbit lives, comfortable but without adventure. But there are creatures and secrets and treasures out there. Where do you think a dragon (sea serpent, ogre, orc lair) might be located? Invite them to add landmarks and create either their own individual maps or one big group map.Everyone needs a walking stick! Make them out of tree branches. And then write names on them in runes, using an on-line rune translator. This is how my name, Travis, would look in hobbit runes, courtesy of Rune Generator
Craft
Dragon Eyes
1. Start with ordinary cheapo glass floral rounds.2. Cut a piece of aluminum foil, larger than the circle. Crumple it up.
3.Cut out a black iris from black paper for the center.
4. Using hideously ugly nail polish (I did blue & green and yellow & magenta) dab on colors and swirl and poke at them with a bent paperclip to create a little streaking. This is a natch because the foil is creased.
5. Place iris just where you want it.
6. Put glass on top. These glasses aren’t perfectly shaped. Make sure you turn it the way you want it.
7. Let it dry, and then cut away the foil into a nice circle. This happens very quickly.
8. Add a bail or a magnet if you want.
I love these!
Photo by TF Sherman
Start Your Party Off with a Great Visual!!!
Role playing and the Lord of the Rings have always been a natural. After you show the kids this trailer, ask the kids who they think they are, wizard or elven queen? Hobbit thief or dragon? Try playing 20 Questions. Or ask some trivia questions based on it, and hand out gold coins as prizes.
curated content from YouTube
Hobbit Games
Hobbits just wanna have fun!
If this is a party, have lots of games going at once. Bean bag toss, (dragon bean bag for laughs), Gandalf May I, and Ogre Freeze Tag would be great starters, as would Guess My Riddle and Hobbit Trivia Questions. I'm looking forward to pop contests with inexpensive poppers, which will hopefully introduce this new generation to gambling. Hobbits love a good time, and they know how to have one.
- Hobbit Riddles
- Riddle me this! What have I got in my pocket? The riddle game was an ancient game of the hobbits.
Give each guest a riddle and some tokens. He gives a coin to each partygoer he meets who guesses his riddle. The guest with the most coins at the end of the party wins a prize. - A beautiful interactive riddling game launched by the makers of THE HOBBIT
- This is a visually beautiful (and free!) interactive riddling game. This would be fun to bring up on a big screen and play as a group or in two teams.
- Gorgeous hobbit party
- The parents of this lucky hobbit built him a mini Middle Earth for his birthday. If you are gifted in calligraphy and art, own a pool and an archery set, this will be the site for you too.
Presents, Presents, and more presents!
The hobbit tradition is to give other people presents on your birthday, and to do so generously. So have lots of gifts on hand, as game prizes, as treasure, and just as presents!
But…knowing that the hobbit tradition is to give other people presents…you might want to encourage your young hobbits to bring presents, things they don’t play with or need anymore, to your party too. They could have a toy swap and give the extras to a toy workshop.
But…knowing that the hobbit tradition is to give other people presents…you might want to encourage your young hobbits to bring presents, things they don’t play with or need anymore, to your party too. They could have a toy swap and give the extras to a toy workshop.
You'll need lots of presents for the party!
On a small piece of velvet, perhaps, display an array of treasure -- labeled "Smaug's Treasure". Include a variety of loose jewels, pearl necklaces, etc., but also a lot of gold coins. Whoever guesses the correct number of gold coins wins the lot.
And Last...Food, Food and more Food!
Hobbits, dwarfs, and wizards too are all good trencherman. Have lots of food on hand, hearty fare like potatoes and stuffed mushrooms, as well as a variety of cakes and pies. Keep it simple. In the words of J.R.R. himself, the food of Middle Earth consisted for “Beer, cheese, pastry, a little wine, good, simple food.”These lembas cookies are actually very yummy award winners made by Candy Bar Cupcakes.
My library menu will be a little simpler:
Butterbeer (ginger ale & butterscotch topping)
Sausage rolls
Fruit
Cookies
Easy Costumes
I always have a nice cloak on hand, and with a long skirt, I’m all ready for the party. Being a hobbit is even easier. I can take my shoes off, because hobbits never wear shoes, even when mountain climbing.
Mine isn’t a party for grownups, though, so I won’t be serving beer. It’s a library party, and my guests think they’re superheroes, not hobbits…so I’m telling them all to bring their own cape, because we’re going on a journey!
Dressing for a hobbit party is a bit like getting ready for a reenactment. Look in your closet and pull out the traditional items. Tunics are easy, just baggy shirts belted with a leather belt.
Mine isn’t a party for grownups, though, so I won’t be serving beer. It’s a library party, and my guests think they’re superheroes, not hobbits…so I’m telling them all to bring their own cape, because we’re going on a journey!
Dressing for a hobbit party is a bit like getting ready for a reenactment. Look in your closet and pull out the traditional items. Tunics are easy, just baggy shirts belted with a leather belt.
Halfling Enthusiasts
These resources are incredible! Artists who are devoted to the middle earth, cooks who understand the hobbit appetite, even architects with plans to build hobbit holes. Check some of them out!
- The Hobbit book review
- A general review and an analysis of what age (8 or 10+) is suitable for The Hobbit.
- Great Hobbit Party How-To
- Try to have your party outside under a party tree.
Decorate with lots of lanterns.
Have fireworks, even just sparklers.
Lots of food.
Lots of presents, wrapped and otherwise.
Games.
A really good site! - Hobbit Party Food & Decor
- Planning your menu? Look no further for some typical tasty halfling fare here. Think hearty Guinness stew, with lots of potatoes and carrots, stuffed mushrooms, potato and sausage balls, seed cake and honey cake.
- A Long Expected Party
- A group of serious hobbiteers gathered in the country for a bit of cosplay and celebration.
- Planning a Party for Children
- Descriptions of how to decorate, what to serve, what games to play, and what party favors to give out.
- HIstory of Hobbit Day
- Put Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week on your calendar
- How to Celebrate Hobbit Day in Style
- From people who really care.
- The Hobbit Movie fan site
- Includes a Hobbit Name Generator
- Tolkien art of John Howe
- Inspiring!
- Tolkien Art of Alan Lee
- John Howe and Alan Lee were concept artists for Peter Jackson's the Lord of the Rings movies. Need we say more?
- How to Talk Like Gollum
- We hates it! We hates it! Bagginses is a thief!
Hobbit Lenses with Imagination
Photo courtesy of A Long Expected Party
Photo courtesy of A Long Expected Party
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