Cops and Robbers Party

Who knew that even adults love to play Cops & Robbers?!  We sure do, and my latest monthly dinner with the girls proves it. All came dressed up, and all came with a playful attitude ready to "steal" away some fun!

Invite: I tried to use some police lingo in the invite to make it interesting, but otherwise, just a simple invitation made with Microsoft Word.  As part of the fun, I asked guests to come dressed as either a cop or a robber.  The girls were very clever in what they came up with and we had fun posing in front of the paper line up background I made....

Decor:  I didn't find too many ideas for this type of party on the internet, so I was left to my own creativity (which I love!).  There were so many ideas that came into my mind, I couldn't wait to put them into action!  It all started with the entry decor...

I put Police Line Do Not Cross tape on my front door and made a sign to identify our house as the "police station".  I included entry requirements, and each guest completed these Booking Station requirements before entering.  Under the sign, was a ribbon with mini clothes pins for guests to place their fingerprint cards.  I designed the badge on PhotoShop and used my Cricut cartridge to make the police cars and lettering on the sign.

Mug Shots! Yes, I know it's cheesy, but Mug Root Beer shots was the idea that truly inspired the whole Cops & Robbers theme for me, so I couldn't leave it out!  Guests took their "Mug Shot" before entering.  The red light I bought for $10 off Amazon.

The second requirement for entry was the fingerprint station. I made simple cards with funny aliases for each guest (Robin Banks, M.T. Vault, Patty Larceny, etc.).  I used a normal stamp pad and set out some baby wipes in a pencil box for guests to "wipe away their crimes" after providing fingerprints.  Guests attached their cards to the entry sign after completion which added to the decor.

After guests entered, they passed through my doorway "jail" made with paper streamers.  I taped half the streamers down on top and bottom and left the other half loose so guests could walk through.

Table Decor: I bought a white plastic tablecloth and used black duct tape to make striped lines to continue with the jail/cop theme. I wanted to tie both cops and robbers into my centerpiece as well, so I bought a dozen donuts to arrange on a cake platter and made money bags to go on each side.  The burlap bags I bought at Michaels, then spray painted the money sign on the front. I filled each bag with gold tissue paper and a can of soda for weight and then topped them with chocolate gold coins. I also bought ring pops, but I didn't like how they looked so I left these out.

I tried Photoshop for the first time EVER in making these mug shot place cards...LOVE THEM!  It was a bit of a challenge finding "non-smiling" photos of each girl and then trying to edit them for this project, but I did it.  The above are some of my favorites.

For wine charms, I made half the guests police car charms and the other half money bag charms.  Both were made using my Cricut.

To hold the forks, I made holsters out of black card stock and buttons.  I folded a grey napkin to stick out like a gun.

Menu:  I made the menu card like a police report.  It was fun coming up with even more silly officer names and then of course deciding on a menu that I could tweak to fit the theme.

We started with a normal salad that I called Tossed (in Jail) Salad.

For the main dish, I served chicken, peppers, and mushroom kabobs on sticks.  I called them "Stick 'em Up" Kabobs with Pepper Spray. I also bought wheat pizza dough and shaped the dough into handcuffs.

For dessert, I served Prison Striped Pudding with a police badge cookie on top.  The pudding is just boxed chocolate pudding alternating with whipped cream.  I couldn't find a police badge shaped cookie cutter anywhere, but I found a pretend police badge at Dollar Tree.  I set the badge on the dough and used a knife to cut around it to create each badge.

Favor:  I bought mini chocolate and powdered donuts and wrapped them in cellophane bags as my favor.  Just a little "loot" for the girls to take home.  I had two different tags.

We had an amazing time dressing up and playing our parts.  This was a great theme for a party gathering, and I totally recommend it.  Would love to hear your thoughts and comments!!