Valentine’s Day Dance Party
Playlists and Printables + More
by Jennifer Cooper, posted on February 9th, 2012 in Parties & Celebrations
images by Dave K Cooper
This Valentine’s Day go crazy with a family dance party. Move the coffee table, clear the living room, and get on down to funky town. I know, I can’t believe I just wrote that line either.
Why a dance party? Why not. We put together three easy steps to throwing the ultimate* family dance party.
*use of the word ultimate may be subjective
1. Keep decorations simple. Honestly, you could probably skip decorations all together. All you really need is an open space. But since we wanted to make it festive, we chose two inexpensive decorations to hang from the ceiling—pompoms and hearts.
My kids loved the heart project. In fact, and I’m not even lying when I say this, my daughter said, “This was a lot of fun. And it’s all thanks to Martha Stewart.” I don’t know if I’ve had a prouder moment. *tear*
2. Leave behind any self-consciousness you have about your dance moves—Your kids don’t care if you look like Elaine when you dance. There’s something pretty special that happens when we bust a move together—it frees us up. I think, and I fully acknowledge I may be a tad crazy here, but allowing ourselves to be ridiculous at times is a life skill.
3. Play the right tunes. I’m a terrible DJ. I’ve never been good at mix tapes. So I called on some friends to help. I asked them what they’d put on a Valentine’s mix tape for their families. Here’s what they said…
Caroline Smalley | Push the Envenlope
The Smalleys definitely know a thing or two about music. Caroline is an accomplished artist and uses music as inspiration in her work. Her husband Dave is a writer who also just happens to be a punk rocker.
“The Fam Jam” Our family’s #1 song is: Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart by Elton John & KiKi Dee
September – Earth Wind and Fire
Somewhere Only We Know – Keane
This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
Rainbow Connection – Rivers Cuomo & Hailey Williams
Hear You Me – Jimmy Eat World
PS. Caroline designed some awesome music inspired Valentines for you! Just click on the picture below to download and print. How cool is she?! Bet you didn’t realize this was a post with a super awesome bonus in it did you?
Josh Solar | Happy Family Movement
Josh and his wife Jenny are true music lovers. Once, I put a call out on twitter for music suggestions to cheer me up on a rainy day, and within seconds Josh had a whole play list for me. I’m pretty sure Josh and Jenny host regular dance parties in their home. They’re totally the type of lovable-crazy people who’d do that sort of thing so I knew they’d have no trouble coming up with a mix.
Life is Beautiful – Keb’ Mo’
Life is Sweet – Rabbit!
The Lucky Ones – Tim Myers
A You’re Adorable – Emilie Mover
You Always Make Me Smile – Kyle Andrews
Blessed – Brett Dennen
Aliza Worthington | The Worthington Post
Aliza and my friendship was sealed on the dance floor during a highly amusing reenactment of Thriller. The rest, as they say, is history.
Our House – CSNY
Rainbow Connection – Kermit the Frog
Octopus’ Garden – the Beatles
Diamond Road – Sheryl Crow
Why yes, I *am* totally and completely ridiculous.
Carla Molina Martins | All of Me Now
Carla and her girls, ages 2 and 4, love soundtracks. So she put together a special mix of her favorites for Valentine’s Day.
Life’s a Happy Song – The Muppets soundtrack (track #3)
The Sweetest Gift – Sade (holy tear jerker)
Everybody – Ingrid Michaelson (Ramona and Beezus soundtrack)
Hakuna Matata – Zimba The Lion King Soundtrack (track 4)
Now you have everything you need for a proper dance party. Even a bit extra—print out the images Caroline made for you and use them for invites to your dance party.
So people, this Valentine’s Day, get out there and DANCE!
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone
xo
Jennifer Cooper Reply:
February 9th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
That poor dog. She’s had learned to live with our crazy.
And I totally love you right back!
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