53 Decoration Ideas - 1960s Murder Mystery Party

1: 60s Party Decorations - Psychedelic Vibe 

Pat Psychello has dreams of being a psychedelic artist and so adding a psychedelic vibe to your decorations is hip, man.

There are different possible psychedelic color schemes; should you wish to coordinate your color schemes with the party pack printouts, then choose pink, purple, turquoise, green, and yellow colors.

1 Buy a scene setter or wall hanging.

We used Amscan's wonderful 60s Groovy Room Roll to cover the feature wall in both our dining room and lounge. We loved the bright colors and wavy lines. While other companies do offer fab wall hangings, Amscan's wonderfully bright colors perfectly matched the color scheme of our main party pack decorations. 

2 Mirror the hip colors of your scene setter or wall hanging with similar colors in your table runner. Optionally use a table runner on opposite edges of your table rather than in the center.

We chose two fab Sparkly Sequin Glitter Rainbow Table Runners from Hestya. These no longer seem to be manufactured but other companies do offer rainbow or 'paint splatter' table runners.  (We decided that using two table runners, one down each side of the table, was more colorful than having one central table runner.)

3 Use the circular place card settings in the murder mystery's Menu and Place Card zip (zip 7). These offer bright, swirling colors.

4 Use the colorful record centers in the game's decoration pack (zip 6) to form the centers of LPs and singles for placemats, coasters, and a record mobile. See section 2 below.

5 Use leftover oddments of the room roll to cover vases or the wine bottle base of candles. Alternatively, use brightly-colored napkins.

6 Alternatively, mirror your scene setting or wall-hanging colors with your tablecloth. (With psychedelic decor, a riot of clashing colors is fab, man.) If you cannot find psychedelic tablecloths, then search instead for rainbow or tie-dye.

7 Use a psychedelic tablecloth and then mirror these colors with bright rainbow tinsel curtains to cover walls or doorways.

8 Use brightly colored napkins, plates and glasses. Many online suppliers offer these as rainbow or tie-dye options.

9 Cover table mats and coasters with brightly-colored tissue paper or wrapping paper.

10 Buy psychedelic wrapping paper. Use this to cover sheets of cardboard. Then stick the decorations from the game's party pack onto this simple DIY frame. As an alternative, use your brightly colored napkins to cover the cardboard.

11 Use the psychedelic artwork created by Pat Psychello in the game's decoration kit. (We used abstract patterns while muting the colors to make the printouts more ink-friendly.)

12 Create your own artwork with swirling, kaleidoscopic patterns or intricate geometric patterns. Try bold colors - the aim is to recreate an altered state of reality and not to portray real life.  Use your artwork to decorate walls and tables.

2: Rock'n'Roll Decoration Ideas

The murder mystery is set in the 60s music industry during the heart of rock'n'roll. Pete L.J. Phoenix is a music mogul, Drake Wilde and Skye MacLeod are rock stars and Pearl was organizing the world's grooviest rock festival before her murder. Also, Payton and Major Morals focus a lot of their attention on campaigning against the "smuttiness" of rock songs. Therefore, music and rock'n'roll decorations are very appropriate for this game.

2.1 Musical Instruments

13 Use small musical instruments as a table centerpiece. In the photo above, we used a set of miniature toy drums and a guitar that we had bought from a tourist shop as the centerpiece.

14 Place a selection of musical instruments in front of a background to provide a prominent focal piece. Either stand them on the floor as in the photo above or hang them from walls. Even place them on a sideboard.

2.2 Record Covers

15 Use the 12 Singles Record Covers provided in the game's party pack. (These record covers are the hits of Pete L.J. Phoenix's music empire with hits by stars of the mystery such as Drake and the Dynamico Dynamods.)

In the photo above, we turned these record covers into a feature by staggering them on a large black card background. (Note that the black card echoed the black tablecloth for visual consistency across the party spaces.)

16 Use records and record covers to decorate your walls or tables; some hosts also put them above the sink in the cloakroom.

17 Use record covers and records to create a frame for your doorway as guests arrive.

2.3 Records as Decorations

Records - both LPs and Singles - were popular throughout the 1960s and so records are a fab and versatile element of party decor. 

We bought a bunch of second-hand records from a charity shop and also from a recycling center. We have been able to use them in different ways for different murder mystery parties and so they were a very useful buy. Check out our 1920s Speakeasy party decorations,  1970s disco party decorations, 1990s party decorations and also our  Halloween decor to see just how different the accessories can make the records look. 

2.3.1 60s Table Decorations with a Musical Vibe

18 Use LPs as placemats and singles as coasters.

Tip: if you have a wooden table, then create placemats that offer some degree of heatproofing by having several layers of records with cardboard circles in between them. Use a black felt-tip pen to cover up any visible traces of cardboard. Do not place items straight from the oven or stove on these records.

19 For the coasters, use the record centers that come with the game's Decoration Pack.

20 Use LPs and/or Singles records to create a cake stand. Another option is simply to cover an existing cake stand with tissue paper and then to place a record on top. (This is ideal if you have a flowery cake stand and wish to tie it in visually with your decor theme.)

Important safety note: vinyl is not food-safe, so you should NOT place food directly onto a vinyl record.

21 Use LPs instead of a tray to stand drinks, glasses, or cutlery containers on. 

22 Cut musical shapes out of card. Shapes could be musical notes or the shape of musical instruments. Use these shapes as a table runner or arrange them into a table centerpiece. Alternatively, buy them from an online store or buy musical confetti for your table.

23 Buy musical cupcake toppers and use these to decorate both sweet and savory dishes.

2.3.2 A Groovy 60s Record Mobile as a Table Centrepiece

24 Use single records to create a groovy record mobile as a table centerpiece.

We used a dozen single records and glued the record centers that come with the game's Decoration Pack on BOTH sides of the Singles so that the mobile would be equally colorful from all angles. We then hung these Singles from different arms of our ceiling light, using different lengths of black cotton, to create an interesting effect. 

Note: by hanging the Singles from different arms of our ceiling light, we were able to create a 3D effect. (Make your own safety assessments on this.) We could have created a similar effect by hanging them from different points on the ceiling.

2.3.3 Records as Wall Hangings

25 Spray paint an LP with gold paint to simulate a platinum record.

26 Turn LPs and/or Single records into an eye-catching display by attaching them to a large piece of cardboard. For extra visual effectiveness, first cover this cardboard with colorful napkins, wrapping paper or tissue paper. Alternatively, hang a colored sheet over a wall and then use cotton thread to hang records over this sheet. (See our 70s decorations page for how this could look.)

27 Buy second-hand 1960s LPs from a charity shop. Use the covers to decorate your walls or tables.

28 Use record covers and records to create a frame for your doorway as guests arrive.

2.3.4 Unusual Party Entrance Sign Made with Records

29 Make a stunning and unusual party entrance sign made with records, a second-hand picture frame and printouts from the game's decoration kit.

We bought a second-hand picture in a gold picture frame from a charity shop. We replaced the picture with black card and then glued the "PJL Phoenix Records" sign from the Decoration Pack onto the center of the card.

We then selected 8 second-hand LP records and stuck the record centers provided with the game onto the center of each LP.

We turned the frame onto its front and used an electric drill to screw one LP into each corner so that just a quarter of the record center was hidden by the frame when seen from the front. We screwed the other four records onto the frame so that they formed the top, bottom, left and right centers of the frame. See photo above.

Safety note: we wore a mask before drilling vinyl.

2.4 Other Musical Decorations

30 Get posters of 60s pop stars and place these on your walls or tables.

31 Have a vintage record player on display.

32 Use the music-themed wine label provided with the game as a bottle label.

33 Buy balloons in the shape of guitars and microphones from online party suppliers.

34 Cut large musical notes out of colored cardboard or paper - or buy from an online supplier.  Make these notes into a mobile, a table centerpiece, a banner or a wall arrangement. 

3:  1960s Hippie-Themed Decoration Ideas

Our murder mystery has a prominent hippie theme as different characters are from the hippie commune of Love Support and Dreams. 

3.1 Use Shawls and Fabrics

35 Use different shawls, tapestries and fabrics to provide texture to your table and also to be a focal point for your walls. Mix and match different patterns and textures. Examples might be materials with flowery, geometric or abstract patterns, materials with magic mushrooms or peace signs; also consider Macramé or crocheted decorations. Don't be afraid to use tablecloths, curtains or even duvet covers as background wall hangings. In the photo in section 2.1 above, I hung a vintage tablecloth of my mother's and two long scarves from the ceiling to create a feeling of hippie wall tapestries. Then I used a mix of shawls to cover the table and also the sideboard.

36 Layer-up fabrics to add visual interest. In the photo above, I used a red tablecloth. Then I used a wide pink shawl, a narrower turquoise shawl and finally a multicolored crocheted scarf as a table runner. (I bought the shawls from a charity shop.)

Note: in the photo above, I also used a fabric oddment I bought from a charity shop to cover the wall with a warm geometric design. (This fabric oddment was also useful for my 70s decorations; I then used the reverse side of this to provide a faded wallpaper effect for my Wild West bar and Horror Castle decorations.)

37 Cover a large piece of cardboard with an (unwanted) shawl. (Maybe buy a second-hand one from a charity shop.) Then add printouts from the game's decoration kit to form a visual with a hippie vibe.

3.2 Love and Peace Decor

38 Instead of candlesticks and vases, create love and peace bottles to hold your candles or flowers. (Ensure candle safety.) Use these a table centerpiece.

In the photo above, I used love and peace bottles as both candlesticks and a vase. I used gold spray paint on empty wine bottles. I then chose different printouts with a love or peace theme from Pixabay.com and Unsplash.com and glued these onto the bottles. Oddments of ribbon completed the look.

Tip: use this spray paint outside and put an old cloth underneath to avoid staining your driveway. Consider wearing a mask. Also, you are less likely to get runs if you use several thin layers of paint rather than trying to cover a bottle with one thick layer.

39 Use love and peace bottles on a sideboard or hall table. (Again, ensure candle safety.)

Note: the above photo was taken from a different test party where I created a hall display to welcome guests as they arrived. I used the tray to hold the party booklets. Note that I used the same psychedelic scene setter that I had used in the dining room and lounge for this test party to add a feeling of visual consistency between our party spaces but made this space feel more hippie with the use of different layers of shawls.

40 Cut peace signs, hearts or flower shapes out of colored paper or colored cards and add these to different decorations. Optionally use specialist tie-dye paper that can be bought from different online stores or craft shops.

41 Alternatively, make a table runner of peace signs, hearts or flower shapes or make them into a mobile or a banner.

42 Make a peace sign, heart or flower power table centerpiece. Wrap a vase, a small oblong box or a container such as a popcorn container in a colorful napkin or tissue paper. Insert oasis. Optionally decorate with peace signs or hearts; optionally add a pom-pom made out of tissue paper on top.  Then glue or stick peace signs, hearts or flower shapes to wooden skewers and arrange them so that the skewers are inserted into the oasis.

43 As an alternative table centerpiece, use a peace sign as the base of the centerpiece. Then place a vase of flowers over this sign. Or link three peace signs with cotton thread so that they form a triangle and can stand upright. Insert a vase of flowers in the middle.

44 Cut the letters for "love" and "peace" out of different sheets of colored paper or cards. Use 1 sheet of A4 (Letter Size) paper for each letter. Arrange these down the center of your table as a table runner. 

45 Alternatively, use these letters to make a "Love and Peace" banner for your buffet table, party entrance or walls.

46 Buy hippie confetti and sprinkle this across your table. 

47 Use the table mats provided in the mystery's Menu and Place Card zip (zip 7). These groovy mats are themed around the words "Love", "Peace" and "60s". 

Tip: If you need traditional table mats to provide your table with head protection from hot dishes, then cover these in colored tissue paper or wrapping paper. Then place the colorful table mats we provide over these.

48 Create a peace sign wreath and hang it over your front door to welcome guests to your party.

3.3 Tie-Dye Decor

49 Use tie-dye tablecloths, napkins, plates, cups, bunting and foil curtains to add an instant hippie feel to your party. The rainbow or Fiesta products sold by some online party suppliers can often blend well with tie-dye decor.

50 Use tie-dye paper or wrapping paper to cover table mats, coasters, vases etc.

51 Cut out words such as "Hip", "Groovy", "Peace" and "Love" out of tie-dye paper or wrapping paper. (Use one A4 (Letter Size) sheet of paper per letter. Use these words as table runners, as banners across your buffet table, or as a welcoming message across or beside your door.

4 Other 60s Decoration Ideas

52 Make a display out of different items of 60s memorabilia with optional vintage items.

General memorabilia: examples include a record player, record case, rotary dial phone, hostess trolley, bean bags, shag rugs, and lava lamps.  

Toys - examples include troll dolls, Barbie, space hoppers and a Barrel of Monkeys.

Clothes - examples include miniskirts, minidresses, tie-dyes and floral headbands, 

Vintage items - examples include candlesticks or candelabras. 

53 Create signposts to places mentioned in the murder mystery. Examples include "Commune of Love Support and Dreams", "TurretsFest", "Dodgy Pharmaceuticals", "Greater Turrets Hotel" and "Damson Woods".