Sports Fans

• If the object of the 40th birthday party is a big sports fan, there are a number of well-known athletes who wore that number on their jersey. You can choose to decorate with jerseys or with posters or anything that suggests these athletes. The most famous athlete to wear number 40 was probably the great Chicago Bears running back, Gale Sayers, so this would be a perfect choice for a Bears fan. Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Pistons and Rick Sutcliffe of the Chicago Cubs also wore number 40.
  
  

Religious Party

• There is no better birthday in the world for a religious person than the 40th, provided that the person celebrating the birthday doesn't consider the use of decorations for a birthday to be sacrilegious. The Bible is full of references to 40 days and 40 nights. Go to a religious book store and ask if they have Sunday school decorations of Moses, Noah or Jesus. Attach these figures to the wall along with a reference to spending 40 years in the wilderness.
  
  

Movie Posters

• A few movies have been produced with 40 in the title, so you might consider decorating with posters. Among the movies to consider are "The Forty Year Old Virgin," "40 Days and 40 Nights," "North Dallas Forty," "40 Carats," and, of course, "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves."
  
  

Twenty Times Two

• Another way to go is to decorate the 40th birthday with nostalgic items from the 20th birthday. If the 20th birthday party took place during the 1970s, for instance, you could decorate with a disco ball, Pet Rocks and "Star Wars" action figures. A 40th birthday party for someone who turned 20 during the 1980s could include decorations such as Rubik's Cubes, video-game figures Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and album covers as a tribute to '80s LP cover art.