Party Time: A Gal-entine Chocolate Tasting!

First, let me say that my neighborhood is awesome. The people are friendly, the school is terrific, and it is just plain fun to live here! The local ladies of the neighborhood plan a monthly game of Bunco (involving lots of shenanigans) and there are lots of other gatherings that take place throughout the year from cook-outs to ice cream socials.

 In an attempt to get more involved and make the most of living in this great community, I organized and hosted a Valentine's Day themed event in my home. Since this was open to all the "gals" in the neighborhood. I affectionately dubbed it "A Gal-entine Chocolate Tasting."

The concept is simple. Pick out 6 different types of premium chocolate, taste them, and record your findings. Add in some champagne, and snacks and you've got a party!

I found a roll of chevron print wrapping paper for $1 at Michaels and used that to cover my island area and create the base for my partyscape. Not only did it look cute, it also provided a clean surface to place the chocolates so I didn't need to clutter things up with extra plates.

 

I purchased this large chalkboard with scalloped edges at Michaels in their new "Make Market" section. (I seriously could have loaded up my cart from things in this aisle, but I resisted. When I get a really great coupon, I'll be ready to go back and pickup some more fun stuff!) I used a chalk pen and wrote out the basic procedures for the activity. I picked up the chalkboard standing markers at Gordman's for $3 for a pack of 3. I used them to identify each type of chocolate and to number them from 1 to 6.

The Popcorn Bar made yet another appearance at this party. It is so easy and always a big hit. I lined the basket with more chevron wrapping paper and added a new sandwich board sign to the mix. The sign was purchased at Michaels for $3.99 (but I'm sure I had a coupon so it was slightly less than that.) One side is a chalkboard and the other is a dry erase board. To give the seasonings some height, I placed them on a photo box decorated with metallic hearts and arrows ($2 on sale at Michaels.)

 

 

To balance out the salty popcorn, I added some Lofthouse sugar cookies. If you haven't tried these yet, you need to get some immediately. They sell them at Kroger (and other places as well) and they are delicious. If you don't feel like baking, they are a great option and are one of my go-to solutions when I don't want to get my kitchen messy. 

Another favorite made a repeat appearance: The Mimosa Bar. This time around, I simplified it offering only two types of mixers (orange juice, and Ocean Spray's Cranberry Wave.) The champagne paired really well with the chocolate and it just made the whole affair feel extra fancy. I sliced up some strawberries and raspberries to be used as a snack or drink garnish (or both!)

I placed a tray with both the tasting mat printables and the scoring page printables along with a cup of sharpened pencils on our ottoman. These printables were created by www.thedatingdivas.com (and they are FREE!)

To carry the Valentine's vibe into the living room, I switched out one of my square pillows with a red chevron cover (I also use this at Christmastime) and added two new "love" throw pillows (purchased at Kohls) and couple of heart shaped pillows that I had picked up in the Target Dollar Spot a few years back. It turned out really cute and festive (please ignore my son's over the door basketball hoop in the background lol!)

The Gal-entine Chocolate Tasting was a successful gathering with lots of chocolate, champagne, and fun had by all. In fact, I ended up taking the tasting on the road by request to both my book club meeting as well as a friend's spa night she hosted in her home this past week. Needless to say, I've hit my chocolate quota for awhile. Not that I'm complaining. ;)



Kid Style: Two A-MAZE-ING Valentines!

Lots of love to you and yours on this Valentine's Day!

L needed Valentine cards to pass out during his preschool party so I got started by searching for fun ideas. I've already resigned myself to the inevitable reality that my child will realize very soon that he should be able to choose what he gives out to his friends. Luckily, he didn't have a strong opinion on the matter this year and was thrilled with the cards we created for his little classmates.

Theses cute cards were both quick and inexpensive to make. I created the card template in Photoshop and purchased the mazes in the party supply area at Target. They are made by the brand Spritz and I think they were $3 for $18 of them. If your Target doesn't carry them, there are tons of other cheap plastic favor maze options on Amazon, and I assume at your local Party City store. I printed the cards on cardstock and stuck the mazes to the cards using sticky dots.

I have uploaded the template I created for you to use for your little ones. It is available to download for free. I removed L's name so anyone can use it, but please link back if you decide to post it elsewhere online.

 

Once we finished with the cards for the little ones, I shifted my focus to the teachers. Being a former teacher myself, I can totally appreciate the effort that goes into running a classroom each day. Teachers are definitely deserving of a little love on Valentine's Day! What better way to show someone you care than by sending them a Starbuck's gift card?! Around here, it has been cold and gloomy and a warm cup of coffee or a hot cup of tea is like happiness in your frozen fingers. Thanks to the peeps over at skiptomylou.org I was able to simply download their fun teacher card designed by Paper and Pigtails and stick my gift cards to the front using my handy dandy glue dots. To make it even easier, my local Starbucks had adorable Valentine's Day themed gift cards, so I didn't feel like I needed to add anything extra (like the baker's twine wrap that is suggested on the skiptomylou post.) Head on over to skiptomylou for this awesome FREE download!

Kid Style: Cookie Crisp Sandwich Cookies

Last night as I was relaxing on the couch watching the Big Game (aka the Super Bowl commercials) it suddenly occurred to me that tomorrow is L's turn to bring in preschool snack. At this point, I deemed it too late to run out to the store, and in full disclosure, a morning stop would never happen as it is a miracle to get out the door on time as it is. So, I was forced to dig through the pantry and pray that I could find something suitable to feed fifteen tiny people. Pickings were slim as I hadn't made it to the grocery store over the weekend, but I managed to find an unopened box of Cookie Crisp cereal and some white chocolate chips.

 

A quick search on Pinterest revealed that I wasn't the first to concoct an on-the-fly Cookie Crisp treat and in fact, someone had been kind enough to create some adorable tags so my last minute efforts appeared way more put together than they actually were.

 

 

Using the tiny Cookie Crisp Cookies, I melted the chocolate put a dab between two cookie pieces using my handy dandy Pampered Chef icing bottle. This was the first time I've had a chance to use this handy dandy tool, and it was way easier than using a regular icing bag!

 The whole process of making the tiny sandwich cookies took about an hour and then I placed a few in snack sized baggies and stapled one of the cute FREE printables to each bag.

The result was adorable! If you are looking for a cheap Valentine's Day treat idea, this could totally be an option!

Happy Monday!