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. ;)



Playdate: Reindeer Games

Last week, I hosted a festive playdate featuring Santa's antler-adorned friends, the Magic Reindeer. I had big plans for this playdate, but it was scaled down due to the fact that I was being overly ambitious. With Christmas less than two weeks away, and another themed birthday party on the horizon I just didn't have the time (or energy!) Still, I think the Reindeer Games playdate was super cute and all who attended had a great time.

The inspiration for this playdate came from my desire to make "Magic Reindeer Food" with my son. Back in my days as an elementary teacher, a fellow teacher had her students create little bags of oats mixed with glitter with a tag that told the student to sprinkle the magic mixture on their lawn on Christmas Eve to attract Santa's Reindeer. Everyone knows that Reindeer love oats (and glitter!) so they are bound to spot the sparkles and smell the oats from high up in the air and lead Santa's sleigh straight to the source, your house!

I placed some instant oats, some honey bunches of oats cereal (for variety),and a few small canisters of glitter into a serving dish. I added some clear plastic ribbon tie bags (which are actually Wilton lollipop bags) for the kids to use to hold their finished product. These were all items I already had in my pantry and in my craft bins!

In addition to their Magic Reindeer Food, each little one was given a glittery antler visor, a reindeer rubber ducky (both from Oriental Trading), and an adorable felt reindeer pull string bag (found in the Target Dollar Spot) as their favors. 

I had planned on making a few reindeer themed games to go along with my theme, but after looking at the attendee list, I realized that several of the kiddos were two and under and some of my ideas might be best used next year when they have another year under their belts. I opted instead to use a simple inflatable reindeer antler toss game (purchased from Oriental Trading.)

To add an additional activity and create a fun take home item, I set up a reindeer thumbprint ornament making station. These turned out to be adorable and super easy to make. Each ornament kit came individually packaged with clear directions (from Oriental Trading.) The only thing that wasn't included in the kits were some sort of adhesive to attach the reindeer google eyes. Luckily, I had some glue dots on hand from another project, so the problem was solved.

I brought our green playroom table and chairs up from the basement playroom and set up a Play-Doh station with Christmas shaped cookie cutters, rollers and other tools. I decided to use only white Play-Doh from our stash since it was kind of wintery (snowy) looking and we were having the playdate in our main living room. While we have hardwood floors throughout the area, we also have a light beige area rug and wasn't in the mood to pick smashed brightly colored Play-Doh pieces out of the fibers over the weekend. Luckily, things didn't get too out of hand and the mess stayed on or near the table.

 

Check out these cuties in their reindeer antlers. So cute!

 

 

 May the your Magic Reindeer Food attract Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and of course, Rudolph. Happy Holidays!

 

Holiday Inspiration: Top 5 Christmas Packages

It is no secret that I don't like wrapping gifts. Each year, I wait until a few days before Christmas and then hold a marathon wrapping session. It is in no way enjoyable. By the end of my wrapping session, my back hurts from hunching over packages on the floor and chances are I've endured no less than three paper cuts.

This year, in an attempt to convince myself to get an earlier start to wrapping our Christmas gifts, I've compiled a list of my Top 5 beautiful wrapping examples:

1. I love that these packages use things that I already have around the house: mailing paper, baker's twine, and Christmas stamps. These would be so cute piled into a bag to take to a family Christmas party!

lmnop wrapping: http://www.lmnop.com.au/2010/12/parcel-pressies/



2. This monochromatic sheet music wrapping paper tied with black and white ribbon and topped with jingle bells is terrific. You could purchase a roll similar to this on Amazon, or if you had some unused sheet music stashed away somewhere, this would be a great way to repurpose it.


Just Imagine: http://justimagine-ddoc.com/crafts/gift-wrapping-ideas/?pid=4988

 



3.  I'm always trying to find fun little crafts to do around the holidays with my son. I like this idea because the end product can actually be used and enjoyed instead of winding up in a drawer somewhere.


Splash of Something: http://splashofsomething.com/2013/12/09/wrapping-week-2013-holly-jolly-reindeer-prints/
 

4. This would be perfect for someone who enjoys traveling.



http://limedoodledesign.com/2013/10/adventure-awaits/

5. Here's another simple option, but you could easily add some more color with store bought paper. Adding a lollipop or candy cane to the package is such a cute idea and adds an extra "gift" to the package.

 

Good Housekeeping

My packages will undoubtedly be wrapped in store bought paper and I may get "fancy" by adding some grosgrain ribbon and some little extras. Maybe next year I can turn it up a notch and compete with these lovely examples. Happy wrapping!