Witches' Dinner Party!

I have been plotting this party since mid-August. Each detail proved a perfect piece to the masterpiece. Thanks to those lovely girls who attended this year. It was so much fun! I can hardly wait until next year!

Don't pay attention to the smudge on the frame...How did I miss that?

Theme: Black and Purple with Silver accents.

 Menu:

Appetizer: Ghostly Greens

Main Dish: Bat Wings and Monster Mashed Potatoes

Dessert: Sinful Delight

Drinks: Mulled Cranberry-Blackberry Cider Spritzers

We ate dinner in candle light. It added to the creepy ambiance and created a fun atmosphere. The pictures doesn't do it justice, but it also helped that you couldn't see the full horror of the bat wings... 

Homemade, Halloween-shaped croutons.

Bat wings. Garlic cauliflower mashed potatoes.

No-bake Nutella Cheesecakes. mmm...

Recipes for this devious dinner can be found here(Ghostly Croutons), here(Bat Wings), here(Potatoes), here(Cider Spritzers), and here (Cheesecakes). 

We had some fun entries for our food contest. Congrats to the ladies who won. :) It was all delicious and so fun to see the creativity. 

I especially loved the Witch costumes worn this year. I couldn't be happier with the turn out. Our "Best Dressed Witch" was... electrifying. Her hat was wired with lights! Again, the picture doesn't do this lovely lady justice... but it had to be taken in the dark for full effect. 

Each lovely lady got to take home her very own vial of homemade lavender sugar scrub. And their contest prizes. The dead flower bouquet (in the first picture) also went to the Best Dressed Witch. 

The details for the next party are already underway. *wink, wink* 

Beware! Witches are coming!

With the month of October literally flying by, I can't help but feel a little left behind. So much is happening and I can hardly keep up! But I can hardly keep my excitement about my upcoming dinner party contained... and so I thought I would give a bit of a hint... and maybe a sneak peak. :)

What do spider webs, witch hats, and the color purple have in common? That's right they will all be present at my dinner table this weekend! The Witches' Tea Party has transformed this year into a more dinner-type party. I have had a lot of concocting the details... *insert cackle here* Witches only! I am grateful to those gal pals that have agreed to be my guinea pigs as this is the first dinner party I have ever thrown. And now, as promised, a little sneak peak.

Happy Haunting!

Halloween: Monster Bash 2011

This is the time of year that I spend my free time concocting another Halloween party. This is my favorite party to throw every year. Last year was a very successful party and I was pleased with the turn out. Due to the blog change, I have lost the opportunity to post the details. So, as I was looking back at past parties, I thought I would post a few of my favorite parts from last year... think of it as a little inspiration for the upcoming holiday... a teaser before the details unfold for this year's bash!

The "Monster Mash-tini" Bar:

We had a "Monster Mash-tinis" complete with the "spare parts" bar. Guests were served martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes. Everyone was then able to add whatever toppings they wanted and enjoy their "mash-tini". (hence, the spare parts...)

The spread also included a few... "Dreadful Edibles" including "Purina Wolf Chow" (Chex muddy buddies with candy corn and peanuts), Fruit "ninja bites" (fruit pizzas), a jello heart, and my mom's panna cotta brain.

Jell-o heart

Ninja bites

sorry for the terrible pictures...

The Bug Juice:

 This drink was my favorite of the night. Did you know that if you put a raisin (or in our case, raspberry crasins) into a carbonated beverage it will rise to the top and sink to the bottom? It was way fun to watch! I used the Berry 7-up that was purple and plopped them in. The picture doesn't do it justice... 

Activity: Haunted House contest:

We decided to hold a graham cracker haunted house contest! Entry into the contest was a bag of a candy you could use to decorate with. We provided the graham crackers and the royal icing. 

Activity: Pumpkin Bowling

We also had our traditional pumpkin bowling lane set up in the carport. Small, round pumkins work best when using water bottles as the pins. I make sure to have a few extra... the first usually get pretty smashed. We have also used a fake pumpkin I buy at Michael's. (though, that too ended up in pieces...)

Tip: glow sticks in the water bottles made them easier to see.

Costume Contest:

Everyone placed a vote for their favorite house, as well as their favorites for Creepiest, Cutest, and Most Creative costumes. Awards were presented and the party ended with a movie (Ghostbusters) for those who wanted to stay for the after-party (the clean up...). 

we won the office "best family theme" prize at Bryce's work. just FYI.

one more, just because it makes me smile... :)

Free Verse Poetry Night

As I continue meshing my old blog with this one, I thought I would re-post a party I helped put together for a ward activity back in February... Its almost cold again so the thought of hot-chocolate excites me a little bit...

Free Verse Poetry Night: 

Each of the tables had a centerpiece of old books stacked on a square of fabric. We used a mini easle to hold a faux calkboard with an inspirational/famous poetry quote. Some of the books were poetry books for inspiration/help. There were also instruction papers on how to write haikus and such... and pens with stationary for guests to write their own poems.

The mic was at the front with a few soft chairs around it and the lighting was low and relaxing. We had a guitarist and drummer to serenade us while we wrote. There was even a bongo drum for added drama. (Yes we snapped our approval and everything.) 

To complete the "coffee house" feel it was necessary to have a drink bar. :) Through a series of events I was basically put in charge of the food and drink. I admit I was excited to give it a try in the full scale as I have only done a very small version. 

We started with two options for a "base." I made a homemade basic hot chocolate and kept it warm on the table in a crock pot. I also used our Cocomotion to warm up plain milk for another option. 

Then come the mix-ins. We had a wide variety to keep the creative juices flowing... Flavored syrups, peppermint powder, cinnamon, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and peanut butter chips,caramel syrup, sea salt... the flavor possibilites were endless!

 

Top it off with one of three types of whipped cream (peppermint, cinnamon, or vanilla) and grab a donut to complete your delectable creation! :) 

Being one who likes a little inspiration we used the "chalkboard" theme onto the drink bar and had instructions for flavor ideas. It turned out so great! I am pleased with how it turned out.

Party Date: February 10, 2012

Provo Married Student 41st Ward

"Little Man" Baby Shower

I am a brand new aunt! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Almost as soon as I heard the announcement that my SIL was pregnant I asked her if I could throw her a baby shower. So yes, I've been stewing about it for almost 8 months... Thanks to the blog-o-sphere and Pinterest, I gathered some great ideas and made a few of my own for this particular "Little Man." I had so much fun creating this party and I am excited to share it!

Theme: "Little Man"
Colors: Red, Aqua, White, Black
Motifs: Neck ties, bow ties, and (you guessed it) Mustaches

The Invite:
We ended up emailing a digital copy of the invite to our guests because Noah decided to come 7 weeks early... The party plans were changed and rushed a bit and we ran out of time to snail-mail the batch. (yes, I changed the information for the purpose of posting it here.) I think it turned out pretty cute.

The Food:
We had my favorite Corn and Potato Chowder served with the adorably fun Cornbread "pops" and honey butter. There was a spinach and bow-tie salad (made by a SIL), a fruit tray (provided by my MIL), and another SIL made the deserts. She made red velvet cake pops with blue sprinkles and eclair cake. After she swirled the chocolate on we decided it looked like a lot of mustaches...

The Food Table

Corn Bread "Pops"

A most delicious Eclair Cake

Little Man's Bow-tie Salad

"Wet Your Whiskers"- the straws were my favorite detail!

The Details:
I had the help of my other SILs (there's a lot of us...) in the decorating before the shindig. The youngest stuck mustaches on every surface she could find. I think it turned out great. I wish I had a better picture of the banner as it was my most prized detail. But its till hanging there to welcome little Noah home when he comes.

The guestbook was another favorite. I looked up some "BroTips" on the Internet and found a few favorites. (there was a lot of junk so I had to choose my few good ones...) I typed them up and asked guests to write a note/message to either the parents or to Noah. Advice was encouraged.

I also set up little signs with mustache insignia on them. It took people a couple times before they found the humor in the quotes. It made them that much more funny.

Instead of games we did a diaper raffle. Guests were asked to bring 5 diapers for every ticket they wanted. This helps with the new mom's diaper supply and gets rid of the awkward "I'm not sure I want to play this game" moments...

Mustaches. Everywhere!

The "Welcome" banner. 

The Guestbook: BroTips for the Little Man

My other SIL made this adorable motorcycle out of diapers! How creative and cute! 

I made these to sit around the room.  It took people a little while to catch on at first...

The Favors:
These were my crowning glory! I was busy the day before making and creating the chocolate for these little jars. As soon as I knew I was throwing a baby shower I started saving up the baby food jars (just the fruit ones that weren't stained...) that we went through. These are the 6 oz "2nd" foods from Gerber (in case you are interested). I created a little label for them with custom Nutrition Facts, ingredients, etc. We painted the outside of the lids to cover up branding and stuck a "thank you for celebrating with us" on the top. Inside was homemade hot fudge sauce that is to die for. My one SIL found out that I was making this for the favors and she claimed any extras we had at the end. It is that good.

Included with the hot fudge, I wanted to give them something to enjoy now. So I found a mustache mold online and made chocolate mustache pops to take with them as well. I admit, I snitched enough to fill at least one mustache as I made them, the chocolate was goooood. :)

Little Man little delectables. 

All-in-all it turned out awesome! I am pleased with my hard work and I think everyone had a good time!

As I said, there's lots of us "Sis-in-laws..."

My "Little Man"

Party Date: March 24, 2012