Valentine's Day Play Date

Valentine's Day comes at the perfect time of year. The excitement of the holidays are long over, News Year's resolutions are fading fast (well if you are like me!), and spring weather still seems so far away. If you have young children and live somewhere with cold winters you probably experience some cabin fever too. So what better time to host a Valentine's Day Play Date?!

I called this get together a play date because I wanted to keep it simple. I invited a few other moms and their kids over around lunch time. You might as well call this event a party because I had food, decorations, an activity, and favors to take home.

At the time, we were fortunate to live in a small neighborhood where there were five other families that all had children the same age as ours! The kids all loved to play together and the moms and dads loved to get together as well. This was the perfect guest list for our Valentine's Day Play Date.

I went to our local Dollar Tree to pick up a couple things and ended up walking out with a party's worth of supplies. A Happy Valentine's Day banner, heart shaped foil balloons for each party guest, heart shaped garland, sparkly cupcake toppers, wooden picture frames for the project I planned, glitter pens and stickers to decorate them, large red paper hearts, and construction paper to make the props for our homemade photo booth. I love Dollar Tree for kids' party supplies!!

Party time!

As our guests walked in the door they were greeted with a trail of red paper hearts that made a path to the party area. I simply taped them to the wood floor with scotch tape. The kids had fun jumping from heart to heart.

This is one of my guys following the hearts the night before the party.

For the activity, I came up with the idea of having the kids decorate a picture frame, get their picture taken in my "homemade photo booth," then use my Kodak printing dock to print out the pictures right there so they could each take home a handmade picture frame with a cute picture of themselves to give to their dads for Valentines Day.

These wooden picture frames from Dollar Tree were exactly what I had hoped to find!

The kids worked so hard decorating their picture frames

After the kids were done decorating it was time for lunch. That gave the picture frames time to dry.

The kids' menu consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (I knew our guests didn't have any peanut allergies but it's always a good idea to check if you are planning on using anything with peanuts). I had planned to use a heart shaped cookie cutter for the sandwiches but ran short on time since I didn't want them sitting around while we decorated the frames. Next time I would just make them ahead of time since I really don't think it would make that much of a difference if they were covered in plastic wrap. The kids' plates also had cut up strawberries and a little cup of ranch dressing with celery and carrots sticks. We got the kids settled with their lunch before the adults ate. When the kids were done they played and we actually got a few minutes to catch up.

For the moms I made a chicken salad with red onion, crumbled blue cheese, pears, and caramelized walnuts with sour cream muffins on the side. The muffins were a hit and many asked for the recipe so I will also share it here. This recipe is from Don't Panic-Dinners in the Freezer written by Susie Martinez, Vanda Howell & Bonnie Garcia. I love this cook book because it contains great tasting recipes that give instructions on doubling and tripling the recipe as well as freezing instructions.

Sour Cream Muffin Recipe
Makes 24-30 regular sized muffins:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 t. vanilla 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and sift. Set aside. In mixing bowl, using medium speed, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. To the creamed mixture, add eggs one at a time, mixing until well combined. Blend in sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, mixing only until combined. (Don't over mix).

Spoon muffin batter into muffin tins lined with paper cup liners. Fill 1/2-2/3 full. 

Bake approximately 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. To keep muffins moist, test with toothpick to see if they are done. Do not over bake.


After the kids played, it was picture time! I wish I would have taken pictures of this but I was too busy running the "photo booth." I just used a wall in the kitchen that is painted a neutral color. No need for a back drop when you have such cute little kids and props for the photos! Although you certainly could add a backdrop with streamers, balloons, lights, or a colored table cloth. I had a basket with the props ready for the kids to make their selections. There were feather boas, top hats, glasses, lips, and mustaches. I made the glasses, lips, and mustaches out of construction paper, tape, and wooden dowels. Easy and cheap. The top hats came from a local party store for a dollar apiece and the feather boas were from Hobby Lobby.

Some of the photo booth props used

After the "photo shoots" I printed off the pictures, which just took a couple minutes. With the help of the other moms we put the pictures in the frames.

My boys then handed out pink heart shaped Rice Krispy treats that we made and put in plastic bags tied with red ribbons for each guest. The kids also exchanged valentines and went home happy campers with a really cute party favor and gift for their dads!

This play date or party has always been one of my favorites because there was absolutely no stress for me. I had everything set up the night before, the food was simple and mostly pre-made before the party, and since the guest list was small I got to have uninterrupted conversations and everything went very smoothly. 

One of my boy's finished frames

Deck Yourself in Bows and Holly Annual Party

My favorite room during the holidays

 I assume you have heard of "ugly sweater parties," the get together around the holidays where you are invited to wear your best, err umm, most tacky holiday sweater. For a couple years I had been hearing all about these parties and asking why haven't I been invited to one of these? This is right up my alley. Problem solved, I decided to host my own! Although I did make a little adjustment. Instead of just sweaters, I extended it to decking yourself out in whatever holiday related get up you could come up with. Hence, the Deck Yourself in Bows and Holly title. Through the years we have had ugly sweaters galore, reindeer, light up shirts, a present, an elf, a Christmas tree, carolers, and holiday turtlenecks to boot!

Before I knew my guests would work so hard on their costumes I did entice them with a contest. I announced on the invites there would be prizes for the top 3 best dressed. Little did they know the top 3 prizes were about to be re-gifted items that I didn't really have a place for in my house!!! Pictures of the winners and prizes are included in this post!

Back to planning this party. Every year before the holidays one of my dearest friends who lives out of town always plans a day for us to see each other over the holidays... in July! I do love her planning though.
During a summer phone conversation the idea of getting all our school friends together sparked the holiday party idea. So we set a date and I took care of the rest.

Again, I sent out Evites, easy and free! The guest list included my sisters, closest friends (the ones I have known since 6th-7th grade), and their family/significant others. Since this group tends to get a little crazy and it's rare that we are all able to get together. we decided that this would be an adult party.

Not all in costume, but this was a great group shot!

Holiday decorations were already in place....

please excuse the messy stairs :)

The menu consisted of an array of appetizers, desserts, and beverages. I did tell everyone if they wanted to add one of the above as a contribution it was welcome, but not necessary.

For appetizers I made a cheese fondue, cucumber rounds with Greek yogurt and hummus, phillo cups with mango chutney and blue cheese, and ham and cheese sliders. These are always a hit and my kids love them too. 

We also had shrimp cocktail and friends have brought stuffed jalapenos, cheese trays, and chocolate trifles. And honestly,  I just put out home made Christmas cookies and bought my desserts from Costco or relied on guests (I knew my sister would always bring her homemade fudge!) for dessert as I'm not much of a baker and I knew this group would not care about the kind of dessert served.

Ham and Cheese sliders

1 pack of Hawaiian whole wheat rolls

half a pound of muenster cheese or Swiss cheese

half a pound of deli ham sliced thinly

Dijon mustard

butter

Cut the rolls in half and place in baking dish, add the Dijon mustard, cheese and ham. Brush melted butter on top of the rolls and bake in the oven at 350' for 8-10 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve immediately. 

Drinks consisted of an array of red and white wine, a couple different beers, Jagger bombs (this groups favorite!), raspberry champagne spritzers (champagne, a splash of raspberry vodka, and fresh raspberries) and peppermint martinis.  I looked at a few different peppermint martinis but I chose this recipe because there are only 3 ingredients and it tastes great! I got this recipe from Phyllis Hoffman's Celebrate Christmas. I love this magazine for seasonal recipes, decor and party ideas. 

Peppermint Martinis

Makes 10 drinks

2 1/2 cups white chocolate liqueur

-I have only been able to find Godiva white liqueur which tastes great but retails for about $30 for one size.

1 1/4 cups peppermint schnapps

1 1/4 cups of vodka 

Garnish:corn syrup, crushed peppermint

Crush peppermint candies in a food processor or by hand if you use the small candy canes. Dip rim of glass in corn syrup then in crushed peppermints. 

In a martini shaker, combine 1 cup white chocolate liqueur, 1/2 cup of schnapps, 1/2 cup of vodka, and ice. Shake, and strain into martini glasses. Repeat twice with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

Once everyone chatted, drank, and ate it was time for the best or most tackiest dressed contest! The first year I simply did a show of hands and quickly learned it was much easier to vote via secret ballet.

The crazy thing is that the same people were in the top 3 every year?!!!?

1st year winners! The red turtleneck with snowmen in the middle won 1st place and the boxed Santa, while the guy on the right won 2nd for his red/green attire, and the girl on the left was a reindeer and thrilled to win her 3rd place prize of Christmas towels!

 I did hear through the grapevine later on that the top winner was not thrilled with his prize after spending hours putting together his light up costume...

He is pretty creative

So after taking into consideration what a success the first party was and how much time some people put into their costumes I decided to upgrade the prizes to liquor and chocolate, with the exception of the Christmas towels! I knew how much my dear friend who helped create this party loved those towels!

Same winners, different places, different year.

This was amazing! 

You have no choice but to have fun with these girls!

Unfortunately we were not able to get together last year since we moved and schedules were busy. However, I know that we will be able to work out the logistics and continue this party one of these years!!! After all, the holidays are all about family, friends, and spreading cheer!

Major Updates!

We are now a party of 6! (photo by Michelle Starr Photography)

It has been quite awhile since I last posted, but I can assure you that I have a "couple" good reasons!! Since my last post in the summer of 2012 I have given birth to our 2nd set of twins, two healthy, happy, and curious girls! And if two more babies wasn't enough to keep us busy, we also moved to a new city this past year. It was very hard to leave family and friends who lived just minutes away, but it has also been exciting exploring a new city and decorating the house. And of course we have kept busy with a couple parties, lots of visits from friends and family, and fun activities with the kids.

Once I finish posting our parties from the past few years and am caught up,  I will begin posting our current activities, home decorations, and parties. Until then, here a few pictures of the past year and a half...

Baby girls

All four!

My girls (photo by Michelle Starr Photography)

My boys (photo by Michelle Starr Photography)

We lost our beloved Raisen in 2013 after 15 wonderful years

My favorite room in our new house

To see more of my party ideas, home decorating, favorite recipes, twin activities x 2, and all things
"Mrs.Party Planner" please check me out on facebook and "like" the page. New blog posts will appear in your news feed.

Halloween 2010 Family style

It's the Muppets! Animal, Kermit, Fonzie, and Ms. Piggy

This Halloween will always be memorable since the boys were then two years old. Not old enough to really enjoy the Halloween season, but compared to the previous year they were steady on their feet with lots to say about what was going on around them. We spent the whole month celebrating by attending every kid and adult related Halloween activity in our city! Zoo Boo, haunted houses, my sister and brother in law's party (adults only), trick or treating at the local Humane Society, and the biggest family friendly Halloween party I have hosted to date. 

Welcome! Cute, not scary for two year olds.

Since we had such a great time at last year's Halloween party we decided to do it again, only bigger and better this time. In fact, our house was filled with the laughter and smiles of 17 kids under the age of 5 and 24 adults! More food, drinks, and decorations were also added this year. In previous years, I have sent out Halloween party invites in the mail. However, this year with a busy schedule and so many families I chose to sent out an Evite. While I still prefer the formal paper invites, I have become a fan of Evites' since they are FREE, convenient, and party guests are much more likely to RSVP with a click of a button .And on that note, I know we are all busy, but people please do your party host/hostess a favor and simply RSVP if you were asked to do so. All it takes is the click of a button, a phone call, email, or text and this helps the party host/hostess out a lot with planning for food, space, goodie bags, etc.

As previously mentioned, I retired last year's witch after I got a look at this witch my mom made for her Halloween party. I found the perfect spot for her in my house. I moved the cocktail table to the foyer so she was the first thing our guests saw when they walked through the front door. We added candles to the table so the light would eerily reflect off the mirror once it was dark and covered the table in appetizers and wine to greet our guests. While the kids were the focus of the party, the adults were there as guests too and I wanted to make it a fun event for all.

 I also covered the wine in Martha Stewart Halloween wine labels available at craft and Halloween party stores.
 

This is the book shelf reflected in the mirror behind the witch. The black crow, spider, glittery rats ($1 a piece), and a variety of gourds filled the shelves. When it was party time, I added creepy Spanish moss, snakes, and tea lights to draw attention to this scary scene which was out of reach of the little ones.

 On the kitchen table I placed this home made creation. I collected sticks from outside, draped them in spider webs, added the vulture, then stuffed and tied the monster hands from Oriental Trading with cheese popcorn for each family to take home. 

The kitchen island covered in food, drinks, and dessert.

Since the guest list was so extensive, we ordered 8 large pizzas in addition to the home made comfort food and Halloween themed food from last year. Each dish was labeled with homemade black and orange Halloween pics as seen on the left in above picture. We had devil's eggs, swamp mess (spinach and artichoke dip), witches fingers, and grubs and bugs to name a few. Salad, Martha Stewart macaroni and cheese, kielbasa and sauerkraut, spanikopita and pita (Greek dishes) were also served. Desserts included chocolate spiders with red eyes (on right in above picture), dirt cups, and chocolate cupcakes from the haunted house display. I added miniature skeletons and fencing to the display along with candy eyeballs placed on some of the cupcakes, candy pumpkins, and Oreos with skull and cross bone candy to resemble tombstones.

An easy and fun Halloween treat to make is the chocolate spider recipe I found in Ghoulish Goodies by Sharon Bowers. I have made these for my students in the past and they were a huge hit.

All you need is:

 1 (6oz) package semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)

2 cups chow mein noodles

1/4 cup red hots or red mini M&Ms

1. Line 2 baking sheets with wax or parchment paper.
2. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and melt the chocolate in the microwave: Heat on high for 60 seconds, then stir. If it's not smooth, continue to heat in 2 or 3 10 second bursts, stirring well after each burst. You can also melt the chocolate in a pan on the stove, just be careful not to burn!
3. Stir the chow mein noodles into the chocolate and drop the mixture by tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Press 2 red candies onto the edge of each cluster to make eyes and lift a few chow mein noodles up to give a spidery impression. Refrigerate to cool and harden, about 20 minutes, and serve chilled. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Drinks included a non alcoholic green punch, juice boxes, beer, and wine. I also added a glass bowl of red food coloring and dry ice for the fog effect in the middle of all the food. Unfortunately this requires a lot maintenance, which I didn't have time for. You need to constantly add water to the bowl in order for the dry ice to continue giving off the spooky, foggy effect.

Haunted cupcake tower

Party time! About half of the adults arrived in costume. My goal for next time, is 100%!

The house was full of fun and laughter all night

 After everyone had eaten it was time for a couple of children's games.The big surprise was the spider pinata I ordered from Oriental Trading.  The pinata was stuffed with individual bags of candy and goodies with each child's name so no one would leave empty handed. This also insured that the goodies were age appropriate. We don't want a 1 year old leaving with a choking hazard or a 4 year old leaving with a baby toy. 

 The spider pinata was hung from our balcony above the family room which turned out to be the perfect spot. I was a little worried doing this with so many toddlers, pre-school aged kids, and a plastic baseball bat inside the house. However, all the kids were so well behaved and had a blast! All of them stood back, waited patiently for their turn, and no one was hurt. Success!

  

The tiger and the pinata

We let the youngest kids take a swing first.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin was back this year to finish the night off!

While we did splurge on this party by providing all the food, drinks, and goodies for each child and family, this large of party can also be done in a more budget friendly way by simplifying the food, skipping the alcohol, and stuffing the pinata with a mixture of candy versus individual goodie bags filled with small toys and candy. Asking each family to bring a dish to pass is another option.

Although, whatever your preference or budget, if you have a fun group of people, costumes, food, drinks, and games you are almost guaranteed a successful Halloween party!

In the end, it was another successful party with lots of happy little goblins and ghouls. My own little Kermit and Fonzie were all smiles at the end of the night!

Halloween Parties for the Adults in the Family

Since I come from a family of Halloween fanatics, we usually spend the whole month of October celebrating. The kick off is my mom's annual Halloween party for her children (my sisters, our spouses and I).  It's an adults only gathering, so grandpa and grandparents are in charge of the grand kids while we go to party!

While this blog is typically dedicated to my own parties, I just had to feature some of the ideas and decorations that my mom has come up with since they are so amazing. It's obvious that any creativity I have came from her. In fact, if the previous posts haven't alluded to just how creative and fun she is, these pictures and ideas will confirm it. She even has her own grandma blog full of cute and creative ideas, projects, and events she has done with her grand kids. Check out her blog at www.whathappensatgrandmas.com!

 My mom's Halloween parties always start after dark to achieve the full effect of scariness! The sidewalk is usually lite with pumpkin luminaries, a large plastic snake is wrapped around the porch, and the past two years there has been a note that says "went to the store quick, come on in". 

As you walk into the house, creepy Halloween music is playing,candles are glowing, spider webs are heavily draped everywhere, and there is no sign of the hostess. This particular year, the dimly light living room was covered is spider web and on the table were three furry rats with glowing red eyes and a sign that read "Enjoy My Fly Infested Rat Poison" served in glow in the dark martini glasses with fly ice cubes. 

The rats were bought from Grandin Road and the glow in the dark martini glasses are from Oriental Trading

But what really catches your attention is sitting in the chair behind the drink table.....

Scary as can be and made out of paper mache by my mom!

I was so impressed with this witch that she had to make an appearance at my own Halloween party that year. 

There was also a table with an appetizer to munch on while we sipped our "rat poison" and waited for her return from the store.

The sign read "Dig into our Moldy Graveyard". It was a warm spinach and artichoke dip with ghost shaped flat bread and crackers.

Adjoining the living room is the dining room which is always decked out for our arrival! Battery operated candles are glowing on the table, place cards with plastic spiders, hanging skeletons, perched vultures, and black and orange streamers hang from the lighting fixture.

Halloween dining room 

The first year the "Be right back note was posted" we drank, talked, and looked around the house to see where exactly she was or what was going on. In fact, so much time had gone by with no sign of her that we were all hungry and ready to dive into the delicious meal that was warming in the oven. We knew she was up to something, but we couldn't figure out what it was. Then finally she appeared. She was hiding under the dining room table the whole time waiting for us to sit down so she could grab our ankles and scare us. Needless to say, that plan failed. After a good laugh we all did sat down to enjoy the traditional Halloween party meal of a fall salad, BBQ ribs, Martha Stewart Macaroni and cheese, and a homemade Oreo dessert. This was all washed down with our rat poison martinis (Cranberry Stirrings and vodka) and Oberon beers (a well known and liked Michigan brewed beer). 

After our bellies are full of homemade comfort food we play our family favorite game of Bingo for cash prizes! And I will just say that none of us leave disappointed. Every year my mom comes up with a different game for us. One year, as we walked through the front door we each found our name card attached to  spider web (black yarn) and had to follow it all over the house until we reached the end where a prize awaited each of us. The webs were intertwined and at least 8 feet long so the 6 of us had a blast trying to follow our web. Another year, we each found a dollar store Halloween wind up toy at our place settings  which made for some great wind up toy races where the winner was awarded a prize. 

After we admire the year's decorations, eat and drink, and play a couple games we head home with our bellies stuffed, our pockets full of cash, and many good memories to last a lifetime!

In 2011, after we received another "be right back" note on the front door we grabbed our drinks and looked around for where she was hiding. This time, a monster slowly rose from behind the couch and actually scared one of us!

Found this at a dollar store for $1

Under the Sea 2010

The twins 2nd Birthday took place "under the sea"! They LOVE the pool and beach, and since their Birthday is at the end of August I thought what a better party theme than Under the Sea! When I planned this party I didn't know about Pinterest, so I searched the internet for ideas. However, since I have discovered Pinterest, I have found many great ideas for this kind of party and would love to do this party theme again, bigger and better in the future! Within a budget of course.

We started this party inside the house with decorations and dinner for family. Everything was set up while the boys were napping, so when they came downstairs a big surprise awaited them! I wanted it to resemble the ocean, so "blue waves" greeted the boys as did blown up beach balls, colored balloons, and a big gift from grandma and grandpa. I don't want to get off topic, but the boys Birthday present was the Pottery Barn kids craft table for six and it has been one of the best and most used gifts ever! Even adults can sit on these chairs in comfort. We use this table for arts and crafts, playing games and toys, and a place to eat when their friends are over. Also, grandma had the idea of running the bubble machine inside to add to the under water effect, but I vetoed that one and we compromised to running it outside for the second part of the party.

For the waves, my idea was to cut and staple blue streamers to twine and I hung them up from the balcony to create the ocean waves. These two year olds LOVED it! I spent about 45 minutes cutting and stapling these streamers and they had them taken down in about 3 minutes, but it was worth every minute to see the excitement and happiness on their faces!

Next it was time for dinner and of course the menu needed to compliment the theme, so seafood it was! For starters, I made a warm crab dip with sour dough bread for dipping and a light salad with mozzeralla cheese, cashews, granny smith apples, Craisins, and a poppy seed vinagrette. Martha Stewart macaroni and cheese also made an apperance because it's just that good. I put my mom in charge of making the watermelon shark again since it fit the Under the Sea theme so well and she can carve it into turn perfection.

Fishing net hung from the ceiling and was adorned with seashells and starfish, which were also scattered around the food. And once again, I realize I didn't capture all the details on camera. I may need to hire a "professional" in the future.

My guy and grandma's watermelon shark

The kids had a "fish" sandwich with ham and cheese, grapes, and veggies and dip. 

Our entree was a shrimp boil! This was a blast, easy to make and tons of fun to eat. I combined two recipes for this. There was corn on the cob, red potatoes, onion, large shrimp (60/90), hot sauce, seafood seasoning packets and seafood liquid seasoning. The only problem I found was that the pot I used was not big enough for the large amount of food I had so some pieces were very spicy while others had no spice to them. I am planning on making this again this summer for the 4th of July and will skip the seafood seasoning and make my own with hot sauce, lemon, butter, and spices. Once the shrimp boil  was cooked I drained the pot and simply poured it onto the newspaper covered table. Sides of cocktail sauce and lemon wedges were scattered around the table.

still steaming

After dinner, we headed outside for dessert and playtime with family, friends, and neighbors. Thankfully, it was a hot and humid August evening, the perfect weather for our under the sea party! Desserts, drinks, snacks, bubbles, balloons, the kiddie pool, water table, and outside toys kept the young kids busy while the adults sat back and relaxed. 

Sandal cookies. I got this idea from Family Fun magazine.

At the end of a great afternoon, the boys sat down to read their Birthday cards and play with their presents before bedtime. At that very moment their cousin was born! So now we get to look forward to next year's shared Birthday celebrations!!!