Category: Party Ideas

Since the holiday season has come and gone, cupid’s arrow is aiming right for you. Ok, cupid’s arrow doesn’t have to strike to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s a perfect day to host a party no matter what your love situation is. You can host a sweet little party with your kids, keep it low-key with your sweetie and have a romantic dinner, coordinate a Valentine’s Day potluck in your neighborhood or go Leslie Knope style from Parks and Recreation and host a Galentine’s Day party for the girls.

What kid (or adult for that matter) doesn’t love festive balloons. This party set-up from https://thehouseofhoodblog.com is sure to make any kid want to celebrate Valentine’s Day. When hosting kid’s parties I have always found it to be helpful to have some kind of craft for them to keep them occupied. INSERT VDAY FRIENDSHIP NECKLACES PIC These Valentine’s Friendship Necklaces are perfect for little ones. All you need is yarn, foam hearts and beads. There isn’t much prep work involved other than precutting the yarn and punching holes in the foam hearts. Click through Creative Child’s full tutorial.

Brunching and Galentine’s Day seem to go hand-in-hand. Brit + Co refers to Galentine’s Day as Valentine’s Day “spunkier twin sister”. I mean, who doesn’t love a spunky twin sister! Nothing will do for this event but pink waffles and champagne.

PHOTO CREDIT: EATYOURSELF SKINNY

To add a little more fun, offer your guests a mimosa bar with various juices, champagne and fruit selections.

I’m in love with the decorations from Brit + Co, they are easy, yet classy. All you need to pull off the look is red and pink paper tassels, heart garland and XO Mylar balloons.

PHOTO CREDIT: KITCHEN AID

For any Valentine’s Day party you can’t go wrong with chocolate fondue. Kids and adults both love dipping food in chocolate! Off your guests, a wide variety of dippers like strawberries, marshmallows, and pretzels. Here is a delicious and easy chocolate fondue recipe from Fox and Briar.

They recommend using a good quality chocolate with a high cocoa content for the best results. Melt the chocolate with some half and half and you’re done. Be sure to stay with the chocolate and stir constantly if you are melting on the stove, because one step away and it will burn. If you are melting in the microwave, do it in 30-second intervals and stir between each one. Again, from experience, it has a way of suddenly melting and burning.

One commonality among all these party ideas is to go heavy on pink and red. Mix it up, have fun with it from pink napkins to Valentine’s Day cupcake sets to assorted heart-shaped serving trays. You can pick up all these great supplies at Party Place plus many more, like this Valentine’s Day hanging decoration.

Stop in today to stock up on your Valentine’s Day party supplies!

It’s almost time to move my youngest daughter to college and I am already counting down the days to football season (I am not, however, counting down the days to her moving).  When we tailgate, we really love to be a little extra. Throughout the years, I have found that it is easier to have a tailgate wagon ready to go from the beginning of the season. Put all of your basic needs in the wagon and then all you have to worry about is the food theme for each game. I have found it is easier to do food themes. For example, the first game is typically the traditional hamburgers, hot dogs, etc., but after that, we choose the theme based on the time of the game. Morning games are breakfast with things like breakfast casserole, an assortment of bagels and spread, a fruit tray, and, of course, mimosas. Afternoon games have a lot more flexibility and we like to mix it up and do food themes like Mexican with walking tacos or this nacho bar by www.momendeavors.com.

To get you started, here is your basic tailgate wagon checklist:

• Portable grill
• Grill utensils
• Coolers x 2 (one for perishable items and the other for drinks)
• Bottled water
• Crackers, chips (things that store well without refrigeration and have a long expiration date)
• Condiments
• Bottle openers
• Paper towels
• Brown paper lunch bags. The sky is the limit! Set up a popcorn bar or use them to hold chips. Cut the tops off for easy serving.

• Disinfecting wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Team themed/colored napkins
• Disposable plates, cups, utensils – both football theme and clear
• Pop-up tent
• Chairs and folding tables
• Trash bags
• Plastic tablecloths and cloth tablecloths (I like white and burlap) and table clips to hold down the tablecloth
• Plastic trays for serving – both football theme and clear
• Team and football themed decorations, such as pennants, banners, etc.

Now for the “extra” elements:

• First, start with a basic tablecloth of burlap as a blank canvas, so you can change with each game.
• Themed napkins – I splurge a bit on my napkins allowing them to give me a pop of color and reflect the theme.
• Get another pop of color from themed serving bowls and platters.
• Tie together bandanas in your school colors to make a bunting for the front of your table.
• Add in a few fun game related items like a foam finger and megaphone to add personality and fun.

• To change up your table, add a piece of green AstroTurf as a table runner.
• Change the bunting to a pennant banner on the front of the table.
• Dress up your cupcakes with spirited toppers, like mini footballs, mini #1 picks, anything that reflects the spirit of the season.

• Dress up the hand sanitizer with a school colored ribbon.
• Have fun stickers and face tattoos on hand.

The possibilities are endless and the best part is you can do this whether or not you are actually going to the game. You can have a fun tailgate party in your own backyard and invite all your friends over to watch the game. It is fun, relaxing and a great way to kick off the fall fun!