The Queen of Hearts Party: The Games

I think one of the most important parts of party planning is the games or activities planned for the evening. The decor could be great, but if there isn't a lot of mingling, people will leave early. So my party planning crew and I worked hard to make sure these activities would be enjoyable.

We had two games at the party. The first turned out to be the main event. As people were arriving we had them pick a card. Each suit then became a different team, breaking up couples and mixing people up. When all the guests were there and most people had a little something to eat, we announced the game. Each team was given its own work space (table). On the table they found a brown paper bag with the supplies for the game and directions. I've found that you will have to explain the game at least three times but with written rules/directions you will only explain them once and then you just refer them to the written directions! The activity, was of course, building a house of cards. We gave each team two decks of cards, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, dry pasta, marshmallows and a glue gun. They were to build their house on a foam board, purchased from Dollar Tree. The teams were instructed they would judged on structural integrity, height and ascetics. We gave the groups a little over thirty minutes to construct their houses and had a dramatic countdown during the last 10 seconds. When time was up we yelled "Hands off!" a couple of times, just like on those Food Network challenge shows. We had each team present their creation and explain their inspiration, etc. We had everything from Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man to a Scotland castle represented! Each team took a picture with their creation and then we broke out the measuring tape to see just how tall each of them were.. Finally, an "earthquake" was simulated for each house to test its structural integrity. (Bragging: my husband's team's house withstood 10 seconds of the craziest earthquake you've ever seen. We deemed it indestructible). We awarded each team points according to height, aesthetics and structural integrity. Judging was tough but really fun too!

This was the best part of the party, because it got people talking and mingling. It involved both the guys (building) and gals (creative). And got people working together. It was so fun to watch and the party planning crew was giddy to see how much fun people were having. 

Our second activity was fun but not as big of a hitl. We had 42 guests at the party, which was a large crowd. It worked well for the house of cards game, but not as well for the second game we played, which we called Two of a Kind. There were three rounds to this game. For each round, each team had to have a set of partners come up to contend. We set up around a card table, with each set of partners on a side. The partners linked arms and then had to complete an activity using their free or outside arms The first to finish the activity earned 25 points for their team. The first round we had them stack 10 conversation hearts on top of each other. The second, tie a shoe. The their was the most entertaining, put a diaper on a baby doll. One team thought they'd won, but we stated they were disqualified for having the baby doll's arm through the leg hole of the diaper =) In the end we thought this activity was fun, but with this large of a group, people were done with games and just wanted to eat and socialize. Lesson learned!

 

In the end we awarded the prizes for the best outfit for each suit. They were given a goodie bag and a necklace with a playing card on it (they were actually for Mardi Gras but were perfect and at Dollar Tree, so I had to get them). We then announced how each team did in both games. The overall winner was then awarded a box of chocolates! 

As you can tell, the decor and games weren't all that Valentines-y so this would be a great theme for a party any time of year! It's also great for both single people and married people. We had fun and are excited for next year's Valentine's Day Party!

$7 St. Patrick's Day decor (doubly lucky!)

I've posted before about using glass vases to extend the life of your holiday decorations, and so you can use them year-round, just changing what's inside. I finally found some suitable vases at pretty much the only place I was willing to buy them from: the dollar store. I picked up five. Add some plastic Easter eggs from Wal-Mart for $2 and I have decorations for two holidays in a row!

To go with the green theme, I searched around my house for green things to fill the vases. Here are some ideas for "free home decorating."

• Food! I had these limes on hand for a recipe. (They've since been used.) Plastic fruit also works well.
• Pens, markers, crayons and colored pencils. If we want to color something green, this is where we need to go.
• Craft supplies. I had two balls of green yarn and a spool of thread very handy. Fabric and paper could also work well.
• Small toys. A set of blocks had three colors of green, and we added things like a spinning top, k'nex and a tiny Buzz Lightyear.
• Seasonal holiday supplies, like the Easter eggs I'll be filling these with next, or Christmas ornaments.
• Candy. I'd love to see these full of pastel M&Ms! Wonder how many bags that would take . . .
• Plants (and fake plants). If I couldn't find anything else, I knew I had some fake greenery somewhere to stick in here. Everything from flowers to fall leaves would work great.
• Nature. In the fall, things like acorns and maple helicopters could make very cool seasonal decor. Plus, a fun family activity: nature walk! Sand and seashells also make great seasonal or year-round additions.

I was so proud of myself for finally putting together some really cool, really me holiday decor I could live with . . . and then I put the green vases on a green shelf in front of a green wall.

Nice.

What would you put in these vases for your favorite holiday?

Other St Patrick's Day crafts from the Wayward Girls:

Grand-baby quilt, part 2

A couple weeks ago I posted about the quilt I am making for Jordan's baby, and confessed I was afraid it wasn't 'baby' enough. I decided to piece a design on the back with some more baby inspired quilt.
Now I think this is going to be a grand baby quilt for my grandbaby!
Here is what it looks like.

 That yellow print has little duckies on it. I used fabric from the front and other scraps.

Step 1--- sew the center square to the first piece (shown on the right on the picture above. Stop sewing about 1/2" from the center corner as shown.

Now I need to quilt it!

Save Our Sisters

In our church we have a program called Visiting Teaching where two sisters go and visit certain sisters in our congregation and share a message with them on a monthly basis. I am charge of this program in my congregation and we had a conference about it two weeks ago. The theme for our conference was Save Our Sisters (SOS).

We asked the sisters to bring desserts to share and they were delicious. I decorated each of the tables with maroon and blue table runners, red chargers I conveniently found at the church, decorative sand, LED candles, and seashells. One of the other leaders brought a beautiful painting of a light house and I had a huge bowl of life savers set out. I spoke and used these resources as a guide for what I said.

• Daughters in My Kingdom book
• Church handbook section 9.1 
• This video about visiting teaching
• This talk from the 2011 BYU Women's Conference
• This talk by Elder Rasband of the 70 (8:21-9:36)
• This song by Julia De Azevedo
• My favorite talk of all time by Elder Uchtdorf

 It was a beautiful night that I forgot to take any pictures of! Here is a picture of what the poster looked like. I'm a sucker for 3-D displays :)

Queen of Hearts Party Decor

As I mentioned, I had a Valentine's Day party! It was my second time throwing a Valentine's Day party and I wanted to go in a different direction. This year's theme was Queen of Hearts. The hearts was the only tie to Valentine's Day. Our decor focused on playing cards. I probably purchased 30 decks of playing cards, but when they come in a two pack from Dollar Tree, it was quite affordable. Here is what it looked like:

To make the heart, I cut out a large heart from cardboard. Then I covered it with the hearts cards and hot glued the hearts to the cardboard. It looked a little lonely so I made a background for the heart using the backside of two different cards (one pack was from Michaels). This was a great activity to do during Downton Abbey. We added balloons and lanterns to fill it more.

My friend, Anne, made the banners. She simply hot glued cards to twine, but there were a lot of cards. She made three banners and strung them from her top banister to three different places on her curtain rod. Then we added balloons.

I found some fun playing card stuff from Party City included these mints:

 

And this centerpiece (it was a little smaller than I thought it'd be, but it was still cool).

I also cut out spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds with my Silhouette Cameo and scattered them around the food table. We used red chargers and silverware and got some fun plates and napkins from Tuesday Morning that reminded me of the back of playing cards.

I decorated some cups for the party as well. I purchase red cups from Dollar Tree and then hot glued playing cards on them. I finished the look off with a bit of twine.

We also had a photo booth with some great props (thanks to Anne!). The large playing cards were a fun addition to the decor, something I used in Jasmine's engagement card. Another classic is the balloon chandelier used in above the dining room and kitchen tables.

I really loved the impact of everything and I know what we'll be doing in the future! Thank you to my friends and co-hosts, Anne and Jessica, for all their hard, hard work! Great job ladies!

"Like a Sir" Mustache Birthday Card

It's been my goal to make handmade birthday cards for everyone in my family this year. I sometimes go the extra mile and make a card for a friend. I came up with this:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the top hat, 'stache and letters (Courier font). I printed out the newsprint from here

I was pretty proud of myself =)

Saturday Breakfast Tradition: German Pancakes and Homemade Syrup

My husband loves cooking breakfast. When he cooks anything he tries to go above and beyond and make it great. We recently started a tradition in our house that on Saturday mornings we have something special for breakfast. It could be Krispy Kreme doughnuts, cinnamon rolls (or pop roll hack), pancakes, scones, waffles, eggs, bacon, or any combination. My hubby recently introduced German Pancakes to me and we have had them at least half a dozen times since. We have tried variations of this recipe and have found it is best to just keep it super simple!

German Pancakes
1/4 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
6 eggs
1/8 tsp salt.

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Melt butter in 9 x 13 pan. Thoroughly mix together ingredients in blender and pour in pan. If you double the recipe use two pans! Bake for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy with syrup, powdered sugar, and/or fresh fruit. About 4 servings.

All set!

PB loves them!

We also enjoy this with this recipe for homemade syrup.

Homemade Syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon maple flavoring

Boil sugar and water. Reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Add maple flavoring and serve. Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator. We usually put the rest in a mason jar. 

Here are some other great breakfast recipes from the Wayward Girls:

Feta Omelet

Chicken and Waffles

Apple Braid

Happy Weekend!