Decor- Bottling Moon Glass

Sometimes I get sent random books in the mail for possible review, and there is NO way that I can ever read and review them all...not in a quick manner at least. One book that was sent to me was Moonglass by Jessi Kirby (the hardcover photo is above, but you can get the paperback now for about ten bucks now). At any rate, why am I talking about books on this blog? Well, because sometimes I get sent items along with the book that the publisher has put together or gotten because it somehow represents the book.

For Moonglass, I was sent what is essentially supposed to be colored sea glass, I think. It was a bag of it that I kept in my room, liking it but not sure what to do with it exactly, until I remembered some small glass jars I bought at Michael's for future use. I took one of these jars and put the sea glass in it.

Yeah, it's not the most creative craft project ever...but I thought it would be fun to share how I use these items instead of just letting them lie around the house. If I think of something fun to do with it, I shall document and share on here!

Guest Post- Candy Themed BBQ Graduation Party

 

 

Guest Post from Grand Party Goods

Candy Themed BBQ Graduation Party

The most recent BBQ party that I attended incorporated a candy theme. While the theme may sound a bit odd and childish to some, the party was held for my younger cousin's high school graduation, as she truly enjoyed her work in the local neighborhood candy store. She had worked there throughout some of her high school years.

Having a candy themed party is always entertaining and enjoyable no matter what age, but can make for a daunting task. The color scheme chosen was a light pink, blue, and white, which made the guests immediately think of cake and candy. While we grilled burgers and hot dogs, small dishes were placed in front of the guests. Guests could then walk up to a small bar and fill their dishes with whatever candy or fruit they pleased. The fruit was cut circular, making it have a gumball-like appearance, and was a healthy alternative to the sweet candy that was enjoyed before dinner.

The party took place in my cousin's backyard, where several folding tables were placed closely together. Plastic dinnerware and plastic silverware of the same colors were used to accentuate the theme of the night. The grill was placed on the patio, which was also well decorated, incorporating the similar candy colored scheme. Even the outdoor decorations were all candy themed down to the smallest details. The table cloths had pictures of various types of candy and the napkins had candy-colored patterns. The centerpieces were handmade to feature high school pictures of my cousin, while each picture was also tinted with light colors, keeping the whole theme consistent.

When it was time to eat our burgers and hot dogs, we were offered colored popcorn and chips. The popcorn was buttered, cheese, and caramel which was nothing overly fancy but once again kept the colorful theme. While regular toppings are not that colorful, well placed everyday BBQ items like bottles of ketchup, mustard, and pickles can continue to add to the color scheme and are also convenient for guest use. What really brings any party theme together is the true attention to detail.

The guests and I really enjoyed this candy-themed party, as it put a different spin on a traditional BBQ. Even those without a sweet tooth could appreciate the theme of the night. Strategic placing of similarly themed and colored party settings seemed to be the key to keeping the whole concept consistent. The party was a huge success and will definitely be remembered for years to come, due to its uniqueness. While many of the details did not take too much extra effort to produce, they were very thought-out, making for a memorable and fun barbecue that people are sure to keep talking about!

 

Author’s Note: Joel Perkowski is the CEO of Grand Party Goods, which he started in 2009. Grand Party Goods offers quality plastic tableware and silverware, with designs ranging from classic, to contemporary and trendy. Their party settings are perfect for weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthday parties and many other occasions.

DIY College Survival Kit

I've been volunteering at my local library for two years now. I help out the Teen Librarian at all the events. In honor of today being my first day back to class, I thought I'd share the gift I made for a brother and sister (yes, twins) who invited me to their high school graduation party. They are both going to my college this year, but I think only the girl is staying on campus.

Awhile back, The Popcorn Factory was doing a deal on facebook where college students could have someone send them a tub of popcorn, hence the Survival Kit container above. I'm glad I thought of using it for the gifts because it worked great. Unfortunately, some of the items were too big or just didn't fit, so I had to give them a bag with some extra goodies too, but I still say the container was great.

I tried to add things for both a boy and a girl, as well as some on-campus items:

giant green Oops eraser
some bandaids
ear plugs
collapsable hampers
mini notebook
lip balms
hand sanitizer
two packs of playing cards
panda candy
binder clips (I use one for my planner)
box of m & m's because the twins names both start with an "M"
mini file folder
a couple containers for food/snacks
I even gave them a book about Graphic Novels because they love reading them and if they take the class at our college, they need the book (I took the class about a year ago so I gave them my used copy).

I had some other little items included as well, but it's been awhile now since I gave them the gift and I only have this one photo to refresh my memory.

It's a relatively easy and fun gift to give someone though. I love DIY gifts and I think the idea of themed Survival Kits is fun, so it's a great idea for college and beyond!

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I hope to link up at the following parties-

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ http://tidymom.net  http://tatertotsandjello.com http://www.iheartnaptime.net  http://www.skiptomylou.org http://www.tipjunkie.com/category/handmade-projects/ and http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/

Winnie-the-Pooh Themed Picnic

I've been a huge fan of Winnie-the-Pooh since I was little. Even when I got older, if I was home sick from school, I loved watching the cartoon. I suppose I get this from my mom whose a big fan as well, so it's no surprise that I thought a Winnie-the-Pooh themed picnic for Mother's Day was the way to go this year. Yeah, I know, Mother's Day is in the past, but you can use this idea for any holiday or event. Just change things to fit the theme/setting.

First off, I made the cute note above with one of my favorite quotes, by Pooh himself, that says:

Some People Care Too Much...I Think It's Called Love

I love the idea of having a picnic in the park, so I knew I wanted to find some food (and a drink) that I could give fun little names to fitting the Pooh theme. I packed everything up in a box and laid it out with my collection of Pooh stories, as well as the soundtrack for the latest Pooh film (which I actually saw in theaters with my mom!)

We listened to the soundtrack on the way to and from the park and I even pointed out a story about a party in the Pooh collection (I believe my mom read it later in the day).

As for the food, I went with-

Cucumbers and carrots with a dip my family loves - Rabbit's Garden

Cow Tail candy - Eeyore's Tail

Fruit punch - Piglet's Punch

Gummi-Bears - Gummi Winnie-the-Pooh

Cheetos- Tigger Tails

Peanut Butter Crunch - Owl Crunch

This is everything laid out at the park...the soundtrack is obviously still in the car and I didn't bring the veggies, because as you can see from the photo before this, they are in some large containers and we figured we didn't want to lug those with us. It was a bit windy the day we went, but nothing too bad. It was me, my mom, and my sister...and the park was fairly empty, which worked out nice! Overall, my mom loved the gift and we all had a fun time!

If you have any thoughts about this, ideas of your own, or questions, please leave them in the comments or shoot me an email!

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I hope to link up at the following parties-

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://tidymom.net/, http://tatertotsandjello.com/, http://www.iheartnaptime.net/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://www.tipjunkie.com/category/handmade-projects/, and http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/

The Hunger Games Party - Games and Prizes

The above photo is myself as Primrose Everdeen and my sister, Kari, as Foxface. I put my hair in braided pigtails and wore a white shirt that I felt was Prim appropriate. I didn't have a skirt, so gray pants was it! My sister has the red hair for Foxface, so she put on a black shirt we figured was "games" worthy and then put a Five patch on her should for the District she is from.

Moving on to the games we played!

I had a Hungry for Trivia Game, where I asked questions that were somehow related to The Hunger Games (either the author, the actors in the film, etc.) but weren't book-related for the few people at my party who hadn't read the books. A couple examples-

Q. Liam Hemsworth plays Katniss’ friend Gale. Liam’s older brother is also an actor. What superhero does he play?

A. Thor

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Q. Lenny Kravitz plays Cinna and Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss. What movie did Jennifer Lawrence star in alongside Lenny Kravitz’ daughter?

A. X-Men: First Class

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If you want to hold your own Hunger Games party, feel free to email me or leave a comment below with your email and I'll send the entire list of Trivia for your use!

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The other game we played was Real or Not Real? If you've read Mockingjay, then you understand the meaning of this. I wrote down a bunch of "facts" on notecards and I read them aloud, as we went along the circle. If the card said "You like boys" and you do, you say "Real" and you get the card. If you don't like boys, you say "Not Real" and the next person has to say Real or Not Real until the card is given to someone or nobody gets it. If nobody gets it, I set the card out of the pile and read the next card. If you get the card, I read the next "fact" to the person right after you and off we go! I tried to mix up the "facts" so it fit various people. I put things like "you'd live outside of the country" and even "you like pizza." Easy and fun! It's a fun "getting to know you" game, so I suggest you use it for any party or gathering! Of course, the person with the most cards in their hand at the end is the winner!

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The Real or Not Real photo above is NOT mine, but you can get these free printables courtesy of Tattered and Inked. I wish I had them when I did my party, but unfortunately, I just found them!

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The Prizes!

I'm sorry to say that I did not get a photo of the prizes, which I'm pretty bummed about as I thought they were fun. I picked up a sucker at Michael's that had an icing type of bumblebee on it and called it a Tracker Jacker pop with a little tag around the stick.

I had a couple bottles of self-tanning lotion, so I wrapped some red poster board around it and called it Capitol Color (for the kooky styles of the Capitol).

I even had a copy of the book The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher because it said it was good for fans of The Hunger Games!

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Voila! That was my Hunger Games party. The decorations, the food, the games, the prizes, and even the "costumes" for a couple of us!

Keep following the blog...I have more parties and crafts coming up!

The Hunger Games Party - Food

The Hunger Games Party - The Food

all photos are by my family

The above photo are what I called Capitol Pills. I got them from the dollar store and they are simple white mints that came in money wrappers. I figured the money works for the Capitol, and also in Catching Fire, the Capitol folks eat and eat and eat, then take a pill and throw up, and eat and eat and eat some more.

These are bugles, which I called Mini Cornucopias. I got the regular and the cheddar and seperated them into two bowls and they made a fun little snack before dinner/dessert.

I got mini cans of Sprite and some cotton candy tubs (again from the dollar store) and called it Trinket Toppers. You put some cotton candy on top of your sprite for a kooky hair look a ala Effie Trinket. Unfortunately, our cotton candy melted into the sprite right away, but people seemed to enjoy just eating the cotton candy too!

My sister really wanted a cheese ball for the party, so she made this and I titled it Prim's Goat Cheese Ball. No, it's not really goat cheese, but I figured that wouldn't be as appetizing! If you aren't aware, the character Prim (Katniss' sister) has a goat and sells cheese from her.

Finnick's Garlic Knots. I actually came up with this idea on my own, which I was pretty proud of myself. A local pizza place makes garlic knots and I LOVE them, so that started the thought process and I found a recipe online and had my sister make some. The character of Finnick knots and unknots a rope over and over again as a means of coping, hence the garlic knots for Finnick!

This is Haymitch's Drunk Punch. I don't drink alcohol so there is none in it, but I wanted something to fit Haymitch and a "Drunk" Punch seemed nice since he drinks all the time in the books. Plus, this is a punch I've made for other parties with friends and it goes over well. It went SUPER fast this time!

I wanted to include Rue somehow, as I love her character so we went with District 11 Fruit Salad (Hand-picked by Rue). It was a light addition to my meal plan...especially with dinner!

Speaking of dinner, I went with cheeseburgers and hotdogs and called it Gale's Game since he hunts in District 12 with Katniss. Normally, when I have parties for friends, we just do snacks and dessert items, but I planned out a whole meal around the Gale's Game idea.

Peeta is the "Boy with the Bread" so we had to have a bread item for him. Instead of making homemade bread or getting roles, we went with Peeta's Pretzel Bread, which is really good. My sister (again) wanted the Spinach Dip to go with it, so I made it Caesar's Spinach Dip...mainly because spinach is green and I thought that fit Caesar's eclectic blue/green style.

This was a last minute idea. My sister and I went to a graduation party a week before, I believe, and they had these cookies (but with kiwi). We made them (sugar cookies, cream cheese frosting, and blackberries/rasberries for the top) and called it Nightlock Cookies, in honor of the infamous berries that kill you with one bite. Don't worry, these are non-toxic and oh so yummy!

We had to have an item in honor of Katniss Everdeen, so we went with Girl on Fire Cupcakes. Simple vanilla cupcakes with yellow and orange icing on top to look like fire. We then added crushed up oreos around it to be the coal!

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Most of these ideas were created by me, but you're obviously more than welcome to use them for your own Hunger Games party. If you have any food-related questions, just shoot me an email or leave a comment below. I'd love to hear what you think about this food and maybe even what you did or would do for your own HG-related gathering!

The Hunger Games Party - Decorations!

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I love throwing parties for my friends and this past May, it was my birthday month, so I essentially threw my own b-day party...but with the awesome Hunger Games theme! I'm going to try and get all the HG posts up this week so you can see just how I set the whole thing up.

Today, I'm going to start with the decorations. It was very simple. I didn't feel the need to go all crazy. I essentially found funny Hunger Games-related pictures online, printed them off, and then taped them to red cardboard (red for the girl on fire of course). After that, I just spread them around my living room and voila! Simple decorations that can easily entertain the guests.

You Know You're Obessed with the Hunger Games... poster (found these online)

Voldemort approves of President Snow...

I have about six or seven more of these type of things, but I don't want to overcrowd the post with similar things. You get the idea. If you want the links to where I got these, I think I still have them, so just let me know!

Now, some other decoration ideas...I looked up songs that people felt fit the books (that weren't on the actual movie soundtrack) and made a list of two playlists that I taped to my stereo. One is songs that fit the series in general and the other is a fire-themed playlist.

Next, if you've read all the HG books then you know that Katniss and Peeta put together what I call a scrapbook, but it's a mix of information about friends and things they want to have on hand. So I got a small red scrapbook and put out some supplies for a Katniss and Peeta's Scrapbook Station. Nobody used it, but it was still kind of cute. If you have a party with just girls, I think it might go over better...have everyone work on pages and then add your party pics later. That was my plan but I guess I'll just do the scrapbook on my own! haha

Finally, I had a fire pit for when it got dark out so we could roast some s'mores. I went with the idea of a Girl on Fire (pit) just to be a bit quirky. I even had "Roast President Snow" for the s'more making, but I never got a picture of that sign. My bad!

There you have it...my simple, yet fun, Hunger Games decorations. Keep watching the blog this week for the food (I went crazy on this!) and the games/prizes! I'll even share a picture of me as Primrose Everdeen!