I used my fave app Rhonna Designs to make the invite:
{I whited out my address & our phone numbers.. I also have no idea why this pic uploaded as so grainy.}
My awesome friend Misty and I sent out our invites and got to thinking of our own crafts. I, of course procrastinated and decided on my craft the day of the party!
On the Facebook event we put this as the cover photo, again I used the Rhonna Designs app. Seriously if you don't have it, go grab it!
The Decor
The party decor was pretty much my fall decor. Because this style party is so laid back it didn't call for big elaborate decorations or flair. You can certainly do that for your own, but I got lazy ;)
Side note - Misty saved it from looking too Halloweeny by bringing white napkins. :)
Two different times of day pics to show the new banners I made. These big windows are sooo fun to decorate but sooo hard to take a good pic of! And in case it's a little hard to see, the two banners on the sides are leaf shaped lovelies, found that tutorial and pattern on Pinterest. And the "happy turkey day" I simply cut out of sparkly orange paper and glued to bakers twine. Love!
Give thanks banner in the kitchen that I made from another free printable on Pinterest.
The Party
Micah took Liv on a date to hang out with her Gammy (my mother in law) so it was a baby-less night at the Russell house!
Misty and I set out the food (which I totally forgot to take a pic of) as people arrived and started snacking as we went.. A girls gotta eat, right? ;) I made my favorite pasta dinner, fiesta pasta. Here's the recipe:
Variations:
You can use chicken breasts instead of canned chicken, add more or less of any of the ingredients, depending on preference. Also can use regular vinegar over he balsamic. I prefer the richer flavor the balsamic gives.
The fiesta ranch packets can be found in the salad dressing aisle at Walmart. I haven't found it at any other grocery store unfortunately.
Misty made some incredibly addicting chocolate turtles.. Yes, she made them. Serious skills.
Here's her recipe:
The other snacks and goodies included:
Chips and spinach dip (pretty addicting!)
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies,
Chex mix amazingness
Mixed chocolate cookies
Salsa verde chips (my personal brand of crack cocaine)
Cookie dough
EL fudge cookies
Lots of cookies, cuz lesbi-honest, what girl doesn't LOVE cookies? :)
The first part of the party we just stuffed our faces and chatted. It was so fun to catch up with some friends I don't see regularly! It's amazing how quickly you can fall back into the comfortable groove of friends that you shared lots of awkward middle school years with. Something about seeing each other in braces and horribly mismatching clothes makes you forever bonded! ;P
I forgot to mention, as everyone arrived we had them write their name on 3 slips of paper and put them into a bowl. So once we were done with eating (well, kind of done haha) we sat down and each drew 3 names from the bowl, making sure we didn't accidentally grab our own.
We went around the room, starting with Meg and anyone who drew her name from the bowl raised their hand. She then passed her gifts out to each of us and briefly explained her craft.
She gave out puffy paint sets, designed for us to make puffy paint art or shirts or really any variation of it. Seriously so fun! I still have a shirt that she made me back in high school (maybe even middle school) from puffy paint. Check out its amazingness!
So we continued around the room, each of us explaining our crafts and handing them out.
I gave out a hand stitching set. I love the Grinch so I made copies of the pattern and put the needed fabric, needle, & strings in the bags. It's the kind of craft you can do while watching tv then either make into a pillow once the stitching is done or frame it for a table decoration. So fun!
Sheridan brought yarn poofs to make into pumpkins! She included the yarn, a square of burlap for the leaves, and a little sprig of cinnamon. So clever, I've always wanted to learn how to make pom poms so this was a perfect intro to them!
Misty brought paint chip garlands, in Christmas colors to make Christmas trees, candy canes, or snowflakes, out of the green, red, and white paint chips. I've seen so many examples on Pinterest but have never gotten around to making any, so excited that I drew her name to make them!
Courtnie brought a DIY chalkboard set with red Christmas bells. She provided the picture frame & paint so you just take the glass out of the frame, paint it, and boom! You have a chalkboard!
Totally forgot to take a pic of it, ugh fail! :(
Ashley brought paper pinwheel sets with lots of paper colors to choose from! I've seen these on Pinterest too and have saved a bunch of how-to's but never gotten the "correct" way to make them before. She included the instructions and everything.
Brittany brought red paper lanterns with black paper and silver square stickers. I never would've thought of this, but love love love the idea. Santa lanterns. You open the lanterns and cut a strip of black paper, like a belt, then use the silver square sticker as the belt buckle. Done! Instant Santa decor!
It was such a fun, laid back party, to get to have a night of girl talk and food, then to go home with some easy fun projects was a really great break! It's the kind of party that's perfect for any time of year, on any budget, and with a large group or a small group. I highly suggest throwing your own!
I love these girls, so lucky to have them in my life!
xoxo
Mandi
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