Favorite Things Party…

If you’ve known me for very long, you know that I love an excuse to throw a fun party and play hostess for an afternoon. (You may remember a couple that I’ve blogged about in the past, like the surprise mustache party & the Cinco de Mayo murder mystery…both a hit!) I knew I wanted to do a little something to get my teacher friends together to catch up & celebrate the season, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what.

And then, it hit me.

Or rather….I pinned it. Good ol’ Pinterest strikes again.

The idea was pretty simple…host a “Favorite Things” party! Start by inviting some of your favorite friends, ask them to bring their favorite snacky Christmas foods, and swap small gifts. But more on that later…

Here are a few pics from our part-ay!

The table…set with a tablecloth, cake platter, and cute little paper plates…all from my favorite store – Target! 😉

Didn’t make the cake myself…got it from my fav grocery shopping store – HEB! It was so rich…like wedding cake…but very tasty!

Strawberry soda dressed up with a little yarn & glitter…

Drink Bar…strawberry soda, sweet tea, hot Keurig drinks, and a little something called “Hot Vanilla.”

Funny story about the “Hot Vanilla”…I pinned it as well, but when I tried to access the link it warned me that it might lead to ‘inappropriate content.’ Bahaha…turned out it really just led to a recipe for hot vanilla (as opposed to hot chocolate) but we decided at the party that it would make a great stripper name! 😉

Everyone’s gift bags…personally decorated with doilies, yarn, and a printed chalkboard blessing.

Little to-go boxes to share all the sweet goodies everyone brings…Lord knows I didn’t need it all left at my house! I didn’t take a picture of all the sweet things the girls brought over…too busy eating I guess…

For the gift exchange, each girl was instructed to bring 5 duplicates of one of her “Favorite Things.” I didn’t get the best pic, but we definitely walked away with a pretty sweet haul. I gave everyone a chevron-striped pashmina…complete with a lesson in scarf tying! My friend J made t-shirt scarves for everyone – so adorable! (Mine had a little home-made rosette as a ‘thank you’ for hosting. Loved that little touch!) L brought her fav mascara, which I’ve already used…and loved! My college friend A gifted everyone with her favorite candy bar – chocolate is a girls best friend! And K wrapped up a $5 gift card to Starbucks for each lady. Perfect!

Before a couple of the husbands crashed our party, we wrapped up the talking and gifting and eating with a “Favorite Things” game. Each girl completed a quick survey (favorite Christmas movie, song, drink, etc.) and then I quizzed everyone on who said what. The winner received a popcorn tin (also one of my favorite things…last year I went through 5 of them!)

We decided that the “Favorite Things” party is…one of our new favorite things! Definitely hoping that this one will become a yearly tradition…if only we could get Oprah to join in on the fun! *wink*

One thing I didn’t remember to get…a picture of all of my favorite girls! 😦

KEEP CALM & CELEBRATE YOUR FAVORITE THINGS!

Elf Wanna-Be

I’m kind of digging the tutorial thing this week apparently (hence the “elf wannabe”…get it? *wink*) . Today I’ve got a couple of easy ones that I know you’ll love…they’re perfect to send to your child’s classroom party, drop by your neighbor’s house, or surprise your family with on Christmas day. I’ve made both of them for my family as well as the children in my class, so they come highly recommended! 😉

Reindeer Pops
This is a spin-off of the turkey pops I learned to make at a ladies crafty night. Here’s what you’ll need…

Golden Oreos, frosting (the kind in the can ended up working out really well for me), twisty pretzels, red hots, and candy eyes. (I’ve seen the eyes at both Target and Wal-Mart, and if I were Oprah they would be on my favorite things episode and I would give all of you a package of them. They are seriously fun!)  Oh, and if you want to turn them into “pops,” you’ll need sucker sticks & baggies to cover them.

Step 1: Pull the oreo apart. Refrain from licking the frosting out of the middle.

<That is probably the most challenging part of this entire “recipe!”>

Squirt on some frosting & position your “antlers” and stick.

Step 2: Put the other Oreo half back on. Use the frosting to “glue” on your eyes and red nose.

Step 3: Refrigerate for an hour or so, or put in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This is muy importante and will help keep your Rudolph from flat falling apart. I keep mine in the fridge until I’m ready to gift them just for safe measure…

Step 4: Wrap up as a “pop” or place on a cute dish as cookies…

Either way is sure to please!

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Angel Fatheads

<Disclaimer: Okay, so these aren’t exactly fatheads. At least, not in the sense you are thinking of. It’ll make perfect sense in a minute…>

I’m not exactly sure where I got this crafty idea, but I’ve been making these as gifts for students ever since I started teaching. It always makes everyone giggle, so this year I decided to whip up a few of Chris, Huxley, and I.

Check it…

 I told you “Fatheads” would make perfect sense once you saw them! 🙂  I wish I could show you some of my kids…some of their heads ended up printing REALLY big and they look absolutely hilarious. In this particular context the rule is: the bigger the head…the better!

Here’s what you’ll need to make Fatheads out of your friends & family…

Doilies (I think I used the 12 inch), clothespins, gold ribbon, gold pipe cleaners, hot glue, & big fat pictures!

Step 1: Fold the doily in half, then in half again.

Step 2: Make wings my gluing the gold ribbon onto the clothespin in big loops.

Step 3: Glue the doily on top of the clothespin / wings. (This way it can be clipped to virtually anything!)

Step 4: Glue on the fathead.

Step 5: Fashion the pipe cleaner into a halo & glue.

So go on. You know you wanna. Make “Angel Fatheads” of everyone you know!

(Just make sure you include on of yourself, otherwise they may get a little offended!)

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As always, hope you enjoyed the read & maybe walked away with a new idea! Christmas is coming!!

KEEP CALM & GET YOUR FATHEAD ON!