Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

Planning ahead for Gingerbread Party

Too much Halloween candy?  Put some aside for this year's Christmas Gingerbread House Making Party!  Gingerbread Houses are fun to make, fun to look at, but not fun to eat.  They usually sit around the whole holiday season and get stale, so why not put leftover Halloween candy on it?  So, sort through your candy booty, and set aside all of the colorful, creative candies that would look great on your gingerbread house.  This will save your teeth, your stomachs, and a few dollars!

Garlands That Glow

The Harvest Season is upon us and it's time to start thinking about ways to decorate your home for all of your Fall festivities. Here's an easy way to turn your front door into a welcoming entry this October.

Start by purchasing dried corn husks from your local Mexican food market or at your traditional market in the Mexican food section. Purchasing 4-5 packages of the dried corn husks should cover you for this project. You will also need clear, 2-inch-wide tape and approximately 20 feet of rope light. It is best to measure the linear feet of your doorway or foyer area prior to purchasing the rope. Rope light is made of small LED lights encased in a smooth plastic tube. The tube is flexible and safe since there is no heat generated from the tiny lights within the plastic casing. Rope light can be found at larger local hardware chains such as Lowes or Home Depot.

To begin this project, gather a few corn husks in a small bunch and tape them around the plastic rope. Keeping this first section of husks close to one end of the plastic rope, point the loose husks towards the end of the rope light. Continue taping clusters of corn husks along the rope every two inches, layering the loose ends over the first bunch, until you reach the center of the rope. Begin this process again by starting at the opposite end of the rope until you meet the center of the rope, where the husks meet in the middle.

Upon completion, hang 2 nails on either side of your entry and center the newly decorated garland over your front door allowing enough excess rope to create a gentle swag in the center as the rest of the rope frames the door.

This seasonal decoration for your home will be a welcoming greeting to any guest who drops by during the Fall season. By day your new garland will look rustic and seasonal for fall. At night, the new husk and light combination will create a nice glow to celebrate the harvest season and holiday's to come.

Chilled Drinks

The makings of a good party can usually be attributed to the carefully thought out details.  There is no better time to impress your guests than the beginning of event, when you hand them a beverage of their choice.  You can make any drink (even a plain glass of water) extra impressive with a frosty or chilled glass.  Just remember to toss a few glasses in the freezer a few hours before the party, and...voila!...that cocktail is now extra tasty.  OK, so you were bogged down with the dinner preparations and forgot until minutes before the guests arrived?  All is not lost, just put the glasses in a bucket of ice for 20 minutes or so.   Chilling the glasses will keep the drinks cold longer too.  Enjoy!

Pirate Night

Ahoy!  Wal-Mart sells a version of the tried and true board game, Life, called Pirates of the Caribbean's Dead Man's Chest.  The game is for 2-6 players ages 9 and up, so you can have a fun family night or invite a few of your 'mates' for a themed game night.  You can invited them using "Pirate" design from Sendomatic.com (up to four invitations is free!). Have your guests dress up like pirates or have eye patches waiting for them.  Serve fruit platters with those little dagger tooth picks and fruity drinks.  For snacks, you can't go wrong with a bowl of Pirate's Booty. So, batten down the hatches and have a mighty fun night!

A wedding soup by any other name!

Ah, yes. Italian wedding soup. It's cheap. It's good. Oh, and do you know it's not traditionally served at Italian weddings?

[insert record scratch]

The name, "Italian Wedding Soup" [also known as Chicken Escarole Soup] is actually a mistranslation of the Southern Italian phrase "minestra maritata," which literally means "marriage." In the case of Italian Wedding Soup, it means "marriage of flavors" - quite fitting for a soup that gets better and better the longer it's in the pot simmering and the flavors mingle and get to know each other intimately.

In my Italian house, we call it Swamp Soup. We love it. And yes, husband and I proudly served it at our wedding despite the historical faux pas.

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Halloween Invitations

Halloween is less than two weeks away, so rather than finding, addressing, and mailing paper invitations, I'm going to send electronic invitations for this year's party.   Besides the fact that my guests will receive their invitations immediately, the invitations also come with spooky sounds that paper invitations don't normally deliver.  Sendomatic.com had so many fantastic designs, that I had trouble deciding on just one.  I want this year's party to be a dark and scary one, so I finally chose "Skulls" for this year's bash.  But, if my party was going to be more of an upbeat dance party, I think I'd chose "Day of Dead" which would set the scene a little more festive.  If my easily-spooked 2 year old were to have a trick-or-treating party, I'd use the "Trick-or-Treat" design to invite all his little friends.  Whatever type of party you are having, set the mood with the invitation and your guests will be better prepared for the festivities! 

Are you weird for wanting a Halloween wedding?

"Definitely not!" say the hosts of Halloweddings.com, a web site dedicated to helping October brides find resources and Halloween goodies for their Goth-inspired wedding.

In fact, going "Goth" is becoming quite couture with vintage-inspired vamped-up gowns, so intricate with beading and details, they could stand the test of time next to the likes of a Vera Wang original. Check out these gorgeous gowns (below) by Lauren Lavonne.

And Going Goth doesn't always mean going "black." Think outside of the coffin, girls! You can use any color scheme for a Goth wedding - even white - while staying true to your theme.

For even more great ideas on Goth weddings, type in "goth wedding" or "renaissance wedding" into your favorite search engine.

Goth on!

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Post provided by the folks at Anna Bella Stationery: Stationery & lovely things. Receive 25% off when you sign up for the mailing list!

Creepy Fog at Your Party

Make your halloween party spooky with creepy, crawly fog.  You can create this atmosphere easily with dry ice.  Either rent or buy a fog machine - or, for a less expensive option, you can break up dry ice and put it in hot water.  While still in the bag, hit dry ice with a hammer or slam it against the ground to break it up.  Get a BIG container and only fill it with water about 2/3 full- it will splatter a bit, so place it somewhere splatter safe.  The hotter the water, the more smoke, but the quicker the dry ice will dissappear.   It will smoke for approximately 2-3 minutes per pound of dry ice.  You can keep the water hot with hot plate and prolong the fog.  You can find dry ice distributer near you at dryiceinfo.com.  Remember to keep the area ventilated when around dry ice, it is solid carbon dioxide. 

Tailgating Fun

It is football season, so let the tailgating begin!  It is always fun to go to the game with friends and eat like a horse before heading in to route for your favorite team.  Many people use it as a time to perfect their bar-b-q-ing skills, I mainly use that time to have fun while my wieners are cooking. 

One fun way to meet your neighbors, and have a lot of laughs, is to play a game or two of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, of which I add a gate in front of to stick with the Tailgating theme (get it?). 

Draw a large tail-less donkey standing behind a picket fence (to stick to the tailgate theme).  Paste it on a piece of cardboard.  Draw some tails, cut them out, and put some double sided tape on the top of each tail.  Bring a blindfold to cover the eyes of the first player.  Then... let the laughter begin as you watch your friends try to get the tail in the right place.  If they pin the tail on the gate, then they are official "tailgaters", if they actually get the tail on the donkey, well, you can call them "a horse's...(use your imagination)"! 

Jack o' The Lantern

Do you know the Legend of Stingy Jack? If you carve pumpkins each year for Halloween, you do! Stingy Jack was a stubborn sole who was cursed to walk the Earth forever with only a turnip as a lantern to light his way.

Visit Pumpkin Masters for some stellar pumpkin carving kits that will one-up Jack's lantern!

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Post provided by the folks at Anna Bella Stationery: Stationery & lovely things. Receive 25% off when you sign up for the mailing list!