Rags to Riches

Since I have been hosting themed monthly dinners for my friends for exactly 5 years now, my next 5 posts will detail the Top 5 Favorite Monthly Dinners based on 5 different categories.  I gave the girls these 5 categories to vote in for our October dinner which will be a collection of all of them.  Winner in the attire category was the Rags to Riches party.  Guests chose which they wanted to represent and came dressed in that attire.

The premise of this party was to trade your unwanted items (rags) for items you wanted (riches).  Each guest was instructed to bring 10 items they did not want any longer.  The girls brought everything from clothing & purses to household items and games.  Guests drew numbers and we went "shopping".  This was so much fun & I definitely got some great riches from others' rags.

Decor: The decorations were super fun for this one.  Since the guests were split half rags and half riches, that is how I divided my table.  On the riches side I had a black linen tablecloth and crystal candlesticks.  I used my fine china, glass stemware, sterling silverware, and folded cloth napkins in a standing fan.  For the placecards, I made elegant cards like you'd have at a wedding and referred to the guests formally "Ms. Susan Johnson". 



On the rags side, I used newspaper as my tablecloth and set up ugly mugs with tea lights inside as their mood lighting.  No fine china for these ladies...this side of the table ate off paper plates, plastic utensils, styrofoam cups, and paper napkins.  Their placecards were torn pieces of scratch paper with only their first names hastily written in pencil.






 The centerpiece for the table was a pile of rags with money sticking out of it to tie in the two sides.

Food: At first I had a hard time thinking of a menu that would be eaten by a wealthy person as well as someone living in rags.  So instead, I played up the idea of money.  I cut a large dollar bill stencil using my Cricut machine. I placed the stencil on a large tortilla and used green food coloring to stencil a dollar bill onto the tortilla. These I made into chicken and steak burritos and served them with Spanish rice and corn with diced red peppers.

 For dessert I continued the money theme.  I served both sides mint chip pie with an oreo cookie crust.  The "rich" were served on fine china with 100 Grand bars.  The "rags" were served on a paper plates with penny coins.

This theme was so much fun and the girls keep asking to do it every year so they can get rid of unwanted items and gain some great riches.  It would be a neat party to do for a church or community fundraiser as well. It's an added spin to the generic garage sale!  Definitely try this one!