Lovin' Country Music

Love country music?  Then this might be a great party for you.  This is a slight twist on the typical cowboy/rodeo theme party because all the decor, food, and favors centered specifically around country music songs.  While country music fans would be able to pick up on all the references, I included some popular country songs that even non-country lovers out there would know. (Non-country lovers do exist, right?)

Invite:  The invite is an example of pulling in titles of country songs.  I included classics like Hank Williams Jr.'s "All my Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight" and George Strait's "Check Yes or No" as well as newer hits like Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party".  The fonts are Duality, Bleeding Cowboys, and Docktrin.  I found them all free online.

Entry Decor:  I made a simple sign on poster board with the lyrics from Luke Bryan's song, "You Can Crash My Party Anytime".  I placed my daughter's cowboy boots and an old pair of mine on the floor next to this poster as well.

Decor:  I borrowed an acoustic guitar from a friend to set on my table.  I grabbed my cowboy boots and put a vase inside with red roses. 

My parents have these large black music notes for a concert organization they are involved in, so I borrowed them to put next to the boots.  A brown tablecloth completed the look.

I had so much fun making these place cards.  I found CD cover photos of various country music albums and used PhotoShop to replace the artist's face and name with those of each of my guests.  We got a kick out of looking at all of these! I put the printed covers inside a CD case to make it look real. The red or black bandana underneath was the napkin for the meal.

Here's mine.  Thanks for loaning me your body Carrie Underwood!

I created my wine labels using references to popular songs. For the red wine it was Chris Young's "Gettin' You Home."

For the white wine, the song was Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine."  I cut up some strawberries for guests to put in the wine.  It was quite tasty.

I went to the local Guitar Center and purchased some plastic guitar picks in various colors to use as wine charms. My husband drilled a small hole in them and then I used twine to attach them to my mason jars.

Menu:  Who doesn't love fried chicken?  Or should I say, who doesn't like their chicken fried?  One of my favorite country bands is the Zac Brown Band, so I had to incorporate their song into my party somehow.  It became our main dish.

One side was corn on the cob which went with Tim McGraw's song "Where The Green Grass Grows."  I made all the menu cards to match my invitations, and served each dish with the menu card so guests knew the link.

Slices of watermelon to go with "Watermelon Crawl" by Tracy Byrd.  It's such a fun song to dance along with and watermelon is an easy side dish.

I served biscuits with honey butter to round out the meal.  This went with Kasey Musgraves' song "Biscuits" and Lady Antebellum's song "American Honey".

My favorite part of the meal was the Texas cake complete with signs for all of George Strait's "exs".  I printed off an outline of Texas and just used that to cut an 11"x 13" cake.  I used the pieces after cutting to create the pointed tip of Texas.

Favor: I wanted a fun favor that wouldn't be too difficult or expensive to put together. I found these silly tattoos on Amazon.  Then I used PhotoShop to create a pocket with the sheet music for Jason Aldean's "Tattoos on this Town" and the same image (with lyrics) that I created for my menu cards.

Here another idea I was considering before I decided on the tattoos.  Use Runaway June's song "Lipstick" for a bridal shower. Have your tag read, "Glad (bride-to-be's name) found somebody "who ruins (her) lipstick not (her) mascara" and give each guest a tube of lipstick.

This was a super fun party to put together and would be perfect for any country music fans.  Hope you enjoyed the details!

Shark Week!

Shark Week (at the end of July) is such a popular week on Discovery Channel, and I knew it would make a fun theme for a monthly dinner.  I had a lot of fun carving sharks out of food and coming up with ideas for this party.

Invite:  I stuck to the basics with the invitation. I stayed away from actual sharks as I didn't want a scary "real-looking" shark on it or a cartoon one.  Blues, white, and red was the color scheme I went with for this party and invitation.

Decorations:  The table was simple with a blue plastic tablecloth, an easy centerpiece, and handmade scrapbook paper decor.

For the centerpiece, I purchased a net from Michaels.  (FYI - the net was $7 (pre-coupon) for that little piece!)  My kids already had the shark puppet that I put around a candle.  The fins are just two pieces of grey felt sewn together and set over an empty vase.

The placecards I made with my Cricut.  I found a shark silhouette image and added each girl's name to the center.  I welded two of the sharks together and then put a scrap of red paper in between them before gluing.

I love my shark bookmarks that I used for my napkins. I made them a bit larger than I normally would for a bookmark so that they would be big enough to fit a red napkin in the mouth.

I really like how they turned out.

I made wine labels to play with the theme.  The Great WHITE shark for my white wine, and the hammerhead shark "Drink Red and Get Hammered" for the red.

I made some silly wine charms playing off names of types of sharks -- nurse shark, pool shark, loan shark, etc.

My daughter helped me make this simple shark banner. I cut the pieces with my Cricut and my daughter glued them onto the twine.

Menu:  We started with a green salad with yummy toppings - grilled corn, tomato, and bacon.  I cut sharp white cheddar cheese into shark fins.  I used the end of a mustache cookie cutter to cut them out instead of trying to do it by hand.

For the main dish, we had chicken, pesto, and roasted red pepper sandwiches.  I had a shark cookie cutter made by a local cake shop which I used to cut sourdough bread into sharks. Then we added slices of deli chicken meat that we cut with the shark cookie cutter as well so it would keep the look of the shark. Then we just added the other ingredients and grilled them on the stove.

I carved a shark head out of a watermelon which was fun.  It took a bit of time, but it came out cute and wasn't too difficult.

I also carved a cucumber into a shark for my "shark infested" veggies.  I served yellow squash, carrots, and asparagus that I cooked in the oven.

For dessert, I made white cake cupcakes with shark fins on top and a strawberry glaze inserted into the middle.  When guests bit into the cupcake, the strawberry glaze was a fun little surprise.  I didn't get a photo of the inside of my cupcakes, but this is a photo from Cupcakes and Cashmere, where I saw the idea. The shark fins on the top are just cardstock I attached to a toothpick.  I stuck them in right before serving, so that they did not get greasy from the frosting.

Favor:  I love these favors!  I made them using a template I found online and then just cut them out using my Cricut. Then I just had to fold the box and glue all the pieces to it.  They do take a bit of time to make, but luckily I only had to make 8 of them.  I put a celephane bag inside with goldfish crackers for each guest.  Cute huh?!

I hope you enjoyed reading about this party as much as I enjoyed planning it.  Thanks for reading...you're "Jawsome"!

Goodbye Cali, Hello Texas

One of my good friends and monthly dinner girls was moving to Texas this month with her family. We are so sad to see them go!  To send her off with well wishes, I decided to theme our dinner around her move to Texas.  We'll miss her, but we're crossing our fingers her work will be having her travel back to Cali often (preferably the first Monday of each month so she can attend our monthly dinners)!

Invite:  I designed the invite with reds and blues and a little southern flair.  The party colors were going to match the Texas flag, so that's why I chose these.

Entry Decor:  As a parting gift for Michelle, I made this welcome mat for her new house.  I looked up some tutorials for how to do it, and it didn't seem too difficult, so I gave it a try.  I started with the outline around the sides using blue painter's tape to tape off the area.  Then I used black house paint that I already had from our Ho Ho Home Depot monthly dinner and a paint brush to put the paint on.  The tape did not stick well to this uneven surface, so I was nervous it would bleed, but it didn't!! Just go slowly and carefully.  I did 3 coats.

For the letters, I used my Cricut to make stencils and measured carefully where to place them on the mat so that it was spaced properly.  This took the most time. Then I used the brush to paint on again.

I love how this turned out. I can't wait to make a mat for our front door someday in all my free time!

Table Decor:  I used a red tablecloth and cut out the state of Texas from a map I got from AAA.  Everything else I used on the centerpiece I borrowed. 

My mom had the red, white, and blue flowers.  My neighbors used to live in Texas, so I asked them if they had anything I could borrow.  They had the license plates (perfect) and the coasters!  Another friend of mine had a "Don't Mess with Texas" deck of cards, so I set some of those out on the table. 

For place cards, I used my Cricut to cut out the state of Texas large enough to fit inside my dinner plates. I added each of the guest's name and a heart for the area in Texas where our friend is moving.

Check out my napkins! They are just plain blue napkins that I set a piece of red and a piece of white cardstock on for the stripes.  The star is a party favor I helped my mom make for her last UMW meeting.  It is just two 2" white stars I cut out with my Cricut, a 1"x 4" strip of white cardstock folded into a triangle, and then I glued the stars to the front and back of the triangle.  I stuck a Hershey kiss inside the triangle for added fun.  Then set it on the napkin.

With the leftover map sections from the AAA map, I made a Texas Bound banner. Nothing fancy -- it even has the folds of the map still in it, but it worked.

Instead of wine glasses, I used mason jars to fit with the theme.  I cut out small California and Texas state silhouettes in red, white, and blue for wine charms. I tied them around the glasses with twine and added a gingham ribbon bow.

The wine bottle labels I made to match the theme as well. Nothing too elaborate, but I like the Texas-shaped wine glass and the Texas flag wine bottle.

Menu: The menus was some finger-lickin' Texas BBQ.  My husband grilled chicken and we lathered it with BBQ sauce.  He also grilled some ribs after I added a rub to them.  I used a delicious Texas-Style Dry Rib Rub.  Mixed it together and rubbed it on the ribs right before placing them on the grill.

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For sides, I served grilled corn on the cob and twice-baked potatoes.  The cornbread muffins were just a box mix, but they were really good as well.

Slices of watermelon added a sweetness to the meal.

For dessert, I wanted to stay simple and light, but still match the theme.  I bought frozen pie crust and cut it into stars before sprinkling it with cinnamon and sugar and popping it in the oven to bake and crisp up.  I then topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a strawberry, and a couple blueberries.  Simple and delicious.

Favor:  My mom always makes a homemade Chex Mix when our family travels anywhere.  I have started to do the same for my family's road trips.  For the favor, I filled mason jars with this Chex Mix, but I renamed it TEX mix.  A gingham bow and label on top, and the favor was done.

I hope you enjoyed this post!  Please comment, so can hear your favorite touches from this party!