With the arrival of September and Fall weather, I decided to theme my last monthly dinner after the season. Just a plain Fall theme wouldn't have really been my style, so I decided to pull in some fun with a F.A.L.L (Fun and Laughing Ladies) Game Night! I used simple games from Hollywood Game Night, and they were so much fun.
Invite: Simple Fall colors for this invite and party decor.
Our family just purchased a new table, so I decided to show it off for this dinner. With the leaf in, it fits all 10 guests, which enabled me not to use a card table like I typically do. I'm sure it won't be too long before our kids get marker stains and scratches on it, but for today I decided not to use a tablecloth, and it looked gorgeous!
For the table, I used a burlap table runner and scattered some fake Fall leaves. I used some Fall decor I found at Michael's Craft store as well as some items we had in our general holiday decor.
Inside the wagon pail, I painted two mason jars and tied some holiday ribbon around the lip. A few fake flowers were placed inside the mason jars.
The fake squash I bought from Target in their dollar bins, and the pumpkin and candles I borrowed from my parents.
For the place card, I purchased mini fake pumpkins and painted them a rose gold/copper metallic color. I used my Cricut cutter to cut out the guest's name in vinyl and place it on the front.
The beverage table decor was easy to put together. I made a banner with twine and attached fake Fall leaves to the twine with mini clothespins. On the mantle I used decor I already had.
The mini pumpkins are the same pumpkins I used for the place cards, I just didn't paint them. The vases are from the dollar store. I filled them a bit with kernels of popcorn and used twine to tie a leaf and a cardstock letter to the front. The leaves my daughters and I picked up at a local park after soccer practice, and we scattered them on the steps as guests entered the house.
I made the wine labels on Photoshop modeled after my invitation. I just tried to think of some Fall sayings and then reworked them to fit with wine.
I used my Cricut cutter to make simple Fall leaves as wine charms. I used a bit of scrapbook glue to adhere them to the base of each glass.
Menu: For an appetizer, I made this pumpkin-shaped cheeseball. It was delicious and super easy to make. I found the recipe here. We nibbled on this appetizer as guests arrived and through our first two games.
This was a game night, so I wanted part of the meal to be eaten while we played. For this reason, I served my soup in a mug. The butternut squash soup I purchased from Trader Joes and just added shredded Parmesan cheese to the top before serving. It was tasty and guests could drink it easily without needing a spoon.
We then moved to the table for our main dish. I decided to make a roast beef in the crock pot so I could participate in the games and wouldn't be stuck in the kitchen over the stove. This was such a good idea, and I totally recommend using your crock pot if you plan to host a game night for this very reason. The roast was very good and well-liked by the guests.
Sticking with the easy dishes, I also had rolls that I heated up in the oven briefly and served with a honey butter whipped up prior to the party.
For dessert, I went with another Fall food...apples. I had a mini caramel apple bar. I sliced the apples and put them on short skewers. For toppings, I had mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, crushed Vanilla Wafers, chopped nuts, rainbow sprinkles, and white sprinkles.
Games: I used Hollywood Game Night games to play in two teams, and these were easy and so fun. All I had to do ahead of time was create cards with words on them. I unfortunately don't have any photos because I was busy playing the games and laughing my head off! Here are the games we played:
1. How Do You Doo? Each team has 90 seconds to guess as many songs as possible. The player hums the song using only the word “doo”. Once a teammate guesses a song, they exchange places with the hummer, and they must perform the next one. Players can pass on songs they don’t know or if their team is having a hard time guessing. Here are some songs we used for this game: Pretty Woman, Stop in the Name of Love, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, U Can’t Touch This, Row Row Row Your Boat, YMCA, We Didn’t Start the Fire, Hit the Road Jack, I’m Bringing Sexy Back, Sweet Caroline, I Just Call To Say I Love You, Born to be Wild, Lean on Me, Like a Virgin, Stayin’ Alive, Heard it Through the Grapevine, I Love Rock-n-Roll, LaBamba, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, I’m Coming Out, Thriller, Celebrate Good Times, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, We are Family, She Works Hard for Her Money
2. Take the Hint: Select one player from your team to do the guessing while the other players need to give one word clues to get them to guess the word. The host holds the cards up so only the team members giving hints can see them. For example if the word is Popcorn…. the first team member might say – MOVIE, the next team member – KERNEL, the next – REDENBACHER and so on until they guess the right answer. The guesser only gets only one guess per answer and each correct answer scores a point. This round lasts 90 seconds. Here are some words we used for this game: popcorn, E.T., Rome, Diet Coke, pitbull, Empire State Building, Abe Lincoln, Starbucks, Superman, volcano, tattoo, Texas, Snoopy, parrot, U2, blender, Christopher Columbus, Snow White, microwave, Rolling Stones, Victoria’s Secret, dragon, daffodil, Nutella
3. I Love a Charade: I Love a Charade is pretty much charades with a movie theme. This game is a 90 second tag team round and all subjects in this round fit under a specific category. Once a teammate guesses a correct answer, they must perform the next charade. Players can pass if they don’t know it or if their team is having a hard time guessing. We chose movies by Tom Cruise for one team and movies by Tom Hanks for the other. Here are some Tom Hanks movies you could use for this game: Turner & Hooch, The Money Pit, Castaway, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Polar Express, Splash, Apollo 13, Catch Me if You Can, A League of Their Own, Davinci Code, Big, Green Mile. Here are some Tom Cruise movies you could use for this game: Last Samurai, Rock of Ages, War of the Worlds, Eyes Wide Shut, Rain Main, Top Gun, Risky Business, Interview with a Vampire, Cocktail, Mission Impossible, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire, Days of Thunder, Color of Money
4.. Celebrity Name Game: In the show this is considered a bonus round, but we played this one as an entire group at the dinner table. The goal is to get your team to guess as many celebrities as possible in 90 seconds. The chosen player describes a different celebrity as best they can until the team guesses correctly. Player can pass if they don’t know or if their team is having a hard time guessing. Here are some celebrities you could use for this game: John Mayer, Selena Gomez, Mark Zuckerberg, John Hamm, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Demi Moore, Lady GaGa, Tiger Woods, Honey Boo Boo, Tom Cruise, Tina Fey, Paula Abdul, Tyra Banks, Kevin Bacon, Mike Tyson, Molly Ringwald, Will Smith, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Angelina Jolie, Kayne West, Simon Cowell, Paul Rudd, Lindsay Lohan, Beyonce, Denzel Washington, Katy Perry, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen, Cameron Diaz, John Stewart, Justin Timberlake.
Favor: The party favors were easy and perfect for a Fall theme. Walmart sells these mini pies for 50 cents! I bought pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie. I wrapped a gingham ribbon around them and placed a tag I made. The tag read, "You're a sweetie PIE. Thanks for celebrating F.A.L.L."
This was an easy party and so much fun. The girls and I laughed so much. Our favorite game was How Do You Doo? Have a great FALL everyone!
