Running on Fumes Monthly Dinner

This school year is killing me.  The student behaviors and apathy after a year of distance learning combined with the challenge with administrative support have just worn me out.  At this point in the year, I am just running on fumes.  The finish line can not come soon enough.  With so many of my friends in a similar state, I thought this would be a fun theme for a monthly dinner....and it was!

Invite:  I designed my invitation on Photoshop.  My goal was to focus on a vintage-like feel and gasoline "fuel" rather than a simple car theme.  I found an image of an old school gas pump online and decided to run with that as the main design for the invitation and all my decor.  My color scheme was black, white, red, and yellow to match a street and the gasoline pump.

Decor: I set my table with a bright red tablecloth and created a street with black and yellow card stock as a table runner.  Borrowed an empty gasoline can from our garage for the centerpiece along with a car and gasoline related decor I found at Hobby Lobby.

At each place setting, I folded a black napkin and made a street out of it with yellow card stock.  I placed a Hot Wheel on one side of the road.  

For place cards, I designed California license plates for each guest.  I added a 2022 registration sticker in the right corner and a MAY registration month in the left to match the party date.

Above my beverage/appetizer table I hung these gasoline signs I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

I designed this fun Mobil sign to put next to my wine. Instead of a Food Mart, this was a Self Serve Wine Mart.  I found a font that looked like the digital numbers used on gas station signs, and had fun creating "prices" aka levels.  Regular gas = SOME, Extra gas = HALF, Supreme gas = RIM with an image of a full wine glass.  Guests were encouraged to "Fill 'Er Up!"  To stand it up, I used silver straws and chocolate donuts to look like tires.

I designed my wine labels to also match the theme.  For the white wine, I found an image of a yellow gas pump and then designed the label to look like the gas was being poured into a wine glass with the note "Top 'er Off!"  For the red wine, I used an image of a girl pulling on a gas lever and just changed the gas sign to a wine glass.  Then I added Running on Fumes and "Please Refill Glass."

For wine charms, I kept it simple.  I used popular gas station logos.

Menu: I must admit, I really struggled with coming up with a menu that fit my gasoline theme.  I almost gave up on this Running on Fumes theme because I was struggling so much, but I eventually came up with some things and I think it turned out nice.  We started with a cheddar cheese ball appetizer.  The recipe called for the green onion, bacon, and cheddar cheese to be both on the inside and the outside, but I kept the bacon and green onion only on the inside because I wanted my ball to be orange like the 76 gas station ball.  Don't worry...all that yumminess just went inside instead of out!  I made the 76 numbers out of card stock, attached them to a push pin, and stuck it in the center.  This appetizer was delicious and cute!

For the main dish, I served Cheesy Stuffed SHELLs to represent Shell gasoline.  This recipe was good and fairly easy. All the menu cards I designed to match the invitation.  I simply swapped out the generic gas pump topper with the Shell logo, and then added a vintage Shell sign to the bottom of the pump.  I did this same thing with the appetizer 76 menu card as well as the other dishes.

With the pasta, I served Texas Toast which I renamed TEXACO toast.

We also had a Go Green Caesar salad.  For this menu card, I used a green gas pump with logos of "green" gas stations.

For dessert, I made jello cups.  I originally wanted to make the jello into chevrons to match the Chevron gas station logo, but that was too time consuming.  Instead, I just went with the colors and the order of Chevron's logo.  Topped the jello cup off with a dollop of whipped cream and some red sprinkles.

Favor:  I wanted to make gasoline pumps as my favors. I bought mini boxes about the size I wanted my favors and filled them with candy.  I then designed a wrap to cover the outside and top of the box using the gasoline pump from my invitation and other items.  

For the actual pump, I cut red bendy straws for the pump, and hot glued a mini binder clip to the side of the box to hold it.  I glued one side of a piece of black string to the inside of the straw and the other near the bottom of the side.  Then covered the bottom string with a black button. Time consuming to cut these out and assemble them, but super happy with how they came out.

Another fun party in the books.  I think this would be a fun theme for Teacher Appreciation Week too! The friendship and laughter from the evening definitely gave us a chance to Refuel and Recharge for the remainder of the school year.

Target Monthly Dinner

A random theme...yes, but a totally fun one.  April's monthly dinner theme was all centered around Target, my family's favorite place to shop for almost anything. I had fun creating this monthly dinner, as it was easy to keep it simple with a little creativity and a sense of fun.

Invite: I designed a simple invitation using target logos and bold fonts.  I played with the wording of Target's tag line "Expect More. Pay Less" adding "Expect More Fun. Pay Less Mind."  I asked guests to wear red shirts if possible and khaki pants if they had them.

On my front door, I created Entrance/Entrada sign and the green automatic arrow like you see on the front doors of most Target stores.

Decor:  I set my table with a bright red tablecloth and white plates.  I cut up Target plastic bags to place next to each other for a table runner.  For the centerpiece, I used a small shopping cart I have had for years, and tall cups from the Target snack bar.  The manager at my local Target was kind enough to give me these.  I filled the cups with tissue paper and sliced the top of red straws to hold Target gift cards.  I used mostly old gift cards I had from Target and some I bought new.  The gift cards on this centerpiece would make great party game prizes if you were doing a Target theme birthday party and playing games.

Instead of napkin rings, I simply printed out a Target logo and placed it on top of a folded napkin.

For place cards, I made Target employee name badges which we all wore throughout the night.  I made these out of cardstock and just taped a safety pin to the back.  I was going to paint wooden circles, but couldn't find the right shape of circle at my local craft supply store, so I just went with normal paper.  They were quick, easy to make, and worked fine.

I had a fun with my side table. The Target manager let me borrow a shopping basket, so I used that as well as created my own dollar bin.  More details on this later.  The H-O-M-E mantle piece is always up in my home and the "O" just changes by holiday.  I covered up the Easter bunny "O" with the Target logo for this dinner.

Designing wine labels is one of the many fun details I love to create for my monthly dinners.  It took me quite a while to come up with something clever and to design the labels, but they got a laugh from the guests.  For the red wine, I went with "Target & Red Wine Make me feel fine!" I designed a bunch of red wines filling a target basket for the label.  For the white wine, it read "A Perfect Night: A little Chardonnay and a trip to Tarjay."

Instead of wine glass, I used smaller plastic cups from Target.  The wine charm was a Target Red Card which each guest's name on it.

Menu:  To make the menu cards a little more theme-oriented and fun, and made them price tags to match the ones that Target uses in it's stores. We started with a Target Salad.  On the bed of greens I organized the toppings into red and white circles to make a Target bullseye.  The outer circle was a combination of diced red peppers and sliced tomatoes.  The white layer was hard boiled egg and Feta cheese, and the bullseye was sliced tomatoes.

I also served pepperoni pizza.  The original plan was to shape the pizzas into individual circles and then use the mozzarella cheese and pepperoni to make the red and white Target logo.  Our circles were rather odd shaped, but the Target was still evident with the cheese and pepperoni.

For dessert, I made Bullseye Pupcakes.  These were vanilla cupcakes with a white frosting.  I made mini bones with peanut butter chocolate melts to place on top alongside the Target Bullseye dog I printed to make a cupcake topper.

Favor:  I got a bit excited with my party favors and did a few different ones instead of just one.  I started with a Dollar Store bin where guests could pick from the items and take what they want.  I found these items in the Target dollar bin all for under $1.50.  Guest could choose candles, a ceramic letter, a crafty project, or other small items.

The Target manager gave me popcorn bags, so I filled them with popcorn for guests and placed them in the Target basket.  I created a funny Target receipt to attach to the bag.

I also bought Bullseye cookies from Target as a favor.  They are just too cute to resist, and already individually wrapped which makes it easy.

This was a fun theme and fairly easy to put together with a little help from my local Target!