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.