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!