Fifty Shades of Fun

The excitement over the book, Fifty Shades of Grey hit our monthly dinner girls this month.  The girls requested I do a party centered around this theme, so conservative-little-me borrowed the book and started reading.  It was a lot of fun to put this party together, and the evening was a lot of fun for all of us.  It didn't have the extravagance of Christian Grey, but at least it had the inspiration!

Invite:  I created a little rhyme for the invitation wording and bought assorted shades of grey card stock to create my invitation.  I also bought sunglasses from the Dollar Tree to wrap around the invitation for some added fun.  I asked guests to wear shades of grey to the party and bring a "toy" for an exchange. 

Entry:  You can't have a Fifty Shades party without a contract can you?  I modeled the wording of my contract off the contract in the book referring to myself as "The Hostess" and my guests as "The Diners".  I tried to stick to the formal language of the contract and included sensual words for added fun.  I wrote it all on foam board and hung it from my entry door. Guests signed it before entering!

Decor: When I  think of Christian Grey, I think sophisticated as well as a bit naughty.  I wanted my decor to reflect this without being over-the-top sexual.   I set my table with a black tablecloth and tea lights (some elevated) running down the center. Along the center of the table I also had handcuffs (thanks to the law and legal teacher at my work), a copy of the novel, a whip (from my brother's Indiana Jones Halloween costume), and a grey tie (thanks hubby).

On each plate, I placed a boy's grey tie.  The boy ties fit better than an adult tie and it was great to have these in various shades of grey.  Special thanks to Clint's Tuxedos in Buena Park who let me borrow these ties for the party!! If you are looking for a great tuxedo for an upcoming event, Clint is your man!  Great selection, great prices, and a super nice guy!

As a place card, I got paint sample cards from Home Depot each with three shades of grey.  I used my Cricut to cut out the name of each guest and glued it to the bottom.  The grey napkins were tied with zip ties for another Christian Grey reference!

I used my Cricut again to cut out handcuffs to use as wine charms.  I cut them out in various shades of grey.

On the dessert table I created two candy jars with red candy (inspired by the Red Room of Pain).  I labeled the red cinnamon candies "Hard Limits" and the red licorice straws "Soft Limits" to again play up the contract wording.

I also designed wine labels to go around the wine bottles.  The first bottle we opened for the evening was labeled "Sexy" and each bottle following got a little darker word!  If you would like the template for these labels, comment below and I will send it.  It isn't anything fancy, but it added some humor to the party.

Activity:  Besides the gift exchange, I also had guest's share a fun story.  I called them Sexual Deviance cards just for fun, but the story did not have to be sexual.  We had fun guessing the writer later in the party!

Menu:  I created my menu around some of the language used in the book. I displayed the names of each menu item as if it was an email from Anastasia to Christian or vice versa following the format in the book. Both of these characters have Subject lines that are clever as well, so I tried to do that.  Again, if you would like copies of these, I can email you the template.

I started with SUBmissive Sandwiches.  These were easy to make Philly Cheese steak sandwiches.  The meat and buns were from Trader Joes.  The rest of the sandwich was Provolone cheese slices and sliced red and green peppers.

Bow TIED-UP Pasta Salad was next.  You can put anything in pasta salad, but I chose to include tomatoes, green and orange peppers, black olives, and kidney beans.  I used 1 1/2 boxes of 16 ounce bow pie pasta. Here is the recipe for the Italian Dressing I made to use:

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon oregano leaves, crushed

freshly ground black pepper

Process all ingredients in a food processor or blender until thoroughly combined.  Then add this to the pasta salad mixture an allow it to marinate.

I also served a fruit salad I called Forbidden Fruit.  These three entrees really filled us up so I was glad I did not try to serve more.  Plus two of them can be made ahead of time, so that was nice in terms of the hostess part.

For dessert, I served two cupcakes.  The first was Vanilla Cupcakes with "Whipped" Cream Icing and Strawberries in honor of Anastasia and the constant reference to "vanilla" in the book.  I found the cute grey cupcake wrappers at Michaels.

In honor of Christian Grey and the red velvet bedding in the Red Room of Pain, I served red velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting.  I also added a chocolate handcuff to the top.  To make the handcuffs I melted chocolate chips, put the melted chocolate in a zip lock with the corner cut, and then pipe/draw the handcuffs onto wax paper.  I put the paper in the refrigerator to harden.  Then just peeled off and placed on the cupcake before serving.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 (1ounce) bottle McCormick Red Food Color

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

1 (8ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (16 ounce) box confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.  Set aside.  Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Mix in sour cream, milk, food coloring, and vanilla.  Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended.  Do not overbeat.  Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes.  Remove from pans; cool completely.  Frost with icing.

To make the icing: Beat cream cheese, softened butter, sour cream and vanilla extract in large bowl until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.  Pipe onto cupcakes.

Favor:  I made cake pop Ben Wa balls for my favor since they are a fairly significant part of the book. I used the same vanilla cupcake batter I used for the cupcakes to make cake balls.  I then melted white chocolate to dip them in and to hold the black licorice in place.  After this set, I used Wilton's Silver Spray to give them the metallic look.  I placed these in a favor bag with a tag playing up the "inner goddess" reference from the book.  Again, if you want to host this party and want this template, just email me/comment below!

We had so much fun at this party just laughing and chatting about the book. It was definitely a fun party to host and the girls had a great time!

Thanks again for checking out my blog...

Laters Baby!

Having Fun...Dr. Seuss Style!

Who doesn't love Dr. Seuss books and all the fun rhymes? It makes a perfect theme for a birthday party, graduation party (with Oh, The Places You'll Go), baby shower, and so much more.  These photos are from the March monthly dinner in 2010, but I am seriously thinking about using this theme again sometime.  I may even incorporate some of these ideas into teacher appreciation gifts when my kids are in elementary school.  This theme is so much fun!

Invite:  The wording on your invite should definitely be inspired by Dr. Seuss.  You can easily use lines from his books.  For my invitation, I used some lines from his books mixed with some created by me:

You could not
would not
want to miss
a celebration such as this!

It's...
"Dinner with Dr. Seuss"
Come dressed up for this fun show
in one bold color from head to toe
Tell us in the RSVP what color you'll be
Come on ladies...it's super easy!

A Dr. Seuss dinner can be so much fun
You definitely don't want to miss this one.
One week away, so hurry and reply
That's all I have to say...Good-bye!!

Decor:  I talked to my librarian at work, and she let me borrow several Dr. Seuss stuffed animals to help decorate for this party.  I set the table with a Dr. Seuss hat I bought at the dollar bin at Target flanked by Yertle the Turtle and a Sneech.  I also placed little bowls of multicolored goldfish crackers for guests to munch on before dinner.

I themed each place setting after a Dr. Seuss book.  I printed off 8x10 pictures of the book cover (found on Google), and adhered them to 12x12 scrapbook paper.  I didn't laminate them because I didn't care if they were ruined, but at a kid's birthday party, you could laminate them for kids to take home.  Using my Cricut machine and cardstock, I scrapbooked a  place card to match each book.

I used Dr. Seuss books I checked out from my local library to decorate several side tables with more stuffed characters.  I borrowed a Fox in Socks Dr. Seuss puzzle from my step-daughter to place on my coffee table.

To display my menu without giving away exactly what I was serving, I printed off book covers and taped them to the wall.  Not very sophisticated or cleverly done, but it served its purpose.

Menu:  I don't think you can have a Dr. Seuss party without serving green eggs, so I made deviled eggs and died them green.  One of my friends refuses to eat anything with food coloring in it, so this is why the middle ones in the photo are yellow.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is one of my daughter's favorite Dr. Seuss books. Everyone loves finger jello...even adults I have come to learn!  I bought a fish cookie cutter from Calico Cake Shop to make these.

As my main dish, I decided to serve Poppy Seed Turnovers, but shape them like turtles for Yertle the Turtle.  Poppy Seed Turnovers are a favorite dish of our family.  I normally shape them into semi-circles, crinkle the edges with a fork, and freeze them for days I don't have a dinner planned.  Making these into turtles was time-consuming, but they received lots of compliments.

Poppy Seed Turnovers

Filling:

1/2 cup minced onions

2 pounds lean ground beef

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

2 (10.5 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup

Crumble Beef in frying pan.  Sprinkle with onions.  Fry over medium heat until beef is cooked, drain off grease into a can. Add other ingredients and cook until liquid is absorbed.  Cool slightly before filling pastries.

Pastry:

4 cups flour

1 cup + 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup shortening

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup cold water

1/4 cup poppy seeds

Combine flour, salt, and poppy seeds in large bowl. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until shortening is the size of small peas.  Sprinkle with water, tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork until flour is moistened.  Gather dough together with fingers to form a lump.  Divide dough into 16 equal pieces.  On a lightly floured board, roll each piece into a circle about the size of a saucer, 1/8" thick.  Place 1/16th of ground beef mixture on half of the circle.  Fold dough over and use a fork to press the semi-circle closed.  Repeat until 16 are made.  At this point, turnovers may be frozen or baked.  Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes (30 minutes if frozen).      

I also served a green salad along with the meal which went with The Lorax book.

For dessert, I made Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes from The Cat in the Hat.  I bought red cupcake holders, and made the signs on card stock.  The cupcakes were really cute, but I had trouble with the cotton candy.  I put it on directly before serving them because the ones I did prior to the party melted.  It didn't last long at all. I think if I were to host this party again, I would copy what Katie from Good Life Eats, Etc. did with her cupcakes....

Favor:  As a small gift to guests, I bought crazy colored socks from the dollar bin at Target and packaged them with a cute rhyme from the Fox in Sox.  This photo was just quickly taken to give you the idea. I forgot to take photos of the actual favor (which were super cute!).

There are so many great ideas for a Dr. Seuss party on the web.  My son is only 8 months, but he may have a Dr. Seuss birthday party in his future...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

Twilight to Eclipse

Nothing like a book full of teenage drama and vampire escapades to pick for a monthly dinner party theme.  As a high school English teacher, I felt it was my responsibility to read the Twilight book series since it is so popular among my students.  I did actually enjoy the books, so I decided to theme a monthly dinner after the series, From Twilight to Eclipse.  The invitation for this party could be a movie ticket (the girls and I did go see the movie together on a different night).  You could also make the invite a flyer for a Forks Town Hall Meeting (it takes place in Forks, WA) to discuss warnings about wolf attacks.  The best part about this party is the decor which is one reason it was voted Favorite Decorations by my friends.

Decor:  At your entry, create a sign that says Welcome to Forks with arrows pointing one way for Werewolves and the other way for Vampires.  I also set out the Twilight book with a real apple on top to make the cover 3D.  For the original party I threw in July of 2010, I also had the favors set out on the entry table.  One was Bandaids in a small clear party sack with "From the Office of Dr. Carlisle" on the tag.  The second favor was a pack of Eclipse gum with a quote from the Eclipse novel.  At the Top 5 After 5 Favorites party, I didn't need the Twilight themed favors, so I added a wolf scarf (borrowed from my mom) and some red vases with candles.

The table was amazingly beautiful.  I used a black tablecloth with a burgundy runner I bought at Target.  The centerpiece was a cake platter with apples arranged on it as well as 10-12 pillar candles.  I borrowed a few candlestick holders and got the rest at the Dollar Tree. I also set out a side table with more candles and the remaining two books - New Moon with a dying rose (like the cover) and Eclipse with a red ribbon. To play up the blood theme, I bought bottles of sangria at the grocery and covered the original label with these printable vampire bottle labels I found online.  As a place card, I printed each guest's name on white paper and stuck a mini fork through the paper and into a red apple. 

Menu: After doing some research online, I found out that ravioli is Bella's (the main character) favorite food, so this is what I decided to serve. Here is the yummy recipe I found online...

Ravioli with Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

1 pound frozen meat or cheese ravioli

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in puree

8-ounce can tomato sauce

1/4 cup red or white wine

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried

1/2 cup heavy cream

Grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to the boil for the pasta.  Add salt and the ravioli and cook according to package directions.  Drain well and return to the cooking pot to keep warm. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a large skillet or saucepan and cook the onion over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes until softened.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine and pepper.  Cook gently, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Stir in the basil and cream and cook 5 minutes more.

I paired this with my mom's yummy recipe for garlic bread, a vegetable medley, and a Caesar salad.  I stuck a toothpick in each guest's food with Team Edward or Team Jacob just for fun.

For dessert, I made werewolf cupcakes! These cupcakes are very simple to make.  You simply take chocolate frosting and frost a cupcake trying to leave jagged edges and forming two ears at the top. I then used two green M&Ms for the eyes and one brown M&M for the nose.  The mouth I piped on with red and then white frosting in a tube.

This was a fun theme to do.  All the candles created a mysterious atmosphere and added to the ambiance of the party.  Of course, if you decide to do this theme now in 2011, you would need to add on the final book, Breaking Dawn. This would mean adding a white chess piece (again like the cover of the book) some where in your decor.  Your parting favor or an addition to your dessert could even be a white chocolate chess piece.  The possibilities are endless!