Gettin' Our Kicks on Route 66

I love summertime!  My family just got back from an amazing road trip vacation.  In our trek across part of the US, so drove along highway 40 and made some stops along Route 66.  These stops became the inspiration for this past Monday's monthly dinner. 

Invite: I used images I found online to place around the edges of the invite.  Then added my text.  The fonts I used were Antique Book Cover and Hominis.

Entry Decor:  I made a Diner sign designed around the signs we saw on Route 66 -- lots of arrows. I wanted to add lights along the arrow, but ran out of time.  I used a 99 cent store black plastic tablecloth along the steps and front walkway to create a road leading up to the door.  The yellow lines are card stock.

Table Decor: Roads, classic cars, and route 66-themed signs were musts for decorating my table.

For my centerpiece, I bought oil funnels from the dollar store in red and white (they were a 3-pack). I printed a large Route 66 sign and put it through the funnel opening.  The classic car boxes I purchased from Ruby's restaurant.  They charged me $1 a piece, but they are obviously free if you take your kids to eat there.

To make the road, I cut out card stock.  A very simple and inexpensive centerpiece that turned out great.

I wanted the place cards to be vintage stops you might find along Route 66, but personalized for each guest.  I started to design the signs on PhotoShop myself and stumbled upon a website (envatomarket) with digital images for vintage motel signs that you could purchase/edit.  This saved me SO much time and it was only $7.  I didn't want each one to be a motel, so I chose stops that used alliteration for each guest (it's the English teacher in me!).  I cut a dowel stick, painted it grey, and made a weighted block with spray-painted styrofoam and a washer.

I used the Route 66 sign image on the napkins as well.

I decorated a side table for the favors and beverage station.  Coco-Cola signs and products were at every stop on our Route 66 vacation, so I knew they needed a place in my dinner.  I bought the Coca-Cola glasses at the dollar store and the bottled sodas at Ralphs.  We used these for dessert after the meal.

I found this awesome metallic United States map at Michaels on sale for $7.  I used yellow electrical tape to make Route 66 and added the card stock sign to the top.  The license plate magnets I made as my favors.

 To make the magnets, I found license plate images online and cropped the letters from them to match my guest's names. I used PhotoShop to put the letters together in the size I needed.  Once printed, I used Mod Podge to glue each image to small pieces of thin wood I found at Michaels.  I painted both sides of the wood grey before gluing to have a cleaner look.  Then I added a magnet to the back.  While the PhotoShop part took time, creating the magnet was super easy.

I created a sign for my "fueling station" and displayed it again with funnels.  I used PhotoShop again to design wine labels to match my theme.  Get your SIPS on WINE 66 for my chardonnay and Hop in the CAB with a classic Route 66 truck for the Cabernet Sauvignon.

For wine charms, I found Route 66 poster images online and made them into charms.

Menu: I went with a standard Diner menu.  I started with ham/cheeseburgers and added a Route 66 topper.  I served the burgers plain, but had bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato for guests to add.

I made these french fry wrappers with PhotoShop.  It has a back too, but I didn't get a photo of that.  After designing it, I printed the images on card stock, folded them in half, and glued the two sides. I added a bit of parchment paper to the inside so the grease from the fries didn't ruin the wrapper.

For my fruit salad, I made vintage oil cans.  I created the images on PhotoShop and tried to make them look like the original cans that would be found on Route 66.  The cans themselves are just 8 oz. tomato sauce cans that I used for my family's meals, washed, and then saved.

We used the dollar store Coca-Cola glasses for coke floats for dessert.

Traveling along Route 66 on our vacation was a lot of fun, and it was neat to bring part of this retro fun to a monthly dinner. I think these idea would be fun for a 66th birthday theme, a fun car-themed event, or just for a fun dinner with friends like this one!

Teacher Appreciation Celebration

The first week of May is national Teacher Appreciation Week, and so many of my close friends are teachers, I decided to make this the theme for my May monthly dinner.  Unlike elementary school teachers, it is fairly rare for us high school teachers to receive appreciation gifts or cards, but it means so much when students do recognize our efforts.  I wanted to recognize my friends because I know they are some of the best teachers out there!

Invite:  I designed the invitation on Photoshop.  The fonts I used were KG Broken Vessels Sketch, Simple Kind of Girl, and High School USA Sans.

Entry Decor:  I made this foam board sign with a quote about teachers opening doors.  I didn't love the quotes I found online, so I just made this one up, but I do believe this is true.  I cut the letters using my Cricut machine. I made an apple out of a balloon and placed it on the table with some school supplies.

Inside Decor:  I made apple balloons for inside as well.  I used heart-shaped red balloons and only blew them up enough so they had a slight indention at the top.  I then cut out a stem and a leaf from scrapbook paper.  Tip: You may want to use typing paper or make your leaf smaller.  I think mine were too heavy as after a while, they started to dip with the weight of the paper on top.

For my table, I used a red tablecloth and made a giant pencil out of wood for the centerpiece.  Check out my tutorial on how to make it, here.

As a table runner, I taped 5 pieces of chipboard cardstock together and drew lines/numbers on it to look like a ruler.

I folded my napkins and used colored paper clips as napkin rings to stick with the school theme.

Check out my DIY place cards!  I have seen books cut into the shape of letters in stores, and  I have always wanted one of these, but they were too expensive for me to justify.  I decided instead, to make them myself as place cards.

I went to the used book store and searched around for hardback books that were two-toned and roughly the same size.  The books I found were $1 or $2 each.  I made a pattern of each letter the size of the book and taped it on the front.  Then, my brother helped me to cut them according to the patterns.  We used a band saw to do the cuts for most of the letters.  Those with an inside hole (like the D or the R) were harder.

All the letters didn't come out perfect, but pretty close! So grateful to my brother for helping me with this project as they were a big hit with the girls.  I now have mine on my desk at work, and I love it!

Another look at the table with all of the books.

I made wine bottle labels to match the design of the invitation, but tried to play with some funny sayings.  If you are a teacher, (especially a high school English teacher like I am), you may know that a glass of wine makes grading those stacks of essays a bit easier!  Hence, the white wine is "your evening teacher's assistant" and red wine is one of the necessary "(after) school supplies"!

For wine charms, I found these cute mini apples in the sticker section of Michaels. I backed each one on cardstock and tied them to the wine glass stems.

Menu: As is typical with my parties, I wanted my food to fit with the theme as well.  I made menu labels for each item to match the invitation again using PhotoShop.  I started with an olive appetizer.  These are super easy.  Just marinated mozzarella cheese balls cut in half, salami folded, kalamata and green olives all on a small skewer. 

Next, I served guests a green salad with feta cheese, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and slivered/toasted almonds.  I served it with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

For the main dish, I made a pasta because my guests are "PASTA-tively" wonderful teachers.  This is the first time I have every made this pasta, and it was very tasty.  If you like feta in rich, flavorful sauce, definitely try this one out.

 Fettuccine with Creamy Red Pepper-Feta Sauce 

2 tbl. olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

One 16-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 pound whole-wheat fettuccine

Salt & Pepper

2 tbl. chopped fresh parsley leaves

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute onion and garlic until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add roasted red peppers and saute until heated through.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Place mixture in a bowl of a food processor with stock and all but 2 tablespoons of the feta.  Process (or use a hand blender) until combined and smooth, about 30 seconds.  Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.  Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water by the tablespoon if needed.  Sauce should cling nicely to pasta.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Divide among bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and remaining feta cheese.

I bought ready-to-bake breadsticks from Ralphs, and they were delicious and easy.  The saying played with some bread stick related words.

For dessert, I made a delicious lemon bundt cake and served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This cake was very good and definitely something I will make again.

Super Lemon Bundt Cake

                              Cake                                                                            Lemon Glaze

               2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour                                                 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

               2 1/4 tsp baking powder                                                       3-5 tbs lemon juice

               1/2 tsp salt

               4 eggs                                                                                  Lemon Sugar Topping

               2 cups sugar                                                                          1 tbs. lemon zest

               1 tsp vanilla extract                                                               1 tbs. granulated sugar

               2 tbs lemon zest

               2 tbs + 2 tsp lemon juice

               1 1/4 cups whole milk

               10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bundt pan very well making sure to really get into the crevices then lightly flour pan. Set aside.  Lightly whisk flour, baking poweder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.  In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat eggs on low until they are thickened and very pale yellow in color.  Turn mixer to low and slowly add sugar to running mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Slowly pour in dry ingredients on low speed until combined.  In a small saucepan, heat milk until very hot and butter is just melted.  Do not boil and which the mixture to help the butter along.  Pour into the batter and mix until smooth.  Batter will be very thin.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for 27-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  Once done, remove cake from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes in pan.  Release the sides with a butter knife to ensure it isn't going to stick.  Then turn cake into your desire pan.

While the cake is cooling, prepare lemon sugar and glaze.  For the sugar, mix the lemon zest and sugar together and let it sit for 5 minutes.  For the glaze, which powdered sugar and lemon juice, using more or less lemon juice to get your desired consistency.  Once cake is cooled down slightly, drizzle glaze over warm cake.  Sprinkle with lemon sugar on top.

Favor: As a take home gift, each guest took home their book letter, but I also wanted to send them with something else small. I made these post-it note desk pads out of 4x6 plastic frames I found at the dollar store.  I used the same scrapbook apples that I used for the wine charms as well as some other teacher-related scrapbook stickers.

Thank you to everyone of you that is a teacher out there.  I hope you feel appreciated all year long, and not just during Teacher Appreciation Week.

Giant Pencil Tutorial

For my Teacher Appreciation Week themed monthly dinner, I decided to make a DIY giant pencil for my centerpiece.  It turned out really cute, and I've had quite of few people ask me to post about how to make it. I think a bit smaller version of it would make an excellent teacher appreciation gift for an elementary teacher at the beginning or end of the school year. You can even drill holes in the top that can fit colored pencils or markers if you want it have functionality instead of just being cute decor.

Step 1: Purchase a 4x4 block of wood.  I purchased mine at Home Depot.  Now, the entire 8' block will run you just under $10, but since I only needed about 4 feet, I looked through the Home Depot stack for a block with half of it damaged. Home Depot gave me a 70% discount since the majority of the wood was unusable for most projects.  For me, it was perfect.  I paid just over $3 for the wood and then just cut off the damaged portion. 

Step 2 and 3:  Use power tools to shape the wood to look like a pencil.  My husband did this for me using a reciprocating saw and a belt sander. I forgot to take photos as he did it, but you can imagine the cutting needed to make the block pencil shaped.  Next, I painted the wood a golden color. I used paint I already had and mixed yellow with orange until I matched the designed pencil color.

Step 4:  I used pink to paint the eraser part of the pencil.  Don't worry about painting all the way to the yellow because that part will be covered.

Step 5:  I used my Cricut machine to create a stencil with blue painter's tape for the #2  portion.

Then I painted it black.  Once it dried slightly, I pealed the painter's tape off and then touched up any areas.

Step 6:  Paint the tip of the pencil black.  I left the wood part unpainted to keep the wood look.

Step 7:  Use foil tape (a Home Depot purchase) to wrap around the pencil under the eraser to match the metal look of a real No. 2 pencil.

That's it! I put the the finished pencil on my table with a ruler table runner I made out of cardstock.