Crazy for Crock-Pots

Thinking about a theme for my January monthly dinner, a friend of mine suggested doing a crock-pot meal.  This sounded so good and easy, I decided to theme my entire party around crock pots.  Hence came the theme Crazy for Crock-Pots!  Hope you enjoy some of the creative aspects of this party.

Invitation: I designed an invitation on PhotoShop with a simple red crock pot adding party details on the crock-pot.  Along with the invitation, I emailed guests a recipe card designed with this same crock-pot to type up a favorite crock-pot recipe to share with the guests.  My original plan was to make copies of these recipe cards for each guest and put them together in a fun mini cookbook, but I don't think I gave my friends enough time to organize themselves and type up a recipe, so not enough did it for me to really make a book.

Decorations:  I only own one crock-pot, so I borrowed crock-pots from a few ladies to make the decorations and menu happen, but it wasn't too hard to get what I needed after asking around.  For the centerpiece, I set up 4 mini crock-pots that I borrowed from friends/neighbors.  Each was a different color.

I went to the library and checked out some crock-pot cookbooks to place under each crock pot and set some child's oven mitts, play pots, and a small ladle for added decor.

My favorite decoration was my handmade place cards which were mini crock-pots with the guest's name as the brand.  I got the idea to scrapbook mini crock-pots and had fun experimenting with making them.  These did take a bit of time to make, but they were a big hit with the guests and fun to make once I figure out the logistics. I made my "pot" 4" tall and wrapped it around a tapered small plastic cup.  I chose this size because a 12" piece of scrapbook paper fit perfectly around it, and I liked the 4" height.

The details of the crock pot I designed on my Cricut - the nob using a circle and oval shape, the handles with a semi circle and rectangle shape, the lid with a large circle and two small circles.  For the clear lid, I hand cut out circles to fit the inside from page protectors. I used strong glue to add the handle on the lid.  

For the cord, I used a hole punch to punch a hole at the bottom of the back of the pot.  Then I cut a black paracord piece and hot glued a plug I made on the Cricut to the end.  I didn't fill the crock pots with anything, but you could easily use them as a party favor and put snacks or something inside the cup.

I thought it would be fun to have the cord run to a wall socket, so I used the Cricut to create a wall socket out of card stock and lightly glued it to a napkin.

I made an extra paper crock-pot before a guest had to cancel, so I used this one to decorate the mantle above my beverage table along with some crock-pot cookbooks.

I designed my wine labels on PhotoShop to go along with the theme.  Sippin' & Simmerin' was the slogan on one of the labels.  The red wine was Cabernet & Crock-Pots.  I incorporated the same crockpot as the invitation and other images of crock-pots, so it tied all the decor together.

For wine charms,  I used clipart images of various colors of crock-pots and added a silly saying like "I Can Handle the Heat, "Slow and Steady," and "Too Hot to Handle" among others.

Menu: Crock-pot cooking made the dinner party super easy.  I got to visit with my friends rather than be stuck in the kitchen prepping food.  We started with two appetizers.  The first was a Spinach Artichoke Dip.  This was a recipe designed for a mini crock pot (maybe even more mini than the one I used). It was tasty.  I served it with french bread for dipping.

The second appetizer was Cranberry Meatballs.  These were easy to make and delicious.  I used regular size Trader Joe Italian meatballs because I had them already and the grocery did not have mini meatballs.

For the main dish, I made Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie. I wanted to pick something that used only one dish to limit how many crock pots I needed, so this was perfect because it had chicken and veggies in it.  It was tasty and filling.  I don't think our stomachs could have handled much more.

I served it with a roll for guests to dip in it since it didn't have the normal pot pie crust on top.

For dessert, we had Crock Pot Lemon Blueberry Dump Cake.  If you've never made a dump cake out camping or in your house, you are missing out.  They are always so easy and a big hit.

Favor:  For a parting gift, I purchased McCormick packets of Slow Cooker spices (Pot Roast and BBQ Pulled Pork was what they had at the grocery I went to).  I added a crock pot liner behind the packet and secured them with a yellow ribbon.  I made a favor tag that read, "Here's to Cookin' Up Memories & Not a Mess!"

This turned out to be really fun theme to do, and since I borrowed almost all the crock pots, it was easy to make the theme come alive. You could even have a potluck and have your guests sign up to bring an appetizer, main dish, or dessert if you didn't want to make it all yourself.  If you are crafty, definitely make the crock-pot place cards with the cord because they were a super cute addition!  Hope you enjoyed my party!

A Hallmark Christmas Monthly Dinner

'Tis the Season for Hallmark Christmas movies!   Yep...I am a sucker for that cookie-cutter romantic movie full of Christmas miracles! This theme was pretty fun to pull off as I tried to incorporate Hallmark Christmas movie constants throughout.

Invite: For the invitation, I made sure to include Christmas plaid, the Hallmark logo, and an old red truck to fulfill some common Hallmark tropes. This in addition to the wording of the invitation.

Decorations:  Hallmark Christmas movies are all about beautiful red and green scenes, and snow accented evenings. I tried to decorate with items that went along with those concepts.  The main table had a red tablecloth with fun accents.

For the centerpiece, I used some holiday themed boxes with plaid and added decorations I either had or borrowed from friends.  These included a cute gingerbread house since the plot of many Hallmark Christmas movies includes the couple building or judging gingerbread houses.  

The red truck hauling a Christmas tree is another Hallmark staple.  The little trees and snowflake pieces on the table added to the festive wintery decor.

No Hallmark Christmas movie is complete without one of the characters baking perfectly decorated Christmas cookies, so I incorporated these into my place cards.  I bought these super cute Christmas cookies from Target.  Nope...I don't have the skills or the time to do this myself!  I placed them on a piece of silver metallic cardstock that I cut and folded to look like a mini cookie sheet.  I added a tag that read, "Mysteriously Perfect Christmas Cookie for ______" and included the guest's name.

I made a tag to place on top of the napkin that read "Napkin-ly Ever After" to play with the happily ever after ending to every Hallmark Christmas movie.

For wine charms, I cut out images of various Christmas related items prevalent in Hallmark movies - snowflake, movie clapboard with holly, a present, a tree, the truck with tree in the bed, cup of hot cocoa, and mistletoe among others.

For wine labels, I designed labels to imitate Hallmark movie titles.  "Holiday Romance in a Bottle" was for my white wine and I added a sparkly Christmas tree made out of wine bottles and glasses.  For the red wine, it was "Uncork Christmas: The Perfect Pairing in Every Sip."  I found an image of a Hallmark movie couple with red wine glasses in hand to add to the design.

Near the beverage table, I borrow a super fun lamp with Santa around a Christmas tree, and throughout the evening it played Christmas music while the "snow" spilled up and fell down around Santa.  I also had a fire going (definite Hallmark staple), stockings hanging, a Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background, and my usual holiday decor.

Menu: If you've followed my blog in the past, you know I always tie my dinner menu in with the theme of the evening.  For this dinner, we started with a "Tis the Season Salad - 'Tossing' Away that Business Job in the City."  This was a simple appetizer salad with romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red pepper pieces, and goat cheese.  I chose these items to keep the red, green, and white theme prevalent.

The main course was homemade meatballs I titled, "Mistletoe Magic Meatballs."  These were "too irresistible to stay apart."  I followed my mom's meatball recipe which was easy and delicious.

For a side, I served mashed potatoes I titled, "Let It Snow Mashed Potatoes." The tag line read, "'Snow' Special They'll Capture your Heart."  Cheesy...just like Hallmark movies.  As you may be able to tell from my menu cards, I tried to find a Hallmark movie title that matched or was similar to my menu item name.  I added the poster image for the movie to the menu card.

Along with the mashed potatoes, I served "Merry Mix-Up Mixed Veggies." The tag line read "'Peas" and thank yous lead to a one 'carrot' diamond for this local gal." 

I also served rolls with butter - "All I 'Knead' for Christmas" as they were "ready to 'roll' in for a hometown Christmas."  I had never tried these rolls before, but they were rolls from the freezer section.  I just brushed butter on the top, baked them in the oven for a few minutes, and then brushed a little more butter on the top before serving.  They were quite good.

For dessert I made a Candy Cane Oreo Ice Cream cake which was delicious. The tagline for this entree was "It's love at first bite for this sweet couple," and it definitely was love at first bite for all of the guests as we loved it.

Favor: I didn't have a hot cocoa bar even though drinking hot chocolate is a staple in Hallmark Christmas movies, so I decided to use hot cocoa as my party favor.  I bought small mason jars from Michaels craft store that said "Love" on them which was perfect for this theme.  I filled each glass with the mix from 2 packets of ready-to-heat hot chocolate mix, then mini chocolate chips, then mini marshmallows, and finally crushed candy canes.  I designed a tag that read, "A Little Christmas Miracle in Each Sip."

Since this was a dinner party and not a movie viewing party, we didn't watch a Hallmark movie.  If you are planning to watch one, I would definitely suggest playing a Hallmark Christmas movie Bingo game.  There are ton on Etsy for purchase if you don't want to make it yourself.  You could also have a story starter and have guests write the rest of the storyline and give a prize to the best one.

All in all, this was a fun Christmas-y theme!

Uno Party

Who doesn't love the card game UNO? I grew up playing this game, and still love playing it with my family today.  I decided it might be a fun theme to have at our November monthly dinner, and it did not disappoint.  From decorations to food, the colorful theme was easy and fun to put together.

Invite: I designed the invitation around the Uno logo and all the colors used in the game.  I tried to incorporate words from the game into the wording of the invite as well.  I kept it simple, but an additional idea that you could incorporate with this theme might be to ask guests to dress head to toe in one of the colors.

Decorations: Of course, I tried to incorporate UNO cards wherever I could.  On the mantle above the side table, I added Uno cards to the Thanksgiving turkey in my HOME display for added fun.  

I borrowed giant Uno cards from a neighbor, and used red mini clothespins to hang them for a festive banner display.

I also used these giant Uno cards to create a small runner on the dining table on top of a black tablecloth. 

For the centerpiece, I used an Uno Attack shooter that launches cards at you in that Uno game.  I also designed an image with various Uno cards that I printed and wrapped around a vase.  I purchased a bouquet of red roses to put in the top (any excuse to buy myself flowers!).

For the place settings, I purchased paper plates and napkins from the Dollar Tree in the 4 Uno colors.  I put them on top of my white plates so they popped a bit more on the black tablecloth.

For place cards, I designed Uno wild cards with a photo of each guest in the middle.

For the napkins, I just placed an Uno card on the center of a colorful folded napkin.  They were real playing cards, so I didn't glue them or anything.

Had some fun as usual with designing wine labels.  I played off specific Uno cards.  The red wine was a WILD card that I designed to say "Wild about Red Wine."  I used a colorful Uno card wallpaper behind the center image. For the white wine, I used a yellow Draw Two card and photoshopped two white wine glasses into the center squares.  The wallpaper on this label was the same black burst that I used on the invitation with the Uno logo also from the invitation.

For wine charms I printed out mini Uno cards to tape to the front of the glasses.

As added fun, I had guests draw an Uno card to see which glass they used for the evening.

Menu:  There are plenty of colorful foods that could go along with this theme.  I used some color, but mainly used Uno cards as inspiration for my menu.  We started with a 7-Layer Dip and tortilla chips to go with the Green 7 card.

Next was Draw 2 Tacos with all the fixings.  I served TWO options (shredded chicken or ground beef) and each guest started with TWO tacos.  On the side guests could add cheese, tomato, lettuce, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream.

I served WILD rice and black beans inside a red, yellow, and green bell peppers that I called WILD CARD stuffed peppers.

For dessert, I made individual raspberry cheesecakes, but I made them upside down to represent the REVERSE card in Uno. This recipe was very easy to make, and was the perfect amount of cheesecake after we were so full.  

Favor:  As a party favor for guests, I filled a favor bag with M&M's.  I pulled out the orange M&Ms to keep them with the traditional Uno colors.  I probably should have taken out the brown ones so they looked more festive (hindsight).  I designed a tag that said "Hope UNO (you know) how amazing you are!" 

A super fun theme & a super fun game to play. Hope you are inspired to host an Uno party for your next gathering!