National Chopsticks Day - February 6th

Did you know that February 6th is National Chopsticks Day?  Neither did I until I was looking for a theme for my monthly dinner and a friend told me some February 6th holidays.  So, this very random day became my theme as we celebrated all things having to do with chopsticks.

Invite: I found the image in the circle online and decided to design my invitation around that color scheme.  I found an image of chopsticks that matched this color to place in the background and then just added the dinner party details.

Decorations: I kept the decor cheap and easy for this dinner.  For the centerpiece, I purchase plain white Chinese to-go boxes from Michaels and a bouquet of bright flowers.  I printed out the National Chopsticks Day circle to glue to the front of each.  I placed a small drinking glass inside each box and divided the bouquet between the three vases.  To top it off, I added a pair of chopsticks into each mini bouquet.  These to-go boxes were placed on top of scrapbook paper in colors that matched the party invitation.

For placecards, I made chopstick holders and added each guest's name to the front.  To spice them up a bit, I followed a Youtube video on folding paper into a Japanese crane which looked neat.  To save money, I just used scrapbook paper I already owned for this, but since my paper was thick, it was challenging to fold into perfect cranes.  It probably would have been better to purchase origami paper, if you really want these to be easy to fold and have a tighter look.  I bought chopsticks off Amazon that matched the theme, and slid a pair into each crane.

On top of each napkin I created a tag with a fact about chopsticks.  Each napkin had a different fact.  The girls and I had fun reading each fact aloud during the evening. 

I designed wine labels that to match out theme and meal.  For the white wine, I designed a fortune cookie with "Wine is in your future" as the fortune.  For the red wine, it was "let the good times ROLL and the wine flow" which sushi rolls and chopsticks.

For wine charms, I painted toothpicks in various colors and attached a pair to each wine glass with fishing line to look like mini chopsticks.

Party Games:  I used two Minute to Win It games that involved chopsticks to add to the evening fun.  The first was the Marshmallow Chopstick Challenge.  A bowl of marshmallows is placed in the middle and each guest is given a small bowl and a pair of chopsticks.  Blindfolds are usually used, but I didn't have enough of them, so we just closed our eyes.  

The participants have one minute to see how many marshmallows they can transfer from the large bowl to their own little bowl.  It is definitely harder than it looks!

The second game was the Chopstick Chapstick Challenge.  For this game, guests have to stack 3 chapsticks on top of each other using only chopsticks.  This is timed, so the winner is the guest that can do it the fastest.

Menu:  We started the evening with vegetarian egg rolls as an appetizer.  I purchased these at Costco rather than making them myself.  Cheating a bit, but as a working mom, I have to make some concessions.

For the main dish, I made Grilled Chicken Teriyaki.  I put them on skewers so they would look a little bit like chopsticks, but decided against using actual chopsticks since they are so much thicker than a skewer.  This recipe called for several ingredients I don't usually use, so it was a bit more expensive to make, but they were easy to make, cooked quickly on the grill, and were delicious.

I also made Chow Mein which was tasty.  I followed this recipe, but left out the chicken since I was having the skewers already.

For dessert, we had s'more sushi.  This was really popular and liked by all the guests.  The recipe makes it look easy, but it is a bit of a challenge to get and keep it in a tight roll.  I had to keep it in the refrigerator until serving so the marshmallow didn't melt and alter the shape of the roll. We also found that the recipe didn't call for enough marshmallows in the bottom layer.  Discovered this with the first attempt, so we added more marshmallows for the next two rolls, and it worked much better.

Favor: Trying to come up with a parting gift that centered around chopsticks was a challenge because I didn't want to just give the a pair of chopsticks.  Instead, I decided to buy Pocky to simulate chopsticks.  I bought small Chinese to-go boxes from Michaels and placed a fortune cookie inside each one before adding the Pocky to the top.

This was a fun chopstick filled evening.  Might have to repeat it next February 6th!

Hats Off to a New Year

It's 2023! I am looking forward to the new adventures and happenings of this year for sure.  This first monthly dinner of 2023 we had some simple fun with a hat themed dinner party.  Hats as decor, hat shaped/themed food, and hats on each guest.  It was an easy theme to incorporate into a birthday party, new year party, or just a gathering with friends.  

Invite: Of course the invitation had to have lots of hats.  I decided to use red as my main color because I already had a tablecloth in that color.  I designed the invitation to have various hats on it - simple and cute to wild and fun.  Other than that I kept it simple.

Decorations:  Hats, hats, and more hats made for easy decor.  I borrowed hats from friends as well as used hats of my own to decorate. I used mostly my kids' dress-up hats for the centerpiece since they are small and more can fit on the table.  I just lined them up along the table like a table runner and used some candles/cups to elevate some of them.

For the place cards, I made top hats out of cardstock.  I cut black cardstock into a 5.5" x 2" strip to use for the top hat, cut two slices for the name card to slide in, and then secured the cylinder with glue from a glue stick.  The bottom circle was 3" in diameter.  I used hot glue to adhere the white ribbon and then printed a name card to slide into the top.  Super simple and quick to make.

For the napkins, I created a simple origami hat using napkins from the dollar store.  I wanted the rim to have a different color, so I just used two napkins in the fold.  I stapled the ends of the hat since it was so thick and I didn't want them to come apart.  They were still easily broken apart for guests to use during the meal.

For my wine, I designed labels that matched with the theme.  For the chardonnay, I changed it to Char-beret and added an image of a French beret.  "J'aime le vin blanc" was also added to tie in the French vibe.  For the red wine, I used the image of the joker's hat from the invitation letting guests know that it was no joke that the wine was good.

For wine charms, I found clipart images of various fun hats.  Printed them, cut them out, and tied them to the glass stems with ribbon.

Menu:  I had to get a bit creative to match my hat theme to my menu items.  I started with a Kentucky Derby cheese hat appetizer.  If you do this theme for a party, create this appetizer because it is super easy to put together and the guests gobbled it up.  I bought a brie round for the bottom of the hat and a Boursin garlic and fine herb cheese round for the top.  I loosely tied a ribbon around the Boursin, added some parsley for a flower garnish, and spread Wheat Thins around the hat.

The main dish was a Cowboy Hat Stew.  Loved this recipe because it was a one pot dish, very filling, and tasty for sure. I used the recipe from Gonna Want Seconds.  It was a hit at the party and with 2/3 of my picky children, so I think I will definitely make it again.

Along with the stew, I served a Chef Hat Salad.  This is a hearty salad, so after this and the stew we were pretty full.  This chef salad was a bed of romaine and iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, hardboiled egg, cucumber, bacon, turkey, and cheddar cheese.

For one more hat, I made garlic bread witch hats out of crescent rolls.  Just folded up the bottom of the triangle and curved the top, brushed each with melted butter, seasoned them with Italian seasoning and garlic powder, and then baked them for 10 minutes.

For dessert, we had make your own ice cream sundaes served in mini baseball caps.  Many of us were very full after the meal, but there's always room for ice cream, right?

Favor: I decided to make homemade salsa for each guest as a party favor.  I put the salsa in small mason jars and added yellow ribbon and a mini sombrero to the top.  I purchased the straw hats at Hobby Lobby along with some mini pompoms and used a glue gun to space the pompoms out along the rim.

I didn't give out prizes for the hats, but it was fun to see the ladies wearing their various hats.  Hats off to you in 2023.  I hope you have an amazing year!

Chillin' with my Gnomies

Gnomes are all the rage right now, and why not? They are so cute!  I decided to theme our December monthly dinner around gnomes with a Chillin' with my Gnomies party!  This was super fun to create & we had a blast eating our gnome-themed food, painting our gnome craft, and of course hanging with our gnomies to catch up.

Invite:  Since this was a holiday party, I designed the invitations with red, green, and white as the accent colors.  I purchased a design of a gnome on Etsy, and after getting permission from the designer, I used this same gnome on much of my party decorations including the invitation.

Decor:  I purchased a few items for this party, but most of the amazing gnomes I borrowed from friends.  For the dining table, I used two snowflake decorations I already owned as the centerpiece along with lots of gnomes.  The cute MERRY gnomes were borrowed.  The two gnomes on the each end of the centerpiece were wine bottle covers that I purchased from Amazon in a 4-pack and just placed these two on pint glasses.

For a place card, I used the gnome from my invitation, and just added each guest's name to the beard.  Instead of napkin rings, I folded a green paper napkin into a hat to add to the place card.  Easy and cute.

For my beverage and favor table, I borrowed these amazing gnomes for the table and the mantle.  I love them so much, and they really added to the decorations.

The beverage and favor table.

Instead of designing wine bottle labels, I purchased these gnome bottle covers from Amazon to use.  As stated above, they were a 4 pack and I only needed two for wine, so the other two created gnomes for my centerpiece.

For wine charms, I purchased these small wooden gnomes from Amazon. I was originally planning to use them as place cards, but when they arrived and were smaller than I anticipated.  I decided to use them for wine charms instead.  I used my Cricut to put the first initial of each guest on the beard.

Outside, I borrowed this blow-up gnome for my front yard to welcome guests to the party. 

Menu:  Turns out, the only gnome food ideas I found online were desserts, so I had to invent my own meal. We started with a Gnome Garden (Salad).  I cut radishes to look like mushrooms.  On top of the green spinach, I added garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and pecans. Guests could choose either an Italian dressing or a Balsamic Vinaigrette.

I decided to make Gnome-made giant meatballs wrapped in bacon along with mashed potatoes for the main meal.  Although they don't look amazing, my attempt was to have each one look like a gnome head and beard.  I made mini party hats with holiday cardstock to place on top.  For this dinner, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef.  I think the balls would have stayed a bit more round with beef, as the turkey was harder to shape into a ball and flattened a bit in the oven.  For the nose, we just used garbanzo beans.

I made these holiday gnome cupcakes for dessert.  I dipped the waffle cones in red candy melts to give it a little something.  The beard, nose, and green body is gnome-made frosting.

Party Activity: At our December monthly dinners, I always like to have some sort of craft for us to do.  I wanted to make it a simple one that could be done in a short amount of time, so I opted for painted wooden gnomes.  Love how they came out.

My husband cut all the 2x4 pieces of wood before the event.  They were around 10" tall and sanded. I couldn't find wooden circles at the craft store, so I bought brown/tan pom poms to use for the noses.  For the beard, guests could choose from craft fur or a white mop.  The mops are from the dollar store and each mop can make a ton of these gnomes.  The craft fir can make a few gnomes, but is more expensive.  Some guests made eyebrows for their gnome, some did not.

Our first finished gnome of the evening.

Love this spirited gnome my friend painted for her young daughter.  She even painted the mop strands of the beard slightly.

Forgot to get a group photo at this dinner, but we had a great time together to close out our last monthly dinner for 2022.