My Favorite Things Party

If you have never attended a Favorite Things party or even know what it is, keep reading, This was such a fun concept for a ladies' night party and it is super simple to throw one together.
You start with a theme (no theme is also a popular theme), determine the price range for the favorite item, and how many of that item each person should bring.

My wonderful friend, M, loves all things makeup so we decided on a beauty theme. We set up an event asking guests to pick an item around $8 and bring 3 of them. We did not ask them to wrap any of them but some of them did.  For those who did not wrap, we had some brown lunch bags on hand and got a lot of use out of them.

Supplies:
Brown paper bags, ribbon, items for any games you may want to play (plastic practice golf balls, tennis balls, pantyhose if you want to play the games listed here). Printer and paper to print questionnaires, signs, and tags.

Food:
For the food, we made it pot luck and asked each guest to bring their favorite snack, appetizer, drink, or dessert. A party is not complete without Nothing Bundt Cake!

Taste testing Nothing Bundt cakes

Games:
You don't have to play games but it can be a great icebreaker if many of your guests don't know each other. Each guest filled out this questionnaire. Then we jumbled them up and each person read a questionnaire for us to guess who it belonged to.

How we picked our favorite things:
Using the brown paper bags, we numbered the bottom of the bags 1 to 9. Using the plastic practice golf balls, each person threw three balls, aiming for the bags. Whichever bag the balls fell determined which favorite things they won. If you choose this method, once a number has been picked 3 times, you will need to remove that bag. The last two people threw their balls at the same time to compete for the last bags.

The last game we played was pantyhose bowling and I gotta tell ya, that is an awkwardly hilarious game. I highly recommend these shenanigans.

Gift bags:
This is definitely not something you have to include in your party planning. Each guest will go home with some goodies already. I decided to give each guest some other favorite things in brown paper packages tied up with string: Thirty-One nail file, Scripture card, Elf lip/cheek/eye cream, chocolate, encouragement card for them to share with a friend. 

 

Get this printable tag here.

Favorite Things:
You can set the price for the item your guests will pick and determine how many of that item to bring. We went with an $8 max  price and asked them to bring three of that item. Keep in mind the total cost each guest would spend. If you want to go home with more items, you can try $5 limit and bringing 5 items to the party.

These were all the favorite things our friends brought to share: NYX Not Your Mother's Argan Oil for Hair, doTERRA Citrus Bliss Hand lotion, Dr. Jart+ Face Mask, Younique Eye Pigment, Blistex chapstick, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish, Pro-Pac Hair Masks, Cuticle Removal Gel, Callous Shaver, Nail brush, Moscato, NYX Soft matte lip cream.

Our first Favorite things party was a success and I cannot wait for the next one. Laughing with these beautiful ladies was the highlight of the night. The goodies we got were just icing on the cake.

At the end of the night, we supplied gift tags and encouraged each person to write a note to a friend, something encouraging or a compliment. There were the sweet tags that brought a smile to my face and chuckle in my heart.

Visit Pinterest for more Favorite things party ideas.

I'm a Busy Bee

It has been such a busy time for me these last couple of weeks, months even. Every weekend in April is booked with some event, function or activity revolving around the kids or Katy Area Parents of Multiples. I like the hustle and bustle but there are times, like right now at 1:15 in the morning, I wish I can drift off to sleep.

We just had a club garage sale that was a huge success for all. I even made a little money and cleared out some of the kid's cothes and toys. The Easter social is this weekend and I am hoping it will be a huge blast for all the kids. My first Texas Mother's of Multiples convention is coming up I am looking forward to learning new things at all the seminars I signed up for. It will mean one night away from my boys and I am looking forward to some me time.

March of Dimes fundraising has kept me busy too. As a team co-captain, I have been monitoring our progress and trying to help with the fundraising effort. As a group, we have almost raised over $3500. That is the most money KAPOM has raised since they have been involved in March of Dimes and I couldn't be more proud of our walkers. I am also very appreciative of the generous donations so many people have given. These times are tough and for people to give as they have, it makes me even more thankful. I am $235 away from my personal goal and although I may not reach it (not for lack of trying!) I feel I have helped preemies in some way. We have an event called Bunco for Babies coming up and it should be a fun Ladies night since the buy in is $15 and a bottle of spirits. I might be the only designated driver since I cannot handle the drink. If you want to help me get closer to my goal, you can donate at Team Powell. My preemies thank you.

As much as I am excited about my first March of Dimes March for Babies, I have placed it a little off to the side. Not in the backburner, just not focusing on all the fundraising things I could be doing. I have lots of ideas but these will have to be planned for next year.

All my attention has been redirected to Team Linus. Information about The Harmeson family and their three beautiful triplet boys can be found at A Story of Two Moms so I won't go into too much detail. A friend mentioned that she was working on some fundraisers to help Robin and Trina and that is all I needed to hear. I had read the blog for a few months so I knew Linus has CHD was in distress, which is a gross understatement. I have never met the Harmeson's but I tell you, the way Robin writes, you feel like you are an old friend of the family. She is so honest and so candid and even has a way of bringing humor to a not so humorous subject.

Somehow I inducted myself into Team Linus. I have mad Internet and research skills and insomnia and that is what I can offer. My heart aches when I see pictures of Linus and although there is nothing I can do to help him directly, I can offer up my time and my mad spreadsheet skills to help with the auction. So in the next few weeks, I am hijacking this blog to post about the Team Linus auction and other fundraisers being planned. We have a great lineup of products including adorable hand made clothing and accessory items for kids. This is your chance to get wonderful products and help out an amazing family. Join the Team Linus page or subscribe/follow this blog to get updates.

House Party - Gerber Generations

If you are not familiar with Houseparty.com, you should check it out. I had joined a few years ago and I never really applied to host a party until this year. I think I applied to 4 parties, one of which was the Star Wars wii game launch. That would have been more of a party for Rod.I am sure my household did not fit the demographic but if they knew my husband, when it comes to The Force Unleashed on wii, he is a 10 year old.

I finally got picked to host the Gerber Generation Celebration House Party. I knew I would be receiving some products but I had no idea I would get all this.



It was two huge boxes of samples of Gerber food products, bags, bibs, snacks, informational material and party supplies. I was super excited after seeing all the goodies. The House Party site is a great source for event ideas for games. You can get ideas from other people around the US hosting the same party. I printed out some of the games online.

They send you a how to manual and it explained the various products in the sample box. They also suggested a display of the products. This was what I came up with.

You don't have to spend a ton of money on a House Party. I already had several Gerber products so I used them in the display too. There are so many Gerber food products, I wanted to showcase as many as possible.

For finger foods, I had a veggie and fruit tray and chips and dip. I also had some recipes from Gerber using baby food as ingredients. I planned to make the Carrot Applesauce cake, Peach bars and Toddler Pot pie. These were my ingredients.

I ran out of time and did not get to make the Toddler pot pie. The peach bars were not my favorite. I was pleasantly surprised that the Carrot applesauce cake came out so well. It was really good. I ate half of it with cream cheese icing. Not all in one sitting of course.



I found some list pads, post-it pads and stickers in the Target dollar section and thought up a theme around these favors. My theme was "Fall-ing for Gerber." You don't have to have favors. With the House Party supplies, there are plenty of things guests will go home with. However, if you want to add some small token of appreciation for guests coming, the dollar section is an economical way to do that.



Gerber's biggest fans got to eat some crunchies while I was preparing for the party.

I wish I could have held this party on a different day. Being the weekend before Thanksgiving, folks were going out of town or already had plans. I will know better for next time if I get the chance. I want to do more parties, especially if I can bring products that I use and information to people.

Make it so Number 1

As if I couldn't possibly be any busier, I was nominated for position of VP of Programs in my Moms of Multiples group at our meeting tonight. When I was first approached about it, i was very hesitant. Having twin toddlers is a lot of work. A-L-O-T. Between working full time and commuting during the week, I take care of them, errands and chores on the weekend, I get no sleep. That is one reason I don't post as much anymore. I have to prioritize sleep or updating the blog.

I mentioned it to Rod after last month's meeting and after voicing my concerns about being tired and not having time to get anything done, he gave me a knowing smile. "You know you want it" his eyes were saying. Of course I didn't want it. I don't know the first thing about being a VP of anything. Except maybe VP of griping and complaining. And definitely the VP of loving my boys to pieces. But Programs? Where I have to come up with topics to bring to the meetings? Where all the eyes of moms with twins, triplets and beyond will look to me to keep them informed and entertained for the hour and a half long meeting?? Besides, there was some sort of behind the scenes drama on the board, and it looked like we would be without a President this next year. I have drama at work and sometimes at home, do I really need drama in a club that I pay dues? Heck no. That is too much stress and too too much pressure, I can't do it.

Well, I will dood it. It's funny. I had been researching topics and kept them in the back of my mind. When no one else approached me about it, I thought, they changed their mind. But tonight, I was nominated. And it's the kind of nomination that states, "you will be in the position, no ifs, ands or buts." I am actually very excited about this. Along with my very good friends who will also be in the board, I think we will bring fresh ideas to make the club even better.

So as the First VP of Programs, I am the William Riker to the President's Jean-Luc Picard.
Engage...

Mommy groups

1/13/09 - 28w6d

I went to my first parents of multiples meeting last night. One of the reasons I joined was to network with other moms of multiples to get advice about pregnancy, child care and issues that come unique with having twins. This is also a step towards making friendships that I mentioned was one of my 2009 goals.

It has only been one meeting but whether you are having a singleton or multiples, I recommend joining some sort of mother's or parent's group in your area. I can see it as a great support group and resource to help with new parenting. The group meets once a month but there are so many events and activities for kids. There is also a great buy and sell event twice a year. I can get matchy, matchy stuff if I want and gear specifically for twins.

I have never been a social butterfly and definitely never thought I would join a mom's group but I met some really nice folks and even got a Walking Wings device. I think I may even join a Moxie Moms group once the kids are older. Not only are there tons of kid friendly social events but there is a discount card that can save you tons. I can totally get into this mom thing.