Of course, we haven't had a PARTY since the Cinderella one in November, so Grace was itching to party plan and pinterest. Starting in early January, we planned a fantastic Valentine's day bash for a group of friends, and to make it extra special- I insisted parents drop off their children so they could have a "couple" date. Luckily, two of my guests were a 16 year old and an 11 year old girl- who were more helpful than the average under 5 year set we normally host...
As we started planning this early, I had plenty of time to check out a few thrift shops for Valentine's items-- I hit the jack pot!! Several local St. Vincent de Paul Stores and Salvation Armies had little Valentine's displays- that I pretty much destroyed. I got a vinyl tablecloth with hearts (brand new!) for $1, 20 sheets of Valentine's Day stickers for $1, a glass heart shaped platter for $0.50, 2 clear plastic bowls for chips for $0.10 each, pink streamers for $0.50, Valentine's paper napkin packs for $0.25 each (I bought 3), and even brand new doily packs for $0.25 each, 3 colors! Whew! It was a better savings than the Dollar Store- though I did get full sized plates and a disposable table cloth.
After decor, we planned a heart and love themed menu. Well, sort of. Grace really wanted to have names like, "Meatballs from the heart", etc.... but we mostly just made things heart-shaped. Earlier in the day, I prepped 10 pizza dough hearts- I cooked them for about 10 minutes after shaping them so the kids could make-their-own pizzas that night.
We had fruit, veggies & dip, and cheese and crackers as appetizers. Plus of course, we had cupcakes and candy too...
As for activities, we set up a Valentine's card making station (I used the disposable table cloth for glue-protection on the table). We had stickers, doilies, construction paper, cut-outs, foamtastic, etc.
We made the mini-pizzas, then we cleared off the craft-table to make room for cookie decorating. The cookies were the "favors" and I had little Valentine's bags to take them home in. I made plenty so kids could make several to give to family at home.
Easy Rule #34234- Sometimes helping out friends with babysitting isn't really work- Just fun for the kids! Plus you SUGAR them up, and SEND them home :)
Easy Rule #41324- A holiday about chocolate, love, and crafting- hmm... not much I don't like!
Side note:
Grace overheard me singing the song, "All you need is love" by the Beatles and she asked, "What does that mean?"
I answered, "Well, they are just saying that all you need in life is to love someone."
Grace replied with a snort, "Well, Love isn't going to buy you a car...."
That's my little practical capitalist- guess we missed some of the message of Valentine's Day!! :)
I answered, "Well, they are just saying that all you need in life is to love someone."
Grace replied with a snort, "Well, Love isn't going to buy you a car...."
That's my little practical capitalist- guess we missed some of the message of Valentine's Day!! :)
