Tip of the Week:  Celebrate the Day of the Dead!

Whether you love Halloween so much that you want the festivities to go on or you’ve never been a fan of the candy and costume extravaganza, here’s the perfect holiday for you to celebrate:  Day of the Dead!  Far from serious or scary, this Latin-American occasion cheerfully honors departed family members with lots of food and colorful decorations!

A Latin-American Tradition

Traditionally, the party takes place between November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and certain areas of the United States, and is marked by vibrant paper flowers and decorative skulls to symbolize death and rebirth – not to scare!

Plan to serve classic Mexican dishes like empanadas, chicken mole, tamales (take out works well here!) and for the finishing touch, candy sugar skulls and Pan de Muerto or Bread of the Dead.

Invite guests to a big, family style meal, raise a joyful toast to those gone from us and enjoy this unique holiday!

Resources

• Paper Flowers
• Plastic Banners
• Pan de Muerto
• Sugar Candy Skulls

For some traditional Halloween fun, enjoy fabulously frightening ideas for Halloween entertaining, decorating, gift giving and more:

Tip of the Week:  Create Custom Party Favors!

No child’s birthday party is complete without the goody bag delivered at the conclusion of the festivities and sometimes I think that my children look forward to their party favors even more than the party!  If you’ve ever wished that filling those favor bags was a bit easier, Shindigz has the perfect solution.

Create a Favor Pack

If you head to ShindigZ, there’s a terrific option called “Create a Favor Pack” where your first step is to choose a container from a huge assortment of options.  The containers range from simple cardboard boxes to rattan baskets to beach pails to fish bowls!  Once you click on your preferred container, a prompt entitled “Get Favors” will lead you to a specially selected array of favors that coordinate with the theme or style of your container!  Pick as many or as few favors as you’d like and you’re done!

To locate the “Create a Favor Pack” from ShindigZ’s home page, click on the orange tab “Create It,” and then select “Create a Favor Pack.”

Favors for Kids and Adults

For example, if you click on the very cute plastic fish bowl container, the “Get Favors” section offers fish bubbles, tropical fish craft kit, sea life putty, gummy sharks and about eighteen other ideas!  There are also favor boxes that would work for adult celebrations and baby showers!

Stop driving from party store to party store in an effort to create clever party favors – it’s all available through one stop shopping at ShindigZ!

It’s serendipity when the products we love are from the sponsors we love!

]]> http://www.busybeelifestyle.com/create-a-custom-party-favor/feed/ 0 http://www.busybeelifestyle.com/host-a-chocolate-tasting-party/ http://www.busybeelifestyle.com/host-a-chocolate-tasting-party/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:41:16 +0000 Host Bee http://www.busybeelifestyle.com/?p=5010 Tip of the Week:  Host a Chocolate Tasting Party!

If you’re like me, the kids have settled into the school year, Halloween costumes have been ordered and we’ve set up some semblance of a routine!  What’s next?  Setting aside some time to reconnect with our female friends!   And I have the perfect plan – host a chocolate tasting party!

It’s Easy!

This fun night “in” can be pulled together with minimal effort!
After you’ve invited some friends (think between 8 and 10), here’s all you need to do:

• Select Your Chocolate – Select six or seven types of chocolate from different parts of the world like Ecuador, France or Belgium.  Try to include white, milk, bittersweet and semi-sweet varieties.
• Pair Chocolate with Wines – I was also happily surprised when I learned that like cheeses, chocolate can also be paired with wines that enhance the taste!  And so if you’d like to serve wine at your party, head to The Nibble – a terrific website with a pairing chart for wines and chocolates!
• Set Your Table – On the night of the party, cut the chocolate into small chunks and label each serving dish with the type and origin.  Set out pitchers of water and plain water crackers to cleanse palates between samplings.
• Create a Score Card – Encourage guests to smell the chocolate first, let it melt in their mouths and then try to identify the chocolate’s texture and flavor.  If you have time, create a type of score card on your computer.  (Some experts recommend starting with the lightest colored chocolates first working up to the darkest.)

That’s it!  And if you want to make this evening even easier, Cambria Cove offers a Chocolate Tasting Invitation Kit that includes fill-in-the-blank invitations, tasting score cards and table tags for labeling the chocolate! (pictured at top)

Enjoy this sweet get together and you’ll never want to sneak snacks from your kids’ Halloween candy stash ever again!

Mummy Mayhem-

Host a Wonderfully Haunted Halloween Party for Your Kids!

Halloween is a terrific time to entertain younger guests – and while there are lots of spooky characters to choose from like ghosts, vampires or witches, the allure of a mummy themed party was just too hard to resist!  Mummies can be so much fun without too much “scary” and so here goes!

Invitations

From Fine Stationery:

Mummies reign supreme at this wonderful personalized invitation site!  Look for:

• A super cute mummy that’s wrapped with real gauze as the perfect finishing touch! (Mummy With Gauze, 10 for $54)
• Another mummy choice invites guests to “come get unraveled” with a fun orange, black and white card! (Mummy Invitation, 10 for $28.80)

DIY

Print your party information onto a 5” x 7” card and wrap it with gauze bandages from your local drug store before mailing!

Party Goods

• Simple Black and White – Simple black and white paper products will match this theme, especially if you add some napkins cut from cheesecloth!   (Check out Plum Party’s nice selection.)
• Midnight Dreary Coordinated Paper Goods – For some paper goods that add a more haunted touch, the Midnight Dreary Line from Costume Express will do the job (plates pictured at right)!  These paper products feature black and white skulls, crossbones and an ornate border! (10″ Dinner Plates, 9 oz. Paper Cups, Beverage Napkins)
• The Bone Collector – If you’d like to invest in some festive party ware that can be used from year to year, consider Target’s new line dubbed “The Bone Collector!”  This set includes a Serving tray, Spreaders, Platter and Small Dishes.

Decorations

• Personalized Yard Sign – Set the stage:  welcome guests with a personalized yard sign from Shindigz! (pictured at top)
• A Glittering Black Candelabra -  this well priced accessory will be the perfect centerpiece when displayed on a simple white table cloth! (Glitter Candelabra, Costume Express, $14.99, pictured at right)
• Shrouded Candle Holders from the pages of Martha Stewart – stretch a square of cheesecloth around clear glass cylinders or votives of different sizes and secure the edges with 3 or 4 black safety pins (from craft stores).  With children as guests, I’d use safety tea lights instead of real candles! (pictured at right)
• Wrapped Pumpkins – Wrap a pumpkin or two with gauze bandages; use glue dots to adhere the gauze, leaving a small space for some creepy eyes cut from a sheet of craft foam
• Hanging Strips of Gauze – Create a mood setting entrance with strips of gauze hung from the front door!

Activities

• Mummy Wrap – divide the children into teams of two and supply each team with a roll of toilet paper.  The first team to fully wrap one of its members in TP wins!
• A Gift from the Mummy – before the party, again using a roll of TP, tape a small toy to the end of the roll and continue taping prizes and adding them to the roll until it’s been completely rewrapped with the gifts inside.  During the party, gather the children in a circle and invite each one to wrap the roll around a body part (i.e. arm, leg, ankle, wrist and so on) until a prize is revealed.  The roll is then passed to the next guest and so on until all prizes have been given away!  (Family Fun)
• Mummy Pinata – from an adult perspective, this piñata borders on comical, but I am sure that the kids will love it! (Mummy Pinata, $12.99)

Menu

Hot Dog Mummies:  Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 1 can (11 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated bread sticks, 12 large hot dogs, cooking spray, ketchup and/or mustard

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Unroll dough and separate at perforations into 12 bread sticks.
• Cut each bread stick lengthwise and crosswise into 4 pieces for a total of 48 pieces of dough.
• Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog to resemble “bandages” stretching the dough slightly completely covering the hot dog and a small separation so that the hot dog shows through the dough for a face.
• Place wrapped hot dogs on an ungreased cookie sheets and spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and hot dogs are hot.  With mustard, draw features on “face.”

Mummy Dessert – Here are a few fun mummy inspired treats!
Marshmallow Mummies:  Makes 6

Ingredients:

• 18 large marshmallows; 6 thin pretzel sticks (approx. 3”); 1 box chewy fruit roll up (any flavor); black cake decorating gel

How to:

• thread 3 marshmallows on each pretzel stick, making 6 bodies.
• Remove fruit snack rolls from the packaging, but don’t unroll.  With kitchen scissors cut each roll in half horizontally to make 12 rolls of long strips. Unroll and remove paper.
• Wrap 2 long strips around each “body” to resemble a mummy, leaving a small open spot for the face.  Add black gel icing dots to make eyes!

This would also make a fun party activity!  (Pillsbury.com)

Mummy Cupcakes Done 2 Ways

Using prebaked and frosted cupcakes, decorate the desserts in one of two clever ways:

• Funny Mummy:  cut two small slices into large marshmallows being careful to not cut all the way through.  In the bottom opening insert one brown M & M (mouth!) and in the upper opening insert two green TicTac’s.  (eyes!)  Garnish chocolate iced cupcakes with mummy heads!
• Gummy Mummy:  frost cupcakes with vanilla icing. Place two matching colored M & M’s on cupcakes as “eyes.” Cut small strips from a roll of green sour apple bubble gum tape and arrange multiple “bandage” strips across the tops of the cupcakes at slight angles leaving the eyes showing. (pictured)

Party Favors

Fill squares of cheesecloth with an assortment of the items below and tie off with a black ribbon!

• Halloween Growing Monsters – this fun toy is a coffin that kids submerge in water. A mummy grows and emerges from its resting place! (Halloween Growing Monsters, $19.95 per dozen)
• Gummy Mummies – this cute gummy candy mummy arrives packaged in its own plastic coffin! (Gummy Mummies, 16 for $24)
• Chocolate Mummy Lollipop – this is adorable and delicious! (Chocolate Mummy Lollipop, $1.50 each)
• Mummy Rummy – if you’d prefer to offer just one party favor instead of an assortment, consider giving each guest a game of Mummy Rummy!  Wrap each game in black wrapping paper and use a length of gauze as the ribbon! (Mummy Rummy, $7.99 each)
• Curse of the Mummy Blogspot – for lots of other mummy related toys, games, movies and costumes, head to a one stop shop:  Curse of the Mummy’s Blog!

Wrap it Up!  (No Pun Intended!)

After you’ve sent the young guests home with their “mummies,” pour yourself and your spouse a beverage in these Hand Painted Mummy Pilsner Glasses from Lolita!  Each glass features a unique drink recipe on the bottom!

Happy Halloween!

You may also enjoy:

• Halloween Stockings for Kids
• This Halloween Try “Booing!”
• A Halloween “Booing” Poem
• Let’s Talk About Halloween – Clever Halloween Costumes for Kid
• Hot Halloween Treats for School
• Alternative Halloween Treats for School
• Host a Halloween Cocktail Party
• Halloween Night Buffet
• Halloween Gifts for Grownups
• Halloween Candy for Grownups
• Why We Carve Pumpkins on Halloween

Top Notch Tailgating!

• In last fall’s Tip of the Week, Try Tailgating, I encouraged Busy Bee readers to cook up some pre-game fun by hosting a tailgating party!  Generally speaking, tailgating is a terrific and inexpensive way to entertain, but if you want to take it up a notch, here are some clever enhancements!

Invitations

• Paperbuzz – for a great assortment of tailgating invitations, take a look at Paperbuzz for designs which include a die-cut football and a really cute football field with goal post!  For adults, I just love the invitation featuring a bloody mary with a football on its stirrer!  This card can be printed at home or by Paper Buzz!

DIY Invitations

• Die-cut Football – Consider creating your own by cutting football shapes out of corrugated cardboard.  Write the party details on the back and trim the card with white shoe laces woven through punched holes!
• 3-D Box – In the “over the top” category, purchase small square cardboard boxes, line the bottom with Astroturf cut to fit and add small, toy football figurines.  Write the party specifics on the inside of the lid, toss in some football confetti and seal the box with clear strapping tape.  Address the outside of the box and send your creation through the U.S. mail!
• Felt Pennant – You could also make a pennant out of felt with the tailgate information written on the back.
• Plastic Footballs – Lastly, try using a permanent marker to draft invitations onto small plastic footballs, picked up from the Dollar Store!

Serving Ware

• Lillian Vernon has some fun footbal themed serving pieces that are really appealing.  There is a dolomite chip bowl where the interior sides depict fans in the bleachers and the bottom is a field!  Dip is served in the included football shaped bowl! (Stadium Snack Server Set, $24.98)
• Also available from Lillian Vernon is a coordinating set of four football shaped snack plates (Stadium Platter & Football-Shaped Bowl,$19.98)  Don’t forget that if you decide to invest in some of these pieces, you can bring them back out on Super Bowl Sunday!
• Mariposa also has covered the “football field!”  This company, one of my personal favorites, offers finely crafted aluminum football shaped serving bowls, in three sizes. ($40 to $124)  I also really like the square cocktail napkin box bearing a 3-D football to weigh down the napkins ($42) and the football dip spreader! ($17)  All are available at Silver Impressions.
• On Your Own – In the “no cost” category, consider serving your snacks inside of a plastic megaphone or an upended football helmet!

Cookbooks

If you’re looking for some new recipes for your upcoming tailgate, take a look at these two resources:

• Tailgating published by Gooseberry Patch ($4.95 at gooseberrypatch.com)
• Fox Sports Tailgating Handbook by Stephen Linn. (Fox Sports Tailgating Handbook for about $12)

Desserts

• Clever Cake – Bake a football stadium shaped cake!  This clever cake mold will allow you to bake an adorable and easy dessert that can be decorated in team colors! (Nordic Ware Stadium Pan, $31.50)
• Custom Cookies – Serve custom made cookies from Super Cookie! This site offers an assortment of football themed cookies such as helmets, shoulder pads and yard markers, along with a single oversized football cookie! ($15.99/tub of 23 small cookies or $30 for the large football at supercookie.com)

Get Comfortable

Stadium seats and blankets are really the icing on the cake!

• Stadium Seats – Pick up several of the practical and comfortable stadium seats!  These seats are crafted of padded canvas, provide full back support, have a convenient carry strap and can also be used as a tote bag with thermo-guard insulation! (Stadium Seat, $25)
• Stadium Blankets – Classic plaid fleece blankets from Wrapables would also be great additions to your tailgating supplies!  These blankets are available in two different color plaids and include an easy carrying strap!  The current sale price is pretty terrific, too! (Plaid Blanket, $16.95)

Party Favors

• For the kids – fill a basket with color coordinated pom-poms, small footballs, and plastic megaphones. (Football Assortment, $9.99 for 50 pieces)

• For anyone – fill cellophane bags with solid chocolate, foil wrapped footballs!  Tie the bags with team colored ribbon! (Chocolate Footballs, $32.20 for a 5 lb bag)

I am always on the look out for exciting products and ideas and I hope that some of my “finds” inspire you to take tailgating to the next level!  Consider “claiming” a fall tailgate as your signature event that family and friends will look forward to every year!  Happy Game Day!

Party Resources:

• Fine Stationery – Party planning made easy with personalized invitations from FineStationery.com
• Oriental Trading – Fun party supplies. Free Delivery on orders of $59 or more.
• Favor Affair – Use coupon code FREESHIP175 at checkout for free shipping (ground only).
• Birthday in a Box – Choose from more than 100 party themes, or shop for individual party decorations and favors.
• Celebrate Express – Free Shipping on orders $75 or more
• ShindigZ – Save 10% on party supply orders of $100+ ShindigZ.com with promo code SZCJC9
• Cool Party Favors

You may also enjoy:

• Try Tailgating
• Host a Super Bowl Party
• Fun Fall Family Activities
• Perfect Party Quantities

Tags: tailgating, ideas for tailgating, tailgating invitations, recipes, party ideas, tailgating party ideas, football party ideas, how to host a tailgating party, how to tailgate, upscale tailgating