What a fun and sexy time for you.

Arrested Development fans have had a long, long wait since it was canceled in 2005... and I'm not ashamed to admit that I NEVER expected the rumored "new episodes" or movie to actually happen. But when I discovered that the rumors were, indeed, true, wow. I'm excited. Jason and I have watched and rewatched all the AD episodes so often that we have all of them memorized.

So, with new episodes just around the corner, I've started thinking about my AD party. I was planning on having an all-out PARTY, like my LOST party in 2010, but the new episodes are released on a Sunday, so I think I will just have my siblings over for an Arrested Development themed dinner party instead.

I'm sharing my party plans early in case anyone out there is looking for ideas!

Menu

Uh, easy. Cornballs (I have a cake pop maker, so this will be easy, but you could just make cornbread in a mini muffin tin, not filling the tins all the way to make them more round), hot ham water (maybe you should just serve some sort of ham chowder instead of actual hot ham water) or stew (Baby, you got a stew going!), deviled eggs, anything with club sauce, and juice boxes or lots of booze. We don't drink, but I might make some mocktails. For dessert, frozen bananas or ice cream sandwiches (or you could make an ice cream sandwich cake with chocolate covered banana slices to combine the two)

Decorations

Bluth Company sign on the front door. You gotta have a banner. I think mine will say "Family love Arrested Development" since it is going to be a family party, but you could come up with anything, really. Bowls of candy beans scattered around, with fake facial hair in them (mustaches are super easy to find nowadays, thanks trendy). Blue handprints on everything (cut handprints out of blue construction paper). Suitcoat hung over the back of a chair with suckers stuck to it. A hook. Notes to your guests ("And that's why you always take off your shoes" by the front door, "And that's why you always close the refrigerator" on the fridge, etc). Buster's awards from Army (stuffed animals). A hand chair (I know I've seen one at DI, hoping I'll see another in the next month!) A paper bag that says "Dead Dove DO NOT EAT!!!" on it. Red evidence cooler to put the drinks in.

Activities

Chicken impression contest--see who can match which impression to the right character. No themed party is complete without costumes. And for those who drink, there are lots of AD drinking games out there. But mostly, just enjoy those new episodes.

Invitations

I made these with some of my favorite quotes. Feel free to print and use them for your own party--but please link to this post AND post about your party and share it with me! I can't wait to see what everyone does to celebrate!!

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Party plans: Pencil Exchange!

I have always loved back-to-school time.It's such a fun time of year! I think buying school supplies ranked in the top 3 of things-to-look-forward-to as a kid.
Today I want to share an idea for a party I've been mulling over for a while now: a pencil exchange.
(It's not as nerdy as it sounds)
This would be a great party to celebrate an early fall birthday or just as a fun back-to-school celebration!
The inspiration behind this is everything that makes you think of going back to school: apples, pencils, notebook paper.

To throw this party, you would want an even dozen party guests, including your own children. On the invitation, ask each guest to bring 12 pencils of their choice to share. The dollar spot at Target is a great place to find packs of cute pencils--glitter, rainbow, all kinds of patterns. Jason thinks I'm a nerd because I always want to buy them.
Once all the guests have arrived, have everyone exchange their pencils. At the end of the exchange, everyone should have a dozen different cute pencils to use at school!
Here are some other fun back-to-school activities you could do at this party.

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I hope I've gotten some ideas rolling for some fun back-to-school celebration! I'm gonna give my girls a few more years before I really start pushing the pencil exchange :)
How do you celebrate a new school year?

{Nature Walk} Party

This year Tempe had a Mermaid party to celebrate her 5th birthday... but for about three months, we were planning on having a nature walk party. It was pretty much all planned (luckily I hadn't started buying or making things yet) when Tempe changed her mind, but since I have all the plans... here ya go!

Tempe's favorite color is purple, so I decided to go with a plum and grass green color scheme, but this party would be great with cherry red and cream, too.
Activities
This party would be fine at a park or in the backyard, but I wanted to do something different. For weeks we looked for the perfect location and finally found it about 10 minutes away from our house. I was going to have all the kids meet at the trailhead of a local (paved) trail, where we would start off on a nature walk to the party location. Further down the trail was a picnic table in a lovely little clearing. I was going to go early and set everything up on the tables and then leave my sister there to guard them while I went to meet the kids.

While walking to the party location, the kids can look for the items on a nature hunt sheet and use stickers to check off the ones they find. I also planned on making some nature hunt sheets using pictures instead of words for the non-reading party guests.
After a leisurely nature walk, we would arrive at the party location. There were two picnic tables in the clearing I was planning on using, so I was going to have one table set up with all the food and the other set up with the craft. Wooden birdhouses are cheap and easy for kids of all ages to paint, plus they make a great party favor! In addition to painting birdhouses, I planned on suspending an empty frame from a tree branch with fishing line and having a basket with homemade gnome beards and hats for a photo booth. I also wanted to make this adorable acorn pinata and fill it with Tempe's favorite trail mix.
Food
I had so much fun coming up with a nature themed lunch! First of all, instead of using plates I was going to buy these berry baskets from Shop Sweet Lulu to nestle the food in. And what the heck, this is my fantasy party, so I might as well buy some glass milk bottles and stripey straws to serve lemonade!
Here is our menu:
"Snail" sandwiches (PB&J spread on tortillas, rolled up and sliced)
Ants on a log and ladybugs on a log (the ladybugs are cream cheese and craisins)
Pretzel "Sticks"
Tomato toadstools ( a chunk of string cheese with halved cherry tomato stuck to the top with cream cheese)
Acorn cookies (Nilla wafer and chocolate kiss stuck together with PB)
Angel food cake with fresh whipped cream and fresh forest berries
Decorations
It's really easy to find decorations that fit this party theme, because things like gnomes and toadstools are really trendy right now. I had a brown velvet tablecloth that was perfect for this party (in fact, I did end up using it at Tempe's Mermaid party). One of my enchanted treehouse toadstools was going to be the cake stand, and rocks from Tempe's collection and moss balls from Michael's and owl knickknacks that I've been collecting were going to be scattered along the table to set the mood. I have a big stick wreath--do you know what I mean by that?--that I wanted to hang from a tree branch and pin pictures of Tempe all over it. FInally, we have this cute wooden deer (well, really it's a reindeer) that we get out at Christmas time that I was going to use to put the presents in until it was time to open them. Just imagine it full of wrapped packages instead of a naked child.

Tempe is such a "nature kid" that this party would have been perfect for her--but I know there are more nature kids out there! I would love to see your nature walk party!

R-rated Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party

***Warning, this post is probably R-rated.***

I love planning parties. That's probably obvious if you've read my blog for any amount of time. The only problem is that I run out of both occasions and also money. So I thought I would do the next best thing: start sharing the plans for parties that might never happen with you, my lovely readers!

First up is a super fun, slightly scandalous bridal shower or bachelorette party. I wish I had a close friend getting married soon so I could throw this shower.

Invitation

I just love this gray, pink, and blue color scheme + chevron. Chevron rocks. I think it's the perfect backdrop for a fun, girly, sexy shower. I called it an R-rated shower instead of a lingerie shower because I know some people aren't comfortable buying lingerie for their friends/family members. This way they can feel free to bring other things, like fun bath stuff (to be used as a couple, of course!), these awesome pillowcases (or the kind that say "Tonight" on one side and "Not tonight" on the other), or even my Newlywed Sunshine Notes.

Food

Better Than Sex cake

Makin' Whoopie Pies (I would do red velvet)

Lingerie sugar cookies

Chocolate fountain and fruit

Double Chocolate and Chile cake mix cookies (just make cake mix cookies using a Devil's Food cake mix and add chocolate chips and some chili powder)

If you're feeling super naughty, you could make this candlestick salad. How did this end up in the Friend magazine? How??

Decorations

I never get sick of hanging paper lanterns. They always look nice at girly parties. Framed prints of vintage housewives in lingerie or larger prints from my Newlywed collection would be fun.

Activities

I don't love playing games at showers at all (and especially at this kind of party, because it could get really raunchy), but here's one that is fun and doesn't take away too much from socializing. As the guest of honor is opening gifts, have someone quietly write down things she hears people say in reaction to the gifts. Then read them out as things that might be heard on the wedding night. It's hilarious how things said in complete innocence can sound down right dirty when you're thinking about them in a different context!

Well, perhaps someday I can actually throw this shower, but in the meantime, enjoy my plans! And if you throw an R-rated shower, please share with me!