To Do: Pinterest Party

You've heard me tell you before that I LOVE Pinterest!  Oh how I wish it came into my life years ago...like before my wedding.  Or when I planned Girl Scout events.  Or when I was building my house.

But it's not like I don't fill up my boards (like daily!).  Recipes and crafts are my favorites.  And I really do try new recipes.  Probably more than Matt would like.  But, some of my new favorite recipes, like cheesy chicken spaghetti and crockpot lasagna were once just those experiments.  And trying new recipes means I have an excuse to make a whole batch of cookies or batch of some sweets (always way too much considering there is only 2 of us eating it).

So I decided to cross a few more things off my Pinterest list...and do it with friends!  We have monthly social events here on Sesame Street so I volunteered to do this Ladies' Night for this month.  I figured if it was a success, I would have time to throw together a Christmas one.  (Still to be determined...it was a lot of work to get ready!)  I charged everyone $10 and had all the supplies bought, cut, and ready to go.    I promised them that every craft was easy...because I've had experience doing staff craft with some craft-challenged people (right, Mama Sue??)

The Pinterest Party gave me the excuse to...
1. Clean my house good--having people over is the best motivation!
2. Try a whole slew of new recipes (ok, probably a few too many, but oh well)
3. Feel like I was planning a GS program again (except for 6, not 60)
4. Actually dedicate time to crafting
5. Have a few hours Parker-Free!

Like I said, I got a little new-recipe happy.  I could't stop.  Here's the food station:

1. Just cheesy popcorn--but I added the googly eyes to the bowl for a Halloween look.
2. Crunchy Peanut Butter mix (yummy)
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/crunchy-peanut-butter-mix/5c29c528-3c79-4c6b-9f02-4f3e133c6e94
3. My regular beer ranch pretzel dip...just covered it with cheese, a pepperoni face, and celery stem.

4. Pumpkin Pie Cookies (my favorite)

http://www.heathersfrenchpress.com/2012/09/pumpkin-pie-cookies.html

5. Candy Corn fruit cups (or what Matt called our jello shots...so funny he is)

http://thebutterflyjungle.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-candy-corn-season-yippee.html

6. Little weenies...always yummy

7. Pumpkin Cheesecake dip (ok, but not super sweet)

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/10/14/pumpkin-pie-cheesecake-dip/

8. Apple toffee dip (Amazing!!) 

http://onedayatatime-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/08/apple-toffee-dip.html

9. And my neighbor, Courtney, brought along her Pinterest experiment...where you mix cake mix and a can of pumpkin for cupcakes/muffins (sweet & moist)

Now for the best part...crafting!  We made 4 crafts.  And well, it took 4 hours.  Oops!  But we had lots to talk about of course and time just flew by!  In fact, I forgot to take pictures of our final projects, so I'll just have to show you mine.  But it was fun to see everyone's craftiness and imaginations work, coming up with variations on almost all the projects.  

We made:

1. Googly eye picture frames

2. Boo Blocks

 (Imagine mine finished with black and white plaid ribbon tied around each block)

3. Necklaces

4. Ruffle scarves from a t-shirt  (forgot to get a final photo but here is Kristen and Courtney hard at work on theirs)

So that was our Pinterest Party!  Oh my goodness, I had fun!  And let me tell you once again, if anything, this party proved once again why I love living on Sesame Street!  I love my neighbors!