Fall wine tasting under $50

When I am talking to people about entertaining the biggest reason people give me for why they don't entertain more is money. Well, this party proves you don't need a lot of green to have a good time.

I invited eight women over for a wine tasting.(I used evite.com) Each lady was asked to bring a bottle of wine under $12. As the ladies arrived I attached a number to each bottle tied with twine. As we tasted each bottle we wrote notes with pencil and paper so that we could vote at the end. The guest who brought the best cheap bottle of wine won a scented candle and a silver decorative wine stopper. (Sorry not pictured)

Six small inexpensive appetizers were served. Ex. Spinach dip, cheddar, Swiss cheese, crackers, bread and fruit.

As we tasted the wines slowly we played a fun game! Whenever a lady didn't care for a wine she simply dumped the rest in a glass container and rinsed her palate for the next. Whenever a lady loved her wine she simply had some more. We tasted nine bottles over about three hours and had tons of laughs along the way.

By the way I spent none of my $50 budget on decor. I simply used fall decor I've collected over the years. I rarely waste money on paper goods except napkins. I used my own glasses, plates, forks, and serving dishes. Since I needed a big table to sit around I covered my kids train table with a brown sheet and had plenty of room for all the ladies. Proof that the ingredients for your next great party are already laying around your house!

Go Bananas Monkey Party

Pink and yellow monkey party. Can you believe I found this blow up monkey at a yard sale for $2!

Lemonade stand with regular and strawberry lemonade.


Yes thats right a build your own banana split bar. Yum!

Picture of birthday girl with My Funny Monkey book.

Superhero party

This is the first party where I splurged and and bought custom labels and banner. I just couldn't resist the images andersonruff on etsy.com came up with.

Thanks for being a super friend favor bags!

Custom made wall signs by my sweet hubby.

Jalen posing with super friends. We held this party at Premier Martial Arts where my husband is an instructor. They have their own blow up moon bounce obstacle course! The kids really wore themselves out at this one.

VALENTINES PARTY

If you love to entertain and you haven't heard of Houseparty.com, sign up right now! I was selected to host an event for Valentines sponsored by Durex. It goes without saying that this was an adult only event. Houseparty sent me free party favors for my guests like koozies, lubricant samples etc. I even got an awesome hostess gift! We played a few silly games and enjoyed some snacks like chocolate covered strawberries. I'll use any excuse to get my chocolate fountain out;)

A couple of years ago I got tired of buying helium filled balloons and decided to find more creative ways of using regular balloons. So, I found hanging balloons from the ceiling with fishing wire a nice way to add flair to a space without blowing my party budget. Because when you like to entertain as much as I do you can't spend a fortune on each party.
My sweet hubby(yes that him and I) has faith in my party budget abilities and gratefully doesn't complain. I spent less than 150 on this night including food and cocktails.

Dinner party

My whole obession with party planning began with planning my childrens birthdays. And each year I have the hardest time deciding what to do for my birthday. For 2011 I picked a low key Japanese theme dinner for 12. As you can see from the pictures this table does not seat 12. The pictures were accidently deleted from my camara so I made a smaller version of my dinner party to share with you.

Flowers: Came from Michaels, I cut them apart and arranged them with rockes for a sweet centerpiece.

Fans: I almost splurged on real fans, but a friend suggested I simply make my own using scrapbook paper. So off to Hobby Lobby I went and 12 sheets of 3 for a $1 papers later I had plate toppers on the cheap. (Thanks Alison)

Napkins: I already had cloth napkins. I just put chopsticks on each and tied with orange ribbon.

Menu: The meal started with a small salad with ginger dressing. I went to a local Hibachi Grill and got Hibachi vegetables, rice, and chicken. The chopsticks were free at Hibachi Express. Cake and ice cream came from Publix.

Favor: Each guest received a Zen rock garden. A dollar a piece at Dollar Tree.

Happy 27th Birthday to me!

Football birthday party

Even adults love themed parties! This one was for one of my husbands friends that turned 26. All the photos were taken before any food was set up. Games included "Don't Say" where each guest had a whistle and if you said game or touchdown a guest blew the whistle on you. This game was a big hit with all the boys. I got the instructions for the field table cloth from Hostesswiththemostess.com under game day theme. I even had a football toy box that was used as a cooler proving that everyday items can be used for awesome events.