Celebrate!

From Month by Month,,,,,,Enjoy your day!

Friday Finds:Shamrocks

Here's my Friday Find for this week. Packages of Shamrocks. They are a nice size and there are 12 in a package. they come in a couple different shades of green. They are available at Dollar Tree.

Here are the two different shades with the glitter ones showing. There are 6 glitter and 6 plain in each package.

 Here's a picture that shows the plain ones. I bought several packages because we are going to use them as table scatter on the tables at my husband's I'm Lucky to Retire party.  I am also going to make a St. Patrick's Day banner out of some of them and I'll post about that over at The Creative Spirit.

I love Dollar Tree finds like this. Some of their items are just ho hum but every once in awhile you find some real goodies!

A Haunted Dinner Party

This year we moved the BooBash inside and hosted a Haunted Dinner party. Everyone was to come as something "dead" or spooky looking.  The tables were draped in black tablecoths and creepy cloths, skulls, bones, candles, spider webs etc.  Everyone was immediately seated by the evil "Mistress of Darkness" who called them names like "maggots" and "zombie scum".   There were candles everywhere but it was still pretty dark and there were scary sounds like screaming, growling, and bells tolling!

The menu

 

The picture is blurry but these are the menu selections. Things like Italian Horror and Grinch Fingers and Eye Pokers. The guests made their selections and recorded them on their dinner sheet:



In the kitchen each item was numbered so I needed to serve each plate according to what they had selected. I had two friends help me serve because with sixteen seated guests one person can not manage it! Imagine the guests surprise when they selected poorly! Some ended up with a napkin, two forks, two olives and a glass of water for their first course. After each course the table was cleared. BUT the little devils kept trying to hide their plasticware for the next course. If the Mistress of Darkness caught them she took away their chair and they had to stand for a bit!

I kept the portions really small for the served part of the meal but after course five the guests could help themselves to any and all food available and even get an extra fork!

This was a blast!  I did learn some things from it and I will share the tips with you here in case you want to try this party!

Tips:

• Make sure the food is in order 1-26 in your kitchen. I didn't think about this because some of the items were in crock pots etc. Even if you have to renumber the selections on the sheet for your guests I would set it up so you can just walk in a circle with items number 1-26.
• The original sheet had 25 items, I added Vampire Treat (red wine, Bloody Mary, or red grape juice) The menu also included water and tea. If doing it again, I would set up the table with a water glass and a wine glass (an additonal glass if you desire) and I would start everyone out with a small glass of water and one of the Vampire Treat choices. Then they would not get another drink until it came up on their choices sheet. Then I would just pour it into the glass on the table. A pitcher of tea, water, bloody marys and a wine bottle could be carried around to do this!
• Another option to consider would be making this a THREE course meal rather than five. You could still have all the food items but divide into three courses instead of five. The only caution about doing that is more people would end up with their plastic ware...so maybe cut down on how many forks etc are listed in the selection choices. Its fun to see people try to eat without their forks! lol. It did take a lot of back and forth trips to serve 16 people FIVE courses but if you have the energy it will work!!

This was one of my more successful parties but its not one you can repeat very often or with the same people because they will know what is coming. My brain is already swirling with ideas for next year.....maybe a murder mystery dinner party...hmmmmm.

Special Greetings

Christmas in July

It's never too early to start thinking about a Christmas in July and right now Oriental Trading has some awesome Christmas Clearance items. Check out the elf stickers. You get 12 sheets of these little cuties for 99 cents. I'm sure they would look cute as a button on the Magic Elf letters or in Elf journals!

Or how about picking up some stocking stuffers. These personalized pencils come in packages of 24 for $2.49.

If you plan on participating in the month long Christmas in July...NOW is the time to be stocking up on craft items and other things needed to fully enjoy the whole month with fun and crafts. This little Christmas Countdown craft kit is marked down to $3.99 at Oriental Trading.

St Patrick's Day Menus

Corn Beef and Cabbage Pizza....check out the recipe for this unusual but tasty St Patty's Day dish. Find it at the FoodNetwork.

Or how about an Irish Breakfast...featured at allrecipes.com this spread features eggs, bacon, mushrooms and soda bread.

Or perhaps you're a Rachel Ray fan....check out the Rachel Ray 30 Minute Shepherd's Pie.

Looking for something light or perhaps to use as an appetizer? How about Irish Cheddar and Stout Fondue? this dish calls for red potatoes, cauliflower, brussel sprots and apples wedges for dipping in a delightful cheese fondue.

St Patrick's Day Potato Soup with Pesto might be just the thing to warm the little leprechaun's tummies.!

And a meal just wouldn't be complete without dessert...Irish Mint Brownies!!!

St Patrick's Day is Tuesday....what will you be having?

Putting Together an Easter Notebook

Since the Easter Countdown starts NEXT Sunday March 1st I thought I'd share with you some ideas about setting up an Easter Notebook. You can find covers and dividers at Melinda's Notebook site. You can find other printables as well as task lists at Organized Christmas HERE. In addition the whole Easter Countdown framework is at Magical Holiday Home HERE.

Sorry there's a bit of glare on the picture but this is one of the covers available at Melissa's notebook site. There are also divider pages at both Melinda's and Organized Christmas so take your pick of the ones that suit your fancy. I would suggest spending this week printing a cover sheet and the six dividers...one for eack of the six weeks of the Easter Countdown.

Christmas Joy

Here's a picture of one of the reasons I've been so busy lately..Evan is two and loving the whole Christmas saga even though he doesn't quite.."get it" yet. He loves the 24 Days of Christmas gifts and the tree. A couple days after we put the tree up. He came into the office where I was working early in the morning. He had been sitting on the sofa and I had the tree lights on. He said..."the tree". And since he is two sometimes he is a bit hard to understand...so I said "what" and he said "the tree" and I said..."oh the tree? What about it?" And then he said..."I like it!"...

So cute to see Christmas through the eyes of a child and even though we are simplifying this year....he is enjoying the love and good cheer...the parties...he stayed up till almost midnight this past week end visiting and entertaining all the guests at our party. I am sure he will be sad when we have to pack things away this year. He won't understand that it will all come again!!!

So MERRY CHRISTMAS all you Month by Month readers....and I promise come January we will be off on some new adventures here at Month by Month...for one thing I have one or two special events planned for each month of 2009...and I will share the menus, planning, ideas etc with you in case you want to have something similar in your life...the first one is called January Journey and its a "girls only" event...but more about that coming soon!!!

Holiday Home Tour 2008

Check out the Magical Holiday Home Tour 2008...there are some wonderful ideas and pcitures up on everyone's blogs...you can find the listing of blogs HERE!!!

December Rush

Well...December is upon us...and the rush is on...there's plenty to do yet and today is my day for regrouping. As many have noticed things have been a bit hectic in my life and time is slipping by quicker than even I realized....YIKES....

TODAY'S LIST

1. Decorate the livingroom tree...it is already up just waiting to be decorated.
2. Do all the cards for the MHH card exchange!
3. Regroup and plan out rest of gifts and food stuff.
4. Wrap 12 of the 24 gifts...so Kelsey can take them to college with her.
5. The arrival of Evan's elf.
6. Order online gifts.

Accomplishing each of these will put me in a much BETTER frame of mind...LOL

November Notes #8

Today is CARD DAY....today work on some aspect of your cards...address envelopes, update your address list, find those cards wherever you have tucked them away or make your own cards.

Personally I have given up on ever making my own Christmas cards even though I have a lovely stamp set I bought several years ago with just that intention. SIGH...intentions are great things!

But regardless...today is the day to focus on cards...let's get started!

November Notes #7

Today is......CLOTHES DAY......

Today begin to think about clothing for holiday parties and events. Look through your wardrobe and make a list of items you will need. Try to decide on a basic color scheme for new items ...then you can dovetail your purchases and use the mix and match approach to create fun holiday outfits.

November Notes #6

Today is .....CRAFT DAY

Do you have any crafts in process? Now is the time to get them together and hopefully finished up. Access the situation. Do you have too many in the works...if so decide which ones to finish and which ones to put aside until after Christmas. If some were gifts....don't foget to add to your list if you need to pick up something to replace them.

November Notes #5

Today is....MAGIC ELF DAY.

If you are doing the elf tradition at your house this year...today is the day to chart the course.

• Decide when and how the elf arrives
• Write and print letters and notes for the season
• Buy any little gifts the elf will give
• Decide on any "experiences" the elf will present.

Get ready...once the season is upon us...things are going to move fast...so the more you can get ready now...the better!!

November Notes #4

Today is INGREDIENTS DAY...

This is the day to pull out those recipes you gathered yesterday and make a master ingredient lists. Then you can start buying a little at a time so the budget doesn't get that HOLIDAY SHOCK.

I like to tally next to ingredients that are called for in more than one recipe. Or you can jot beside the item...how much you need to a certian item...like chopped pecans: 1 cup, 1/4 cup etc if more than one recipe calls for them!!!

November Notes #2

Today is STOCKING STUFFER DAY.....time to think Christmas stockings.

Things to Do:

Dig out all those stuffers you have stuck here there and everywhere and decide who gets what and what you still need.

Pick up more stockers stuffers...let's try to get these FINISHED...in the next week or so!!!

Update any and all stocking stuffer lists.

It's November ....Time to do something for Christmas every day of the week...then we can relax early and enjoy the season!!!

November Notes #1

Today is NOTEBOOK DAY

Time to get serious about Christmas...if you haven't already...nothing's left from Halloween except the candy...and maybe some decor to pack away. November is here...in all it's glory.

Today's November Assignment:

Today is the day to bring that Christmas Notebook FRONT and CENTER....get the lists update NOW....everything from addresses for the cards to stocking stuffers....we are going to be cruising toward Christmas in the next weeks and we want to leave nothing to chance..

Here are the lists I am updating:

1. Addresses.....these are DONE
2. Stocking Stuffers
3. 24 Days gifts
4. Master gift list
5. Ingredients list for baking and parties

So TODAY.....is notebook day...get it in order!!!

Cute Book

I wanted to share with you this little treasure I found. It's called Christmas Teas of Comfort and Joy. It's not a large book but it has plenty in it...ideas for Christmas tea parties...each with a different theme, recipes, and little facts and ideas for hosting a holiday tea. I'll be back and share one of the recipes with you here in a bit but I just wanted to share it with you because I have been enjoying looking through it. The tea themes are:

Family Traditions
Welcome Friends
A Caroling We Go
Old Fashioned Fun
The Season of Giving
Afternoon Elegance