The Easiest Party You'll Ever Throw

I love to host people at our house.  It's such a perfect house for parties!  We obviously love having people over for the holidays... plans are already in the works for Thanksgiving with TheJesses and our annual Ugly Sweater Party.  And we love to have people over for football or just dinner.  It's just that with Jesse's schedule so crazy sometimes months go by without any guests in our home!  

But I can always sense when it's been too long since I've had people over.  I start to get the itch to host!  And I had that itch a few weeks ago... but with Halloween looming (must. get. those. costumes. DONE.) and Lily's birthday the day after, I didn't feel up for doing any work.

I needed an easy party.  So a Pinterest Party fit the bill quite nicely!  What is a Pinterest Party, you ask?  Well.  It's basically a crafting party.  Jen introduced me to the idea.  You simply invite a bunch of your gal pals over for treats and tell them you'll have a warm cozy fire going (another perk of this house) and tell them to bring a project they've been working on.  It seems like we all love Pinterest so much and there are so many great ideas... but at least for myself, I rarely find time to actually DO a project!  

So a Pinterest Party was perfect.  I had some crafts I'd been working on slowly in my spare time (spare time? ha!) and I also wanted an excuse to a) make fun holiday cookies since it was the week before Halloween and b) hang out with my friends!

Added bonus: I was able to introduce some friends to each other who I just knew would hit it off.  So now more of my friends are friends!  WIN.

Megan had this great idea that I never want to forget EVER.  She cut out small parts of all her son's artwork so she can make a cool collage!  It displays his art beautifully without having to take up a lot of space.  Brilliant.  She wasn't sure yet how she was going to display it... maybe modg podging it to a canvas?  Framing it?  The possibilities are endless.  Megan make sure to show off the finished product on fb so I can ooooh and ahhhhh some more!

I hijacked Kirsten again to finish one of my projects.  It's a homemade measuring board to record the girls' heights! Which is kinds of turning into hers/my project, since she helped me pick out the supplies AND is painting the details.  But hey, I DID paint the yellow!  I'm hoping she doesn't catch on to my totally selfish sucking of her talents... but she's just so dang talented!  I cook for her a lot and I make her toasty fires to sit by, so I'm hoping it balances out ;o) Thanks K!

I did actually do SOMETHING for myself.  I cut the sleeves off of a sweater that I hate and turned them into leg warmers!

I love this idea.  For two or three bucks I could pick up a fun sweater at a thrift store and add a pop of color to an outfit... plus some added warmth.  Which I really need in Germany!  I haven't decided yet if I like them this way, or upside down so the finished cuff of the sleeve shows... that is definitely a more polished look... but I have to stretch it out a little.  Or else I'll be cutting off my circulation at the knees.  Which sounds painful, not warm/cozy/stylish.

Kirsten brought her in-laws, too, who I was delighted to spend the evening with!  Joan gave her granddaughter Sophia a crochet lesson.

It was a splendid, relaxing evening of crafting, chatting, eating cookies, and sipping tea and hot spiced cider.  Exactly what I needed in a party!  Girl-time is so good for the soul.  Plus, it feels so amazing to actually complete a project.

Thanks Kirsten, Joan, Sarah, Sophia, Megan, Shawna, and Leah for coming!  It was so great to spend time with y'all!

Does anyone besides me smile at morning-after dishes?  It just reminds me of all the fun that was had!

So there ya go ladies... a simple, easy party you can host around the holidays (or any time, duh!) where you can have fun hanging out AND work on a project.  Every multi-tasker-Pinterest-lover's dream!