Daily Party Dish

Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Release Celebration

First and foremost we here at Party411.com want to wish all of our readers a happy Harry Potter Movie Release Day. Is it an official holiday? No, but several of the worker bees here at Party411 think it should be.

We understand that we don’t have flying brooms or magic wands (does Photoshop count?), or go to school at Hogwarts, and we haven't shown any magical skills yet (we’ll get there, just you wait), but we really enjoyed the books and are really excited for the release of the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Proof we’re fans? Look at Kathleen’s patronus and wand headband (from Etsy seller itsquirkshop); that is officially nerdy. And we even have the house symbols on the wall, with Harry hanging out as well. We even dressed the part today... check out our photos on Facebook and see our awesome T-Shirts and costumes from the rest of the year too.

From the Harry Potter fans here at Party411.com we hope you get the perfect seat when you watch the movie.

• Harry Potter Release Party
• Harry Potter Recipes
  

Happy Customers

We love it!  Cassidi’s family ordered a custom lifesize caricature cutout for her 30th birthday celebration.  They loved it so much they created a cake from the art!  Needless to say, the cutout and the cake were a hit!

 

Thanks for sharing Cass and Happy Birthday!

Amy

Welcome Back Football! - and there is always next year.

This weekend was the first football game of the season for the Cleveland Browns, which means football has officially returned to our house! From now until the Super Bowl, weekends will be devoted to hosting friends and family for the games.

Since it is the first game of the season we sent out invitations to make it special. We usually do invites for the first game, one more big game in the season, and the Super Bowl. This time I went with a Cleveland Browns theme invite (you can get them for any team) and I added some orange and brown confetti to the envelope to add a bit of fun.

I think the best part of football season is eating "football food" - pizza, ribs, wings, dips... as long as it is tasty it will get into the rotation. This weekend we had BBQ - ribs, chicken, pulled pork, along with potato salad, coleslaw and cornbread. Yummy!

While we waited for the game to start we played some great "pump up" football music. Here are a few of my favorites from the playlist -

• We Will Rock You - Queen
• Crazy Train - Ozzy
• Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
• The Boys are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
• Hell's Bells - AC/DC
• Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N' Roses
• Enter Sandman - Metallica

Everyone got dressed in their brown and orange best to cheer the team on. Even Basil our dog was ready for the game to start.

I didn't do many decorations, but I did hand our some football noisemakers, our crowd loves to get loud! So the food is set out, we are dressed up, we have our noisemakers, and we are all pumped up.

Unfortunately the Browns started off strong, and fell apart in the 3rd quarter. Not completely unexpected.  Below is the normal progression of emotions for Browns fans...

Well, at least we have the food to look forward to. Next week I am making chili cheese dip.

Camp for Moms! Now, that is a party!

This past weekend I went to “Mom’s Camp” at a local overnight camp! What a great weekend.  Mom’s camp is just like overnight camp you remember as a kid…swimming, canoeing, arts & crafts, horseback riding, hiking, rock walls, campfires with S’mores, yoga classes… you name it and it was available!

But there is a twist – the campers are pampered all weekend long.  Counselors were on hand to serve us gourmet catered meals with wine and cocktails at every meal.  Snacks were available all weekend long. (Who can resist hot apple pie and fresh popped popcorn at midnight?)  We were also treated to professional massages.  What a life!

Surrounded by good friends and wonderful weather, we were free to relax, play or spend the weekend any way we chose! 

Now, you don’t need an organized camp weekend like this to enjoy friends and relax.  Gather some friends for an impromptu weekend away or even an evening away.  You don’t have to throw a theme party! The point is to be together and have a great time.  Then it’s always a party!

Campingly Yours,
Amy

Party on the Patio

My family recently threw a Summer Birthday Party and we now have an excess of beverages.  There was some talk of throwing a Poker party but that idea didn’t appeal to me or my mother because neither of us plays.  This was of course the perfect opportunity to throw our annual Party on the Patio where we invite all of the "old folks." It’s always a fun time and I’m really looking forward to it this year.

Now the old folks are in fact very old.  The group consists of my grandma, and all of her brothers and sisters, and their brothers and sisters.  The average age of the group is probably 80.  That being said these people are all young at heart, my grandma always jokes that she’s only 38. These people are always full of hilarious one-liners and great stories.

My favorite part of the patio party is when the food is cooking on the grill and the guests just start talking.  Once they start they do not stop, and I love it.  I hear the most amazing stories not only about my family history but also personal anecdotes that not even my parents have heard.  This has an interesting impact on my parents and aunts and uncles because they turn into well behaved children, listening to all that's being said.  Everyone wants to know what it was like for them to grow up through some of the most exciting times in American history. It’s one thing to read these stories in a history book, but it’s entirely different when you can put a face to the story.

I’m excited to have this Patio Party because in the past it’s always been a success.  This year we plan to expand the invite list so there is even more potential for hilarity.  My Uncle Bob sings songs that will bring tears to your eyes.  It’s really not fair to us.  So if you have a porch or a patio invite some friends and family over and relax.  Enjoy the summer weather while you can!

Personalized Playroom!

It’s obvious we love our life-size cutouts at Party411.com!  We use them at parties all the time and they are always a big hit.  So, of course, we love it when someone else loves our cutouts as much as we do! 

Meredith, an independent event planner, and mother of 2, has been getting cutouts of her kids from Party411.com for their birthdays since her daughter’s 1st birthday.  She just sent us some pictures to show off how she’s been using them in her playroom since then!  They make great wall decorations hung in her playroom.

Thanks Meredith for the great pictures!

- Amy

Chasing those Post Halloween and Election Blues

Bored? No pumpkins to carve? Costumes to buy? No annoying political calls? No ads to watch on TV?  Not to worry—the holidays are around the corner and both November and December have plenty of other stuff to celebrate.  If your mood is more bah humbug than ho ho ho, read on.

The national holidays in both months have something to offer even the least creative.  Among other things, November is national Pomegranate Month, Roasting Month and Peanut Butter Lovers Month (it's all about food).

December is the Birth Month of Bingo (celebrated nationally I'll have you know), Choose a Summer Camp Month and, lastly, Tie Month (could it be that more ties are sold at Christmas than in any other month?  I betcha!).  Try having an Ugly Tie Party…the winner gets, uh, an even uglier tie.

Let’s move on to Saturday nights. Since we can’t rely on Saturday Night Live still being a must-see, better have fun between 7 and 11!

Saturday, 11/1
Hockey Mask Invented (1959)-- Sarah Palin will be partying, you should too!

Saturday, 11/8
Abet and Aid Punsters Day--invite people over to make dreadful puns--or not.
Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day—sounds like the perfect time for a bold and pungent pot luck!

Saturday, 11/15
National Bundt Day—have a contest; there’s more than 40 shapes available.
Elephant Roundup at Surin, Thailand—I couldn’t pass this up.

Saturday, 11/22
Alascattalo Day—honoring humor in Alaska (haven’t we been doing that?  And, oh, by the way, theoretically an alascattalo is when you cross a walrus with a moose).
International Aura Awareness Day—invite guests to share their aura!

Saturday, 11/29
Wow…nothing but Howie Mandel’s birthday—no big DEAL.

Saturday, 12/6
Ira Gershwin’s Birthday—time for a Broadway sing along, no?
Missouri Earthquakes Anniversary—the most prolonged series of earthquakes in US history, let’s shake, rattle and roll!

Saturday, 12/13
National Day of the Horse—time for a Night at the Races video party!

Saturday, 12/20
Anniversary of the TV premiere of The Dating Game—pretend it’s the Newlywed Game or We’ve Been Married Forever.

Have fun!

- Sherri

Need a fancy place to have homecoming dinner? Try the Mall.

I saw something great at the mall this weekend.  I was having dinner with my husband and my kids on Saturday night and we saw a group of 10 kids dressed up for Homecoming – suits, fancy dresses, hair professionally done, corsages, etc.  They came into the food court and set up a table for their dinner.

At first I asked, are they seriously having dinner at the mall before Homecoming?  Certainly not traditional, but they made it work!  They used:

• a black tablecloth
• linen napkins
• a small reserved sign
• plastic champagne flutes, complete with sparkling apple cider.
• nice silverware (high end plastic ware)

Dinner from the group was Chinese.  (My husband was impressed they even got their food “to go” and saved on tax)

Frankly, I thought it was GREAT!  They will never forget this dinner and we got a kick out of watching them have a great night.  I certainly don’t remember any of the restaurants I went to for Homecoming in High School.  (That’s me in the picture getting ready for Homecoming in 1991 with my friend Josh.  I looked pretty cool, right?)

A Vote for Spontaneous Parties

I am surrounded by some of the best party planners in the world. I’ve learned to value party planning and strongly believe that good party planning will help make your party great.

Having said all that sometimes I think we over plan parties. Especially in the summertime. Today it seems like a party requires invitations, checking calendars, planning a menu and decorating. All this planning makes for some great parties but also means some lost opportunities.

I think I spend too many gorgeous summer evenings “doing nothing” because nothing was planned. Well, that has to change.

Remember, all you need for a successful party is good friends, good conversation, some music, maybe some finger food and the occasional adult beverage.

So the next time it’s a beautiful summer night I’m going to call a couple of neighbors and ask them to drop on in. Someone will have some chips in the pantry, or a cheesecake in the freezer. We usually have a decent bottle of wine in the cupboard. I’ll throw in a CD or turn on a ball game and instead of doing nothing I’m going to have a “spur of the moment” pleasant little party on the patio.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

- Jimmy

5 Tips for a Fantastic Block Party

Every year my neighbors organize a Summer block party at the end of our street. It’s always a great way to catch up with neighbors who (like me and my family) have been hiding inside all winter long. Growing up, my neighborhood had a block party every summer too, so it’s wonderful that my kids now live in a neighborhood that has the same tradition.

I was thinking this morning about the block parties we have now and the ones I went to growing up and thought I’d share some ways to make a block party a great success! Here are the basics:

1. Put invitations in everyone’s mailbox inviting them to attend. Set a specific date and time and pick an area on the street where you will be meeting. You can choose a representative on the street to keep track of RSVPs or just hope for good attendance. (I’d track RSVPs) Put a rain date on the invitation as well!
2. Ask everyone to bring a dish for dinner or lunch that is big enough to share. Split up the street and ask people to bring different dishes based on where their house is on the street– for example, the first 5 houses should bring a side, the second 5 a dessert, etc. That way, you’ll get a nice well rounded meal!
3. Don’t forget tables and chairs. Ask people to bring folding chairs and tables (you may want tables an hour or so before the event) to the party area. Or tell people to bring blankets to sit on.
4. Think of (fun and free) activities for the kids!
   1. You might not know, but many local police/fire stations are happy to bring out a fire truck, ambulance and/or police car for the kids to check out at the party. If you’re lucky, they may even do a display of how the hoses on the fire truck work or let the kids climb on the trucks!
   2. Ask all the kids to decorate their bikes and have a parade down the street. They’ll be kept busy decorating and they will love the attention during the show! Don’t forget your camera!
   3. Have a neighbor set up a sprinkler for the kids. Need I say more?
5. Close the street! When you contact the police/fire, be sure to let them know the date of your block party. They may be able to block off the entrance to your street (or at least allow you to!) so that you can walk without worrying about oncoming cars.

That’s all you need! So, whether you have your event on the 4^th of July or a random Saturday in August, enjoy some nice weather, nice neighbors and lots of good food!

-Amy