Football season ends

So, my family is kinda nutty about Super Bowl. As I sit in my recliner watching a pretty horrible football game, I'm grateful for the yummy snacks and rockin' decorations.

Super Bowl Decorations

I make team pennants every year. I started off making the two teams that were playing in the Super Bowl but after the gazillionth time the Giants made it to the Bowl, I started just making other NFL teams.

This year I made the Broncos, Browns, and Chiefs.

I also have the football field pennants. Tutorial here.

I also have my football felt coasters. Maybe someday I'll inflate my vintage football.

Even the top of the piano gets some love. I adore the referee plates.

 

The Food

Since the game is played in New Jersey this year, our food theme is Jersey shore aka boardwalk food.
Tomato pie.

Popcorn (I make it on the stove with olive and coconut oil.)

Taffy and cotton candy (actually it's cotton candy taffy.)

Corndogs

 

Chips and salsa with cream cheese (this is more of a Grow family thing.)

And, orange and blue jell-0 jiggler helmets.

My mum's friend asked what she could bring to the party so I sent her a link to Martha and her chocolately pretzel peanut cookie bars.

 

Oh, and lemonade served in Mason jars which originated in New Jersey.

 

 

Okay, I need to get back to the game. Have a great day. Go team!

Minnie Mouse Party For Grown Ups

No one represents fun and youthfulness like Minnie Mouse. I spent the day with her and her friends at Disneyland and then had a Minnie Mouse birthday party at home.

I made tissue puffs, Martha Stewart style to hang over our food table.  The red, white, and polka dot tissue paper are from Target. I sewed a couple easy table runners from black and white and red and white polka dot fabrics all from Joann. Then I made a matching bunting to hang beneath the puffs.

I served red, black and white food. I found the Mickey Mouse bowls at Target.

 Fresh strawberries, red suckers, huge black olives, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella balls.

For our main dish we had Minnie Mouse bows with Puttanesca sauce and garlic bread.

We had black and white cake aka Nabisco Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll. I found the Mickey and Minnie figures at the Dollar Tree.

The cake is wonderful alone but the strawberries fit with our color theme. I've also made a chocolate version.

We had water from a clear pitcher with ice and frozen cherries. I also had red and black licorice on the table. Yum!

I found some cute red and white polka dot napkins at Target too. And, of course, now that my party is over I'm finding all kinds of Mickey and Minnie stuff. Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Feel free to leave a comment. I also have many more ideas, tips, and tutorials on my other blog, The Vintage Sheet Blog.

I'm playing along at

Super Bowl Open House

Super Bowl Sunday is a special day for our family. It's a party with a lot of food, some fun commercials, family time, and oh yah, there's is a sporting event on the tv.

The food theme is different every year (sometimes inspired by the teams that are playing or the venue) and we add to our decorations every year. Here's this years' rundown.

The Decorations

I made 3 more team pennants. I've made almost 20 now. Welcome Bengals, Dolphins, and Cowboys.

The football field banner is decorating our kitchen window.

The usual football field platters, football plates and bowls, felt football coasters, as well as our football cheese spreader and bottle opener all make a comeback this year.

The Food

Specially brewed rootbeer (regular and diet) from Brew Bakers in Huntington Beach.

Giant Football Calzone. I used storebought pizza dough and filled with pizza sauce, lots of cheese and veggies. We also had a ziti pasta with the same sauce.

Pretzel Sticks from Brewbakers with homemade marinara sauce (leftover from the calzone). We also keep chips and veggies around for snacking.

 Knock-You-Naked Brownies from Pioneer Woman's Recipe.

Peanut M & Ms.

 Jell-O Jigglers Helmets in sugar-free lemon and strawberry banana.

The Entertainment

We are playing Bingo during the game this year. I found these fun Super Bowl bingo cards online from Parade Magazine

and of course a lot of cool commercials. :)

I hope that you have a wonderful day. Thank you for vistiting We Grow By Our Dreams.

I have lots more projects and tutorials on my other blog, The Vintage Sheet Blog. 

Harry Potter Party Overview

We do parties big at the Grow Home, especially my niece's birthday bashes. This year, we had a Harry Potter party complete with a multi-course banquet, potion-making and Herbology classes, an egg hunt, pinata, and a game of Quidditch. There were so many details and I took so many pictures that I am going to do a quick overview as well as more detailed posts with the food, decor, and games.

Welcome to Hogworts.

Party attendees were students at Hogwarts. The Birthday Girl was named, "Student of the Month."

There were many potions on display. Some silly, some creepy but the students mostly enjoyed mixing their own potions.

 

 We transformed our living/dining room into a banquet hall.

I'll do another post on just the food but in the meantime, here are pics of the bubbling punch

 chicken legs, mashed potatoes and carrots

 and the cake.

 The kids played a very competitive game of Quidditch.

 The students enjoyed learning about "Herbology."

 

 Of course we did the traditional Pinata and opening of gifts too.

All the students went home with handmade owl goody bags full of treasures. 

 Stay tuned for futute posts on all the food, the decorations, the games, and all the handmade details.  My sister spent months doing research and creating all the handmade details that made the day so special. It really paid off with an amazing event that the niece and all her friends will remember for years to come.

A Royal Tea

We love any excuse for a party around here. And, like most people we anxiously awaited the nuptials of Kate Middleton and Prince William.

  We wanted to celebrate with the British people. We live in California so that meant watching the wedding live at 3 a.m. We didn't dress up. Hey, I was lucky to get the fam up that early. But, when food is involved, the family can't resist.

Of course we had our herbal tea. Our favorite is chocolate coconut (very non-British but yummy.)

 

Actually, we started our party early by having Fish n' Chips for dinner. Then, woke up to the rest of the goodies. For some reason, we had no problem having another huge meal at 3 a.m.

We bought the scones and some of our other treats at Bristol Farms. In fact, they were ready for us with a whole section dedicated to the Royal wedding. We enjoyed the scones with clotted cream and marmalade.

I made some cucumber and egg salad sandwiches. The cucumber are then niece's favorite.

Welsh cheese with crackers. Not only are we Welsh but this was our little tribute to William's mother, Princess Dianna.

I made an English trifle with blackberries, angel food cake, lemon pudding and whipped cream.

For dessert number two I made chocolate bread pudding.

For dessert number 3 we had a small grooms cake. This was another Bristol Farms purchase. It was a chocolate cake with crushed cookies and dried fruit with a ganache frosting and dusted with gold.

That's the end of the food. Ha ha ha. I decorated the dining room with British nick knacks and I covered a bulletin board with a map of London and other London postcards, photos, brochures and souvenirs.

We loved the wedding. But some of our royal guests could care less. This is Moses (aka the Prince of Egypt)

 And, this is Kinsey, she is a corgi like the Queen's dogs.

I wonder if the Queen's dogs sleep in this position.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Sorry I didn't get these pics up a couple weeks ago. And, sorry the picture quality is poor. We don't have a lot of natural light at 3 a.m. :) I'll have another post this weekend. For sure.