Menus, tips and ideas for hosting with style!
Here’s a super simple party favor idea for a monkey theme party. Buy or make a great trail mix (mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe’s make this mix special), fill glass jars with the mix (I repurposed glass bottles from Nirvana coconut water; Starbucks frappuchino drinks have a similar shape) , then add a label and some ribbon or yarn (or a combo like I did here). A lovely party favor created in just minutes!
The classic sock monkey is a great backdrop for a gender neutral baby shower. It’s slightly retro with a modern, handmade feel. I chose this theme for a coed shower I recently hosted for one of my favorite couples. I purchased a few inexpensive, classic brown sock monkeys in a few different sizes (one large, two small) and a few modern, lime green singing sock money-inspired toys for variety (my daughter is the proud beneficiary of the leftover party decorations). I used a few things from our nursery to add to the decore, including a red wagon, sock monkey book, sock monkey ornaments and glass baby bottles. The cupcakes I had made were the coolest cupcakes ever! For the favors, I went with homemade cookie stacks, wrapped in cello bags and tied with yarn as a nod to the sock monkey threads.
Sock Monkey wine sleeve used as a vase cover; singing green stripe sock monkey; cupcakes by the amazing Cowie’s Confections (sadly no longer in business); homemade cookie favors by the Hip Hostess; and Caspari alphabet napkins featuring “M” for sock monkey.
Give fans the opportunity to get invested in the game (literally) by providing a betting squares pool. Print a pool grid from a template online or make your own on a piece of poster board. Draw a 10-by-10 grid and write the name of one team on the top of the grid and the other team on the left-hand side. Invite contestants to buy squares for $1 to $5 per square ($1 per square puts $100 in the pool; $5 per square makes it $500), filling in their chosen squares with their initials. After all the squares are filled, draw numbers (0 to 9) out of a hat and assign each number one at a time, moving from the left to right along the top of the grid, and top to bottom down the side of the grid. The object of this pool is to have the combination of numbers that match the last numbers in the score of the game (i.e., if the score was 21-17, then the person whose square is located at the intersection of 1 and 7 would win). Give payouts at the end of the first quarter (10 percent of the pool amount), at half time (15 percent), at the end of the third quarter (10 percent), and at the end of the game (65 percent).
Make your table into a football field feature by setting up a mini field as your centerpiece. Use a flat of wheatgrass or an Astroturf doormat (unused, of course) as the “field.” Place the turf in the middle of your buffet and decorate it with mini plastic footballs or toy football players. Use white electrical tape for making lines on Astroturf, or white paint if you’re using wheatgrass. Wheatgrass can be ordered through a florist or purchased from a health food store with a juice bar, or at some local farmers markets. Astroturf doormats and remnants are available at many home improvement stores.
