The Growing Trend of Premium Entertainment at Private Functions

 

Hosting a party has significantly shifted from just providing good food, some background music, and perhaps a bartender to guarantee a successful event. Nowadays, people generally have higher expectations when attending a party and want to ensure that they have a good time. This experience-based mindset has impacted various types of celebrations and encouraged hosts to create memorable experiences for their guests. New services have emerged in the entertainment industry to meet these changing demands.

Have fun at home while practicing #SocialDistancing

Right now is a crazy time for pretty much all of us. Some of us are learning how to "homeschool" our school age kiddos, some are learning how to "co-exist" at home with their spouses full time, and some are just trying to deal with all of the new uncharted territory all around us in general. No matter how you look at it time right now can be pretty stressful if you don't take some time out of your day to just enjoy life. That's the one thing I've learned in the last several weeks, we have to stop and enjoy the time we do have all together at home. Below you'll find some ways to do that thanks to the good folks over at Tastykake, Pilot Pen, Domino and Party City.

Summer Time = Fun Time!

The best part of summer is getting outside and enjoying summertime activities that aren't exactly meant for other times of the year. Like having water fights!

With the help of the ZURU X-SHOT™ Fast-Fill, the fastest filling blaster ever created you can be the king of the backyard water battle. Boasting incredible speed and ease-of-use, the latest addition to one of the most popular blaster brands in the world can be filled in one second! Its Rapid-Seal Technology closes the blaster tank instantly allowing battlers to get back to the blasting action long before their opponents. Because let's be honest we all want to be the one with the better water gun!

Designed to be filled anywhere - the beach, pool, lake or in the backyard - X-SHOT™ Fast-Fill is easy to handle with superb blasting performance, holding up to 24 ounces and reaching distances of 34 feet. Available at Target and Amazon.

Schools out now what?

For thousands of kids across the US today was their last day of school. And that has the number 1 question running through the minds of parents everywhere...Now What? Well if you don't have a vacation planned quiet yet and you need something to fill your kiddos time I have some fun ideas for you!

First up is Glove-A-Bubbles from Zing! Zing’s Glove-A-Bubbles was last year's Summer Toy of the Year. And as a parent I can see why. They are a super fun twist on traditional bubbles and lots of fun for all ages! The line of simple dip and wave bubble toys is back this summer with great new designs and styles.

Get ready to party. Birthday party that is!

This past weekend we had a combined birthday party for my kids with some family and close friends. The kids are exactly a week apart date wise, but there's six years age difference between them. Thankfully they get along pretty good and are okay with having a combined cake and party saving us having to try to schedule two separate parties back to back. My mom is always generous enough to make their cake for them and always tries to come up with something that's fitting for both of the kids. This year she did flowers for my daughter and music notes for my son. And I finished it off with some edible candles from Let Them Eat Candles.

The Year of the Dog Themed Birthday Party

If you don't already know this year is the Year of the Dog for the Chinese Zodiac New Year. The only reason I know this is because my daughter will be 12 this year so it was the Year of the Dog when she was born. Oh and because she told me all about it. She decided that this year is a special birthday since she will be turning 12 and her Chinese Zodiac from when she was born has made it's way back around. If you didn't know they rotate every 12 years. I'll admit I had no idea until she filled me in with her pitch about her Year of the Dog Chinese Zodiac themed birthday party. So after talking with her dad we decided that if she had educated herself that much on something without any prompting than she deserved a birthday party for it. And thus began the quest to find things for her party.

If you've ever searched for Chinese Zodiac party supplies you know there are actually quite a few out there. Some are very specific to the theme too, like these cute treat bags I found on the Oriental Trading website. They are super cute and will be great for holding all of the other dog themed goodies I found. They also match a bunch of other party supplies on their website. Besides the specific supplies we also did some general "dog" themed things too. We decided to do some stuffed plush mini-dogs, Squishy dogs (since they are so popular right now), and some DIY ceramic dog banks (great for birthday party crafting). Oh and of course lots of fortune cookies! I mean what Chinese New Year themed party would be complete without some fortune cookies. We already taste tested a few of them so I can confirm that they are just as good as the ones you get with your Chinese take-out orders.

Connect with Oriental Trading: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of the above mentioned brand. I received product(s) in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays - Life Simplified

Have you been looking for a way to simplify your holiday gatherings? Or maybe just want to have something quick and easy on hand for those sports games at home that turn into a full house of fans. For me I'm always looking for both. It never seems to surprise me anymore when my husband calls after work and tells me he's bring home a few buddies to watch a game on TV. And for that exact reason I try to always keep snack foods on hand that are quick and easy to prepare at a moments notice.

A great solution to have on hand is HORMEL GATHERINGS Party Trays. They are jam packed with meat, cheese, crackers, and some even have olives. Each food is individually packaged so they won't dry out waiting to be used.

HORMEL GATHERINGS® party trays come in three delectable choices: Hard Salami & Pepperoni, Honey Ham & Turkey, and Supreme. I guess it was just my luck that Walmart only had the Supreme trays because they were the biggest and looked the best to me. The tray I purchased featured Hormel hard and genoa salami, Sargento Colby Jack and Pepper Jack cheeses, two rounds of crispy crackers and a container of assorted pitted olives. I really like that all of the contents are individually wrapped so they didn't touch inside of the tray. Speaking of the tray, I love having it so I don't have to search for something to serve all of the foods on. The tray is the perfect shape and size to hold everything in it's own neat little compartments.

So next time you're at the store why not stop by the deli and pick up a HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Tray. Even if you don't need it for a last minute gathering they are perfect for family game nights, or just snacking on through out the week!

HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays are available at Walmart, or use the store locator to locate the store nearest you.

Connect with Hormel: Facebook  | Pinterest

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of the above mentioned brand. I received monetary compensation or product(s) in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

Welch's Fruit Snack Kabobs

Nothing says Halloween fun like a mini-party with the family. We like to have a little extra fun as a family for all of the holidays. Just something to help us make special memories we will always be able to treasure with the kids. This year for Halloween I received an awesome party kit from my friends at Welch's so I decided to have a little fun with their fruit snacks and make Fruit Snack Kabobs. My daughter and I used the little Halloween themed plastic toothpicks to slide different colored fruit snacks on. Then we lined them up on a plate for everyone to enjoy during our little party.

One of the fun things we received in our party package was Halloween themed BINGO sheets. The fun part was we got to use Welch's Fruit Snacks in place of BINGO chips. My daughter really liked that because it meant there would be lots of fruit snacks to enjoy after we were done.

Just check out this awesome party kit with loads of fun Halloween supplies!

Connect with Welch's Fruit Snacks: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of the above mentioned brand. I received product(s) in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

A patriotic dip your guests won't forget!

Looking for a fun and tasty dip recipe for your upcoming 4th of July backyard BBQ? Then look no further because I've got a great one for you featuring Heluva Good! dip.

Recipe:
1. Place blue corn chips on top left quarter of a rectangular pan of choice
2. Spread Heluva Good! dip of your choice on remaining quarters
3. Cut red cherry tomatoes in half and place on top of the dip in rows as many as they will fit
4. Add star cut-outs of cheese of your choice on blue chips
5. Sprinkle some cracked pepper all over on top and ENJOY!

I don't know about you, but anything that's this easy is a win in my book! I love serving up themed treats for my guests on holidays and this one is definitely fitting for the 4th of July.

Need some more inspiration? You can find lots of other great recipes on the Heluva Good! website.

Connect with Heluva Good!: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

 Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of the above mentioned brand. I received product(s) in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

Are you ready for a 4th of July backyard BBQ?

Thanks to the awesome array of 4th of July products I received from Oriental Trading we are going to have a backyard BBQ to remember this year. If you ask me the most important thing to have when hosting a backyard BBQ is a dining table that stands out. For me that means using something beyond  your basic white paper plates and napkins. And I really like to liven it up when there's a holiday theme I can incorporate. That's why I like the 4th of July so much. It's so easy to decorate and make your table stand out and be noticed.

Our party was the cat's MEOW

So my daughter is beyond obsessed with this series of books called Warriors. It's a series all about cats. From what I understand the books are written from a cat's perspective instead of the typical humans perspective. So of course that's the one thing she wanted for the theme of her birthday this year. And guess what? There's no such thing as a Warrior cats party theme. So this mamma had to use her thinking skills and get creative. For me that meant heading online and seeing what I could find that even remotely resembled the cats from her books.

Fortunately I remembered from previous parties that Oriental Trading has a really nice party supplies section on their website. From there I just started searching for anything cat related (that didn't look like a cartoon cat or Hello Kitty). Boy was it a challenge. But as you can see I did have some luck. I found some really cute cat figurines, cat shaped gummies, cat shaped eggs, a stone cat, and last but not least I found a cat head and tail set that was leftover from Halloween. 

My mom's really creative when it comes to making cakes so I gave her the task of making a cat body to go with the cat head and tail. I was quite impressed with how awesome it turned out. I on the other hand am not as creative so I just put some of the cat figures on cupcakes.

We actually had two parties one for family, and one for my daughter and her friends. So for family one I just did a cute basket for the few kids filled with the candy and cat eggs. For her friend party we filled the cat eggs with the candy and did a hide and find the cats came. Both places they were equally a hit though. Everyone thought the cat eggs were so cute and kept asking where I got them. With Easter around the corner they wanted to get some too.

I also got lucky and found some really cute kitty beads and knot beads (that I thought looked like balls of yarn) so I was able to make my daughter a matching necklace and bracelet with. I have to tell you she was super excited when I gave them to her. She immediately put them on and had to wear them for both parties.

I even found this super cool tribal cat coloring page on the Oriental Trading website. I printed off several copies for the kids to have something to do in between playing games and they loved it! Of course I had to get a little something for myself too while I was picking things out so I got myself a set of mini fine point pens so I could do me a little coloring too.

Connect with Oriental Trading: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product(s) in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

New Year - New Parties! Use PercyVites

So whether we want to admit it or not this is a digital age. Pretty much everyone out there (kids included) probably has some sort of cell phone or other electronic device they are using. So why not take advantage of the fun you can have using all that technology? Take for instance PercyVites Personalized Video Invitations. PercyVites allows users to immerse their child into the world of their favorite character and create themed video invitations perfect for any party or occasion. Now how cool is that? Instead of running to the store and spending all that time picking out invitations, then sitting down and filling them all out just so you can "forget" to mail them on time you can save yourself a ton of time and the headache! All you have to do is use the PercyVites website and follow the simple online instructions to create your own custom video invitation.

You'll enter all of your party information that will be displayed right in the video that your recipients can watch over and over (and even pause to write down information). Everything is all done in one place and you don't have to worry about forgetting to mail a paper invitation!

PercyVites offers quick, convenient and efficient party planning all with a click of a button and is now offering the popular Shopkins™ license to their roster of personalized invites and thank yous.
Nobody loves a party more than PercyVites and in honor of this celebratory time of year, Cakes.com, PercyVites and Shopkins™ have come together to make party planning easier than ever all while getting your little one excited about party shopping and wanting to help.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the PercyVites Twitter Party tomorrow 12/21 at 12PM EST.

Connect with PercyVites: Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Disclosure: I received compensation in the form of product in exchange for my honest and unbiased thoughts. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own and are in no way influenced by my partnership with mentioned brands.

Partytime Kung Fu Panda Style #PandaInsiders #PandaNightIn

Over the long holiday weekend we had a happening party Kung Fu Panda style. I have to admit it was hard saving the movie until our family movie night. The kids had been bugging me ever since it arrived to watch it, but I made them wait. They were both thankful though because it was well worth it! We set up our kitchen table with our fun Panda themed decor and had some yummy Chinese food for dinner before watching the movie. I will confess I'm not the best cook when it comes to cuisine from other countries from scratch, but it wasn't too bad and everyone got a fully belly. It was a lot of fun talking about our favorite scenes from the first two movies.

Haven't seen Kung Fu Panda 3 yet? Here's a clip so you can check out what you're missing!



Synopsis:
After reuniting with his long-lost father, Po travels to a secret village and meets tons of hilarious new panda friends and family members. But when the supernatural villain Kai challenges all the Kung Fu masters across China, Po must discover the teacher within himself and train his clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!

Summer time is party time!

If you're like the rest of us you're probably going to either have or attend at least one party this summer. I know we always have friends over for a BBQ and pool party 4th of July weekend. It's something we've done every year since we got our pool. Each year we try to do something a little different and have some fun activities that everyone will leave talking about. That means I get to do some shopping at my favorite online party supply store Oriental Trading. I like shopping there because for me it's a one-stop-shop for all things fun!

Need a little inspiration for your upcoming summer parties? Then check out some awesome ideas below to get you started.

PartyPail has everything you need for the perfect graduation party!

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.




It’s that time of year again! The class of 2015 is graduating high school and college and ready to embark on their next adventure. PartyPail has everything you need to send them on their way with the perfect celebration! And, they're offering up to 50% off graduation party supplies (prices marked), just in time for your party.

From plates and napkins, to balloons and streamers, PartyPail has everything you would need to honor the graduate in your life! With a full range of graduation party supplies, you won’t need to shop anywhere else. Plus, it’s all based on color, so you can pick out the graduate’s school colors or just throw them a party based on their favorites. I personally love the black & white graduation party supplies. 

Almost all of the PartyPail graduation supplies can be personalized with the graduate’s name and date of graduation. Take a look at these custom graduation banners as an example. 

In addition to the great sale, PartyPail is offering free shipping on orders over $49. Use the coupon code below to take advantage of this great offer:

Free shipping on $49+
Coupon Code: freeship49d
Expiration Date: 06/04/2015

Having a Birthday Party with a little help from Oriental Trading!

As some of you may know both my son and daughter had their birthdays earlier this month. Their birthdays are exactly a week apart so we usually have a combined party with our relatives to make it easier on everyone. This year they decided they would like to have a hunting themed party since they both enjoy hunting with their dad. I knew right away exactly where I was going to look for party supplies so I pulled up the Oriental Trading website and started looking for hunting themed supplies under their party section. I was actually quite surprised at how many great themed things they had in this category. I could have gotten the entire line of table service products in camouflage even. I chose to only get the dessert plates (shown above) because we were having the party in a restaurant this time and didn't need all the other stuff like cups/napkins etc. I also got a themed tablecloth for the kids present and cake table so it would stand out from the other tables in the room as being for them. It was a super nice plastic tablecloth that I was even able to just wipe off the little bit of icing that got on it and fold it back up to use again later. I've purchased some in the past that were so thin they ripped with just the slightest tug. This one didn't rip at all and was really nice looking with their themed decor. I also picked out a really cute display stand with a deer on top that holds little paper cones. I filled them with brown candies (my idea of deer poo) also from Oriental Trading. The kids all loved them and the adults thought it was a super cute idea.

Another great item I found was a package of Magic Color Scratch Paper Activity Sheets. If you're not familiar with those they are what looks like black sheets of paper that actually are full color underneath. They remind me of a scratch off ticket. They come with little sticks making it easy to draw and create lots of great pictures. The kids (and adults) loved these and kept busy through out the party drawing away. These are great to just have on hand for fun too.

And finally I got a few decor items.  I hung the Hunting Hanging Swirls above all the tables where we were eating and where the presents were at. I hung the Big Buck Cutout on a flat wall and we used it to play pin the bulls-eye on the buck. My SIM card in my camera got messed up and I lost about half my party photos and unfortunately I lost the ones of the kids playing the game. But you can see what it looks like in the above photo. I made little bulls-eyes and put glue dots on the back then blindfolded the kids for a little fun game.

All in all we had a wonderful time at the party and everyone was super excited about my decor. I have to thank Oriental Trading for the awesome party supplies because they helped make my kids birthday party a big hit!

Products featured at the birthday party from Oriental Trading:
• The Hunt Is On Treat Stand with Cones
• Brown Chocolate Candies
• The Hunt Is On Tablecloth
• Camouflage Dessert Plates
• Big Buck Jointed Cutout
• Hunting Hanging Swirls
• Magic Color Scratch Paper Activity Sheets

How to Take Your Art into the Next Dimension with Cricut

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.


 
It started out as a doodle, something small, casually tossed in the margin of your grocery list. But somehow this graphic element took over and before you knew it, it became the decorative element to everything in your world. Unfortunately all those minute details that you added make it virtually impossible to transform it into the third dimension. Not true. If you can print it, you can cut it with the Cricut Explore machine.

Now with the newest feature of the Cricut Explore machine, you can choose your image (either your own or one of 50,000+ in the Cricut Design Lab), flatten the image and then click 'Go'. Once printed, the Cricut Explore machine works its magic to bring your 2-dimensional idea into the 3rd dimension.

Take a look at this super short instructional video (less than 4 minutes) and see just how easy it can be…



Wow now that looks awesome if you ask me!

And don't forget you can get Free Shipping right now too: Free shipping on orders $31+ with code HALLOWEEN31

Celebrate Halloween in style with Oriental Trading

I like to volunteer to help out at my daughter's Brownie Scout meetings for Girl Scouts so the troop leader can have a break every so often. And with the holidays coming up I thought it would make the perfect time to get the girls into the feeling of fall and Halloween by having a Halloween Party/Craft night. I went online to Oriental Trading and ordered some crafts and goodies that were all Halloween themed to make the meeting extra fun!

We started off the meeting with a snack featuring Halloween Pretzel Packets and orange soda in some really cool Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween Cups. They thought they were pretty cool and were excited when I told them they got to keep the cups at the end of the meeting so they could check them out in the dark at home. A few of the girls were putting them under the table and shutting the lights off, but there was just too much light coming in from all of the windows.
 

Then I had the girls do two different crafts. First they made a cook hang up sign for Halloween from a Handprint Bat Keepsake Craft Kit. They really enjoyed getting their hands painted to make the bat wings, and I thought this would be a nice keepsake for their parents to show them when they are older. The best part was the pieces for each kit were individually bagged so there wasn't a big mess of pieces everywhere and each girl got her own set of directions to look at as she created her craft. Then we did a Pumpkin Weaving Mats craft. Most of the girls had done some sort of weaving before and were quick to help the few out that hadn't. This one was pretty much self-explanatory. All I had to do was separate the paper strips at home beforehand and it was ready to go.

Then to finish off the meeting I brought a Zombie Pirate Pull-String Piñata for the girls to enjoy filled with a Halloween Piñata Toy & Candy Assortment and lots of Halloween-Shaped Candy Fun Packs. I opted to get a pull-string pinata so there wouldn't be any swinging of a bat or stick inside the school. With this version each girl got to pull a single string until one pulled the special string that went up inside the pinata and opened the trap door. I had also put some of the extra pretzel packets in the pinata, which I might add might not have been the best idea. I say that because the opening at the bottom wasn't very big and the packets clogged it up so my son had to shake the candy out once the pull-string opening was released. This was my first time using a pull-string pinata so it was a learning experience. Next time I will know to stick with the smaller packets and candy pieces.

And here's a little video showing the girls having fun going after all of the candy once the pinata trap door was opened and the clog was removed. All in all the girls had a great time with all of the crafts and goodies that I got from Oriental Trading.

Get Grilling this Summer with Red Gold Tomatoes #Giveaway - Ends 7-24

Family-owned Red Gold is again focused on grilling with its Midwest-grown tomatoes this summer, as using tomatoes with ground beef, chicken, turkey or tuna can be a great combination.

In addition, Red Gold also will be hosting a Red Gold Summer Grillin' Party that begins June 25th on its facebook page. During the promotion, which ends July 23rd, Red Gold will hold a weekly drawing for 1,000 aprons – that’s 4,000 total – in addition to a grand prize of a Big Green Egg Grill and Red Gold Grilling kit.

One of the recipes I got in my kit that I thought sounded great for my husband was the Spicy Tomato Burger. We are always cooking out on the grill and he tends to like his burgers with a little more bite than we do. So we opened a can and gave it a try over the weekend. Unfortunately I totally forgot about snapping photos until he'd already eaten both the burgers he made for himself. He used half the size of the recipe below since they were just for him and put half the tomato/green chilies can in the burger and the other half on the burger after cooking it. He said they were great and asked if I had another can!

Spicy Tomato Burger
1 lb ground beef
14.5 oz can of Red Gold Tomato w/Green Chilies
Salt and Pepper
Option: Pepper Jack Cheese

Combine beef & tomatoes (drained). Form into patties. Season. Add cheese to center of each patty for an added kick. Grill.
As desired, serve on toasted bun. use Jalapeño Ketchup or Chipotle Mayo. Layer spicy peppers.

Win it:  One lucky reader will win a Red Gold Summer Grillin' Kit (Red Gold Diced & Green Chilies, Chili Ready, Basil Garlic and Oregano, Lime & Cilantro and Diced Tomatoes, plus a Red Gold apron and recipes). This giveaway will end July 25th at 12:00 AM EST. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email. If no response, a new winner will be chosen. Open to residents of the US.

Entry Method:  Please use Rafflecopter form to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclosure:  Thanks to PR Firm/sponsor I was provided with this product(s) for the purpose of my personal review. This blog post is not a paid post and the honest opinions stated are my own. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, entry via Facebook like is completely optional. Please allow 4-6 weeks for prize delivery from the sponsor.

Scrapbooking for Moms Night Out #MNOmovie #NMNO14

This is a sponsored post on behalf of MOMS’ NIGHT OUT and MommyParties. However all thoughts and opinions stated are my own.

For my MOMS’ NIGHT OUT MommyParty we mommies got together for a fun night that started off with the movie itself followed by a night of scrapbooking, food, and fun.