Valentine's Day Party

This year I decided I wanted to have a Valentine party. I didn't really have any Valentine's day decorations of my own. So, I started researching what I could make. I found a lot of cute stuff on the internet and starting pinning things like crazy to pinterest. I asked my mom & dad if I could have my party at their house...basically because they have a bigger house & more room for the people I was inviting. =) I was able to make a lot of stuff....& purchase a lot of Valentine's things for my party. I even made my own pillows!! (that will be another post)  If you want to have conversation heart invites, visit A Field Journal. I know her invites are primarily for grade school students, but I think they are super cute and you could totally use them as party invites!

I found this great homemade Valentine's Day art tutorial from brassyapple.blogspot.com. I thought it was so great that I decided to make my own. =) I just went to Michael's and found some scrapbook paper I liked and then went to the dollar store for the heart flower picks. I pulled the picks out of the bottoms of the Styrofoam hearts and glued the hearts right to the paper...I did not cut them in half like the tutorial from brassyapple does. 

Aren't they adorable!

 

I 'heart' them! =)

This is the gang. Notice in the background my pink boa wreath I made...my inspiration was tattertotsandjello.com. I had to make one once I saw hers!! I found boas at 5 Below for super cheap. I know the Dollar Tree has them too, but they aren't as full as the ones you can buy from 5 Below.

Karis & Curtis.

 Shalee & Israel. If you want to see a snipit of the Valentine Party click here: Week7 of Israel (& Shalee)'s life =) (fast forward to 10:14). Also take a gander...and visit Israel's Blog. =)

My great hubby manning the computer. =) He was such a great help!! Download: Happy Valentine's Day Slide. Notice the white Christmas/Valentine's tree!?!?!? I love it!! It's actually my mom's tree. I got the idea of a Valentine's Day tree from HomeDesignDecorates. I absolutely LOVE their Valentine's Day tree!! 

Everyone was given a game sheet to do. Game Sheet. Game Sheet Answers. I also had slides to go with  some of the answers. A Farmer's Love Letter Answers & Comic Duos Answers

 

We also played Name that Song. That was a lot of fun. A couple would get a point if they could guess what the name of the song was & say it out loud first. They would get an extra point if they could sing the song. It was so funny!! =) Another game we played...I actually don't have a name for it. I had 15 words pertaining to Valentine's day or romance (ex. cuddle, kiss, squeeze, pinch)...each word was written on 3X5 card. Then I had 15 words pertaining to everyday life (ex. socks, lamb, grill, coffee table) and each couple got 2 cards from each pile (4 words total). They then had to write a poem using the words they received. Everyone had 10 minutes to create a poem. After the time was up each couple had to read their poem out loud. Everyone voted on who's poem they liked the best. The couple with the most points won! It was hilarious to hear what some of them came up with. I didn't know I had such talented friends.

The spread =) I had a 'key to my heart' tree as the grand centerpiece. =) The large white tree you can purchase at Save on Crafts. I buy a lot of stuff from them. They have great service, great products, & great prices. I cut hearts out of scrapbook paper and hole punched one hole so I could hang them. I also found skeleton keys in Michael's dollar section. I just changed out the different colored ribbons and hung them from the branches as well. =)

Fruit Salad (recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 pint strawberries- cleaned, hulled & sliced

1 pound seedless grapes, halved

3 kiwis, peeled & sliced

3 bananas, sliced

1 (21 ounce) can peach pie filling

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the strawberries, grapes, kiwis, & bananas. Gently mix in peach. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

 I made sugar cookies & snickerdoodles with dove chocolates pressed in the middles. I actually got the idea from Betty Crocker, but one of my guests is allergic to peanut butter. I was trying to think of an alternative and I thought of snickerdoodles!

Snickerdoodles (recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter, vanilla & eggs. Mix well.

3. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda & salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet. (If adding chocolates: Have chocolates unwrapped and ready. Press into cookie immediately after removing from oven. Remove from cookie sheet & let cookies completely cool before stacking)

 I LOVE this candy dish. I found the glass heart dish and candle stick at the Dollar Tree. I got my inspiration from Eighteen25. She makes her own candy dishes & gives them as gifts...genius! 

My sister usually makes these...and I LOVE them. I decided to make them for my party. I also made buffalo chicken wontons...which everyone LOVES!!! You just can't get enough of them! My husband even likes them and he doesn't like anything that's too spicy. You will need wonton wrappers, but you can use eggroll wrappers you just have to cut them in fourths.

Asian Chicken Wontons (Pampered Chef Recipe)
Ingredients
24 square wonton wrappers
1 can (5 ounces) chunk white chicken, drained & flaked (I used 2 cans)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian Seasoning Mix
1 1-inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot, pressed (if you have a garlic press you can use that)
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro (or parsley)


Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Press one wonton wrapper into each cup of a mini-muffin pan. Lightly spray wontons with vegetable oil. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges ar light golden brown; remove from oven. Remove baked wontons and let completely cool.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine chicken, mayonnaise, seasoning mix and pressed gingerroot & mix well. Chope water chestnuts. Grate carrot. Finely dice bell pepper. Snip fresh cilantro. Add water chestnuts, carrot, bell pepper and cilantro to batter bowl; mix well.
3. Using small scoop, fill each wonton cup with chicken mixture. Garnish with additional cilantro leave if desired.


Buffalo Chicken Wontons (recipe from FoxNews.com)
Ingredients

12 Oz of cooked chicken, diced (you can also use canned chicken)

3 Oz of blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 Cup wing sauce (mild or hot according to taste, I use Frank's RedHot Buffalo wing sauce)

1/2 Cup cream cheese, softened

24 wonton wrappers

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place chicken and blue cheese in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl mix together the softened cream cheese and hot wing sauce. Pour the chicken and blue cheese into this bowl and mix well.

3. Place one wonton wrapper in each mini-muffin pan opening. Press down.

4. Fill each wrapper ¾ of the way with the chicken mixture, top with more crumbled blue cheese if you wish.

5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the wrappers are golden brown.

 Mini vanilla cupcakes.

 Heart Bark!! I'm telling you this stuff is AMAZING!!

 I found the recipe on the blog Bake at 350...my mom was freaking out a little bit because my sprinkles didn't match Bake at 350's sprinkles. haahaa =) Regardless of my sprinkles matching the pictures or not...I think it probably tasted just as yummy. Seriously, this stuff was addicting. I gave the left-overs all away because I knew I'd eat it all.

 Whoopie pies....yum! =) Next year I want to try a recipe I found for heart shaped red velvet whoopie pies. They look delish! The blogger from Annie's Eats has great step-by-step directions on how to get your whoopie pies to be heart shaped. =)

I made conversation heart garland and hung it all over my mom & dad's house. =) I got my inspiration from Work in Progress Kits blog. Her garland is way cuter then mine. She made her hearts out of wood and painted them. I went the easy route. =)

 We had red punch and pink lemonade. My mom froze some cranberry juice and pink lemonade in the heart shaped molds I bought at Target. I also made my own conversation heart labels...inspiration from Catch my Party. She has the most adorable conversation heart Valentine party inspiration board! I forgot to take a picture of the cups =( But I had clear cups and white straws with red hearts on them! They were so cute!!!

Love's Red Punch (I don't remember where I found this recipe)

1 (46 ounce) bottle red punch (recommended: Hawaiian Punch)

1 (46 ounce) bottle apple juice

1 (48 ounce) bottle cranberry juice

1 (2 liter) bottle ginger ale

I found these heart shaped marshmallows and I had to have hot chocolate to go with them...which is my favorite!! =)

Oh, the heart table runner is wrapping paper I bought from the Target dollar section...I just adore Target's dollar section. There are some great things you can get there. Each person was to take a conversation heart favor. =) 

Maybe I've inspired you to do your own Valentine's Day party next year. Be sure to get plenty of help. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my mom & dad, husband, & niece's help. =) I love my family!! =)