Simple Holiday Movie Night

Holiday movie nights are perfect for celebrating Christmas with family and friends. All you need is a good movie and a few simple movie-themed snacks and decorations. 

First, you'll need a good Christmas movie. This checklist contains 15 of my favourites. For older audiences, Die Hard, Love Actually, and The Holiday are wonderful choices.

Then, you'll need some great movie snacks. You can go with a red and green colour scheme or get inspiration from the movie. For Elf, I set up an "elf food group" candy bar. I had: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.

A cookie bar is another fun idea. You can fill it with homemade goodies, but store bought cookies are impressive too.

And don't forget to add a bit of movie-themed decor. I made a fun tiered tray for our Elf movie night using dollar store supplies. Cute, right?!?

You can see how I made it here...

Are you planning a holiday movie night this year? It's definitely an easy, inexpensive and fun way to celebrate with family and friends.

♥

Gina Bell

(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You might also be interested in the holiday celebration ideas here.

Thanksgiving Party Favours

Every party needs a good gift for guests to take home, and I am in love with these adorable Thanksgiving party favours. Today, I'm sharing an option for adults, something for the kids, and FREE printable tags. Fun, right?!?!

Both of these favours start out with a fantastic seasonal cookie recipe. These soft and chewy ginger cookies, smell great and taste delicious. You can find the recipe here.

After the cookies have cooled, you can put them in a clear cellophane bag, and add the cute tag I designed. Click on the photo below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 4x6 photo.

Trim it to look like a gift tag, and tie it to a bag of cookies.

These really are the sweetest little "take away" for your adult Thanksgiving guests.

For the kids, why not make these adorable turkey cookies. Put one of the ginger cookies in a bag, tape a faux Fall leave to the back, add a cardstock beak and wattle, and glue on some large googly eyes.

That's it! What kid wouldn't love taking one of these sweet cookies home after Thanksgiving dinner.

These Thanksgiving party favours are perfect for small dinners and large gatherings... and they are easy and inexpensive to make.

What do you think of these Thanksgiving party favours? Do you think you will share these tasty treats with your guests this year?

♥

Gina Bell

(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You might also be interested in the holiday celebration ideas here.

Simple Easter "Bunny Bar"... with free printable sign

Putting together a self-serve "Bunny Bar" is an excellent Easter entertaining idea. It's simple, inexpensive, and fun! Below, I'm sharing recipes, DIYs, and a free printable sign... that are guaranteed to let you impress your guests (with very little effort). 

The best thing about a bunny bar, is that you can use whatever you want. And, the free sign I designed will help you pull all the elements together. I printed mine at my local photo lab, and I popped it in a $2 frame from the Dollar Store.

To download the sign I designed: click on the picture below, right-click, save it to your computer, and print it like a regular 8x10 photo.

One option for setting up your bunny bar is to include hot chocolate, bunny tails (mini marshmallows), and bunny kisses (chocolate kisses).

Homemade cookies are a wonderful addition too. These "bird nest cookies" are my all time favourite Easter treat. You can check out the recipe here.

Another option is to embellish dollar store jars and add Easter treats. Below, I filled jars with cookies, marshmallows, hot chocolate, candy coated chocolate mini eggs, and chocolate carrots.

For example, I hot glued some ribbon around the mouth of a jar, hot glued a dollar store plastic bunny to the top, and filled it with foiled covered carrots. Isn't it sweet?

A hot chocolate bar is an excellent addition to any Easter celebration... small or large. And I encourage you to try out a few Easter DIYs to add to your display. Let me know how it goes, and Happy Easter!

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You can find more easy and inexpensive ideas for celebrating Easter here.

DIY St.Patrick's Day Hot Chocolate Bar... using dollar store supplies

Who doesn't love a simple holiday celebration? And setting up a hot chocolate bar is the perfect way to add some fun to a St.Patrick's Day party... or a day at home with family. To set up an easy and inexpensive St. Patrick's Day hot chocolate bar, all you need are a few dollar store supplies, and the information below.

I had a bunch of empty mason jars. Then, I picked up: a dollar store shamrock necklace, black paint, gold chocolate coins, and Skittles.

I decided that I needed a "pot of gold", so I painted a small mason jar black.

Then, I cut up the St.Patrick's Day necklace. I used hot glue to attach one of the Shamrocks to the front of the black pot, and I set the others aside to be used later.

I filled the finished "pot of gold" with chocolate gold coins. Cute, right? I absolutely love how it turned out!

Then, I grabbed the mason jars (I already had), and added: cookies, mini marshmallows, rainbow covered Skittles, and hot chocolate mix. I attached the charms I made using the dollar store necklace... and voila! I absolutely LOVE how it turned it. 

It is festive and fun... and it was super easy and inexpensive to put together.

I hope I've inspired you to put a simple St. Patrick's Day hot chocolate bar together for your family and friends. It really is a super easy project, and its lots of fun.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

You might also be interested in these fun ideas.

DIY Valentine's Day Hot Chocolate Bar

Little DIY details are what make holiday celebrations special... and hot chocolate bars are a wonderful way to add a little fun to a party. They are also fantastic for quiet get togethers at home with family and friends. Today, I'm sharing how EASY it is to create a DIY Valentine's Day Hot Chocolate Bar using simple (and cheap!) dollar store supplies.

I started by repurposing some mason jars that I used to make a hot chocolate bar at Christmas.

Then, I headed to the dollar store to pick up a few inexpensive supplies. I purchased: red mugs with heart-shaped handles, heart-shaped dishes for candy and chocolates, heart-shaped felt embellishments to replace the bells on the mason jars, and wafer cookies.

I filled the jars, attached the heart-shaped embellishments with twine, filled the dishes with chocolates, and made some hot chocolate. Cute, right?

You can leave the hot chocolate bar plain...

Or you can add some handcrafted decor to your display to make it a little more special.

I wrapped a milk bottle in twine (securing periodically with hot glue) to create a vase, and I filled the vase with pom poms and cardboard hearts covered with yarn.

I also made an adorable gnome from dollar store socks and a dollar store mop. You can find the full step by step tutorial for the gnome here.

A hot chocolate bar is an excellent addition to any Valentine's Day celebration... small or large. And I encourage you to try out a few Valentine's Day crafts to add to your display. Let me know how it goes, and Happy Valentine's Day!

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

If you are looking for more Valentine's Day inspiration, check out more than 30 Valentine's Day ideas here.

Party Prize Punches

Several years ago, I created a simple DIY party prize punch. My goal was to create a fun way to distribute hockey cards at my son's birthday party, so I headed to the dollar store and purchased some supplies. I made a fantastic prize punch with: a piece of foam core, plastic cups, tissue paper, and a glue gun. Since my first creation, I have made many different versions for all my boys' subsequent parties. Today, I am sharing everything you need to know to make your own prize punch... and trust me... if you can work a glue gun, you can totally make this DIY party game.

To make a party prize punch:

1) Fill plastic cups with prizes. 

2) Cut squares of tissue paper slightly larger than a plastic cup.

3) Use a glue gun to make a ring around the top edge of the cup, and quickly seal the tissue paper over the top of the cup. Repeat for all the cups.

4) Use hot glue to attach the base of the cups to a piece of foam core.

The best thing about prize punches is that you can fill them with whatever you want. My first prize punch was filled with hockey cards. I've also used mini chocolate bars, coins, candy, and dollar store trinkets.

You can also make prize punches in different shapes and designs. I made a pumpkin for Halloween and a heart for Valentine's Day. You could also make a Shamrock for St.Patrick's Day, an egg for Easter or a tree for Christmas.

You can also make them coordinate with any party colour scheme. I've also coordinated them with sports team colours and made them to match NERF gun bullets.

Usually the party guests just poke through the tissue paper, but you can be creative. For our carnival party kids threw bouncy balls, and at our NERF party guests had to shoot through the tissue paper.

Party prize punches really are easy and inexpensive to make, they add a custom detail to a DIY party, and they are a lot of fun. Give one a try at your next party. I guarantee that if you can work a glue gun, you can successfully create one using my step-by-step tutorial.

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)

HOLIDAY CELEBRATION tips, tricks, recipes and ideas

DIY details make holiday celebrations special and memorable. I love all things EASY and INEXPENSIVE, so today, I am sharing some of my best tips, tricks, recipes, and ideas for simple and fun holiday celebrations.

Click the links (below) for celebration info, activities, ideas, and recipes. (I've sorted everything by when the events occur in a calendar year.)

NEW YEAR'S EVE

VALENTINE'S DAY

ST.PATRICK'S DAY

EASTER

APRIL FOOL'S DAY

MOTHER'S DAY

FATHER'S DAY

CANADA DAY

THANKSGIVING

thanksgiving crafts

thanksgiving party favours

HALLOWEEN

CHRISTMAS

What is your favourite holiday? Don't forget to bookmark this post... or "pin" your favourite ideas so that you can find them easily when you are ready for your seasonal celebration!

♥

Gina Bell
(Mom and Amateur Party Planner)