Minecraft Party, Amazeballs! A grownup version of a fun kids party!

The party for J's birthday was amazeballs!  Everyone had an awesome time, J couldn't stop thanking me for planning such a great party.  It did help a lot that the guests were fun and not party poopers.  They were all willing to participate in the games and trivia. 

I am still getting used to the hosting/blogging/party thing so I didn't get pics of EVERYTHING.  I was the one running the games, etc so I didn't get any pics of us actually playing them (boourns will try to do better next time!).  I didn't get any pics of the food either.  Didn't hear any complaints about the food though.  I fixed some spinach dip, ranch dip, and veggies/chips.  I whipped up a quick Nutella dip with just Nutella and Greek yogurt.  It disappeared very fast!  I made some kielbasa in the crockpot, and used the Ah-So sauce my room mate brought back from Boston.  It is a sweet red sauce that also tastes of soy sauce (to me anyway).  The fun part is that is has A LOT of red food dye in it, and turns whatever you coat in it a bright red color.  I'm sure its SUPER healthy. 
J made a really yummy queso using the ghost pepper cheese I had gotten him at Costco.  He used the ghost pepper cheese sparingly (thankfully!) and added a bit of the sweet potato syrup we got in Alabama.  It had a nice flavor and a nice little kick of spice as an aftertaste.  It just dawned on me that must be why they are called ghost peppers, because the heat doesn't come until after you eat it.  Instead of a cake, we had dark chocolate brownies with a cream cheese/matcha powder frosting (the matcha powder made it a nice green color).  They were supposed to look sort of like land blocks. 
We even had a couple of drinks that were Minecraft themed!  I got the recipes from this site the drunken moogle.  We made the Enderman and the Cake.  I had some 3 Olives cake vodka, and it was so popular that the bottle was emptied! 

Ok so enough TLDR here are some pictures now to illustrate what I was able to pull off (next year I really need to do a handmade pinata. 

Oh I didn't take any pictures of us doing the trivia game.  I just did some Googling and after searching 4 or 5 different sites found a bunch of questions that I liked.  I didn't want to try and do Minecraft specific questions because I knew not everyone attending played Minecraft.  I chose general video game questions that I felt your average player would know.  I think there ended up being about 23 questions, as I cut some out last minute because they were the same answers as previous questions.  The top 3 with the highest correct answers won a prize.   

So now for realz here are the pics.  The next game was Creeper Bowling!

I used empty Mt Dew bottles with faces drawn on with just a big permanent marker.  Last minute I decided to make it more fun when i saw the different colors of the tops of the bottles.  I added values of 100 for orange tops, 200 for green tops, and 300 for the one yellow top.  Then I added a little bit of water to the 100 point bottles, then slightly more water for the 200, and then the 300 point bottle had the most water.  It made for a nice challenge.  I again chose the top 3 for prizes.

The next game we did was my version of pin the tail on the donkey.  But instead of a donkey it is a Creeper, and instead of a tail, it is his eyes and mouth. 

I do regret not taking pictures of some of the ways people put his parts on.  This game ended up not being very challenging, but by the time we played it half of the party was pretty tipsy, so everyone still laughed a lot and enjoyed it.  I even got in on this game, and was able to easily put the face on. 

By this time everyone had mostly gotten a prize, and there were still quite a few left.  Since this game was so easy I just let everyone who hadn't already pick a prize, do so.  And then just hand out the rest to whomever wanted some.  I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough prizes, so I might have went overboard.  I had so much fun coming up with prizes that I thought people would actually use and enjoy. 

Sorry in advance if this group of pics is to busy with all the font.

I tried to make it not just a Creeper focused party, but after talking to James he said that it WAS the most recognizable and popular character from Minecraft.  So most of the prizes were Creeper themed, but it is pretty easy to get that design on things.  I also wanted to try and make something that was a little more girly, because it wasn't just guys at the party.  Hence the granny square necklaces.  These are just so adorable to me anyway, and I love how easy they are to make. 

The last activity was a photo booth!

I hummed and hawed over this for a good 15 min while walking around the store shopping, but in the end I was SO glad that I got it.  I made an oops by hanging the background to high....but whatevs.  This is where your guests make a huge difference in if this will be successful, or not.  Luckily, everyone in attendance totally embraced the idea, and all the little extras included were passed around jovially.  This was another reason I was glad to just buy this photo booth instead of trying to make my own. As you can see in the group shot, there were a lot of fun items you could hold.  We got a good dozen or so shots.  We did couples, and all girls, and then all guys, and some solo shots. 

We even tried to get Virgil in the on the photo booth fun!

Whew!  That covers all the highlights of this amazing party.  I got so much positive response and was happy that I was able to pull everything off.  I wanted to make J's party just as awesome as he had made mine.  We are both kids at heart, and I wanted to make it something memorable for him and his friends.  I had a blast being the host, although I don't like being a quiz master.  It is to dang hard having to decide just how specific the answer has to be in order to be correct! Ha!

<3 Nik

P.S.  Here is the Pinterest board I made for inspiration.  I hope it can inspire you like it did me!
        J's Birthday Ideas

P.S.S. I haven't included the gift I made for J, that is going to get its own post VERY soon.  I accidentally discovered something that makes this gift EXTRA awesome, so it needs to showcased for its own Ohhhs and Awwws. 

A rad party for the raddest guy ever! Love you lots and lots!

Minecraft birthday teaser

I'm so excited for J's party tomorrow! I was able to pull off almost everything I wanted to. I didn't get a piñata made. And I only have 1/2 of his gift completed. Technically though his birthday is on the 31st so I could always wait to give it to him till then. I am going to surprise him and I got his birthday off from work- he doesn't know yet.

Anycrap here is a preview of his gift. Just wait till you see all the rad prizes I made and the fun games, even a photo booth!

I hope all the guests love this party.

Virgil practices food control

Here is a short video, taken by me while trying to feed the new pup, Virgil.  So please forgive that it isn't superstar quality video.  But here is my little man showing off his skills.  He has already learned sit, down, food control, door control (he is best at this), as well as up/off, drop it, touch, and doggie pushups.  He is by no means a master of obedience, but he sure is on the right track!

And just for extra awwwwws here is an adorable video of my older dog playing with Virgil about 2 weeks after I got him.

<3 Nik

One more Minecraft granny square

Just one more for party prizes. This one is inspired by land blocks.

I got green t-shirts today to make with Creeper faces on them. I even found a green lunch bag I can use fabric paint on!

And I had a huge lightbulb moment today while at Michael's. My room mate lives on Mt. Dew and we have lots of 2 liter bottles in the recycling bin. They are the perfect Creeper color! I'm going to fill they part way with water and make a bowling game. Score!

Anycrap, enjoy the last granny square.

More tiny grannies inspired by Minecraft

In preparing for James' birthday party, I wanted to make things that ladies would enjoy but that still followed the Minecraft theme.

Here are two granny squares I made, the top one being inspired by a Creeper, and the bottom being inspired by an Enderman. I have never played Minecraft, but I know these are both characters to be feared.

These will be given chains and worn as necklaces. Prizes yet to be won. Traditional granny square pattern was used.

I finally got me a puppy! (and crochet bunting cuteness)

I haven't been crocheting or crafting much lately.  I got myself a puppy,  and he is a lot like having a baby.  I have been working closely with my boss at the dog trainers to make sure that I raise a well adjusted pibble to be another ambassador for the breed.  This means that when he is not in his kennel, he is on a leash and that leash is attached to me in one form or another (you should see me with the handle around my ankle pulling him along while I try to get chores done).  It's a lot of work, but I haven't lost anything to a puppy wandering off and chewing something. 

So without further ado....

Is he not the cutest thing on the planet?  He is about 9 weeks old give or take right now.  He already knows how to sit, down, watch me, practices door control, and food control.  He isn't perfect at anything right now, it usually takes a few times of repeating the command, but he knows how to do it.  I am wrapped around his adorable little paw, and he knows it. 

At least I have a good excuse for not creating a lot of anything.  I am trying to create a great dog.  He is currently passed out next to me, reenergizing his batteries.

I did however, use something intended for yarnbombing day, that I never had a chance to hang up anywhere.  I was playing around with my new tiny crochet hooks I used in the granny square post, and made a tiny crocheted bunting.  I definitely want to make some more, and you probably will too when you see what I did with it!

How radical is that?  It is so easy and once you crochet it, I bet you have everything else already to make your own!  I used this easy pattern, from the always inspiring attic24.  I believe I also linked her basic granny pattern in my granny square post. 

Then I just cut some bamboo skewers so they had a slit in through the middle, and stuck the string in it.  If you look up at the top of the skewer on the right you should be able to see how I did it.  Super. Easy.

I have James' birthday party to get all ready for in 12 days.  Crunch time, and my usual procrastinator self has 0 done so far, other than a Pinterest board and lots of good intentions. 

Wish me luck!
Nik