At Easy Peasy we aim to PLEASE-Y!

I know Pleasy-er is not a real word, but it sounded good....or at least I like to think so.

Since my posts are very verbose I try to make sure I'm don't add too many pictures and make them seem even longer. I have, however, had lots of requests via email and Facebook messages to show more pictures. So to make things more PLEASURABLE for my lovely followers...drum roll....

 

EASY PEASY EVENTS NOW HAS A SECOND PAGE AVAILABLE CALLED PHOTOS!!! 

Be sure to check out the tabs at the top of the page. There is one titled HOME this is the one you are currently on with all my periodic posts. The one on the right is titled PHOTOS! CLICK ON IT and it will take you to a gallery of slideshows of pics you might enjoy.

Please keep in mind that although I may periodically share photos of ideas from online or from friends in my posts, the ONLY pics that will make it to the PHOTOS page are events I have attended or hosted myself.

I would, however LOVE to feature your super cool events on a post if you have something you've hosted that turned out awesome. Shoot me a message and your original images and we will work something out!

Now since there wasn't really any cool info in this post here is a simple money saving tip for your brain:  Christmas is almost upon us. While some people still like to wrap up presents with paper there is a TON of people who love to use gift bags! For the party planner this is an awesome opportunity. Generally people don't keep the gift bags when everyone is done. I DO..And call me weird, but I keep the tissue paper too. Wanna know why? If the bags are plain I can reuse them for game prize bags at parties and showers, or if they are christmas style I can reuse next christmas. As for the tissue paper I flatten it out as best I can and use it to make tissue poms at numerous events!!  Enjoy!

THE IMPORTANCE OF AN RSVP

I have been helping host parties, weddings, and showers since my wedding in 2009. If I have learned ONE thing from all of them it's this: PEOPLE HARDLY EVER RSVP ANYMORE!

It drives me BATTY!!! (LOL-INSERT CUTE BAT PICTURE STOLEN FROM GOOGLE IMAGES HERE:)

photo credit thepartyanimal-blog.org

Herein lies the problem: Nobody has any idea how much food, drinks, tableware, thank yous, party favors or seating to have available when nobody RSVPS. I ran into this problem on the major side when I had my wedding. Both my husband and I have been blessed with HUGE families. All very fun, entertaining, loving, and wonderful people. We also are both pretty big social butterflies and have always had a large group of friends. Both of these are usually wonderful characteristics to have. Unless you are needing to feed, seat, and entertain a rather large number of them on your own dime. 

 

I have come to the conclusion that this is not something I can punish people for but I would like to start spreading the word that it is SO MUCH MORE POLITE to rsvp to an event. It literally takes 1 minute to complete and can save the hosts a TON of money, time, and effort to make your attendance at the event more enjoyable.

 

Im curious.... Have any of you had an issue with RSVPs? I would love to hear your stories via comments below so I know I'm not the only one.

 

Follow THIS LINK for tips on how to figure up a relatively close guess on attendance for a wedding event without relying solely on RSVP response.

 

 

Ladies Night In Part Two- The How To!

Photo Credit to Women of Google+

Ok so we've talked about what you wanna do, now let's talk about HOW to do it! Here is the RECIPE of how I generally host my Ladies Night In. You can tweak it to what suits your group best.


INGREDIENTS

Invites:

Generally since I'm cheap I stick with a healthy combination of Facebook invites and mass text messaging (for those who refuse to get/keep Facebook pages). I include all the info in the email about childcare, food, drinks, location, start time and end time, and I make sure to encourage the ladies to bring friends. There are only 2 rules that are not to be broken under and circumstances:

 

#1.Absolutely, positively NO MEN ALLOWED. Even MY own husband is kicked out of the house for the whole evening until the last woman leaves. If for some reason he cannot stay gone he is confined to our bedroom for the remainder of the evening. Generally, you're not going to have a hard time convincing your hubby to stay away from a house filled with 20 women.

 

#2. Absolutely, positively NO DRIVING HOME DRUNK. Be sure to have PLENTY of non alcoholic drinks available. In most cases your Ladies Night In is going to be serving the purpose of allowing some much needed socializing and the opportunity to try a few drinks they enjoy or havent had before. If binge drinking is the sole purpose of your party, then I suggest finding ideas elsewhere, becuase this is not the right recipe for your kind of party.

 

Childcare:

The one thing I always make sure to have on hand no matter how many ladies plan on attending is a responsible babysitter and a very SOLID BACK UP BABYSITTER just incase. HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU CHARGE? Make sure when you have the ladies RSVP you ask for a head count of how many kids they are bringing. I generally figure in that on average I have about 10 kids show up. So if I make a donation of $5 and then charge a minimum $2 donation for each kid that sitter is for sure going to make at least $25 and all they have to do is watch the kids tear up my kid's bedroom for a couple hours without hurting themselves. Generally since I call it a donation a few of the moms who can afford to chip in a little more. Some do/ Some don't. I also make sure near the end of the party to go upstairs and make an announcement to the kids that if all the toys that they got out are put away within 15 minutes I have cupcakes and punch for everyone downstairs. THIS HAS YET TO FAIL ME. Why should I be left cleaning it all up the next day by myself when 10 kids can be bribed to do it with cupcakes in a fourth of the time?!??!

 

Food & Beverages

On the invite I request that each lady bring some sort of appetizer of their choice and to RSVP with the appetizer so we don't end up with 23 different crackers and dip combos (this happened at the first one...lesson learned). One thing I have learned is this gives alot of my friends the opportunity to try out one of those 6,437 recipes they have pinned on their Pinterest Page LOL! I also make sure to include on the Invite to bring a tupperware container, as we always have a ton of leftovers. And this way if they didnt have time (or stomach room) to try everything, they could try some later in the comfort of their own home! Not to mention it gives me the opportunity to use those cool serving trays I got from my wedding registry that I never use otherwise!

 

Entertainment:

I won't go into a lot of detail on this one but some people will entertain themselves with socializing at the food and drink table, some people will want to play games, some may want to watch a movie.... Ultimately the best part about a ladies night in is that you can do all of these at once if you wanted! Or if you are like me and plan on hosting one each month you could take suggestions each month and let your guests vote by a certain date. The possibilities are endless on this section.

 

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in any size home and see what you can cook up with these EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY LADIES NIGHT TIPS!

Ladies Night In Part One!

So you're a super busy lady who loves to spend time with your family, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to take a night every once in a while to just spend some time with just your girlfriends having a glass of whine and some yummy foods without going through the hassel of finding a babysitter?

You know you want to... but HOW???? It's so much work and so expensive to find a sitter for that long, not to mention getting your friends to be able to find sitters as well. And don't even get me started with the costs of going out and buying a few drinks and a meal!

At the beginning of this last year I felt this exact way and decided to do something about it. I love hosting parties, but as I've noted before I don't usually have the wallet for it, if you know what I mean. So finally I cam up with LADIES NIGHT IN! It's pretty easy and only leaves a small crack in my wallet compared to the canyon a normal night out with the ladies might entail.

So..... I bet the question you're just dying to ask is how much does it cost? Well there are 3 different answers I'm going to give you....

Example 1:

 If for some reason I don't have many people show up and I have to pay for the sitter more than normal I pay the sitter $20, spend $5 on an appetizer and maybe $12 on a CHEAP bottle of wine. Total:$37 Which for me seems like the same amount I would spend to get a sitter, go out for a meal, and some drinks in town.

Example 2:

On a normal Ladies Night In: I make a $5 donation to the sitter since I have 2 kids and the average charge is $2 per kid, I do not end up making an appetizer since we have so many already, and buy a cheap bottle of wine for $12. Total: $17

Example 3:

 On a REALLY packed Ladies Night In (like the one where almost 30 women came and went: I didnt have to make a donation for the sitter because she had already made $50, I didnt have room to make and appetizer or need to put out the bottle of wine I purchased AND got to keep a TON of leftovers because nobody had tupperware to take any home in. So basically I just got alot of free food and good memories for providing a location and the invite! ;)

 Check out my next post for the steps on how I make all this happen, but first here is a map of a location in Topeka where you can host a Ladies Night if you don't have the space to have it at your own house but instead of everyone bringing a $5 appetizer have everyone pitch in $10 toward the catering and drinks. The only downside is that now you still have to find a sitter. Perhaps hire one sitter with donations like before and everyone can carpool together to your destination. I have also hosted a shower and a couple birthday parties at this location:

View My Saved Places in a larger map

COLOR ME FUN! KIDS RAINBOW PARTY

Ask and you shall receive! I have had a few personal requests  from people wanting ideas if you have a large group of young kids and a very small budget. I can't think of a better way to keep kids busy and happy, and both your mind and your wallet sane as well than to host a Rainbow Color Party!!!!

Here are some cute and budget friendly ways to get the kids involved and keep them entertained without using a ton of things you might not already have at your house to begin with.


                 

 

 

 All photos used were found on Pinterest

 

Expand the slideshow and select the option show info if you would like a short description for each item. If you want more info on each of the photos in the slideshow click here to visit my bday party ideas board on Pinterest and you can find them all there.

 

Remember kids are easy to entertain as long as they know you are having fun too!!!! You don't have to spend a ton of money or a ton of time planning extravagant events. With a little creativity and a lot of fun your next large group of kids play date can go EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY!



AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS (About an AWESOMELY cute baby shower that is!)

This week we are FINALLY gonna get to see a simple but C-U-T-E baby girl shower idea! Sorry for the delay, but here it is!

This mommy to be is expecting a baby girl, and what cuter way to decorate the room of a little girl than with elephants!!! The hostesses of this shower decided to plan the theme of the baby shower around the baby's room decor! How cute!



Credit on all photos in this weeks post go to Taylor Bremer and family

 Here is a cute idea where the hostesses created a 'craftified' photo frame guest book using the invite to the shower and a sonogram photo and other craft items. The elephants in the back were created easily and within budget by using simple molding clay. Not only a cute decor item but something the mommy can take home to decorate baby's room with! Too cute!

 I think everyone knew that the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM was the fact that EVERYONE wanted to know what the inside of that cake tasted like!! Here those same little handmade elephants are used to be a topper on the cake!

Tableware can be found in  many places.... Personally I LOVE THE DOLLAR TREE! There are sooo many choices and they are ALL $1. But sometimes the best place to look is Walmart. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked into Walmart and right in the entry way is a cart of a certain design of tableware or party decor and nessessities on sale for 50 cents a peice. I stock up on the spot! Cuz you never know when you may need it... ALSO HERE'S MY LITTLE SECRET FOR YOU GUYS THIS WEEK: I keep everything after a shower I throw, and when I say everything I mean pretty much everything. If there are tableware that is unused it's mine. Gift bags from the mama to be that have been opened and she doesnt want to keep or use, tissue paper, serving trays confettie table decor (if your not using them as favors) . Tablecloths? Wipe 'em off and fold them up.  Because stuff like this will come in handy with one of my next posts!!!

Until next time I hope your keeping all your event planning EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY!

Special Announcement- United Way Campaign Up and Running

Baby Girl Shower Ideas postponed for next week... :(

Sorry to disappoint but my friend who had the baby shower pics and info had a slight delay in getting me her pictures and feedback on how her shower went. And since I only want to deliver the BEST to you (3) loyal followers I'm not going to just copy and paste some random shower pics for you. So instead I'm going to share some info on an upcoming event here in Topeka that I am involved in.

During the month of October, the bank I work at, Silver Lake Bank is hosting it's United Way Campaign. I just happen to be the campaign coordinator along with my co worker Rebecca Cornell. In an attempt to raise funds for the United Way we have some cool loot to raffle off. This year we have a Grill, two chairs, 6 jars of make your own BBQ sauce, and a $10 gift certificate to Boss Hawgs BBQ up for Raffle! The grill and chairs were provided by The Home Depot, make your own sauce kits donated by Buffalo Wild Wings, and I think you can guess where the gift certificate came from. ;) The grill folds up nicely and travels well for all you tailgators out there!  Raffle Tickets will be $2 a piece or 6 for $5. You can purchase tickets at any Silver Lake Bank location beginning October 8th or through me on my blog or via my work email mmking@silverlakebank.com.

The next little tidbit of info is to watch the WIBW evening news on November 1st! I will be hosting our SLB Bank Olympics starting at 5pm. You'll see bank employees participating in tricycle races, balloon darts, blindfolded excercises and obstacle courses. Last year if you were lucky enough to catch it they ended up duck taping me to a wall to raise more money for the United Way.

If you don't know who the United Way is or what they stand for check out their website United Way Greater Topeka or their video below. There are ample opportunities to volunteer or donate to the United Way. 

Let me know if you want more info on our upcoming campaign or to purchase Raffle Tickets!

 

Until next time I hope you will remember that helping your community can be EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY just like planning events can be!