CHRISTMAS PENGUIN PARTY

Most of you know I'm a Girl Scout leader.  I love it.  I have the best group of girls.  They are all so fun and well behaved.

At our next meeting we are going to have our Christmas party.  Evey year we have a different theme. 

This year our theme is Christmas penguins.  I've been collecting things for this party for a year now.  Last year I already knew what I wanted to do. 

The good thing about planning early is you can stock up and buy things when you find them and you are not out rushing around trying to find stuff. 

The bad thing about planning early was, I now have more girls then I did last year.  So, I had not bought enough.  That meant I was out driving around town trying to find more of things I bought before.

Well, that didn't always work because some of the things were no longer sold in the stores.  I finally had to accept that I could either buy all new items or I could buy other items and the girls could end up with slightly different things.  Which is what I did.

It all started when I was at a thrift store last year and found the Christmas Penguin cookie jar.  I thought that would be a cute start for the table center piece.  Then I found the plates and napkins on line.  They were discontinues so I got a great deal. 

The little toys, candy and note books I found at Michael's this year.  I love the little packs of tissue.

The little stuffed animals came from Target.  The cute slipper socks were a real find at Big Lots.  I should have gotten me a pair.  What was I thinking?

I got the little penguin bowl at the Dollar Tree and the little foil wrapped pigeons at Target.

Every year I get the girls an ornament and write on the back the year and Girl Scouts so they will remember the theme of our party.  I got the ornaments at Michael's also.

The darling little snow globes came from Dollar Tree.  I bought them last year and then I was so lucky that they sold them again this year so I could get all the girls the same one.  I'll use these on the table and they can take them home afterwards.

We will do crafts, have dinner, do a gift exchange and have a lot of fun.  I'm looking forward to it. 

GINGERBREAD PARTY ON A SMALL BUDGET

This year I threw a Gingerbread Christmas party for my Girl Scout Troop. While it was really just for the girls, I also invited the parents and one of the girls little brother to join us.

I had their Christmas presents lined up for them. I found really cute Gingerbread house bags to put the gifts in. Perfect!

I also got them each this darling little Smore kits. After all when you think of Girl Scouts you also think of making Smores!

Plus, I fell in love with the little felt bags the kits came in. They had a gingerbread boy and a gingerbread girl making the Smores.

I got these at Walmart for only $5.00 each.

The theme was picked last December. My two sisters always take a trip to Vegas around Christmas time and they made a stop at the Williams Sonoma's Outlet.

They found these darling little gingerbread plates and cups. I knew as soon as I saw them I wanted to use them for a gingerbread theme tablescape.

I wasn't a Girl Scout leader yet so I just thought I would have a few of Trinity's friends over and we would have a lunch and make Gingerbread Houses.

I found these sweet little Gingerbread figures at the Dollar Tree. I grabbed them right up because I knew they would go fast. They each were a little different. I just added the kids names and used a glue dot to hold the name. Instant place card holders and also an extra little take home gift for them.

Last year I found these napkin ring holders. I couldn't pass them up, knowing what my theme was. They were only 25 cents each!

I found the red tablecloth at Big Lots. I have some nice red tablecloths but this was only $3.00 and so I figured if this one got stained I wouldn't mind.

After I opened the package I was very surprised to find it was a very nice tablecloth that I would use often.

The centerpiece is a Gingerbread House cookie jar. I found it months and months ago at Goodwill. It was only a few dollars. I also found the gingerbread man sugar shaker there.

The brown big plates were given to me by my sister, Maureen. She found them in the clearance section at Target months ago. She is always on the look out for bargins for my theme parties and luncheons.



Here is a better look at my Goodwill finds.

These darling chair covers came from the 99 cent store. My sister Maureen also found these for me.

The kids each got to take their chair cover home too.

They all sat down and ate lunch first. Once again, provided by my sister, Maureen.

Then I gave them all the gingerbread aprons I made them. Here Trinity is modeling it for us.

I wasn't expecting the little boy to be joining us and by the time I found out I didn't have enough time to make him a gingerbread apron too. So, he got his own special Christmas penguin one. He loved it.

It came from the 99 cent store too.

The kids all got their own gingerbread house to decorate. I just bought the kits and put them together for them the night before so they would be dry and easy for them to decorate.



I had tons and tons of candy for them to use. Some came from the kits (that I got 40% off with a coupon at Michaels), some I had left over from Halloween, some I just bought and some my sister brought with her.

Even though the kids were decorating the houses, some of the parents couldn't help but get in there and do a bit of the decorating too.

I told them that next year I'll be sure to get them their own gingerbread houses to decorate. It became the running joke.

Lots of candy was eaten, lots was spilled on the floor but, most ended up going on the houses.

It was fun to watch the kids decorate their own houses. Adding a bit here and there, until it was just as they wanted.

Each Gingerbread House was so different. Each one made me smile.

After they finished decorating their houses, we all went out to the living room and did our Christmas gift exchanges. The girls each drew names. I gave gifts to all of them. I was so surprised they all gave me gifts too!

The parents were not left out either. I gave them all a few jars of jam that I had made and wrapped in celobags with bright red bows.

We then had Christmas decorated cupcakes that my Co-Leader brought for dessert. Yum!

After playing awhile, it was time for the kids to leave.

We all had a fun time. It came out great and by planning way ahead of time I was able to pull it all off on a very low budget!

I'm already working on next years party. We are going to have a Christmas penguin theme. Can't wait to hit up the after Christmas sales now.

GINGERBREAD APRON

I'm going to be throwing a Gingerbread theme party for my Girl Scout Troop this year. They know we are having a Christmas party but have no idea what we will be doing or what everything will look like.

I started getting ready for it tonight by making them aprons that look like Gingerbread Men.

I thought that since the girls were going to be decorating their own Gingerbread Houses, they needed to wear aprons.

These little cheerful guys were quick and easy to make.

I'm going to have everything in Gingerbread theme for them. The tablescape, the goodie bags, the treats inside the goodie bags, the crafts and of course the Gingerbread Houses.

I think the girls will look super cute in these aprons. I hope they like them as much as I do.

I think I get more excited planning the parties then the kids do going to them. I've been planning this Christmas party for months.

Now that I'm done planning this party, I've already moved on to start planning for next year's Christmas party. I know, I'm strange that way.

I'm linking up to Show and Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home. This is the first time I've joined in the fun there. If you have not stopped by, please do so. You will find all sorts of fun, new blogs and a few old friends, showing all sorts of different things.