"Late to the Party" is my middle name! My guests always walk in to a beautiful, calm, perfectly planned party but little do they know that 30 minutes before the party was madness! I decided self help was in order for my tardiness. I knew it was unlikely for me to start setting up any sooner than 30 minutes so I decided to start designing 30 minute parties and heck why not only spend $30. WHAT!!! Yup, I said $30! I am sharing with you my resources for keeping your budget under $30 and throwing a picture perfect party that you can set up for in 30 minutes. I will be sharing a series of 30 Minute 30 Dollar parties over the next few months! I am kicking it off with a party for the big game this weekend!
The key to a 30 minute 30 Dollar party is to utilize things you have it at home, be resourcefull when shopping and multi-task quickly!
Shopping List from the Dollar Store ($19):
- Peanut Butter
- Pretzels
- Pasta
- Italian Dressing
- Salsa
- Chips
- Popcorn
- Decorative Tape
- Construction Paper
- Cocktail Napkins
- Paper Plates
- Big Plastic Cups
- Small Plastic Cups
- Utensils
- Tissue Paper
- Grapefruit Juice
- Guava Juice
- Lemon Lime Soda
- Marshmallows
Shopping List for Grocery Store ($10.92):
- Green Pepper
- Red Pepper
- Cream Cheese
- Milk Chocolate Morsels
- Cauliflower
I had the following items at home:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Stackable deflecto Organizer from my Office
- 8x10 Frame
- Glass Bowl
- 2 Silver Buckets
- White Dish
- Kraft Paper
- Football
- Markers
- Bourbon
- Drink Pitcher
- Glue Stick
- 2 Dowels
- Pipe Cleaners
- Tooth Picks
Party Food - Designed for 8 People
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Football Dip: Using a mixer mix together 1 cup of peanut butter, 8 ounces of cream cheeses (cut a small smidge off the blog and set aside) and 2 tablespoons milk chocolate. Use your hands to fom a football. Push chocolate chips all over the football. Pipe the left over cream cheese to make the strings.
Pasta Salad Shots (Pasta, Italian Dressing, Cauliflower, Red & Green Peppers, Salt, Pepper)
Chips & salsa
Popcorn Balls: The left over chocolate morsels from the football dip with 1/4 cup marshmallows. Mix into popcorn and form popcorn balls with your hands.
Touch Down Punch - I designed a punch that could work for bourbon, vodka, gin and tequila. Bascially anything you already have on hand. Mix together 10 ounces of Alcohol, 1 Can Guava juice, 10 Ounces Grapefruit Juice, 1/2 Can of Lemon Lime Soda. I used my favorite bourbon, J.R. Revelry that I always on hand!
Decorations: I utilized tissue paper to stuff vases and the food containers. I lined the table with kraft paper and wrote the party food names on it with marker. I created a simple sign on a piece of white card stock with regular fat markers. I decorated the cups and plates with decorative tape. I made cut out footballs and goal posts and glued them to the tooth picks. I also used the construction paper to cut out larger items like a jersey and a football.
I took the Deflecto cube organizer that I had in my office and added construction paper to the sides and cut out a goal post and football. I attached the items with double sided tape. I used it to display the utensils and straws.
The key to getting this done in 30 minutes is to mult-task. While I was waiting for the pasta to boil, I cut the vegetables, mixed up the peanut butter dip and and prepped it (10 minutes). While the pasta was cooking, I put my chocolate and marshmallows on the stove to melt, I cut out my construction paper decorations, prepped the food containers and mixed up the punch (10 minutes). For the next 5 minutes I drained the pasta, mixed it with dressing and vegetables, mixed up the popcorn with the melted chocolate and marshmallows, plated the salsa and chips. For the next 5 minutes I set the table and wrote the sign. BOOM 30 Minutes to the perfect party!
xoxo- Happy Partying!
LL