Holiday Recap Part Deux-There's Been Another Murder and My 'Boyfriend' Turns 32!

Some of my friends and I planned a low-key dinner party for New Year's Eve (since a few of our friends were out of town and another one of them was 8 months pregnant aka probably not into club/bar hopping).  Then we decided that might be a little boring so we turned it in to another Murder Mystery Party.  You might remember the first one from here.  As long as you can get a group of people together who are willing to participate and dress up it can be a fun/entertaining night.  I purchased our Murder Mystery kit online at Night of Mystery.

So More Holiday Awards.....

Best Hostess-Mrs. Acorn-She entertained.  We will just leave it at that.

Best Sport-Our sweet pregnant friend Beezus5 who was dressed quite fashionable as a teen starlet even though she is 8 months pregnant.  Although she had to wear flip flops due to ankle swellage, she did somehow manage to have the best looking hair of any of the girls.  (No offense to anyone else's wonderful hair.  I myself was rocking a bumpit).

The bumpit is always appropriate.

Best Dance Partner-Curly T refused to let B dance alone in the corner the whole night.

Best Dressed-Everyone, especially the boys.  I wasn't quit sure all the boys would be in to dressing up since most of the male roles were former boy band members or rappers.  But everyone really brought it especially with their faux jewels and berets.  We forgot to take a big group picture so these will have to do.

Most Likely to be Super Late but Actually Showed up Semi-On Time-Shanzles!  Yay, way to go!

Best Champagne Bar-B, for actually looking up champagne cocktails, printing out the recipes and buying all the ingredients.

Best Dessert-ME!  For purchasing this lovely Raspberry Lemon Cake for my New Year's Day birthday boy.  We ate it right after midnight on his actual birthday.

And and just FYI, I won the best acting award for my amazing range of fake accents.  Yeah, go me.

My husband's birthday is on New Year's Day so I think I should also win the Best Birthday Celebrator Award by making sure he drank some water on New Year's Eve before bed so that he'd feel well enough to golf on his birthday.  Success.  I also took him out for a nice January 2nd birthday dinner since many places are closed on New Year's Day.

What did you do for New Year's Eve?

Vegas Baby!-Corn T-shirts

If you are reading this on Monday, then I'm currently trekking cross country (ok via planes but still) back to NC from Las Vegas.  I probably had a wonderful trip.  I'm also probably tired as my flight this morning was at 6 am.

For this trip I decided to put myself in charge of making brightly colored matching t-shirts for myself and the 4 other ladies on this trip.  I used those brightly colored sorority t-shirts I used to see girls wearing to class all the time in college (or that I see L-Fab wearing sometimes now) as my inspiration.  Again the corn thing would make sense if you knew the bachelorette and fiance's real names.  I made Beezus5 wear this on the plane with me (ok well I'm planning on it, we'll see if she does it).

Essentially I made these t-shirts using transfer paper like I did the bridal shower apron.  I did not want to use transfer paper.  I wanted to use a stencil that I so lovingly made and fabric spray paint.  However, that did not really turn out so well.  So I went with my backup plan.

Craft Fail T-shirt #1...Paint splattered and bled through a little.  I'll figure it out at some point.

Craft Success T-shirts #2-7 (I messed up one of these too when I accidentally melted part of the transfer off)

Like my t-shirts?
Been to Vegas?
Does anyone want to buy me one of those $300 screen printer machines and ink so I can make really cool t-shirts?

How to Make A Personalized Bridal Shower Gift....

1-Buy a plain apron at a craft store (I've seen them in Michaels and Wal-Mart)

2-Figure out the size of your friend.  If your friend is a full head shorter than most of your other friends, then you may not want to go with the one-size fits all apron but maybe instead a junior or kids sized one.  Use your own discretion.  Aprons are for making you look super cute, so you don't want one that is falling off because it's too big.
3-Make up a design/picture that represents your friend and or her celebrity couple name (i.e.: Bennifer, Jam, etc).  Or if your friend's fiance has a name that has to do with a vegetable or fruit then you may want to use that vegetable or fruit in the design.
4-Design a picture that represents your friend on Paint on your computer if you have Windows or if you are cool (I am but not at graphic design) and know about graphic design, use some other sort of high tech program.  You can also add a witty phrase or title.
5-Buy Ink Jet Transfer Paper at a craft store.
6-Follow instructions for the Ink Jet Transfer paper and use your Ink Jet Printer to print out the Image. 
7-Iron it on to the apron, following the instruction on the transfer paper box.

Now for Specifics... I made this apron for my friend, Future Mrs. Acorn, who is getting married in June.  About a year ago on a beach trip we gave Future Mrs. Acorn and her Fiance the couple name, Team A-Corn.  (and side note, it is in NO way related to this)  It totally makes sense if you knew their real names.  Trust me.  So for her apron I designed an a-corn logo using some free clip art I found on the internet and my amazing Paint skills.  I added in a title with her future last name and then printed that on the transfer sheet.  And there you have it, a lovely personalized apron for my friend's bridal shower gift.  I also got her a cookie sheet off her registry.  I don't actually think I've ever seen her bake anything though (and we lived together for over 2 years) so we will see how this goes.

***PS-And on a side note related to aprons.....There is a great apron giveaway over at Building A Kingston Castle if you are also a fan of aprons (like I am).

Oh Yeah, How To Actually Throw the Murder Mystery Party

So I showed you how to decorate and I showed you how to make a costume but I didn't actually show you how to throw the murder mystery party. My husband volunteered to be in charge since he had actually been to one of these before. We got our party from this website. But I think there are other ones like it out there.

How to Throw a Murder Mystery Party

1-MOST IMPORTANT STEP. WATCH THIS EPISODE OF SAVED BY THE BELL AND THIS EPISODE OF THE OFFICE. THEY ARE BOTH INVALUABLE.
2-Send out an Evite to approximately 10-20 people stating that there will be a murder mystery party and that you need to know if they can come before assigning roles. Give the date and time and link to a website about murder mysteries.
3-Quickly re-send the evite when you realized you listed the wrong date for the party.
4-Send the invitees updates three to four times a day with things that you forgot to put on the original evite and then demand that they RSVP by a certain date.
5-Be sure to mention that if they RSVP and then do not show, they will be dead to you.
6-Have your husband (who is in charge of the murder mystery party) assign roles. Try to determine which of your girl friends will be the least likely to get mad at you for assigning them a male part due to the fact that 10 girls want to participate and only 4 guys.
7-Husband or leader emails the info on roles to everyone so that they have about a week to work on costumes.
8-Husband does a bunch of secret stuff involving secret files, lots of printed paper, sticky notes, etc. He finds it hilarious when your friends refuse to tell you their characters b/c he told them not to tell anyone, specifically you.
9-Work on Costumes and Decor
10-Have everyone agree to bring food or booze.
11-Have the party. The leader will have everything in the packet necessary to throw the party. Essentially when the guests get there they will be given a packet telling them how to act. One person will have a packet that says that they get murdered. Then mingling and eating happens. THEN THERE IS A MURDER! Everyone gets a second packet telling them how to act. One person is given a packet that says they are the murderer. More mingling and evidence is presented and then everyone guesses who the murderer is and votes on best dressed and best acting. Murderer is revealed and taken away, preferably in cuffs. Prizes are given. And then everyone eats, drinks and smokes cigars. Cigars are optional.

According to our un-scientific word of mouth poll, everyone had a great time and we'll proably do this again. Should we go cruise, western, pirate or Vegas theme next time?

How to Make Your Home into a Roaring Twenties Style Juice Joint...

As I have mentioned, I participated in a 20's themed Murder Mystery Party this weekend. My friend $hanzie hosted it at her house. While she was not in charge of the actual murder mystery story line and game, she was in charge of transforming her house into a Juice Joint, which is apparently a Twenties Style Bar. Now while she did not get the Live Jazz band or Fog Machine (as was suggested), I think she did a great job.

From $hanzie herself...
A How To Guide for Turning your House into a Jumpin’ Speakeasy from 1920. Things to Purchase: Everyone needs to know that as hard as it may be to believe, the Dollar Store is an excellent resource for parties. Here is a list of things I purchased at the local Dollar Store...
Plates,napkins, plastic utensils
Black tablecloths
Candles and candle holders for both my mantle and as centerpieces for the tables

Party trays for food

Then of course there were a few items purchased at Party City...

Gold fringe outlining my stairs to give the feeling of a stage

Plastic martini glasses and plastic cups (I know I used a lot of plastic and that is not super environmentally friendly but I had enough dishes to clean from cooking as it is)

Hobby Lobby...

Feathers- feathers are key but are a little pricey- I just bought a few and featured them on the mantle in a vase that I filled with wine corks. I usually have a vase filled with wine corks sans feathers anyway.
And from ebay, I purchased The Greatest Hits of the 20s for $4.95. it was great background music when the boys turned down the basketball game.

As well as, candy cigarettes to place around the party. (JMJE say-I think shanzie got these from the Internet as apparently stores don't sale them b/c it makes smoking seem "cool")

Ok, the rest of the things used to decorate were just found on the Internet, in other parts of my house, or at Tiffany’s place. I used the tablecloths to cover my end tables and put those in the middle of the room with dining room chairs around them to give it a lounge/restaurant feel instead of living room feel. We took a few pictures down and replaced them with simple black and white pics of Chicago and various speakeasies from the 20s. I didn’t print anything out on photo paper, just normal white paper and we taped them up to the walls. I found pics of labels under google images of Bath Tub Gin (popular thing in the 20s since gin and most other drinks were kept cold in bathtubs) and printed them out and taped them to wine bottles around my house. And I found an awesome “this thread is closed due to Prohibition” picture of a sign on the Internet and printed that out for my front door. Everything else was sort of just found- some old ash trays courtesy of B’s granny (JMJE says-those were Gammy's not Granny's), poker chips, decks of cards, etc.

Then Curly T or Tiffy as she is called by $hanzie made this awesome sign......

As far as the sign goes...It was actually an old sign from my tutoring place (academic development services). I just attached (with ghetto push pins) some fabric to cover up that writing. "The Juice Joint" was hand drawn onto some poster board and again attached by push pins. Doesn't really seem all that exciting/impressive when the process is described.

That is wrong T. I thought the sign looked awesome. The party would have failed with out it and the 20 food dishes $hanzie made. Overall they did a great work on the decor and it really completed the party. I especially liked when the police sirens started blaring right after the "murder" happened. $hanzie says it was just an amazing coincidence but I'm not so sure.

Rosie Marie, Owner of the Juice Joint takes one giant final drink as the party comes to an end!

Miss Cindy Butt-Cigarette Girl Extraordinaire

Well the Murder Mystery Party happened last night and it was awesome. I'm going to do a couple posts about how we made it happen but first I'd like to talk about my proudest achievement... my costume. I was assigned the character of Cindy Butt-Cigarette Girl Extraordinaire. I found these costumes online. But you know I like making stuff. So I thought I'd give it a shot. First off I went shopping at Target where I found a ruffly skirt in the teen department. I decided that I'd make shirt to go with it so I bought some ribbon, fabric and fringe and just sort of started sewing stuff together with no real plan. I ended up with a fairly simple idea. Here is my diagram of what I did.

The top is a long rectangle of silky fabric that goes all the way around my body (plus extra). I sewed two pieces of ribbon to the top to make halter straps that tie around my neck and two other pieces of ribbon to the sides that would tie in the back. The second picture is how it would look tied. I sewed fringe (the gray stuff) all across the top of the shirt to the bottom. But only on the front.

I wore the shirt and skirt together and added a blazer I had from the Gap. Since I was a cigarette sales rep at the Juice Joint, I thought I should look a little professional. I added black hose and some high heels and then the thing that I think really finished off the costume....The black wig. I ordered this wig online last week and it ended up being perfect. I added some bright red lipstick and black eyeliner. Then of course I had to have a cigarette box. I bought a basket on sale from Michael's and added candy cigarettes and some cigars my husband coerced me in to buying and then tied a ribbon on both sides so I could put it around my neck. Then I added some left over fringe from my shirt to some earrings for a finishing touch. The glue was still drying as we drove to the party.

And ladies and gentleman here it is...the finished product. Miss. Cindy Butt...who as it turned out is actually not that nice of a person or such a great saleswoman.

Uh, and yeah, guess who tied for the best costume prize? Thats right Miss Cindy Butt (who tied with Curly T's amazing rendition of a female Chief of Police). This is perhaps one of my greatest achievements in crafting thus far. I'd like to thank my husband for his unwavering support and Hobie for only running across the fabric like 7 times while I was sewing it.

But honestly everyone did an amazing job with their costumes. I had no idea that people would go all out for this but they did and it was awesome. Special shout outs to Beezus5 who cross-dressed for us as Mayor Biggs due to our lack of dude participation, B for his organizational, leadership and printing skills, and $hanzie for power hostessing.

Cindy and Private Investigator Pinkerton. I think they may actually end up together after everyone gets over the whole Murder situation.

Do you like my costume? Should I dye my hair black and get a bob cut? Do you think the PI and the Cigarette girl will end up together in the end?
Tomorrow I'll get with $hanzie and Curly T on how you turn a regular home in to a Juice Joint!