Last month, I had the opportunity to host the first annual, Back To School Mom's night out event.
As a family lifestyle influencer, I have this beautiful platform that I've always looked at doing more with, and an intimate motherhood, community event seemed like the perfect way to share a message.
Sure, it's fun to share travel tips, family friendly activities, recipes and of course cute photos of my adorable children, however, being a voice a in the community, a cheerleader to encourage unity, love and support among women, has always been the direction my heart strings pull.
I have felt a responsibility to LOVE everyone, which I'll be the FIRST to admit is pretty darn hard sometimes, and to see past their imperfections, difference and struggles to see them as a higher power sees them, equal.
As I've grown, I've experienced heartache, loss, judgment and pain sometimes that felt unbearable and would lead to my certain demise. However, each time I had one of these life changing experiences, it taught me more about the type of wife, mother, daughter, WOMAN and human being I want to be. The type of example I want to set for my daughter, and to any person that ever crosses my path.
(Setting my self standard pretty high, I know)
The idea for a Mom's Night Out first came about as I prepared to send my first child to Kindergarten this fall. I knew I was going to need support and words of encouragement from mama's who had already been through that "first child goes to school" tearful day.
I thought; an intimate party set in a private backyard in the cool summer evening, dinner, drinks and a guest speaker, would be the ideal environment for a conversation that I wanted to have about the upcoming school year.
After weeks and weeks of planning, support from local businesses, encouragement from mama's throughout the community and a heartfelt desire to make a night for these women they wouldn't soon forget, the event came and went.
AND. IT. WAS. PERFECT.
I feel blessed to have been surrounded by many incredible women, who shared similar goals and dreams, but were also able to share their different types of motherhood lovingly and in supporting enviornment.
The evening was full of laughter, getting to know new friends, eating a delicious dinner, sharing ideas and love for each other and hearing uplifting and inspiring thoughts from the wonderful Kim Christenson from Talk To Wordy To Me.
Kim, a journalist and writer by trade, was our speaker of the evening and her thoughts on Mindfulness Motherhood touched each one of us as we listened and felt motivated to better ourselves which in turn betters our family and those we interact with.
Kim taught us that we shouldn't be just surviving, but THRIVING.
I love how she said to quiet the distractions and that we can control the weather in our homes.
She also said to stop apologizing, let go of perfection and normalize mistakes!
Some of my biggest take aways from her message were, "It start with ME, and how I feel INSIDE", that I shouldn't let my dreams die, just because I'm a Mom, that I should start talking back to those nasty thoughts I have about myself, my body, my home etc... and to make a Happy List, a simple list of your favorite things, activities and experiences that bring you joy.
I've linked Kim's blog and social media accounts because if you're ever in need of pick me up, a little encouragement or just having a down day (which WE ALL HAVE), Kim's thoughts are a place for you to go, read, be inspired and reassured that you are enough.
This event would not have been possible without our incredible sponsors and collaborators.
I am so grateful to each of them for their support and donations to make this evening special for these women.
It's with companies and people like these that encourage and support women, small businesses and events that uplift and inspire, that we are able to build a community of happy, confident, loving and strong women.
Thank you again to each of them.
Dinner provided by: Mt. Vista Catering Co. - @mt.vistacatering
Tables/Chairs/Linens: Excel Rental
Decor: Utah DIY Weddings - @utahdiyweddings
Photography: Jessica Katherine Photography - @jessicakatherinphoto
Designs - Breezy + Co. Custom Design
Swag Bags Sponsor and Collaborators:
Bag Sponsor - Junes Bags
Kidz Shake
Woven Pear
Daly Bird
JoJos Chocolate
Moms Stuff Slave
Sodalicious
Five Sushi Brothers
Gathre
H&C Designs
A Priortized Marriage
This month I have teamed up with the lovely Shani from Sunshine and Munchkins to bring you a fun DIY Toddler and Budget Friendly Halloween Party.
Shani and I met at a blogger event in August and became quick blogging friends. With both of us having toddlers ages 4 and 2 it was an fun fit. One afternoon at a bump in at Hobby Lobby we started talking about having a playdate which quickly during into ideas for a fun toddler Halloween party. Shani and I both know the excitement and pressure that comes with putting together fun holiday activities for our kids.
In the blogger world there is even more pressure to get sponsors and "free stuff" to throw the picture perfect party or playdate.
Today, Shani and I are excited to bring you a Halloween Party idea that is completely toddler and budget friendly for any mama! All of the ideas could even be used for a week of daily activities.
Follow along below for step by step instructions to give your littles a holiday activity to remember!
Step 1. Team up with another Mama.
Shani and I thought it would be fun to work together because of the similar ages of our kids and the fun ideas we both had for Halloween activities.
Teaming up with another mama allows for you to split the work so you're not feeling overwhelmed or stressed trying to plan an afternoon of activities alone.
The More The Merrier!
While everything we do in this party is completely doable with just you and your littles, it's always fun to invite friends and watch your kids interact and play with others!
2. Plan and Prepare.
Shani and I emailed and texted back and forth for a few days the ideas we had for the Halloween Party.
Next we decided what activities we wanted to do, listed out each idea (craft, game, treasure hunt, goodie bags, food, decorations/photo booth) and then divided up responsibility for each idea.
The craft we chose was to decorate pumpkins. I went to the grocery store and chose 4 little pumpkins. Each pumpkin cost $.29/lb and each weighed about 3 pounds.
I spent $4 for all 4 pumpkins.
We had stickers, eyeballs, pom-poms, confetti, paint, glitter and glue, most of which we already owned, for the kids to decorate the pumpkins with.
The game Shani put together was a fun and easy pumpkin toss. She picked up 3 buckets from The Dollar Store for $3 and made homemade bean bags for another $3.
We sent the kids on a fun treasure hunt to find their goodie bags. Shani found festive clues from Imagination Soup and printed them right from her home computer.
Goodie Bags are usually every toddlers favorite part of an event and we were able to put together 4 fun filled bags for $6!
Inside the goodie bags was 1 small bag of candy corn, 2 pencils, 4 spider rings, pumpkin bubbles, glow in the dark vampire teeth, a notebook, and 4 Halloween coloring page. Each treat came in a 4 (or more) pack so I was able split them up between the each kids bags. Each treat was from the Target dollar section.
Shani printed out the 4 cute Halloween coloring pages (half sheet sizes) and we stapled them together.
Easiest Goodie Bags Ever!
For food we chose a few cute Halloween inspired snacks we could feed the kids at lunchtime.
Ghost and Pumpkin shaped PB&J sandwiches, Ghoul String Cheeses, Pumpkin Mandarins and Mummy Juice Boxes. The mandarins and string cheese were simply made using a sharpie and the adorable juice boxes were made using scrap fabric and google eyes.
Shani also made the most delicious festive jello popcorn for the kids to munch on during crafts and games.
Each of us had most of the food and snacks in our pantries so cost for food was $7 for the whole event.
The decorations, photo booth and table setting was easily thrown together with signs, cobwebs, spiders, plates, napkins etc I already had in my 'halloween box'. The cute photo props I found at Target for $3 and the Happy Halloween sign was $1.
(One TIP I do love to pass on for any holiday is STOCK UP for next year. Products go on sale for 50%, 75% and sometimes 90% in the few weeks after a holiday, so stock up on decor, plates, toys etc... during this time)
We were super fortunate to have Creative Juice Cafe donate tassel's and popcorn buckets for our party also.
3. Set Up.
Set up came together very painlessly. I set up the decor, table and photo booth the night prior to the party and Shani came over early the morning of to help with finishing touches.
We prepped the food, set up the game, prepared the craft and hid the treasure hunt clues/goodie bags, all within 30-40 minutes before we began.
4. Party.
Once all the prepping and planning was complete it was time to PARTY.
We scheduled a two hour time frame to allow plenty of time for everything we planned, but with toddlers, sometimes it's over in what feels like a matter of minutes.
All four kids had a blast getting to dress up, craft, play games, eat yummy treats and get fun goodie bags.
We found that the activities and crafts were all awesome and age/attention appropriate for both the 4 year olds and 2 year olds, however the 2 year olds did make a little bit more of a mess with the craft and 2 year olds struggled a bit with aim during the pumpkin toss.
Everyone had tons of fun.
We hope this post will inspire you to do some fun Halloween activities with your kids!
Our main goal was to put together some budget friendly ideas that anyone could easily do.
You don't have to be super crafty, have "connections" or have lots of money to have some festive fun right at home with your kids.
We hope we've given you some fun ideas!
Thanks again to Shani and her sweet kids for partying it up with us.
It was so fun to watch our kids play and craft and have fun!
I bet Shani and I will work together again in the future so stay tuned for some more toddler and budget friendly posts from Sunshine & Munchkins and FordOlogy!
Happy Halloween Partying Mamas!
