THURSDAY NIGHT IN OZ!

As most of you know, I love to throw parties - especially with a theme. I love the planning and details that go along with it to make each one memorable.

My niece's birthday was coming up so I invited her over for a simple dinner and cake. Imagine my surprise when my daughter, Noelle, told me we should have a Wizard of Oz party for her because it's one of her favorite movies. I smiled because as my kids are getting older, themed parties are becoming few and far between, so I jumped at the chance! With only a day or so to pull it together, I give you our journey to Oz...by way of New Jersey!

Entryway:

A dollar store frame with a printout along with some colored streamers easily set the tone.

Menu:

For the adults, some liquid "courage"...

Adding a black and white straw made a great detail for the kid-friendly Ruby Slipper Shirley Temples.

For appetizers, I saw these heirloom tomatoes and immediately saw a "rainbow". And of course on some mozzarella clouds! The "Lollipop Guild" was so simple....I just cut soppressata into thick coins and threw them on lollipop sticks. For the twister bread, I had made a Pillsbury pizza dough cornucopia for thanksgiving last year off of Pinterest - which was very easy. I took the dough and wrapped it around a nonstick foil cone and baked it!

Dinner consisted of "Wicked" chicken cutlets and "Emerald City Pasta", which was penne with homemade zucchini pesto.

Decorating for a party shouldn't be stressful - I have seen a lot of displays with glass vases, which I use on my mantel all the time. A couple of drops of green food coloring in water with a simple tea light and you have your Emerald City!

Noelle's contribution!

Another great addition was this beautifully made hot air balloon from my kid's grandmother - and for a quick apple tree....my ficus worked out great! My niece Lauren, whose birthday it was, had made this amazing frame for Noelle a few years ago.....it was the perfect touch!

Desserts:

On Pinterest, I saw that someone put these out to represent the Black and White portion of the movie...genius! These are Entenmann's, which are a huge favorite in my house.

Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookies and red string licorice made for the Scarecrow's diploma!

Representing the Tin Man's "heart" were these homemade gold dusted Cajun peanut chocolates I made.

One thing I admit - I'm not good at cake decorating. But with the help of my daughter, we came up with this! I just spread out some yellow chocolate and added score lines to make the yellow brick road, green dye to coconut became the grass with red icing for poppies. Green chocolate dipped pretzel rods and rock candy made for a decent version of the Emerald City! My special added touch--plain "Munchkins" around the plate.

To wash down all the desserts were strawberry milkshakes to honor Glinda!

For an added touch of humor, if the adults needed to wind down from said sugar - the Lullaby League can help! :)

I hope you enjoyed our trip to Oz! We all had a great time at this impromptu kid and not so kid-friendly party. With a little thought and creativity and a little dash of Pinterest, you can make a random Thursday a fun and exciting one!

Till next time...