Crafty Mamas Night In

It’s time for another installment of our Fun Frolic Ideas for grownups! This week’s batch is full of fun things for your creative side. Since it’s very hard for us, as moms, to set aside time for hobbies, creative party themes are a great way to indulge ourselves and nurture our creative brains at the same time. (Did you miss last week’s Fun, Frugal Moms Night In ideas? It’s not too late!)

Favorite Things Party: A favorite things party is one where each guest brings five each of one of her favorite things. (Set a spending limit, like $5) and each person goes home with five different things than she came with. Do it yankee swap style where each mom gets to pick and there are one or more “steals” allowed for each item, or just put numbered tags on each gift and in a bowl and let each mom pull five, putting back any duplicates. Some suggestions I found were sample size cosmetics, magazines, gift cards, candy bars, craft items, or tickets. Each guest is challenged to think of something that is a “favorite” and how to get it under the price limit.

Make & Takes: One of my favorite Moms’ Night events of all time was a House Party sponsored event where we all made (and canned) salsa to take home. You don’t have to fire up the water bath canner to pull this one off- just get enough pint jars for each guest to take one home plus lids and labels. Pick out a knock-their-socks off salsa recipe (or chutney, if you’re in the mood for something different) and get enough ingredients for a good, big batch. Hit up the dollar store, thrift store, or freecycle.com to get enough cutting boards and knives to go around, and let everyone chat to their hearts content while they chop, chop, chop. Take turns stirring while the recipe is on the stove, then sample your work before you pack it up to go home with each guest. (This also works with soups and casseroles, and, if you are so inclined, you can make either or both of those for the soup kitchen or a sick friend instead of or in addition to your own family.)

Knitting Knight: Almost speaks for itself, right? The traditional “everyone bring your current project” craft night couldn’t be simpler to arrange, but there is also the option of a beginner’s night where the experienced knitters or crocheters teach others how to do the craft, or a group project. One of the best knitting group experiences I’ve ever had was actually a project where some friends and I collaborated on a crocheted granny square blanket as a gift. We planned the colors and the design together, figured out how many squares we needed, worked on squares together and at home, and then got together to assemble the finished product. It was magnificent and we had a fabulous time! (Wouldn’t this make a great baby shower gift?) You could also have an old fashioned quilting bee, where everyone works on quilt blocks and assembles a quilt top.

See all posts in our Moms Night In series, here >>