Cheap, Easy and Fast Party Preparation

 

Have you ever wanted to invite people over but you never did it because you didn't think you had enough space, time or money?  

Then THIS is the post for you.

Let's start with ...

INGREDIENTS: (first prices are in Canadian Dollars)

English Muffins (Sometimes called Crumpets)

2 Packs of 6  - $3.70 each $ 7.40 ($ 5.35 US)

1 Can Condensed Tomato Soup $1.90 ($1.40 US)

1 Batch Green Onions $2.40  ($1.75 US)

Processed Cheese Slices (White) $5.00  ($3.70 US)

TOTAL:

$16.70 ($12.10 US)

14-Pack Rice Cakes (Cinnamon/Caramel) $3.50 ($2.55 US)

2 -Cans Pineapple Slices - $3.00 each - $6.00 ($4.35 US)

1 Cherry Yogurt (or anything Red) $4.50 ($3.25 US)

TOTAL:

 $14.00 ($10.15 US)

Assembling Your Eats

🔴 Cut Your Crumpts in Half

🔴 Open Your Tomato Soup

🔴 WASH and Cut Onions 

  (Cut off and throw away Narly bit at end)

🔵 Lay Crumpets open on Microwaveable Plate

🔵 Smear on Soup (Sparingly.  Remember it's CONDENSED)

🔵 Sprinkle with Cut up Onions

🔵 Put on Cheese Slices (cut into wedges or strips)

🔵 Zap for a minute or two

NEXT

🔵 Open bag of Rice Cakes (usually 12-14 per bag)

🔵 Smear on Yogurt

🔵 Open Pineapples, Drain

 (put on Paper Towel few extra minutes to make dry)

🔵 Place slice on top of Yogurt

❣️ Put on nice plate to serve

😛 Let your guests Chow Down

You've just Fed 10 People for $30.70 ($22.35 US) with PLENTY to go around.

(And the Pineapple Rice Cakes will get some "oohs" and "ahhs" too.) 😲

☝️🌱☝️🌱☝️🌱☝️🌱

This proves again that you don't have to be rich to have a party. And if you live in a dorm room, small apartment or small house you will learn the truth of one of my favorite sayings,

"Homes Full of Love Have Elastic Walls".

I've hosted many, many parties just at my living room coffee table with people sitting on the floor around it. People still refer to them YEARS (sometimes DECADES) later as some of the best times they've ever had.

This is just meant to give you an encouraging STARTING point to demonstrate you should never let a lack of money stop you from celebrating.

But get as creative as you wish AND ...

don't WAIT for a Special Occasion.

 Life is WAY too short for that. 

MAKE a Occasion Special! 😃

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 

(This idea is even rarer than I thought. I had a really hard time trying to find an image of people celebrating in a HOME that wasn't at Christmas time and didn't involve people all facing the same way watching a Big Screen. As you can see my top photo is from the 1970s! )

PLEASE NOTE

I'm NOT promoting one Brand over another.

You may be able to get an even better deal than the prices I've stated depending on your local stores and availability.

 Also, all my blogs have NO Ads and NO Stores

Impromptu Office Party (with Vending Machine Food & Common Office Supplies)

 

Hit the office Vending Machines and raid the Supply Room and see what you can create. This is what I came up with after looking at a list of the “Top Items Sold in OFFICE Vending Machines” and

“Top Essential Office Items”

FOOD

Melt Milky Way bars in a microwaveable mug and spread on Larabars cut into bite-sized pieces.

Top with Nuts or Popcorn

DRIZZLE melted Milky Way on

Cheesy Crackers (Cheez-It, Ritz) or Tortilla chips (Doritos)

 

Wrap Kit Kat bars, broken into bite-sized pieces, in Fruit Roll-Ups

Wipe out  In/Out Trays 

Line with Clean white Printer Paper or Paper Towels to put food on.

DECORATING

Use a Hole Punch to create Confetti (use colored paper or print something colorful on paper to make your confetti more decorative) and sprinkle around on a desktop.

Do this SPARINGLY! A little goes a long way and it is the DICKENS to clean up later!

Take a roll of STRONG Paper Towels (the cheapy stuff won't work) 

Unwind a length long enough to cover a desk or table

Make some light Tea (Not Coffee)

Scrunch up the paper towel and pour tea over it

Hang to dry a few minutes then spread it out as an “aged” Table Runner.

Post-It Sticky notes. (Oh, what a bleak existence it was before these were created) 😱 🧟‍♀️

 Write ONE letter on each NOTE  to spell out something.like “Hurray! It's Friday” and stick them to a wall

Cut square Post-It notes in half into triangles

Layer on top of each other to create Pinwheel Flower and tape together in the center at the back. 

Stick up somewhere.

Bubble Wrap (if not available cut from the inside of an envelope) 

Cut into a big flower shape for a Funky table top place mat 

OR 

Cut out 3 equal-sized, smaller flower shapes.

Cut slit between two petals (just to the middle) and wedge the 3 together at diagonal angles to create 3D Bubble Flower

Staple on a piece of string and hang up with a push pin or tape somewhere they can dangle and swing freely.

PRINTER PAPER

(Back in the “olden days* when I worked in Offices this was called “Photocopy Paper”)

Quick and Simple Streamers

Cut printer paper into triangles and tape to a string.

Hang it up (TaDa❗️)

Accordion Flower

Fold 3 pieces of Printer Paper into accordion

Fold accordion in half

Cut End to round it (to make a petal shape)

Fan out and tape all 3 together.

These are just a few ideas to get your creative juices going. I hope my simple ideas inspired you to realize you can have an IMPROMPTU PARTY anywhere at any time.

You don't need a caterer or a bunch of money to create a Celebration. Or even an official occasion.

We can get so focused on life, work and troubles that we need to take a pause and find a couple of hours to enjoy ourselves.

Trust me, no matter HOW busy you are at work, the company won't fall apart if you take an extended break every now and then.

In the long run, a moment of refreshment and some laughter will increase your productivity, encourage good working relationships and, when you look back on that job years later, you will have good memories.

I hope I helped.

The Truth with Love,

Always Laura-Lee 

YES❗️Coloring IS an Artform

 

I haven't made a post here for a long time but I have still been crafting and coloring.

I've even learned how to color using an App and a STYLUS! 😲😳

WooHoo❗️😃 Laura-Lee takes a Quantum Leap into the 20th Century 😊

"Uh. Laura-Lee? We're actually in the 21st Century." 😒

I know. I know. But don't rush me. 🤨

Here's some of what I've been doing.

 And, trust me, if I can learn new things in my 50s, YOU can too. 🫵🏻

(Oops❗️🙊 Accidentally outed my age on the internet again. Sort of.)

At CHRISTMAS

My  KLINGON Reindeer 

Released to Fly

PEACOCK Colored for my AUSTRALIAN Friends on

Australia Day

🇦🇺  🇦🇺 🇦🇺 

ReCreating the Classics

Mona Lisa as a BLONDE is much more likeable

There now. 😊
The Screamer  isn't quite so frightening this way.

Encouraging People to not be SHY in expressing themselves.
Being Unique makes you less boring.

Asking Thought Provoking Questions 🤔

And just having F U N❗️ 😃

Expressing my Christianity
WINGS with CROSS of JESUS

The Scars of JESUS allow us to
"Live long and Prosper"

🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿🍁🌿

See how much you can say with a Coloring Page.🙆‍♀️

🖍🖍🖍🖍🖍🖍🖍

Now it's YOUR turn! 🫵🏻

The Last Halloween EVER!?

 

With COVID-19, the Ezekiel 38 invasion looming and the Rapture of those who love Jesus imminent, Halloween completely slipped my mind in view of being in the End Times. I know there has always been a debate on whether a Christian should have anything to do with Halloween, but I will leave that to the"Theologians" who have the time to argue. For myself, the main way I participate is to spend the night in prayer in order to overcome all of satan's activities which now surround that night and as he has endeavored to take over the entire month of October to make it his own version of the Christmas season.  

But since this may be the last Halloween I will ever see and I wish to use EVERY opportunity to get people to notice Jesus, I will make a few suggestions this year.

 I doubt that there will be very many trick-or-treaters with COVID-19 lurking, but a prominently displayed pumpkin will most likely get noticed. So I have included a link to a website with Christian templates for Bible-themed pumpkins. And don't forget to put up a clear and concise Bible verse that can be read from a distance. And if you can't think of which one to use, you'd be amazed at how much the simple three words, "JESUS LOVES YOU" can get under someone's skin and into their hearts and minds. 😉😁

As for those of you stuck inside with your kids, this is yet another opportunity to make it a special night. We do so love to dress up and make-believe. So you can help your kids to do that as they dress up and reenact a Bible story. 

And of course, it wouldn't be a creative post from me if it didn't include the encouragement to get out your crayons. So I have also included some coloring pages below while keeping in mind that a coloring page is just to get you started. Enhance it however you wish. Then, give it away. A personalized coloring page gets appreciated, kept, and can continue to encourage someone. It is a way of saying, "I've noticed you. I care about you. You are worth my time."

And don't forget to have LOTS of sweets and munchies available. I know everyone will be bouncing off the walls from too much sugar and chocolate, but the END OF HALLOWEEN and IESUS coming soon is a pretty good reason to celebrate. Can we at least agree on that?

Speaking the truth, with love,

Always, Laura-Lee

LINK Christian Pumpkin Carving Patterns and Ideas

Coloring pages

Don't forget to write a personal message and/or color on the inside of this one.

A few photos to inspire you.

Doodles, God's Love ... And Beyond

  

If you follow my personal blog, Laura-Lee Was Here, you already know that in the Spring of 2019 I awoke from a two-hour nap to discover I was completely paralyzed. After weeks in the hospital and an army of doctors' tests, medical science gave me this conclusion, 

"We don't know what put you in that bed, so we don't know how to get you out. So you need to prepare yourself in whatever way you can to be paralyzed for the rest of your life".

And so I did, by committing my life to Jesus as I had the first time in 1978, even though it meant facing and creating a very different life as a paralyzed person.

Three days later I awoke from a nightmare to discover I was clutching the sheet with my right hand. And motivated by that small movement, I started to work my way back to mobility. 

In between physiotherapy, I wanted to keep my hands moving and I muttered to myself, "I wish I had some crayons." The young lady in the hospital bed next to me heard and called back, "I have some!"

Then I heard her shuffle around and a minute later she scooted from behind the curtain that separated our beds and gave me a batch of crayons and a couple of adult coloring books. I took them gratefully and took up coloring again after a forty-five-year hiatus. But as I learned to move my hands and arms again, I also learned that I am capable of more than merely doodling happy faces and making the occasional greeting card.

So I invite you to join me on my journey as I learn to be an illustrator. Watch Jesus help me make godly connections, inspire me to do everything as "unto the Lord", attempt to  always give Him my best and discover that we need to keep playing and take delight in things both great and small, complex and simple ... even if we are at the age of fifty-four!

Love (STILL), Expressed By Doodles,

   Laura-Lee  (Was Here)

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." (Colossians 3:23)

I've been entering various drawing competitions and trying to learn from those who know so much more than I do. 

Below is from a competition I actually won. The challenge was to draw hair but not the person's face.

I have a Deviantart account and always welcome constructive criticism. But be kind to me because I have very little confidence in my abilities right now. 😔

This was drawn with a no. 2 pencil and some Crayola coloring pencils on multi-purpose printer paper. The photo was taken by my Android tablet with NO enhancements done.

LINK to my DEVIANTART GALLERY