Hip homies party giveaway
You know that I dig parties, and not the kind that make you run around like crazy and forget to enjoy yourself by the time they actually happen. No, I’m into the kind of parties that bring people together surrounding a new skill, an everyday chore, or even around the making of a fancy food product. After the best blogger-hosted book giveaway series a girl could ever dream of, it only makes sense that my own book giveaway should involve a party; that’s just how I roll.
(I really wanted to call this post “Party like it’s 1929”, but, you know, these kinds of gatherings are just plain fun whether or not your house feels stricken by austerity measures.)
In true party-addict style, I co-hosted with my good friend Stephanie Austin’s National Can-It-Forward Day party at my house on Saturday. Eight of us all shared the costs, the work, and the dish-doing for ginger peach jam
spicy pickled okra
and lemon sage wine mustard
We ate delicious potluck-sourced snacks, sipped Oaxaca coffee and tangerine hibiscus tea and just got to know each other better. Some of us were very experienced and others had never before attempted sealing jars for shelf-storage. We spread our canning knowledge amongst each other and, of course, divvied up the loot!
This is precisely where the giveaway comes into play. I’m asking you to plan to host any type of skill-share party and invite 5 of your friends.
To enter, leave a comment below telling us what kind of party you’re planning to host. Giveaway will close at midnight CST on Monday, August 29. The winning party proposal will be selected via Random.org. You will not win if your email address is not in the appropriate box on the comment form (since I won’t be able to reach you).
I’ll send the winner six signed copies of my book and a couple jars of our collectively made homemade snackage (to get the potluck rolling).
It’s not required in order to win, but it would be fun to see how your party goes. Perhaps one of your invited friends can snap a few photos and show us all how it went?! I’ll post a round-up of shots and a recap of the winner’s party along with photos from anyone else who hosts a hip-homies-inspired party.
Good luck and happy plotting! I can’t wait to see what kinds of great ideas for gatherings you all come up with.
Entertaining, Giveaways, Parties, Sharing, Skill-Sharing
Reader Comments (71)
Apple picking and then making apple sauce!
I am having a party to help make decorations for my fall wedding. All the decorations will be made out of upcycled materials that I have been collecting over the last year, including origami flowers made out of old music sheets and sewing together a flag bunting out of left over quilting material. It will be a whole day of crafting and drinking champagne.
I have already promised to host a canning party for friends who can't make my canning class in September. What we'll make depends on what is cheap and abundant at the farmer's market, but it might also relate to apple season! We shall see! Would love to have a giveaway for it too. Thanks!
I'm planning on having a mending party. Sewing on missing buttons and patching holes is much more fun with friends around.
This year I am going to have a salsa [canning salsa] party. Homemade salsa is one of my favorite things, especially in winter. And it's a great activity for lots of people—so much chopping!
This would be awesome to win!
I 'd like to host a kefir making party!
I was going to do a mini - dessert making party (similar to the meal post above). Most of my friends have small families, are a couple, or are single. So we don't need huge desserts. I thought it would be fun to do a couple of mini-pies, divide larger cakes into small cakes, (with icing, of course!) and make pans of brownies to split up for freezing and share it all. If I can get around to it, I'd like to do ice creams too, and then divide them up...would be a great party for 5-6 people!!!
My family is hosting a food swap party for the fall once canning season winds down. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of homemade goodies people bring!
Pumpkin carving for sure!
I always talk about cooking a big amount at once and freezing it, so there's always good food to have in a short time, but I never do it. So we're going to get together, divide the labor, and have an ingredients bar of all the chopped things we need, etc, so we can move through and put the things together that we need, and make a bunch of meals we can all share. As part of it, each of us will be contributing a recipe, so it won't just be jive old lasagne, which is great, but not all that interesting, and not always likely to keep us from hopping in the car and going out. I think I'm going to contribute an Ethiopian recipe, because that's definitely new and exciting!
I'm getting married in two months so I'm hosting a party where all of my friends are going to help make crafts, and I will feed them and give them treats for helping out. Sounds like fun, actually... Hopefully for them as well!
Hmmm, I was thinking my friends wouldn't really be interested, but the more I think about it, the more I think I DO have a group who would love it. Apple butter, pumpkin butter or pumpkin pickles seems like a good idea. Or, and I know it seems unseasonal, ice cream. I just got a hand crank ice cream maker and I think folks would enjoy making some wacky flavor (chocolate covered bacon ice cream? Pumpkin maple?)
I plan on hosting a Fall Crafting party in early Sept. :)
I am planning to host a farmers market party. We don't have a farmers market in our area, but I have some really talented friends. The plan is to have each guest bring enough product so that everyone gets to take home goodies. I have a friend that sews, one that makes her own soap, one that raises chickens for fresh eggs, one that has an awesome green thumb, one that cans everything that will fit in a jar & I bake & can. The plan is to have a day of good girlfriend fun, good food & some lessons in making soap & canning. This will be my first party like this, but I hope to make it an annual thing.
I'm going to be hosting a party to celebrate my Awesome Group of King County/WSU Master Gardener Interns completing their 2 year internship. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a mentor for this talented group of people, and in the process, we've become good friends. Collectively, we're citizen scientists, sharing our passion for gardening and related things with the public, individually, we're teachers, urban gardeners, chicken-raisers, triathletes, travelers, dog-savers, kitty lovers, hummingbird afficiandos and damn fine cooks! :)
A back to school cookie swap!! I know it's something usually done around Christmas with baking & such, but I don't want to buy not-so-good for you processed granola bars, and so I thought a cookie swap would be a great way to expand the variety in our freezer with my friends who also want their kids to have homemade goodies in their lunch boxes!! :)
I'm planning a homemade pasta and ravioli party! I did it last year with my best friend, and would like to do it again this year with a slightly larger group!
I will be having a candle making party. I make candles every few years for all of my Christmas gifts and this year will be inviting some friends and family so they can make their gifts also. With the way the economy is right now I know they will appreciate being able to give nice gifts while staying within their budgets. I also make fire starters with the leftover bits of wax for those of us with wood burning stoves, they work great and are very economical.
I love how my house smells after a candle making session, and the beautiful candles we make will keep our houses smelling great all year long. =)
I just had a canning party. We used 25 pounds of peaches from a local u-pick and made Peach-lavender butter, brandied peach preserves, ginger peach jam, ginger pickled peaches, and peaches in vanilla syrup. Using both white and yellow peaches in each recipes makes for beautiful jars. I want to start a monthly meal swap this fall with some friends.
I am hosting two parties coming up. One is a scrapbooking swap party - we will be scrapbooking with materials we have and swapping them with each other. The other is a cooking party. Everyone comes over and cooks a large batch, then we split it up between each other and we have food for almost a week!
I happened upon this site and feel very lucky! I have wanted to host a "she's crafty" party with some of my craftiest friends. My first gathering will be centered around freshly made beauty products. I hope to educate and help my dearest lady friends see how easy it is to make your own luscious reason to find some time for yourself at a minimal to no cost! My ideas are endless: feather earrings, hem and darn, applique, and a soup taste off! Hoping to win a copy of your book, maybe even 6 :)