I Want To Brighten My Party Table

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have seen a lot of posts on Facebook lately about Christmas being only five months away.  While I am stressing about that, I have another yearly tradition that comes before Christmas that has me a little preoccupied.  Every year, I host a Halloween/birthday party for Ryan.  I make all types of Halloween themed foods, and my table is always crowded.  This year, I have found a bunch of new recipes, and I am dying to try them out.

Since this will mean more food, I will need more space for it all.  I think I am going to spread it out not only on my table, but on the bar in my kitchen as well.  I was thinking of making little signs to stick in the foods, describing what they are.  For instance, I take little cocktail sausages, wrap them in totillas, cut the ends a little and fill the space with barbeque sauce.  The end result: mummy toes! Everyone loves them, but some don't get that they a mummy toes. I think a little sign saying that would look great.  A new idea I found on the internet is to cut a face into a small pumpkin, with the mouth open, and spilling guacamole out of it.  Pumpkin puke! A little sign saying guacamole might be good, just to make it clear that the puke is edible.

I want to make the signs myself, using AstroBrights papers.  This paper is pretty awesome, because, as the name says, they come in 23 BRIGHT colors.  I may only use the orange, green, and black for my little signs, so the rest can be for the kids.  I know they'll need it once school starts back up.

Speaking of school starting back, you can enter your local elementary school in the "Give A Brighter Year" sweepstakes, where they have a chance to win $30,000 in school supplies.  You could also win a little cash for yourself! You should check out AstroBrights Facebook page, too, and check out their "Make Something AstroBright" design challenges. You could win all kinds of prizes.  Just make sure that when you share your creations using social media, you use the hashtag #goastrobrights.

I am off to figure out what my little signs should look like. Any ideas?

For Me

I hardly ever spend money on myself.  Most of my paychecks go towards bills, and the weeks when I do have a little bit of extra money, I spend it on the kids.  They are always wanting or needing something, and I like that I am able to get them those things.  Of course, there are things they want that I just can't afford, so I have been making a mental list so that I can get them those things for Christmas.

It's hard to shop for them when they are with me, because let's face it, how much fun is it to know what all of your Christmas gifts are before the big day.  Sites like ThinkGeek offer great ideas for gifts and shopping online means I can sneak the stuff into the house without the kids seeing it. I can also use GoToMyPC promo codes to help me save some money.  


I do need a few things for myself, and since I don't have a significant other these days to buy me Christmas gifts, I'll have to find the money to buy them for myself.  Most of the things are not necessities, but I do need a toaster.  Or a toaster oven.  The kids like to make eggs and toast in the mornings, and Brandi always needs one of the other kids to help her make the toast because the bread has to go in the oven, and she is not old enough to use the oven herself yet.  I'm going to look online for a Home Depot coupon and check there for a toaster.  I know they carry a few small appliances, so maybe I'll get lucky and find what I want.