It has been one of those very busy weeks and the week’s not over yet! Tonight was the annual Married Couple’s Valentine Party from our church. I’ve been the hostess for the last 20 years, and wondered how I could possibly come up with something new for this one. I decided a few weeks ago that I would have the men go “shopping” for their wives…but I actually did the shopping for them… there was a twist to it. Here’s what I bought… I got some strange looks as I pushed my cart loaded with a conglomeration of only pink and red things… and one white bottle of body wash.
You can click on the pictures and they will enlarge.
I’ll tell you what the twist was in a minute…
We like to have our parties at a local Chinese restaurant because it has a nice big banquet room in the back AND because the food is spectacular!
This year I decided to do things a little different and arrange the tables in a big long “banquet” style instead of 2 rows. I think everyone liked it this way because there were more people to see and talk to rather than just the few around and across from you.
These were my favor bags… homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and lots of chocolate goodies inside them…
So this was my plan… I wrapped up all the gifts in various shaped boxes and just left them plain…no bows or ribbons. I set them on a table and called it “Jeanne’s Love Boutique.”
After we ate, I told the men to come up to the gift table and pick out 2 gifts for their wives and they would be adding the embellishments to their
boxes. I had brought stickers, lace, ribbons, bows, glue sticks, flowers, scissors, tape, doilies, etc for them to use in their decorating…
This was the best part of the evening for me…watching those men… those CREATIVE men, decorate their sweethearts boxes in the most wonderful ways. I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures of them deep in creativity!!!
They did such a good job I went around and took pictures of some of their boxes. I was SO impressed! The men had to take their gifts back to their wives and I asked them to stand and tell what they “thought” they were giving their wives… It was a riot what some of them said. “Well, this is wrapped in leopard paper, so I can only hope what’s inside!” or “I’m sure there are diamonds in here.” It was really fun.
There was one guy who did an outstanding job on his gift boxes…
His wife just wanted to look at it… and not open it up… but she did!
This was from my hubby…
There wasn’t much left on the table when the men were done…
While the men were decorating their wives boxes, I handed out a pretty piece of rose paper and asked the women to write down their husbands best quality or the character trait they most admired in them. They were going to share those notes with their hubby’s when they got home.
One of our men did a devotional about working to keep your marriage the best it can be! It was wonderful!
I always have a candy jar filled with all kinds of candy and see who can guess closest to the correct number of candies in it… Yes, I count them all out before putting them in there… I thought it would be fun to see who of my subscribers might guess closest to the correct number. You have to be the closest to the correct number…without going over! Sorry…no prize… but I’ll mention your name in my blog if it’s you! It’s a quart jar…
Thanks for letting me share our party with you! Tomorrow night is the “Singles Valentine Party” and I’m decorating for it, so I might have one more simple post and then hopefully I’ll get back to some sewing! Like I said… Busy, busy, busy!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, what a fun party, Jeanne! It certainly was nice to see the men wrapping! Your hubby did a great job, too, I might add! Your church looks like a fun bunch of people!
I am terrible in counting things in a jar, but my guess is 300 pieces of candy!
Hi Linda,
We did have a lot of fun… we always do! Now to just make it through tonight.. I think I might sleep in on Saturday morning!
I’ve got you down for 300!
Blessings, Jeanne
Yes, Jeanne it certainly looks like you had loads of fun at the party. i think you should recruit your husband and the other husband with the “outstanding” gift boxes to help decorate your doll dresses 🙂 although they might get carried away and overdecorate them! I always miscount things in a jar also. I’ll guess 425 because I think you can cram more in than it appears.
Hi Laura,
I think the men did a wonderful job on their “embellishing!” I was TRULY impressed! They really put some thought into it.
I’ve got you down for 425!
Blessings, Jeanne
That is a great couple activity! So pretty with all the red and pink…and lots of smiles!
My guess is 275…
Hi Kathie,
It was a very fun evening and there was lots of laughter! It was fun, too, shopping for pink and red things… there’s a lot out there to choose from. The pink camo cake mix was a big hit!
Got your 275 recorded!
Blessings, Jeanne
What, Jeanne, made you think of having the husbands wrap unknown gifts? What fun that must have been. I know my dh is all thumbs when it comes to wrapping, so good of you to have the paper already on!
Guessing is always hard and with all different size things in the jar you’ve made it really difficult, but I’ll guess 327.
Hi Jevne,
I just woke up one night and knew this was what I wanted to do… We have done everything from bringing our spouses a homemade card, to bringing the same thing of something for how many years you’ve been married.. ie…25 snickers bars for 25 years of marriage, or 13 postage stames for 13 years of marriage, or 6 red roses for 6 years of marriage. I like to do things at our parties that keeps the “spark” in the marriages…Sometimes the man or the wife just need a little help to make something fun and bring back the romance.
I’ve got you down for 327! Thanks Jevne,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a fun Valentine’s couples party. You are so clever, Jeanne, with fun party ideas and I’m sure everyone enjoyed themselves so much. The husbands were great at the decorations.
After your next event, yes, you need to sleep in! Rest up real good so you can start making outfits for our dolls. ( I hope you know I am teasing you)
I am guessing 223 on the candy jar.
Have blessed day!
Forgot to ask, but was there something about the white bottle of soap? Not sure if it was shampoo or body wash.
HI Paula,
Yes, I plan on sleeping in and catching up on some ZZZZ’s. The husbands were really good sports at doing my little “activities” each year, but I think they REALLY enjoyed this one.. The hard part, the wrapping was already done, so they just had to put their “touch” on the box.
The white bottle was a body wash and originally I was going to do pink, red and white and I found enough red and pink, so it ended up being the only white item.
I’ve got your guess of 223 recorded…
Blessings, Jeanne
What a fun idea! I was surprised to how many of them used flowers to decorate the packages and how creative they all were. It looks like everyone had a good time. My guess for the candy jar is 333.
HI Carolyn,
I’m a bit late getting back to you, but I too, was surprised at how creative the men got with the flowers I brought for them to use. They all did a wonderful job!
I’ve got your 333 count noted!
Blessings, Jeanne