PPP Day 7: Using "the Google"

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So, you've made your list. You've checked it twice...just kidding. Anyway, you have a rough idea of what you want because not only have you thought about who and what your party is for, but you have written down the basic elements. However, you have *no idea* what that looks like. So this is where the fun part comes in: you get to troll the interwebs for ideas!

Perhaps you already have a theme in mind (that can be dictated by who or what you are having a party for) perhaps you don't. I don't recommend searching for broad terms like "cute party themes" or "inexpensive party ideas". You will be completely overwhelmed. The internet is far too vast. I googled "cute inexpensive party themes" for you. It returned 1,150,000 results, and the second one was a "Lalaloopsy" party. I doubt that was what the majority of you were looking for! You have to start to narrow it down. I would say to go for perhaps 2 maybe 3 ideas, once you start to look it shouldn't take long before you decide what to go with.

Recently I threw a "Shower" themed baby shower. I decided on a theme and then I began to compile ideas. I actually start with Pinterest first. They don't return as many results, and it is easy to see what everything looks like. I have a specific board for baby showers, although I do not do a separate board for each shower. You can pin however it is easiest for you, and don't forget to take advantage of your "Secret Board" if you are planning a surprise! But back to the shower theme. I initially searched for "sprinkle shower", thinking about rain sprinkles and doing a smaller shower, you know they call them sprinkles.

That did not work. I ended up with a bunch of photos about baking sprinkle themed showers! That was not what I wanted. If that happens to you, reevaluate your search terms. This is where your elementary English skills come in. What are some synonyms for what you are looking for? I ended up trying:

-rain baby shower
-cloud theme baby shower
-raindrop baby shower
-rain themed party
 -umbrella themed shower

And a whole lot more. It can sometimes take a while before you start to see images that are in line with what you are thinking. But just keep changing the wording until you do.

   Also, don't restrict yourself to just having "party" or "shower" in your terms. I searched "cloud DIY" on Pinterest and found an adorable cloud mobile that was perfect! I usually add "printable" to whatever I am searching for. For my son's Avenger party, I searched "Hulk printable" and found the faces that I used on his favor bags. That's another good example: is there a specific part of your theme you could search for? When doing the Avengers party, I could have looked for Captain America, Hulk, Ironman, etc. For the raindrop shower I looked for: raindrops, clouds, umbrellas, rainboots, and even weather!

       From my experience, pin or bookmark, EVERYTHING you even sort of, kind of, think you might use. In the past, I have thought, "oh, that's cute, but it isn't exactly what I was looking for." Then I sleep on it, and have a great idea how I can change it to work, but then I can't find the original link! That is sooo frustrating. No one is charging you to pin or bookmark, so don't be stingy! If you are really old-school, open up a new Word or Notepad document and copy and paste the links. This also works for sites that may not have pinnable content.

     Don't get overwhelmed. Sometimes there is just too much! You may want to limit yourself to only looking for a particular element at a time (garland ideas, or recipes for themed food) or perhaps you could decide to only look at 4-6 websites in a sitting. Click on anything that looks interesting-often there are more ideas or photos on the site. I actually have to limit myself because I could spend hours looking for ideas! Start with the part of the party that most interests you: food, decorations, games-that's where you will feel the creativity starting to flow.

So:
1. Begin by narrowing your ideas down to 2-3 themes. If you don't have a theme, I recommend starting with Pinterest over Google. It will be easier for most people to be inspired by photos rather than just phrases. And at least use terms like "boy birthday party" over "cute party themes".

2. Use a variety of search terms to see the best results, in both Pinterest and Google. Use lots of synonyms and descriptive terms. Don't forget to add "printable", or "Diy", or even "craft" to your theme to see things that might not be specifically for a party but would work great!

3. Pin or bookmark any interesting links so you don't lose them.

4. Don't get overwhelmed! Limit yourself to a certain amount of time or number of links if you feel like you are drowning in information.

5. Start to get excited! You are finding the inspiration to help you make your party "perfect".

This is Day 7 of "31 Days of Perfect Party Planning". Find the rest of the series here!

Linked up to "Thrifty Thursdays" at Living Well, Spending Less.

Sharing Some "Crockpot Goodness"

Please note that the photos above are all property of their respective owners, and are correctly linked on my Pinterest page!:)

Some of my friends and I were discussing the virtues of our crock pots this morning at church. I have to apologize to my mother: she tried to convince me that it was the most marvelous piece of kitchen equipment and I ignored her excellent advice for the first 7 years of my marriage. I have now seen the error of my ways!

I approach crock pots recipes a little differently than normal ones. A huge reason I use my crock pot is to save time. If I have to cook a lot of things, or the recipe has more than a few steps, I just skip it. I do have a couple of recipes that I like that I have to cook one extra component (rice, ground beef) but for the most part I want my crock pot to *cook* not just heat!:)

I also categorize those recipes differently on Pinterest. I have a board dedicated entirely to crock pot recipes, because usually rather than wanting a specific meal, I want to use my crock pot! So, I thought if you felt the same way, maybe you would appreciate it if I shared some of my best loved recipes with you. You can find all my crock pot pins on my "Crockpot Goodness" Pinterest board!

1. CrockPot Chicken Tortilla Soup This is my favorite tortilla soup recipe. It is soooo easy! I love that it calls for all "pantry" ingredients-that is a recipe that doesn't call for fresh ingredients, only frozen or shelf stable. I usually have all the ingredients on hand, so it is quick and easy to throw together. I have discovered that if I put my substitutions/recommendations in the comments of my pins, it makes them easier to keep track of, and then if I have a friend I want to send the recipe to, all the changes are attached! You can see my subs for this recipe on my pin. This recipes makes a ton, it would easily serve 8, so I always freeze half of it, and then heat it on the stove top. Two meals from one crock pot recipe? Yes, please!

2. Crockpot Baked Potatoes This is one of those that you probably think: isn't that easier to just do in the microwave or oven? Well, it is probably the same amount of work any of the three ways, but the skin is just delicious this way, and it is handy for me because I buy *gigantic* Costco potatoes, and they fit better in my crock pot than in the microwave! It is also nice to get started on this part of dinner earlier in the day. We usually have entree potatoes by adding ham and cheese, or chili on top. It also gives me a lot more flexibility about when dinner is ready!

3. Crock Pot Beef Stew This link leads to 8 crock pot meals that you can prep and put in your freezer. I am just not that organized so the ones I have made I just prepared the day of and put everything straight in the crock pot. (I have also made the taco soup and it is yummy, my notes about that are on the pin, too.) This beef stew is just amazing! It was so tender, definitely better than my attempts on stove top and so much less time consuming. Please notice that I recommend to wait until the end to add the peas, or they will be mushy and also unappealing in color.:)

4. Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice I learned the trick about adding the peas at the end of a crock pot recipe by reading the comments on this recipe. (I add peas to this to give it a little more nutritional value, about 1 and 1/2 cups cooked frozen peas.) It is a really tasty spin on chicken and rice, and I skip the part where she says cook the corn at the end and add it, and just put frozen corn in at the beginning when I put the chicken in. You do need to cook the rice separately, and I am never on point enough to do it the day before like she suggests, but for some reason it is just easier for me to think about dinner before lunch, so I just make the rice then. Another reason I love my crock pot!

5. Honey Sauced Chicken I make a lot of chicken dishes, and so that is probably why 3 out of 5 of these recipes are for chicken. This honey sauced chicken is really easy, however, if you have more than 2 adults and two small children, you will want to double this recipe. For some reason, I use about a pound (the recipes calls for 3/4 lb.) and it still doesn't seem like quite enough. But that could also be because Joel loves it! I serve it with rice and stir fry veggies.

I have tried several other recipes on my board, too, but I don't want to spoil all the fun! If you are looking for some inspiration, take a look around. May your crock pot be as useful to you as mine is to me!