Sunny Slide Up

fantasy football draft party – take 2

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! I hope you are out enjoying a fabulous long weekend vacation somewhere…and are just as happy as me to see football season back! Go Dawgs!

You might remember this football party post I did last year about setting up for my husband’s fantasy football draft party. Well this year I took that challenge on again and it was a huge success. I hope you find these recipes and party tips helpful for your next football gathering.

The guys were coming over at 11:00am to start setting up for the draft, so I wanted a “brunch” dish to start off with….

These were super quick and easy to make. Plus, a huge hit to start off the party.

Five Minute Chicken Waffle Sliders

Buy already cooked prepared nuggets. I purchased a nugget tray at Chick-Fil-A knowing I could serve up the extra nuggets later as a snack. Heat up nuggets appropriately. Pop Eggo Waffle Minis in your toaster to crisp up. Stick on a skewer and drizzle with syrup. I served them up on a football party tray. See, I told you that was easy!

Notice the “Challenge Flags” bucket in the background? I decided to switch up my penalty flags from last year. I bought some lollipops to tie up in napkins to act as challenge flags for the party. Super cute, huh?

Another fun find were these koozies made just for football draft parties. One of the guys got these and the giant draft board at www.draftkit.com

Once the draft got started, I brought in some lunch time food….. Mini Baked Ham Sandwiches, Chips and French Onion Dip, Antipasto Kabobs….

Antipasto Kabob Appetizer Skewers

What you will need:

Sliced Genoa Salami
Fresh Mozzarella Balls
Roasted Red Peppers (jar of)
Olives of your choice (I had kalamata olives)
Cherry Tomatoes
Package of spring lettuce mix

Simply stick all of the ingredients onto skewer and serve right away, or refrigerate until ready to serve. It’s like a salad on a stick!

I also served up these cute little football cookies I found a local Charlotte bakery (Kai’s Kookies) to make for me…

These live football draft parties can take like 4 hours, so I like to space the snacks out. About half way into the draft, I brought in some more bite size treats…

Turkey Meatball Subs On A Stick

Find recipe over at Cookies and Cups

(I couldn’t find “breadsticks”, so I used Pillsbury “pizza dough” which worked fine. And mine don’t look quite as pretty as the original recipe, but they were delicious!)

And, I HAD to make those Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes that were the hit from last year’s party!

I hope your favorite football team has a successful season….or at least you have fun planning some football party gatherings!

getting creative – making jewelry

by Mandi | diy, sunny slide up

Hey guys. I had the MOST fun this past weekend with a wonderful group of bloggers and Kathryn Godwin making necklaces. Have you heard of her? This girl is like that creative person you wish you could be. You can thank her for many of the amazing Anthropologie storefronts… yep… amazing!

Hand Painted Dots

Coral Reef Display

Floral Garden

This girl made tea bags look amazing people…. TEA BAGS!!

And I can’t even talk about this dress – made of paper… This is what made me start following her. I saw it on a wedding blog while I was planning my wedding.. and holy moly!!! INSPIRATION everywhere!

We even had one for our event… check out this rope and tassel display… LOVE

It had been so long since I had actually made a craft out of raw materials, and when I saw her post in instagram… I knew I had to go! Turns out I won a free registration with this lovely lady – Deedie Springer of Springvine Design. And speaking of inspiring and creative, she is the one who is responsible for my wedding flowers – see them here and here ….look at her hard at work! LOVE IT!

It all started out by choosing beads (she handmade) and taping down our string to the table like you used to do when you made friendship bracelets… awe I felt like a kid again!

We made the rope by a twisting technique and then added tassels, beads and whatever we wanted. I decided to use my Dry Ink colors and just love how my necklace turned out!

Even better I met some amazing fellow bloggers. Isn’t it funny when you realize you have to introduce yourselves as your company name or instagram handle!? Thank you social media!

Kathryn of Studio Cultivate, Me, Dawn – co author of Carolina Bride Book and Nikki of Bunch Collective

Reconnected with the talented Brellyn of Vintage Concord.

This day was amazing! In just 2 hours I was inspired to create again, to get out there and do something with my hands, to draw, to make jewelry, and to surround myself with other creatives… it so feeds my soul!

The quote above is made by using a photo of the backdrop created for photos!

it’s glassybaby – one of a kindness – candles

by Mandi | fun finds

So, one of my favorite wedding gifts we got was two GlassyBaby candles. My dear cousin lives in Seattle and gave me some candles for a gift! In red and teal of course for my love of these colors as they are my company colors for Dry Ink Designs – RED AND TEAL.

Here you can see them in my office!

They are amazing size, hold a tea-light and best yet, 10% from the sale of every glassy baby goes directly to organizations that support people in all kinds of needs. To date over $2M has been donated to help others.