Awesome Olympic Party

Good Monday Morning! This is going to be a long blog post. Filled with tons of pictures, too. So bear with me...

My dear friend is FUN. Fun as in, crazy-fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants, fun.  I love her to bits.  I'm wound pretty tight, and being around her makes me happy.  She's also wildly creative.  Soon, you will see what I mean...

Last week, Jen's 15 year old son hand-delivered invitations to a party at their house (that would be a toga he's wearing) to celebrate the Opening Ceremonies to the Olympics.  Ethan, I love you for cooperating...

This party was over-the-top.  Seriously.

Our family was instructed to represent a nation, come to the party representing that country, and bring some sort of food from said place.  We chose Mexico.  Here's my daughter...

And one of my sons...

We arrived to Jen's house, and immediately I noticed crafty art everywhere.  Don't you just love these rings covered in Duct tape hanging from her porch?  And they were water-proof, too!

She made Olympic banners using her Cameo and vinyl and dictionary pages. 

She printed out lots and lots of Olympic stuff.  She and her daugher McKenzie were working overtime...

Gumballs in Olympic colors.  Of course!

Fruit in Olympic colors.  Why, yes!

Yes, there were Olympic Minute to Win It games, complete with prizes...

She used the printables from Skip to My Lou for this cake and cupcakes...

Here's the Lamb Family.  So cool that they found these shirts at Dick's Sporting goods!  Russia holds a special place in their hearts for this family, because both of their sons were born there.

And the food.  THE FOOD...

The Sharer Family represented Sweden.  They yodelled a lot.

Here's McKenzie in her cute Gap shirt.  She's her mother's daughter, this one...

Here's a photo of some of the Parade of Nations, right before the Lighting of the Torch (bonfire outside)...

And here's about 40 people stuffed into her family room, watching the real opening ceremony...

Our whole family had a blast.  The creativity and laugher, the food and the games, the friends and the ceremony itself--it made for a nearly perfect evening.

I sure hope someone reads this and is inspired to have their own party.  Take these ideas, make your own--and feel free to share your ideas with me if you do!  Special thanks to Jen and her family for always blowing my mind...

For more ideas, stay tuned for tomorrow...

Enjoy your day!