How to Host a “Fall Favorites” Party!

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Hey party peeps! Fall is upon us and today I’m showing you How to Host a “Fall Favorites” Party! Moving from California to the midwest has had it’s challenges. For one thing, winters here are brutal so the coming of Fall has always been a bit stressful thinking of the COLD winter that comes right after it. But, growing up on the east coast, I always LOVED the changing of the seasons. Especially Fall with all the gorgeous leaves changing colors on the trees and three of my favorite things — Football, Halloween and Apples! Apple pie, apple cider, apple tarts, you name it! So, this Fall I decided to embrace Fall and celebrate it with all my favorite Fall things and since I am a party planner, I’m going to show you guys how to turn it into a “Fall Favorites” party–of course! And, check out this Bake in the Fun Sweepstakes that is making Fall that much more fabulous!

MARS Bake In The Fun Sweepstakes

HOW DID SHE DO THAT?

Create a WOW FACTOR With a “Fall Favorites” Dessert Table!

Set the tone for your “Fall Favorites” party with this gorgeous dessert table full of your favorite fall things! For me, my favs include mini apple pies, Apple cupcakes, M&M’s® Pecan Pie cupcakes, Snapple® Apple drinks and hot apple cider for the kiddos with personalized straws! I also had personalized aprons for each guest and had plenty of take home favors on hand for each guest to take home like these “Cupcakes-To-Go” in a mini mason jar personalized with each guest’s name and mini jars full of M&M’s® Pecan Pie. I used a mix of rustic and modern decor to with a simple apple green, brown and white color palette. The party table features my Fall Favorites. Check out how to throw this fabulous party below.

 

My Fall Favorite: APPLE PICKING!

Here in Minnesota, apple picking is a BIG DEAL! There are lots of apple orchards around and I’ve always wanted to take the kids but just haven’t gotten around to it, well–this year, we did it. And…man…was it fun. There’s something about picking your own fruit from the tree and taking it home to eat. When you get there you board a wagon that takes you back into the orchard to where the apple trees are growing everywhere! The orchard was gorgeous– and the whole experience was super fun for the kids–me and Hubby had a great time too. My tween, Faith, even thought it was the perfect spot for selfies…geez! The orchard also has a gorgeous Sunflower Maze that the kids wanted to go through. The best part were all the gorgeous butterflies flying all around. Such a fun day! If you haven’t been apple picking, I would highly recommend it and don’t forget your camera! It’s definitely a memory you’ll want to capture in photos. Don’t forget the hot apple cider! Simply heat up some Mott’s® Apple Juice in a kettle before you go, pour it into a thermos to keep it warm and off you go!

GIRLFRIEND TIP: Kick off your Fall Favorite Things Party by inviting a few other moms and their kids to go apple picking with you and your kids. Have personalized baskets on hand for all the kids to take with them and fill with apples. For the tags seen here, I used my printable collection, but you can easily just tie on a tag and write each kid’s name on them.

My Fall Favorite – BAKING WITH MY KIDS!

One of my favorite things to do with my kids is bake cupcakes. They love that they can pretty much make them all by themselves and I like the fun of spending one-on-one time with them especially after a busy week. Riley has mastered cracking eggs, Faith can measure all the ingredients and Michael…well…he loves to pour everything in the bowl and they ALL sneak tastes of the batter! Once we got back from apple picking we had LOTS of apples so what better way to use them than to bake Apple Cupcakes! So, off to Walmart we went to pickup all the ingredients we would need including Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme® Cake Mix, Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing, Mott’s® Applesauce and Mott’s® Apple Juice. While shopping I came across these new M&M’s® Pecan Pie (a Walmart exclusive). M&M’s® are one of my favorite candies and pecan pie is a staple at our Thanksgiving dinners so these would be PERFECT for my “Fall Favorites” party! Have you tasted these yet? They are YUMMY! Click here for a coupon so you can pick some up.

GIRLFRIEND TIP:Baking cupcakes would be a great party activity for your Fall Favorite Things Party! Cupcakes are super easy for kids to help make and a perfect Mommy & Me party activity. Once you and your guests return from the apple orchard, give them each a personalized apron and whip up a batch of Apple Cupcakes and M&M’s® Pecan Pie Cupcakes. Want to know how to do it?

Create Personalized Aprons for Each Guest!

To add a special touch to your party, make personalized aprons for each guest a few days before the party. This is easy to do with iron-on transfers & my printable collection!

Here’s how you do it:
1. Order white aprons in both adult and kids sizes from Walmart.com
2. Print your printable design on iron-on transfer paper (follow the directions on the package to print the image properly)
3. Trim your design out leaving a little bit of white space around the entire design
4. Iron your apron to get out the wrinkles (especially from the area that you will put the iron-on)
5. Place the iron on face down and using an iron (on the highest setting with NO STEAM) firmly press down over the entire iron on for a few minutes
6. Once cooled down, lift a corner of the paper from the shirt and continue to gently roll back the paper to remove
7. That’s it!

GIRLFRIEND TIP: Using printables and iron-ons to make personalized aprons is much more affordable than ordering embroidered aprons with each guest’s name on them. Not only will your guests wear these while baking, but they will also take them home as a party favor.

Bake Apple Cupcakes and M&M’s® Pecan Pie Cupcakes!

Super yummy and easy to make.

Here’s what you’ll need to make 18 cupcakes:
– 1 box Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme® Cake Mix
– 1 container Pillsbury™ Creamy Supreme® Cream Cheese Icing
– 1/3 cup Mott’s® Applesauce
– 3/4 cup Mott’s® Apple Juice
– 3 eggs
– 1/2 tsp cinnamon
– 1 bag M&M’s® Pecan Pie
– 3 apples (peeled and diced small)

Here’s how to make them:
Mix cake mix, applesauce, apple juice, eggs, cinnamon in a bowl with a hand mixer until blended well. Place baking cups into a muffin tin. Fill each baking cup 1/2 way full of cake batter. Add 3-4 M&M’s® to some of the cups and add a small amount of small diced apples to the rest of the cups. Cover the candy and apples with some of the batter. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove then let cool for 10 minutes. Frost them with icing and top the M&M’s® filled cupcakes with a few pieces of the candy and top the apple filled cupcakes with a few diced apples and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Well, Happy Fall! Want to host your own “Fall Favorites” party? Be sure to check out more delish Fall-inspired recipes here.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT FALL?
Cheers!
Tonya

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– Styling & Photography: Soiree Event Design

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