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I am a sucker for hand stamped jewelry and I'm super excited for today's giveaway!!  Beki from The Rusted Chain contacted me a few weeks ago and offered to host a giveaway and I jumped at the chance!  I've been a fan of the The Rusted Chain for sometime now.  I've even emailed my husband with my wish list before my birthday or Mother's day… he has yet to take the hint. Here are some of my favorites from Beki's shop…

 

 

Aren't they fun?!  The Rusted Chain has been featured in numerous magazines along with being worn by several very fashionable celebrities.  Martha Stewart, Ree Drummond {the Pioneer Woman} and Tori Spelling to name a few. Now's your chance to join these lovely ladies and have some Rusted Chain love all to yourself.  Beki is giving away a $50 gift certificate to The Rusted Chain to one lucky WhipperBerry reader!!  Here is what you need to do to enter…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is for WhipperBerry followers who have a shipping address within the United States.  The giveaway will run from Monday, March 12th thru Saturday, March 17th with the winner announced during the Friday Flair Top 20 post.  Good luck… totally wish I could enter this one!!

Several years ago when my Husband {a huge sports fan} and I were first married, I thought I would try and be the dream wife and create a fabulous game day party for him and his friends. I came to find out that I was seriously lacking in the culinary department. It turned into one of those horrible, stressful parties that I would love to pretend never happened.

One of my sweet husband's all-time favorite treats is a big ole' bowl of Buffalo Wings with all the fixings. I thought I would be the most aaaaamazing wife and hostess if I created a fabulous Buffalo Wing spread for the game day party. I quickly learned that I had NO IDEA how to deep fry anything. I promptly managed to ruin my brand new, very expensive soup pot {wedding present} not realizing that you had to keep an eye on the temperature of the oil. My young, inexperienced culinary mind thought, "hot oil is hot oil, right? It doesn't matter that the oil should be watched and an even temperature maintained. I'm lucky I only destroyed the soup pot, and not burned down the whole house in the process.

I have since learned that when it comes to entertaining the old adage, "keep it simple, stupid" really applies. However, I offer a bit of a caveat to that… Keep the food simple, but make the presentation stunning. Here are some of my tips to easily and inexpensively create a stunning yet simple party spread.

Tip #1

Color is your friend and no one does color better than Mother Nature. Head to your produce department and load up on all colors of the rainbow. Instead of plain old green peppers, include red, yellow and orange peppers for the fun color pop. Layer your veggie platters with the beautiful purple and green kale for a stunning presentation. I really try and embrace the simplicity of a good veggie and fruit plate. Not only that, I use the veggies as my dip bowls for a added touch of fun…

For this plate, I carved out a bowl in the eggplant for my veggie dip. A great way to add more color to your platter with a little rustic elegance.

Tip #2

Capitalize on that rustic elegance by finding some unusual elements from around your house to add to the table to create dimension and to add a bit of charm…

I used a clean kitchen towel inside a small plant pot for the crackers and then placed the appetizer on top of an old scale that I found on Etsy a few months ago. Both elements add character and charm to the simple spread.

Tip #3

Use some simple snacks that require no effort on your part to bulk up the spread…

I filled some old jars with some cocoa almonds and salty cashews for some added crunch and color on the table.

Tip #4

Put all of your effort into one or two stars on the table. Preferably, use recipes that can be made ahead of time so when it's go time, you aren't rushing around in the kitchen with last minute dishes…

A little gem that my sister-in-law shared with me is this lovely Jalapeno Craisin Salsa recipe that combined with some cream cheese and crackers makes for a show stopping plate on the table. Make sure to make a full batch, because I promise it will go quick. The best part about this recipe is that the longer it sits in the fridge for the day or two the day before the gathering, the better it gets!

Tip #5

Leave the Buffalo Wings to the experts! I know that my husband's love of Buffalo Wings will never die. I also know that I will never be a fan of deep frying food. I grew up in a house where we never deep fried anything, so it's really not my favorite method of cooking. So… I leave it up to the people who really know how to make a mean Buffalo Wing… Tyson Anytizers!!

Right now you can visit the Tyson Anytizer Facebook page and receive $10 when you buy 4 bags of Tyson Anytizers!

I grab several bags and bake them up right before our guests arrive. Then I incorporate the rustic theme of the table by using a hollowed out orange bell pepper for the blue cheese dip for the wings. To add dimension to the plate, I cut long stalks of celery on the bias and place them decoratively at the back of the plate.

With a little extra thought and effort beforehand, your party can be simple, elegant and stress free! That way you can have as much fun as your guests and not chance burning the house down!

What are your ideas for stress free, game day entertaining? I would love to hear if you guys have crashed and burned as bad as I did, and what have you done since then to create a better party!!

 

Tell me what tips you have for hosting a successful party for friends and family for the Big Game and be entered to win a 42” LG flat Screen TV!

 

Tyson Any’tizers are a great snack that satisfies your kids on game day or any day!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Any'Tizers. The opinions expressed by me do not necessarily reflect the view of the Tyson Any'Tizers Brand. Official Sweepstakes Rules

 

Last week I told you guys about a fun campaign that I was taking part in… The Energizer Light Up a Life Champion for Kids event. 

One of the main ideas is to put together Winter Survival kits for families in need in your area. Last week I talked about a crazy winter storm that we lived through several years ago, but living here in Las Vegas, we don't really have many of those issues.  It gets cold here and pretty windy, but we don't have to deal with snow and ice usually. When my family and I discussed how we would put together a winter survival kit we felt it made more sense to put together a personal care kit for a local battered women's shelter called Shade Tree.

My daughter Em and I headed off to Walmart to gather some personal care items to put together in a bag.  If you would like to follow along on our Walmart shopping trip you can visit my Google+ album. Here is what we put together…

Being the person who I am, I HAD to get a cute bag.  No utilitarian bag for us!! More than anything I think these ladies and their kiddos, who have been through so much, need a cute bag full of essential items to help brighten their life a little. Em found the cutest polka-dot bag that would work great! Here is what we filled it with…

   

We thought a flash light with some Energizer batteries would be a good idea for the bag.  You never know when you could use a little light. Especially living in a group situation it might be a good idea.  We also included extra batteries as well.  Em thought it would be a good idea to have an activity for the kiddos so we bought coloring books and crayons.  These kiddos have been through a lot I know how a brand new box of crayons and a fresh coloring book can brighten my day, I'm sure it will be a fun treat for them.  Then we added some personal care items like wipes, shampoo, conditioner, feminine supplies, deodorant, lotion, soap and hand sanitizer.

   

We thought some toothbrushes and toothpaste would be a good idea.  Sometimes these family have to leave their homes in a hurry without the opportunity to take even their basic items with them.  We included adult oral care items along with some kiddo toothbrushes and toothpaste as well.  Everyone has the need of a first aid kit every once in a while, so we included two small basic kits that travel easily.  We loaded everything up in the bag and then headed over to Shade Tree.

I was so grateful to share this experiece with Em, it really opened up her eyes and broadened her world a bit.  Sometimes we get so used to living in our nice, warm homes and forget that there are people out there, our neighbors even, who are suffering.  On our drive to the shelter Em and I had a chance to talk about what we were doing and why we were taking our bag to this specific location and what these ladies and their kiddos have been through.  It really touched her heart. 

Here is Em dropping the bag off at Shade Tree.  Due to the nature of the shelter they didn't really want a lot of pictures taken but we were able to take this one in front of a beautiful mural at the entrance of the shelter.

This has been such a wonderful event to take part in.  Sometimes we can become overwhelmed with feeling like we just don't have enough time or resources to help out. That's what makes this Simple Service Project so great! Just grab a bag and some items that are in need in your area and then drop it off at a school, church, shelter, anywhere where they may have a need and you're done. You never know how your simple act can make all the difference in someone's life.

The people at Energizer along with the Champions for Kids would LOVE to have you join the mission.  They are looking to mobilize 20 Million people by 2020 to help those kiddos and families that are in need. I challenge each of you to visit their site and see what you can do for your community and join the mission along with Em and I to help at least one family in need!

I would LOVE to hear about what you and your families put together.  Leave a comment here or email me with pictures of your personal care kits or winter survival kits to me here at WhipperBerry.  I would love to share them with my facebook fans!!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias all ideas and opinions are my own.