Galentine’s Bash 2019

Last week the girls (and a few little brothers) from our small group got together for a little informal party on Valentine’s Day. Our small group happens to be made up of other homeschooling families, so they are who we usually get together with for our “class” parties.

It was an afternoon party so we didn’t need a lot of food. The day before, Country Girl and I spent some time in the kitchen making a few treats to serve.

Let’s just go ahead and start with the most important. CHOCOLATE! These brownie pops are a recipe from the Pioneer Woman. They are easy to put together, requiring no baking, and are so decadent!

Candy hearts, of course, are a must on Valentine’s Day. My girl cut these strawberries into hearts for fruit skewers which gave us a little something healthy among the other goodies.

White chocolate-dipped pretzels with sprinkles have got to be one of the easiest treats to prepare. It went really fast with me dipping and my girl quickly adding the sprinkles.

Popcorn helped balance the sweets.

On a sentimental note, the pink floral table topper is one I made for Country Girl’s 8th birthday. She chose the fabric way back then, and I’ve used it for many occasions since.

Most of the food was arranged on the island, but a cookie station was set up on the stove.

Heart-shaped sugar cookies were ready to be adorned with icing, sprinkles, and candies!

This sugar cookie has been our absolute favorite cookie recipe for years! I’ll share it in another post sometime. I’ve been making it since before my kids were born, and it’s appeared at just about every birthday, holiday, and shower since.

I went ahead and portioned out scoops of pink icing into some festive red paper cups that were leftover from another event, and put out plastic knives for spreading. The idea was to let the girls go through the cookie station and collect everything they needed onto their plates, and then do the decorating at their table.

The cupcake liners were there for the girls to hold their selected toppings as they shopped the lineup of candies and sprinkles.

Letting everyone decorate their own cookies saved me the time of doing it ahead, and gave them something fun and creative to do at the party. I’ve been using this idea since my oldest was in preschool so it definitely spans all ages! In fact, at this party, ages three through “mom” all participated in the cookie decorating!

I decided to bring back the nostalgic sherbet punch, and introduce the girls to the way we moms did parties when we were growing up. The punch bowl you see below was my husband’s great-grandmother’s! How special is that!! There are a few punch cups to match, but plastic cups seemed more practical for this occasion.

And here’s the hot chocolate tray again that I posted last week in it’s corner of the kitchen.

I didn’t do much with the tables, but instead kept more of the decorating to the island.

I have really enjoyed these white ceramic lanterns with fluffy pink flowers. They just make me smile. And since they’re placed all around my house right now, I’m smiling a lot this month!

After eating, the older girls remained at their table and chatted all afternoon while the younger children played outside. And then they passed out sweet Valentines and treats to each other. They are all so precious! The love they all share for each other is special. These girls encourage each other weekly in wonderful Godly ways. I’m so thankful!

Incredible-Boy and the other little brothers enjoyed the snacks and then excused themselves for some Hot Wheels playtime. We decided theirs was a PALentine’s party.

Some of my favorite time at the party was spent in the den, talking with the moms. The women in my small group are so encouraging. I always enjoy time with those ladies. They all have strong spiritual lives and walk closely with the Lord.

While my den isn’t quite this spotless anymore, I am still enjoying the few touches of red and pink and the scent of my Valentine candle. I can’t believe that February will soon turn into March later next week!

I’ll be back again this week with some photos from the other parties we hosted this month. So hurry back!