Novice Homemaker

I honestly had no idea how the Jackson's Super Veggie Straws were going to go over at my tea party. I thought people would see veggie and turn the other way. I was so wrong! Everyone loved them. We got to sample the 24 pack of three flavors from Sam's Club through Tryazon and Jackson's. The flavors in the case were Sea Salt (my personal favorite), Ranch, and Cheddar. Seems like there was no clear winner for flavors. The guests were kind of evenly split on which one they preferred. According to the label, these are always made with avocado oil. The ingredients for the sea salt flavor are; yellow peas, brown rice, cassava, sweet potato, avocado oil and sea salt. The label also states no artificial ingredients and no preservatives. These were 110 calorie packs with zero sugar. I felt like this was a pretty good snack. I loved the crunch and the saltiness. They really satisfy my snack cravings in the afternoons. I am giving thumbs up to Jackson's Super Veggie Straws.

My group really enjoyed these games. I foresee us using these a lot at future parties. Especially at the beginning while we are waiting for everyone to arrive and settle in.

Who doesn't love a good ice cream sundae? Sunday Night Sauces are small batch, farm crafted dessert sauces. They use no corn syrup, no preservatives, no emulsifiers, no seed or palm oils, no gluten and nothing artificial. They have classic, bittersweet, or sea salt chocolates. They also have sea salt caramel and fudgy (vegan) chocolate sauce. It is a great selection. The sauces are delicious and after microwaving for 30 seconds have a lovely consistency. My friends and family enjoyed them and were impressed with the ingredients...or in this case lack thereof. Will purchase again. Looking forward to more sundaes with Sunday Night Sauces.

We enjoyed checking out these Disney games from Ravensburger. My favorite thing was that the villains in Disney Villainous Unstoppable each have their own objective so each one had their own unique tokens and pieces. For example Maleficent had a puzzle to put together while Scar had hyenas to place. To me the game felt new/fresh because of that. We are looking forward to playing it again.

Santorini 2nd Edition and Santorini: Riddle of the Sphinx are strategy games by Roxley Games. I got to check them out through Tryazon. They are great quality. I love the thickness and almost laminated feel of the cards and all of the pieces to the game are very sturdy. The graphics are adorable. My guests were excited to play, especially my adult son who has had his eye on this game for a while. The 2nd edition fits with the original. This game is for 2-4 players and takes about 20 minutes to play. It is intended for players 8 and up. See https://roxley.com/products/santorini for more details.

Dice Words is a really fun game. We got to check it out through Tryazon. It was easy to learn and we got started playing right away. My group ranged from 19 to 50 and we all enjoyed it very much. It is scored kind of like Scrabble with longer words getting bonus points. Matching target letters will get you a higher score as well. The materials in the game are good quality and should last a long, long time. I loved the cute theme to the game. The letters are ice cubes and the shakers are beverage cups. The dice bar is a drinking straw. So cute! I know my adult kids really enjoyed it because they wanted to take one of the games home...which they got to do. I am 100% sure we will be playing this again soon. https://store.thamesandkosmos.com/products/dice-words

Got to check out My Funny Family and Acting Out from DSS Games over the weekend. It was easy to jump right into playing. We enjoyed My Funny Family the most. I feel like this game could be played anywhere. The box is a little smaller than most board games, so a little more portable. We laughed out loud several times during the game. Both games had great quality cards and boxes. They should last a long time. We wished Acting Out came with a timer as players were supposed to have 15 seconds to perform. We found the points a little confusing, but will likely make up our own points in the future. Overall easy to play and good for family fun.

Got to check out another great game through Tryazon! Minecraft Heroes of the Village by Ravensburger. This fun Minecraft game is a resource gathering game. While it did take us a bit of time to get through the directions (our usual game master was not available), we enjoyed this game. I think seasoned players of games of this type would have found the directions easier, but once you've got it play proceeds quickly. The object was to finish building before the Illagers advance. I liked that you play against the Illagers instead of the other people playing, so you are working together instead of against each other. My guests enjoyed the game as well. The quality of the game is good and should last. I am looking forward to playing this game again.

Personalogy is a compact game that gets people talking! I had the opportunity to test out this game through Tryazon. I ended up taking it to three different get togethers. Two at homes and once at a restaurant. The small box size makes it convenient to take along wherever you want to go. The quality of the box and cards is very good. It should last a long time. The box is a thicker, hard cardboard and cards are a little thicker than an average card as well. We played conversation style with no points. It seemed to go over well with all who participated. The questions were unusual, so it really got people talking and made getting the party started very simple. On two occasions we played it until the late guests arrived. This was a great way to fill time and get people in the party mood.

Danger The Game by Origami Whale Games is a fun way to get your mind working. Using tool and skill cards you explain how you would save the victim. The victim decides who has the best plan and awards them a Danger card. The first to get 3 Danger cards wins. Great game. This game was a hit with my group.

My husband is a collector of Monopoly board games. I signed up with Tryazon to check Monopoly Go! out for him. This game is too cute! With cute tokens and adorable tiny boards for each player. The game itself is well made with nice hefty pieces. I remember my first Monopoly game that we had in the 70's/80's. The pieces were much lighter weight. (I was especially fond of the dog token. Our dog one short leg and tended to fall over, but I loved that little guy. Anyway... back to Monopoly Go!) The pieces in this game are nice and sturdy. This game is cool because everyone is playing at every turn. One player rolls all the colored dice and each person moves their token for their color. There are twists that keep the game exciting including bank heists and shutdowns. Each player plays on their own tiny board. Instead of houses and hotels you are building a landmark. First to build wins! My guests loved it and hubby is excited to add it to his collection.

This game is so cute! Oh My Pigeons! from Ravensburger was a game that my flock loved! Fast play with twists that keep you in the game. The object is to collect pigeons on your park bench. (The tiny pigeons are adorable!) First one to fill their bench wins. We played with ages 10 to 78. It was a hit with all. It is "a ridiculous party game of fowl play". It was truly fun to play. I give it all the stars and thumbs! Looking forward to playing again.

Yum! Got a chance to check out Country Orchard Organic Juice Freeze Pops through Tryazon and Kisko Freezies. They were awesome! Everyone at the party loved them. These pops are made with 100% juice. The information I received says they are "free of the top 9 allergens making them school safe". They are vegan and kosher. The flavors are strawberry-mango and orange-pineapple from the first box and tropical passion and berry blast from the second. I tried the tropical passion and the orange pineapple. Both were delicious, but the tropical passion is my favorite so far. There was no clear winner from the party... it seems there was something for everyone as the favorites were distributed pretty evenly across the board. Loved them, would purchase again. Perfect treat on hot Arizona afternoons.

Sample party!! We played Ulltimate Pub Trivia from Areyougame.com . It was a hit with my group. We are already planning another pub night to play again with a larger group. There are 6 categories of answers for each round. Name 4, who said, what decade, number, and draw. (We enjoyed that it was not just plain old questions and answers.) The categories are we're booked, geek chic, past present and future, athletic feats and pop culture. I think the more we play this game the more fun it will become and the more the merrier! Can't wait to play again with my big group. It is recommended for 4 or more players aged ten and up.

I am getting ready for another theme party! A tea party in the Red Queen's Tea Garden. I purchased this crown from At Home during their 90% off sale for Christmas items. Originally this crown was supposed to be a tree topper...guess it still can be, but I will be using it on a table scape. I spent 99 cents on the crown itself. I also purchased two bags of rose shaped buttons for 99 cents each. I only used the red roses out of the bags. I already had the valentine's and red glitter ribbon. I most likely got those for around a dollar each as well. The red satin heart is from Build-A-Bear at sea, and was given to me free I sewed a metallic thread through it and tied it on so that it would hover in the top of the crown. I then used Gorilla Glue to attach the red roses. The black hearts were originally pastel which I had from another project, so I painted them and glued them on with the same glue. I glued the glitter ribbon on with hot glue. The heart ribbons are also hot glued. I took an empty kcup and cut off the bottom of it for the ribbons. I didn't want to see the messy ends of the ribbons so I painted the kcup gold and added glitter to get it to match the crown a little better. I glued the ribbon ends into the kcup end and glued the cup to the crown. I cut a slit so it would wrap around the post in the center of the crown. I then glued the hanging ends to the base of the crown with hot glue. Admittedly it got a little overwhelming with the heart ribbons, but they are on their now so there they stay. I can't wait to host this party. I never count the whole amount of craft supplies if I don't use the whole package... It was 99 cents for crown, 50 cents for the red roses, guesstimate of 25 cents for glue, same 25 for glitter (although both were probably less) and another guess at a buck for ribbon. So three dollars for a table decoration that was fun to make. Oops, forgot the candy hearts. They were probably 5 or ten cents each at most.

OOH! I won a contest! Affy Tapple is 75! I won this delicious gift basket. These are really delicious and I would even say the best I have ever had. If you like caramel apples these are totally worth checking them out! www.affytapple.com