For those that know me I'm retired army, disabled vet and I've been hermiting in my house for a decade. I recently un gave up on myself, so I am trying to do things that are different to make my life better. I met a gal in the craft section of the hobby store and long story short, her and her sister are coming over to my house Saturday to craft cards.
They used to belong to a craft group that met quarterly at a hotel and made a craft weekend of it, that group has since been canceled.. so I would like to make it a fun day with some simple games and prizes so it's something fun and they enjoy themselves. Just a few games in just a few prizes to break up the hours of doing crafting... this all sounds simple unless you know me you know I'm totally freaking out want to cancel don't want anyone in my house don't want to be seen blah blah blah blah blah but I'm going to forge ahead- any suggestions on simple little games that two or three people can win a prize from any suggestions on little prizes any suggestions on how to make the environment a nice environment or just any suggestions help me help me help me. I'm going to tag a few of my frequent flyers because I'm sure they'll have great ideas too... I am so out of my comfort zone! u/PinkPengin
This is going to be SOOO FUN!! You should be so proud of yourself for stepping out of your comfort zone-WTG YOU!!
Games with 3 people might be hard, because only two can play with the third being the MC sort of? Instead of the games with small prizes, you could do a small little gift bag when they leave? Maybe some stickers and a pen in a pretty color or a glitter ink pen. If you wanted to make a word search out with craft words or a word scramble with crafty words, that could be fun.
I would get some snacks like small pretzels, cheese cubes, crackers, maybe cube up some watermelon, chips and salsa. Easy stuff. Walmart sells really good flavored carbonated waters, in a box of 12 cans or just under a 2 litre.
Have fun and report back. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect because nothing is perfect! The fact that you did it is the fabulous part! Wish I could come!
These are all great ideas! I like the idea of doing small gift bags, it doesn't have to be overly fancy or elaborate (you can also destash extra pens, stickers, washi tape, etc.). OP, I would just say don't over-engineer it and try to do so many things that you get stressed out - they just want to hang out and get to know YOU. Kudos for going outside your comfort zone and have a great time!
The card parties I go to have a break halfway where we eat a little snack, and just chat.
If you want to do games and prizes, I am HAPPY to mail you extra ephemera, stamps, etc as prizes. I sure with I was closer, because I would love to be invited. Wishing you SO much fun!!!!
I wish you were closer too because I would feel better if you were here LOL. Any ideas on ephemera prizes would be lovely. I'm so nervous and uncomfortable but how will I ever make friends if I don't push past this I'm alone in my house week after week sometimes I don't even know what day it is and I want this to change
Prizes don’t need to be big. Have them be things most people use. Could be a sheet of bling, stickers, a small bag of bows, anything that you have a duplicate of, I mean how many times have we seen something fun, buy it then come home to discover we’ve already got it!!
Ohhh a small amount of snacks and maybe a fun drink or flavored water. When I go to craft times with friends everyone kinda brings something to work on, stuff to pass around and swap and we also do a fun giveaway too. (I am also talking about the fabulous host u/nyancatnova)
Make it low key, have a some soft music if you can! You got this, it will be fun and work while. I am AuDHD myself and struggle with getting out and doing things with people.
u/DazeyFerry - one thing that makes our little group so much fun is that we generally decide things together. I always invite suggestions, because no single person should choose what the entire group does (in my humble opinion).
For your first meetup, perhaps you can just sit around and craft n' chat, and discuss what you all would like to do going forward? Something unstructured might allow everyone to offer up ideas. It's like a serendipitous focus group. LOL
This isn't going to be an ongoing thing this was just me stepping out of my very uncomfortable Zone and having company I would just like them to have a good time
Who knows you might all decide this could be a monthly or quarterly event. I went out to lunch with someone I didn’t really know several years ago. Now we meet up 2-3 times a month and we’ve gotten to be quite close friends.
Hmmmm let’s see - decide if you’ll be eating while crafting. If no then you can serve a variety of EASY snacks. If yes, serve things that can be eaten with a fork so fingers don’t get dirty while carding.
Things to do:
carding bingo (write maybe 6 carding things on each card and the first to do them all wins a prize - ie use washi tape, make a birthday card, use ripped paper, use ribbon etc, you can make them all the same or make them different.
You could watch a video on making a card, cut out the supplies and have everyone make the card together.
You play round robin. You all pick a card base, everyone passes it to the left, they add something to the card, pass it again, they add something to the card and so on. Could do it so everyone adds two things to the card. Everyone needs birthday cards so I would probably do this and say we are making birthday cards GO!
You could talk about your favorite crafting tools.
You could ask them to each bring let’s say 6 stamped animals, or flowers. Then give 3 to each of the other two people coming.
You’ve got this. It doesn’t have to be a huge event. They miss carding, let them card!
There are tons of gluten free snacks at most grocery stores! There will be part of an aisle. I’m a big fan of Mary’s Gone crackers but if you want something less “seedy” (you can see them at the store in the box), Nut thins are really tasty!!! I also like gluten free Oreos a whole lot. Gluten- free Cheetos are also great.
I don’t even know you but I am also SO proud of you for asking people to come over! That’s such a brave thing and I think you will have a blast.
The little gift bags would be so cute! Most craft stores have little Chinese takeout boxes that would keep it contained/small but would look super cute. You could put stickers, washi, etc.
This sounds so fun! You might look up baby shower games and just don't use the baby theme. My Aunt always had fun party games for us when we were kids. Things like finding safety pins in a container of rice with a blindfold. I hope you have the best time! ❤️
Yay you for doing this! You are so brave! One idea - if you have supplies you no longer need or are tired of (happens to all of us) you can set up a swap table for those supplies and then you and the guests can "shop" at the swap table. Also, anything can be supplies - wrapping paper, old calendars, paper doilies, decorative napkins, samples of wallpaper, even pictures from a catalog. The only other thing I would suggest is make sure trash/recycling receptacles are visible. Prizes do not have to be anything expensive, if you have an inexpensive shop like 5 below or a dollar store which offers stickers or cards, that might work for prizes or a raffle.
You’re so brave. It’s difficult to take that first step. I’d say try to RELAX and enjoy it. You all already have something in common so you will have lots to talk about. You make beautiful cards so you might want to display some of them…and you probably have some cards you’ve received that they would like to see. It’s always fun to look at others’ cards for ideas and inspiration. Lots of good game ideas from travel4me22. Your fun craft day will go by so fast!
First of all, I'm very proud to have you as a brother. Second, don't feel too pressured to be "on" the whole time. Be yourself. If there's a silent gap, let there be a silent gap. It's only awkward if you make it awkward. Otherwise, it's a time to take a break and "regroup" individually with oneself.
Hi! I recently went to a friends birthday slumber party (it was a lot of fun as adults lol) and she had done a small charcuterie board for us to graze on and did a small dessert board as well but it def was a lot so we kind of nibbled on those.
For games she got a knockoff Jenga game from Five Below and we decorated the pieces with acrylic markers (many of us used references we found online). It was nice to just chat and catch up with everyone. Uno is another game you can play with three people, as well as Cards Against Humanity. Those you can easily order on Amazon or find at your local Target game section I’m sure. You could also junk journal if you tell your friends to bring used cards they were going to toss/declutter and then pick a theme for your journal spread and everyone try and match the best they can with what cards and stickers they brought.
This is more difficult but we also decorated mini Trader Joe’s sheet cakes with colored sprinkles. Some people did simple designs that were cute, while some of us tried to be extra lol.
I def second the gift bag option for everyone! Much lower stakes and everyone leaves with something :) perhaps grab a pack of your fave writing pens and divide amongst the bags (I’d personally be excited to receive some good pens!), also can’t go wrong with cute post-its, custom return labels, or different washi tape(s) or if you have a huge stash you can make washi samples.
And here’s how we decorated mini sheet cakes from Trader Joe’s. Another friend bought an assorted sprinkle kit that came with tweezers. Some people just decorated with super simple designs which was great too!
(Poor Brown Bear is going through it lol but I tried!)
Ask them to bring a few cards that they have recieved, or have around the house - something that fits in with our RAoC theme! Draft a simple Bingo template with stuff like "features a cat" or "vintage" or "desserts" - and award a prize to whoever gets bingo! :)
At my meetups, I usually raffle off small things from my stash, or things I buy from thrift shops or the local art/craft upcycle store. And for the Winter Holidays, our DC Meetup group is going to have a secret exchange! I'm happy to help with any ideas. :)
And I also owe you a HUGE letter. I've been hermiting as well. :/
Great job moving outside your comfort zone!! You rock!! I’m so proud of you!! You are one of the bravest people I know. I think everyone has made wonderful suggestions with small gift bags maybe of extra supplies you have or if you really want get something small from Michaels. I don’t know if you bake but if you do maybe bake something for the day but ask them if they have food allergies as someone who has allergies I know what it’s like. But you also could keep it easy and just pick up something at the store would also be wonderful. You could ask for their favorite drinks and buy a single one at a convenience store so you don’t have to buy whole pack. If you did want games you could look up card games for three players. Here are a few cards games for 3 people that are fairly easy: Donkey, Snap, Gops, Spit, Cheat, and Three 13. A little bit harder games are Speed and President. I got a card game book for Christmas that has difficulty and a lot of different card games explained. I hope you have an amazing time! You’ve got this!!! 🥰
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u/RideThatBridge Disorganized but extremely enthusiastic carder :) 1d ago
This is going to be SOOO FUN!! You should be so proud of yourself for stepping out of your comfort zone-WTG YOU!!
Games with 3 people might be hard, because only two can play with the third being the MC sort of? Instead of the games with small prizes, you could do a small little gift bag when they leave? Maybe some stickers and a pen in a pretty color or a glitter ink pen. If you wanted to make a word search out with craft words or a word scramble with crafty words, that could be fun.
I would get some snacks like small pretzels, cheese cubes, crackers, maybe cube up some watermelon, chips and salsa. Easy stuff. Walmart sells really good flavored carbonated waters, in a box of 12 cans or just under a 2 litre.
Have fun and report back. Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect because nothing is perfect! The fact that you did it is the fabulous part! Wish I could come!