Brunch & Craft Playdate

On Monday I hosted a playdate for some of the other doctor's wives here in town. I love hanging out with them because they understand the long hours and other facets of the job (to do a fellowship or not?), most of them are away from their families too, and we just always seem to have a lot in common. And most of them have small children!!

I had everyone over for brunch and to do a little craft and then just play. This is the easiest brunch set up and I think it looks so much nicer than it should given the amount of time I spent getting it ready! I love easy with high impact!!

 The night before I just made three batches of muffins - they are store bought! I popped them in the oven over and over until they were done and while I was cleaning and getting everything else done. I got four kinds of fruit and cut them into bite sized pieces. I even used my heart cookie cutter to make heart shaped watermelon. It didn't take long at all and it looked so cute! I made a simple fruit dip to put with them. I had everything done and ready to go the night before except the ham and potato casserole. I call these "dump and bake" because there's no measuring required and I just mix everything right in the pan it bakes in! {recipe below} I think this recipe is probably awful for you but it's always a crowd pleaser like most fattening things! 

I used one of my chalkboard platters in an easel to show which muffin flavor was in each wrapper. 

I decided to do a hand-tracing craft, based on this picture I saw on Pinterest. I wanted something that didn't involve glue/glitter/small items because I didn't know if I had it in me to clean that kind of mess up from a lot of kids! Hah! I could never be a kindergarten teacher!

 I picked out some scrapbooking paper from Michael's and we let the kids trace their hand and then frame them in little frames I got from the Dollar Tree. Some kids even colored on theirs too. I thought they turned out so cute! I traced my hand and then layered Landon's hand over it and put it on the mantle.

I really love having people over and I especially love when I can do it without feeling like I have to spend hours cooking and cleaning and getting everything together!

Simple Fruit Dip:
1 regular jar of Marshmallow Fluff
1 regular box of cream cheese (at room temp)
Blend both ingredients together until smooth. Serve chilled.

Ham & Potato Casserole:
1 package frozen hash browns
1 2c package sharp cheddar, reserve some for topping
1/2 package diced ham
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 large container sour cream
1 stick butter, melted
Mix everything together in large baking dish coated with Pam. Add cheese to top. Bake @ 360 for 45-60 minutes.

Happy play-dating! :)