Reduce, Reuse, Recyle

Party Ideas for the economic downturn . . .

Well, we're all tightening our belts these days but we still want to have fun! So instead of going out to dinner yet again to catchup with friends, I decided to host a Book Exchange party. The bonus being you get to hang out with friends AND go home with a few (new to you) books. So here's how we did it:

Each guest was instructed to bring two books that she enjoyed and was now ready to pass along. We spread them all out on a table (a train table of course - but a regular table will do just fine if you're not surrounded by kid's toys in your home). I provided post-its and pens and had each guest take five post-it's, numbered 1-5 and put their name on each and then place on their top five book choices.

Later in the evening after everyone had chosen we checked out the books. Some were easy, only one #1 was on a book so that person would automatically get it. However, if there were more than one #1 or no number ones but a few #2's, etc. I decided those people should fight it out. This works best later in the evening when most are good and liquored. We decided that each person would tell a story and the group would vote for the best one. We started out with "most embarassing moment" stories. That in itself was worth it and long after the book choosing was over more stories were flowing. I also gave a small bag of books to the person who brought the book with the most post-its on it. All in all we had a great time and I'm excited to read my new books.

I'm hoping someone else hosts soon in the future to get a whole new pool of books going. I'm thinking of doing a toy exchange next. Basically, any excuse to get together with adult drinks and no children is as Martha would say, "a good thing" a damn good thing!