That's Sew Mommy: Mom Stuff

April. 10

Murder Mystery Tea Party

The reason we chose a tea party, is because of the attire. There is nothing better for Girl Scouts than an excuse to dress fancy! Plus, throwing an outdoor party is always so much fun. I am obsessed with Alice & Wonderland, however wanted to save the card theme for another day. Add in a wrap up party, mystery, slumber party, lunch and dinner, and the Alice theme will have to wait. But anyways- let's get started!

There are a TON of ideas online, that are for $ or don't fit with your theme. This one is absolutely customizable and FREE! What is the point of the internet without information share. Sharing is the emphasis. My kiddos don't offer their toys to their friends for a price- Nor will I.

Tasks:

Create Guest List - The friends you invite will play a large part of the Theme.
Decide on Setting / Location - You will need to know where to hold the party, in order to design the game. i.e. Will it be dinner, lunch, tea, mixed etc.
Choose Your Theme.
Start Your Script - This is the most difficult part. Step-by-step tips below.

Scripting:

The best way to begin your script is to start with a table of contents. Mine is below. Mystery parties can loose track, and become confusing very quickly. As a host, you will want everything planned out to be interactive, and self sufficient.

Setting- For our theme, the two great aunts (my youngest daughter & my Co- Leader's younger daughter) are reading their final will from their cookie fortune. We all toast with tea to kick off the party. Suddenly, the great aunts are found to be (pretend) poisoned, the will has gone missing, and the mystery begins! The younger girls turn into ghosts, and are able to run freely, and drop clues when they are needed.
Outline & Timeline- This part is the most essential for the party to go smooth. You may split the party into three parts, maybe five. I chose five. How many do you need?

Determine your meal needs. If you are having dinner, is it a sit down dinner? Appetizer grab? what will you do in-between clue reveals to encourage mingling?

Will you have a detective? I highly recommend you have someone else play the part. They will be in charge of moving from section to section. You will not be able to do this if you are taking care of your guests. It is also fun for one of the reliable guests to play this part.

How many clues will you drop? If you are going to be extremely detailed with clues, ensure that they are enough for your guests to figure out the murderer. If you are creating the clues for children, as I am, it is as easy as one clue suggesting each of the suspect, and the final clue adding higher emphasis of guilt, leaving the murderer with the clearest guilt and an extra clue than the others.

3. Characters - Give each of your guests a funny persona for the theme. List their names, give them occupations, accents/ where they are from, a quirk. This will keep the party entertaining, and interactive. Some examples below.

Daisy is from Texas, and explores the world to make scientific discoveries. Daisy recently discovered a pollen which does AMAZING things! However, she will not share her discovery with anyone until they invest a ‘simple’ $2.5 Billion.
Georgia lives in the woods of Oregon. She talks very quickly, and refuses to give anyone eye contact for longer than 5 seconds. She has a farm filled with llamas and peacocks.
Beth owns a wonderful bakery which she will announce the new name of at the party. She is famously known for her cupcake, inside of a donut, inside of a cake. She is always inventing new baked goods. When she gets an idea, she shouts, “Oh my!”, and runs off to write it down- whether she is in the middle of a conversation or not.
Frankie is an attorney from Louisiana. She is most famously known for representing the World's Cutest Dog Boo, in taking ownership of his humans.

4. Choose your suspects, randomly with the use of apps, straws, or simply choose them. If you do not have the RSVP counts, select three, and at least 4 or more backups. Give them each a motive.

5. Invites- You can get so creative with these! Send a free evite, from evite.com, or create a custom invite on your own. Check out the zazzle app for affordable custom invites- I am in love with their giant selections.

This is also where your set the theme, and give the guests their personas. You are much more likely to get an RSVP with a fun, and excited guest.

6. Clues- Easy as pie!

Draw maps of the area, and on the back side make notes that the suspect would have made.
Make a check out to the suspect from the "victim" that has been returned or cancelled, along with a bank note describing why. Perhaps the victim no longer wants to help, or support the suspect.
An email from or between suspects threatening to continue operation [Code Name Here] or else.
A letter from the suspect to the victim, with a threat for some kind of action.

7. Last but not least- The Murderer!

Get creative in your own way. Who will the murderer be? Will you pass them a script to read dramatically once they are revealed? Will they take a glorious bow? Choose your best actor among the suspects, someone who will not spill the beans and set the party to a halt. Maybe they find a note on their cup that they are the murderer?

That is all for now :) I hope you are able to host the best, and most AMAZING mystery party of your own.

If you have any questions, post them below & don't forget to follow me on Pinterest!

-TSM

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan.10

Dinner Rolls in 30 Minutes

I just HAVE to share this recipe with you! It is so delicious, easy, and does not take a lot of baking skills. I made these last night, when my daughter asked for hamburgers, and we were out of bread. They are so 'buttery' without the butter. The crust does not harden, and they are so so soft. Also, this recipe is almost fool-proof, I have played around with it for years!

Tools That Make it Easy::

Kitchen-aid Standing Mixer- Mine is soft pink and I just cannot survive without it. I use mine for everything, including baked goods, and mashed potatoes.
Pyrex or Glass Baking Dishes - I have renounced my metal cookie sheets, and now only use metal pans for my cookies and cakes. The glass dishes, in my opinion, avoid over browning your bakes goods.

Ingredients::

1 Cup + 1 TBS Warn Water ( NOT HOT )
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Envelopes/ TBS Rapid Rise Dry Yeast
1 & 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Egg
3 & 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder

Instructions::

Heat oven to 400 degrees. ( Make sure it is fully preheated)
In Standing Mixer ( or large bowl if you do not have one ) warm water, & sugar. Stir to let it dissolve.
Once sugar has mixed, stir in the oil, and yeast, then let rise until it looks very puffy ( about 15 minutes ).
Using the hook for the mixer, add in the egg, salt, & baking powder. Then slowly add in the flour, I like to do about a cup at a time. ( Hand stir with large spoons if you have no mixer. You will also need to knead the dough thoroughly if you have no mixer. )
Continue to let the dough knead in the mixer until you see an even consistency, and the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Flour your hands and roll the dough into small balls (golf ball sized bakes for 10 minutes, & tennis ball sized bakes for 20) Also, I take a stick of butter, and rub it across my glass baking dish. Use any non-stick method you prefer, but mine is easy :) You can really play around with the sizes and times to bake. Personally, I NEVER rely on a timer when cooking and baking. Many people have different altitudes, and that means that the baking time can be extremely off! Watch for a golden brown coloring, they do not harden, but they can under cook.
When finished baking, cut, or pull them apart after 5 minutes. Lay them on a dish or rack to cool, then serve :)

Enjoy these AMAZING rolls, & until next time!