money supermarket's big night in challenge could not have come at a more convenient time. as we're now into our second month in the new flat, and we still haven't had a flat-warming, what better reason to stay in could there be? add to that the company of two of my favourite bloggers, kim and kirsty, and well... needless to say, i've been planning this for weeks.
we'd be tossing the idea of an old-fashioned slumber party around for months, and with the final guest list confirmed, i got to buying the supplies. with £50 to stretch to decorations, party food, and drinks, i had to put my thrifty cap on! i also wanted to put together 'goodie bags' for the girls, with all the 'sleep-over essentials', meaning all they needed to bring with them was a change of knickers and themselves! clever, huh? the goodie bags cost about a fiver each (i made one for me too!), but i really wanted a way to thank the girls for coming down, and to ensure they packed light for our day out in london. i think they liked them...
i'd been scouring the boot sales for weeks for platters, bowls and retro cups to use for our drinks. what i couldn't find there, i found in the local charity and pound stores. my haul probably cost around ten pounds, for bowls, platters, cake props and two types of cups, but i will use them all again. this was definitely an investment haul!
as far as the spread was concerned, i focused my attention on junk, because it's reasonably cheap. it was pretty junk, but junky all the same. i also put my baking cap on thanks to the good folks at baking mad, using some of their summer recipes to bake adorable pink-frosted cupcakes and also make a bit of a mess of some strawberry meringues - still perfectly ok to use later on for eton mess though! on top of that there were bowls and bowls of pink biscuits and candy and chocolate buttons, with popcorn, crisps and gu lemon cheesecake pots for the evening's entertainment... only the cheesiest and most girly films of all time and the fruit-scented facials from the goody bags!
for the non-alcoholic bevvies, i was kindly gifted some samples of tea from new online tea company, tea geeks. and when we first arrived in from our day out in london, i brewed up some of the elderflower white tea and served it over ice and lemonade for the girlies to calm their nerves before we got the party started! i'd stocked up on fresh berries for the eton mess, that i also used later on to mix together with some frozen juice and fizzy wine to make refreshing, icy cocktails to slurp on while snacking. with the home-brand juice in the freezer as the base, some cheap lemonade and a giant bottle of *cough* lambrini, the three rounds of cocktails for the three of us came in at under ten quid; i think i deserve a pat on the back for that! i've never spent less than a tenner on drinks for just myself on a night out, ever - so it just goes to show how good staying in can really be for the purse!
we had an absolute ball staying in and just enjoying each other's company - something that can sometimes be hard to do among the noise and revelry of those messy nights out. after a busy day out in our hot, hot city, staying in with a cool bevvie in hand and great company is all i ever want. i've always been a stay-in kinda girl anyway, but thank you so much to money supermarket for letting me show them why.
