Rhiwbina Living Issue 48

Murder Mystery Evening
A Murder Mystery Evening can be a huge amount of fun, bringing
everyone together and creating new memories with old friends.
Prior to the party, you can purchase a murder mystery party kit. The
kit includes a story about a murder, which usually occurs either during
the course of the dinner or before the party begins. Guests are cast
as characters and should arrive in fancy dress as their nominated
character. Together or separately, all participants (apart from the
murderer) work to solve the mystery.
Wine Tasting
Evening
Book yourself a night in with some
wine and friends. If you're looking
to do things properly, introduce a
theme to your wine tasting evenings
- maybe base it on geographical
regions or by country. Also ensure
that all of your wines are ready
to serve at their appropriate
temperatures
Prepare fresh crusty bread and
maybe some cheese to soak up the
alcohol too.
Games Night
Board games aren't just for kids
although you can include them if
you wish. Always have a selection
of games on hand to suit your
audience. When the kids go to
bed, you can bring out the more
challenging and grown-up games.
Invite close friends to make sure
that the evening is an intimate
affair - large groups are often hard
to control whereas meaningful
conversation can be had in smaller
groups.
Prepare some finger food in
advance so that you don't have to
keep people waiting while you're
in the kitchen. You may also want
to think about where you play the
game. A dining table can be useful
if you are serving food whereas
playing around a coffee table can
bring a more relaxed vibe to your
evening. Background music is
optional but don't make it too loud
or distracting.
Keep a good stash of drink so that
you don't have to disappear during
the evening and your guests may
also appreciate a nice dessert as a
victory prize - providing they win of
course. Personalising their playing
pieces, if possible, is also a nice
touch.
Crafting
Autumn provides us with rich
pickings to craft with, especially
with children.
Your local park can supply
you with leaves for leaf printing,
conkers for marbling, and other
bits and bobs to create collages.
Use nature's gifts to create an
autumn wreath or why not create
a garland that you can hang up in
your home?
You can also help craft clothing
and blankets for the colder months
ahead. Knitting has always been
a popular pastime and creating a
scarf, hat or jumper for winter will
keep you busy for hours.
Kids will love creating their own
scarecrow too and you can always
pop this in your garden to remind
you of your autumn memories.
Plan for Christmas
It's not too far away and now is a
good time to start planning.
Getting the Christmas card list
done is always a good place to
start before you can think about
Christmas gifts. Get your calendar
out too and start planning any
activities that you want to do.
Involving friends and family in your
plans will ramp up the excitement
levels.
Mince pies are probably on sale in
some shops now so stock up, put
the kettle on and plan for festive
times ahead.
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