B-I-N-G-O

Several years back my family (husband, children, brother, sisters, their spouses, nephews, nieces, parents and a few close family friends) started getting together for game night…I guess I should have said my BIG family started getting together! We would gather at my parent’s home for an evening of food and fun and to play Bingo. After a year of using self-printed cards and any random tokens to mark our cards my sister Cindy ordered us “professional cards.” Don’t get me wrong there was nothing wrong with the self-printed cards, but more times than not we would be laughing so hard that inevitably someone would knock the table and well you can imagine what would happened to the tokens that were already placed on the cards. Now, we use cards that only require a quick flick. My father, “Pop”, would provide cash prizes and we would all pitch in and bring enough food and snacks to feed an army. Yes, these game nights were something we looked forward to and they were guaranteed to make all that attended laugh. The memories that my children have of these evenings are priceless. When my mother passed away we thought that we would never be able to have another game night. My father and her simply adored having the entire family together. My mom loved playing games and let’s just say she was a tad bit competitive (wink wink). Then one day back in January, my niece suggested we have a game night with the pretense of celebrating all of the February birthdays in our family. I was immediately on board and offered to host the evening. Since game night was in February, I went with a Valentine’s theme. The evening was a blast and like usual we had a ton of food and drinks. The only thing missing was our dear Nanny, but we know she was looking down from heaven and I am pretty sure I heard her yell “BINGO!”

A frame bought at Dollar Tree, a free printable found on Pinterest by: “The Cutest Blog on the Block” , and some colorful scrap ribbon.

Candle holders and tea lights bought at Dollar Tree and conversation hearts found at any local grocery store.

Misc. glass jars, looking glass spray and ribbon bought at Michaels (our awesome local craft store), licorice sticks, forks and flowers. I love to spray paint empty glass jars. There are so many uses for them and it’s an inexpensive way to decorate.

Votive holders bought at World Market, after Christmas for 90% off, make for cute candy holders. Think outside the box when you see a great deal. I also purchased this adorable mixing bowl at World Market and it made a great chip bowl.

More photos of our incredible night…