Down On The Farm

Girls' Life, Oct, 2000 by Sarah Cordi

Colored leaves blanket your backyard and there's a crispness to the air. Why not cook up some festive fall food and party down country style? Yee-haw!

CORNY INVITES

Save dough and make your pals personal paper pumpkin and corn invites. You'll need scissors, glue (spray glue is best), a black pen, and orange, yellow and green construction paper.

PAPER PUMPKINS: Fold orange construction paper horizontally, and cut out a wide half circle (like when you made heart valentines in elementary school). Unfold the paper, and voila--a pumpkin--well, sort of. With a little glue, attach a green paper stem and leaves. Then pen your party details, including when (date and time), where (include directions if necessary), what (if you want your guests to dress like farmers, tell them) and RSVP information. With a black pen, draw arcs from the stem of your pumpkin down to the bottom. Be careful not to draw lines over your party info--just stop and restart your arcs.

CORNY CORNS: Cut yellow paper to look like an ear of corn. Lay corn on top of the green paper, and cut out a husk to fit the ear. Glue the ear on top of the husk. Write the party details on the corn, and add some kernels with a black pen. Draw little tic-tac-toe grids to fill in the blank spaces.

For a party with a purpose, you can sponsor a canned harvest of sorts by asking guests to bring canned food items. When guests arrive, they can drop their cans into a barrel, and you can make a donation to your local food bank--just in time for the holiday season.

Once your invites are complete, drop them in envelopes, address and decorate with festive fall stickers or cut-outs. We used the fall and Halloween Punch-outs by Hot off the Press (www.paperpizazz.com). Simply punch out, and glue the decorations to your envelopes--add some detail of your own for a personalized touch. Drop your envelopes in the mail, and wait for the phone to ring. In the meantime, get planning.

PRELIM PREPARATIONS

If you're lucky enough to have a barn you can "borrow," by all means, throw your party there. If you're a total city slicker, try converting your back porch, garage or basement into a "barn." We know--it's a stretch, but a little imagination, a plethora of pumpkins and scattered scarecrows can do wonders.

Wherever you choose to throw your harvest fest, start with a large, clean, open area. If you get your hooves on a barn, clear it out--you don't want any of your best buds two-stepping into a pitchfork or landing in a pile of...well, you get the point.

Once your party place is totally clean, throw down some straw. It sounds really messy--and it kind of is--but what's a barn party without straw?

You'll also need a long table for a buffet, or use a couple card tables. If you have a couple picnic tables, drag 'em into your "barn." Very large pumpkins and bales of hay make great seats--don't be shy about overloading!

Other than that, creating your fall festival is totally up to you and your Farmer Fran imagination. So quit horsin' around, and get to work!

DECK THE RAFTERS

You can find just about everything you need to create a fall utopia (hey, rhymes with cornucopia!) at any major craft store or superstores like K-Mart.

We found everything at Michael's craft store--even a life-size rooster. Look for pumpkins, black birds, wheelbarrows, scarecrows, cornhusks, gourds, baskets, hay bales and garlands of colorful leaves. Brainstorm. Whatever makes you feel like fall should work.

Cover that buffet table with an antique patchwork quilt, checkered tablecloth or even canvas potato sacks.

To make a potato sack table cloth, cut open the sacks and lay them flat. Attach natural colored grass skirts (available at most party and costume stores) with heavy tape or tacks under the rim of the table. Let the grass hang off the edges. Decorate your buffet table with fun fall crafty stuff and goodies.

Does Mom or Grandma save every little thing? If so, head to their basement or attic and do some shopping! We came up with tons of cool country keepers.

We found old baskets, a hand-painted antique serving tray, a child's chicken pull toy, a cornucopia, weathered vases and awesome iron candlesticks. We wrapped the rims and handles of the baskets with garlands of fall leaves and filled them with mini pumpkins, squash and gourds--fill with other autumn fruits like apples, grapes, pomegranates and cranberries.

Put utensils at one end of the buffet table. Wrap the silverware in colorful bandanas, and place them in an earthy looking crock--guests may use the bandanas as napkins. Set out enough plates and cups for your guests. Use one-of-a-kind old plates from a yard sale or junk shop or take the simple route, and use colorful paper--it's up to you.

We even found great pumpkin-decorated napkins and matching plates. When we were finished eating, we just threw all the paper goods away.

GOOFY GAMES

Now that your barn is all decked out, you're probably ready to stir up some farm-style fun.

As soon as all your guests have arrived, pick names from a hat and split into teams. Have each team select a farm-related team name and keep game scores throughout the day.