While this year’s Hobbit Party may have been a bit different than in years passed, it was truly the highlight of our whole year. I’m so thankful for the friends who were able to visit throughout our party weekend, especially those who helped me pull everything together and keep everything running smoothly!

To help accommodate social distancing, we hosted the party over two different days — Friday Night and Saturday Afternoon. It worked out very well, and I think we’ll do this every year from now on! The first night had a much more ‘grown-up’ vibe as most of the priests and young adults came then, and most of the families with little children came on Saturday (I didn’t plan this, it just worked out like that!). So it was all so fun!

We lovingly refer to our basement as “the pub” because it came with a built-in bar, and I love how it looks when these lanterns on the walls are lit. So nice and cosy! And our dear friend Maddie is a talented mixologist who made us the loveliest drinks all weekend.

Our ‘signature drink’ this year Ent Draught — Matcha Mojitos! Recipe here.

This was our first time having friends over to see our Hobbit Hole playhouse! I did a full tour of the playhouse here if you’d like to see inside: Our Hobbit Hole Playhouse Tour

Back Upstairs, we had a few games and lots of places to sit and chat, make flower crowns, and play Tolkien trivia!

This year, I set up a basket of party favors and asked guests to choose one or two on their way out. I chose these handmade tobacco-scented candles, banners made from pages of old copies of The Hobbit (handmade by my dear friend Brenna), individually wrapped tea-bags (my favorite here), and the cutest Lord of the Rings stickers from AllaDraws on Etsy.

My favorite party activity was “Shelob’s Web” — I filled our mudroom with white streamers, gave the kids foam swords, and let them all run in to destroy Shelob’s Web! Next year I’m planning to use white yarn or something similar, throw in a little Frodo plush, and make into a ‘rescue mission’. We also had glowsticks for the kids labeled “the Phial of Galadriel” but it wasn’t dark outside when they all ran in! Might need to get some blackout shades for next year.

We also played “And My Axe” Axe Tossing using these foam axes and a styrofoam hoop that I’d spray painted gold. The hoop only lasted a few hours before one of our guests accidentally broke it (with their dwarvish strength??) so next year I’ll definitely get something sturdier (in case you were thinking about playing this game at your own party!).

This is a lot of photos for one blog post so I’ll finish sharing everything in a second entry tomorrow!