"Trip" #1: Ireland

In case you missed the post that explains what these trips are, you can find it here. 

Basically, for a date night once a month we're going on a "trip" to a different country. I gave the hubster his "passport" earlier this week so we could hurry and squeeze in a date for March!

We're saving to put in a yard, so my budget is SUPER limited. So... this is my cheap spin on Ireland!

I decorated the table with a runner we got for our wedding, and these little shamrocks.

 You can get the free printable here.

Then I got to work making our game! I looked long and hard for a good Irish game to play, and I found one called Irish Skittles that sounded fun!

It's basically a cross between bowling and blackjack. It took me a long time to find rules that 1. I understood, and 2. I could open on my linux-based computer. 

The Official Rules

The Rules That I Understood

Now, they get pretty serious about the size of the circle and the pieces, but I was doing this on the cheap! So I made up our own little home-made version. And it worked great. :)

I saved toilet paper rolls (and cut up a paper towel roll) to make the pins. The pins are supposed to be numbered, so I wrapped each one in half a sheet of paper and added numbers. 

For the playing circle, I originally found a scrap board and traced an old Christmas tree stand with chalk. I realized later that wouldn't work, because the pins needed to be able to roll in and out of the circle; so, I scrapped that and rummaged through my crafty bin and found some thin yarn and tape. 

I know it looks a little... tape-y... but I don't care. It made a great circle, and allowed for one of the hubster's pins to roll back into the circle. (hehe)

I tried it out once to see if it would work, and I realized the pins were too light. So I stuffed each tube with a plastic grocery bag and a medium-ish rock. That fixed it! 

They rolled a little funny, but I figured we would both have the same disadvantage, so it didn't matter. 

You also need things to throw at the pins... so I grabbed 4 pairs of rolled up socks. They did the trick!

You may also notice that I used a phone cord to make the line in front of the circle. More yarn probably would have worked, but I didn't feel like cutting it.

 

After a couple rounds of Irish Skittles (of course he won every game, even though I came really, really close to beating him the second time. *pretend pout*), dinner was served!

To drink: but of course, Irish dinners need something strong... like ale! Ginger... ale. *wink*

 Also, please note my *super* creative pot-of-gold centerpiece. 

To eat: Potatoes! In au gratin form. And a green fruit and vegetable. 

Served in green and orange bowls we got for our wedding. 

After dinner, I gave the hubster a list of movies to choose from that all had Irish actors in them. The list included Taken, any of the Harry Potter movies, and Dark Knight Rises. 

But, because my husband is awesome, he chose the movie I was hoping he would:

This movie is hilarious. Seriously, you should watch it.

But of course, in order to enjoy McLintock fully, we needed movie snacks!

 

 Green movie snacks.

And when the night was over, I "stamped" his passport!

 I couldn't get the printable passport stamps that came with the original blog to print because my computer is dumb, so I frantically searched last-minute and found this option. It's a template with 4 different stamps you can edit yourself. 

Overall, I think our first "trip" together was pretty fun! I had so much fun trying to create an Irish date, and the hubster has already told me he's looking forward to the next one! (Me too!) Egypt, here we come!