Cropping Party Games

Cropping Party Games

Because I have been a scrapper so long, I am often asked how to plan a crop or party. Sometimes I just say “Bring out the chocolate, call our scrapbooking buddies and it will instantly be a party!” But honestly it takes a little more planning than that. One of my favorite things to do is to share my stash in the form of prizes and giveaways. From fiber to gems to rubber stamps, if you come to my crops you usually get goodies!!! But usually you have to EARN them in the form of occasional crop games or contests. I have adapted some bridal and baby shower games to scrapbooking parties with success. And I have also adopted other games I have played at conventions and store crops. Here are a few games for scrapbooking parties that might help you plan your next get-together.
Here are a few games to space out throughout the crop about an hour apart.

At the beginning of the crop:

Name Doodle Contest:
Have markers of all kinds available (your Zig collection?) and blank nametags. At each seat have a list of the guests. When they arrive, people can quickly add their name and a few doodles or a lot of doodles to their own tag. Later on (when everyone is seated) go around the room and have each person introduce themselves. People will vote on the best nametag with the guest list provided on their spot.
Prize idea: The winner gets a writing instrument or pen of some kind. like these marker pens from American Crafts

Bradley McBraderson and Penny Ziggerfeld:
While you are waiting for everyone to arrive your guest can do this little exercise. Type up these two names at the top of a 8.5x11 sheet of paper and print one off for each guest. They have to see how many DIFFERENT words they can make from these two dedicated scrapbooker names.
Prize idea: The person who makes the most words wins a packet of brads and a Zig black marker!


Time for Memories:
Two winners here.
Who has been scrapping longest? Who got you started?
Who is the freshest recruit? Who got you started?
Prize idea: Anything time-related like clock stickers/accents/paper or a new album.


Midway through the crop or just before a meal it is time for a mental break:

Pass the Bag:
We just played this at a recent bridal shower and it can definitely be adapted to a scrapbook party. A large bag of nice items like punches and templates and papers is the prize. (Template by Timeless Touches)


Start the game with the hostess at the start. After that it goes in the following order to:
The person who did a baby page most recently
The person who makes mostly cards --not pages--and doesn’t really consider herself much of a scrapper.
The person who did a pet page most recently
The person wearing a pink shirt today
The person who is the oldest in the room
A person with green eyes
The person who brought the largest circle Coluzzle.
The person who packed the lightest for the crop.
The person who has an orange marker on the table right now
The person oldest single person
The person who has done the most 12x12 albums EVER.
The person wearing red socks today.
The person who works exclusively in 8.5x11 album size.
The person with the most paper stash along today.
The person who has done origami most recently.
The person who DOES NOT like chocolate.
The person most recently married.
The person who owns a scrapbooking store or business.
The person who has green eyes.
The person who has on the most jewelry today.
The person who has done Scherenschnitte paper cutting before
**The person who brought the most paper punch tools along with her today**

The last person holding the bag (**most punches**) is the winner of the entire bag.


Family History Challenge: This one is a game --but it also is meant to spur people to know their ancestors a bit better. (Because most of us don’t.) Give each person a basic 16 line family tree chart (such as the free one seen and printable from here)
http://www.sgenealogy.com/products/pics/forms/PedLetFamTree.jpg
See if anyone can write down all 15 of their own immediate ancestors names. Those who do get a small prize!
Prize suggestion: a nice chart paper like this one


a can or jar or bag of mixed nuts because we ALL have a few mixed up nuts in our family trees!


“Steal the Bag” Layouts Completed Prize:
A small bag (less than 6 inches in width) of prizes is handed out to the first person to get a layout done. Each person who finishes a layout after that can STEAL this bag from the person before them. At the top of each 2 hour stint, TIME is called or a bell rung and the winner holding the bag at that time gets to keep it. Another bag is brought out for the next 2 hour time frame.
Prize suggestions: keep it small so it doesn’t plug up room on the tables. How about a gift card or rubber stamp set by Teresa Collins?



Toward the end:

Crayola Basics Scrap Happy:
Have everyone bring the scraps off their workspaces to a central table and sort by 8 main Crayola colors. As they bring up their scraps, have each person put their name down on a slip of paper. Draw a name out of a hat to determine a winner.
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Black
Brown
(You can add a white pile too if you like for a 9th color)
Prize: A plastic accordion file style organizer, a square paper punch, and ALL the scraps!




Who Brought the Most/Least:
Croppers always vary in how many supplies they bring to a crop. The hostess goes around and judges silently who brought the MOST and who brought the LEAST. This is meant to be all in fun and not meant to make anyone feel unorganized…Creativity takes many forms and styles. This game just shows how differently we all work and still enjoy the same wonderful hobby.
Prize idea: The winner of most supplies gets an page kit/organizer box of some kind and the winner of the least gets a pack of paper to bulk up her light load. LOL


Let’s get scrapping! You can pick and choose what games to play and when. I think one an hour is plenty because once people start working they hate to stop their train of thought for long. Put out lots of easy to handle scrapbooking snacks, some beverages in ‘safe’ cups, and a few tools to share. Most of all let the conversation flow and HAVE FUN.

Enjoy yourself. And hey, invite me to the next crop! Rockester