Moving every one to three years means that military families are skilled at meeting people. Sometimes it is easy, and sometimes not as much. Sometimes you need a reason to throw a party to meet your neighbors. What if there was a way for you to try new products, get them for free and make new friends? There is! Check out House Party (in 2018, this became known as Ripple Street)!
When I was first married, I applied to my first House Party. It was a Boboli Pizza grilling party. At that time, the deployments were in high number and several of us newly married spouses banded together to keep each other busy and in high spirits. I utilized the Boboli Pizza grilling party as a get together for my fellow military spouses. House Party sent a party box with coupons and Boboli swag. We had fun making up pizzas, eating and drinking and spending time together strengthening our relationships. All while trying a new way to eat pizza while grilling and having a great time! I can’t say that I would have necessarily thought to do grilled pizzas as a theme. I have found that House Party has pushed my envelope in creative recipes.
How To Become a Host
First, you go to www.houseparty.fun (who doesn’t love a website that ends in “.fun”!) and create an account. UPDATE: go to www.RippleStreet.com and create an account. Once you are logged in, you will be able to click on “Find a House Party”. There will be a list of parties that you can apply to. These brands vary from those who sell wine, cheese, aluminum foil, wall hooks, and there was even a single-use coffee party in the past.
Once you apply, you will get a confirmation email – make sure to check your spam folder. This email will tell you when they will decide on who is chosen to host.
Go back to the House Party page and check under “My Home” and select “Parties I Have Applied For” to see if there are any activities listed under the specific party. Usually these activities are posting on Facebook or other social media methods that you have applied for a party or what you are looking forward to. Completing these activities increases your chances to be accepted.
Then, you wait. If chosen, you will get an email letting you know. Yay! But wait – now you need to log in ASAP and enter in at least 10 emails inviting people to your party via your party page. Once you complete all that, then you will be confirmed a host.
Watch the email – you will receive your email when your party pack is being shipped!
When you party pack arrives – take a picture – you will probably need to upload it to your party page as way of participating in the activities.
You’re A Host
Now that you have your box – open it up! Look through all the fun items you have received and are getting ready to share. I have received aprons, wooden spoons and shopping bags to give out; and always coupons of some sort – usually for free products. These are useful items and groceries, which is helpful because the last things that military families need are extra things to move with.
Check your “party page” on House Party for activities or print outs for the party. For instance, the latest party I hosted had “dot-to-dot” pages to print that the kids enjoyed!
Party Day
On party day – it’s time to party! Remember to take lots of pictures. This is something that I honestly find that I have difficulty with completing that task. The last party I hosted was a Kikkoman Kid’s Cooking Party – and I was so busy cooking and helping the children that I got just a few photos! The one photo you must get is of everyone who attended – House Party uses this to verify the attendance. Since the safety and security of children is of the upmost importance, the children were in the picture to count the numbers but they were facing the parents so their backs were in the picture for the ability to count them as in attendance but their faces were not shared on social media. Remember to be courteous when taking pictures of children, that you get permission from their parents if you intend to post their face on social media.
After the Party
Now that the party is over and clean up is complete – it is time to sign back into the House Party website and complete the post party activities. This helps keep you in the running for future activities. This usually involves a survey on the party and a review of the product(s) you tried.
Once those activities are complete, go to the “home page” and check out future parties that you want to participate and sit back and wait.
This may sound like a lot of work, but it can be a fun and free way to try new products and throw a party to meet or get to know your new neighbors or share products with friends. The Kids’ Cooking Party was a lot of fun. I enjoyed learning new Kikkoman recipes, discovering new products and the children loved an afternoon of “cooking for themselves.” This is something I like to do with my children, so why not have someone else provide product and recipes to try!
This post is NOT sponsored in anyway by House Party, Boboli or Kikkoman except in the free items that were provided to me by House Party through the application process I completed and was awarded. Any of the above is purely my thoughts and opinions.
*UPDATE: As of May 1, 2018, House Party has changed to Ripplestreet.com. Once we have utilized this new website and their new party experience, we will write a post about it.*
