The Party Hostess

Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony

2017-05-02T10:56:00.001-07:00

What It Is
Well, here's a kind of party I haven't had to plan since I was a girl (a million years ago). I had a bit of trouble finding ideas for Brownie Bridging (also known as Fly Up) online, so I thought I would share what I came up with here. Bridging in Girl Scouts is when the girls move from one level to another, such as from Brownies to Juniors. It's a pretty big deal. All the families are invited to celebrate all that the girls accomplished in the past couple years, and talk about what they have to look forward to in the next level of Scouting. Being in Girl Scouts made a HUGE impact on my life and I am very happy that my daughter is loving her experience as well.

The Ceremony
Our troop's Bridging Ceremony was to take place outside at a local park. The girls learned to cook over a fire early in the day, and then the families came later for the Ceremony. Lots of ceremony ideas I saw online used candles, but I knew those would blow out in the windy great outdoors. The script I wrote uses flowers that the girls place in a vase. I patched together this script from various ideas I saw online. A Girl Scout always uses resources wisely! Here is a PDF of the Bridging Ceremony Script we used:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byh3C6Lxek0gdGFBMjljLUtTSGs/view?usp=sharing

The Bridge
The actual bridging part of our ceremony was outside on a real bridge over a creek. I wanted to make it special with some decorations so the girls would like it. The decorations needed to be 1) inexpensive, 2) not damaged by rain or wind, 3) bright and cheerful. I decided on rainbow colored duct tape and a pack of multi-colored balloons. My husband was enlisted to help me wrap the duct tape around a tree, trail it across the bridge and wrap it around a stick that we stuck into the mud (there not being an appropriate tree on the other bank). We blew up the balloons and folded the duct tape with the balloon knot in the middle to suspend everything over the creek. This worked well as there was no railing on our bridge. If the bridge had a railing, it may have been even easier to decorate with balloons. I didn't feel like we had to go crazy with decorations - I mean, we were outside and natural beauty surrounded us. But the balloons and bright tape did make it more fun for the girls to run across the bridge and into their future of Junior Girl Scouting. Of course, we removed all trace of the decorations when we left the site. (Take only photographs, leave only footprints!)

Don't Forget
- Recognize your leaders and parent volunteers.
- Let the girls help plan the ceremony - who has what part, what songs to sing, etc.

Baby Shower Must-Take Photos

2015-05-01T07:16:00.001-07:00

When you host a baby shower for a friend, make sure you enlist someone to document the big day through photography. The mom-to-be is going to be too busy socializing to take her own photos, but you know she will want to remember this party! You don't need professional photography, but get a guest with a reliable camera who isn't shy about asking people to pose and smile. Of course, you can do it yourself if you have time between all your hosting duties!

Food Photos

Pretend there is a comma between "Welcome" and "Simon".
Unless this cake is actually issuing a command for us to welcome Simon. Hmm...

I'm not saying that Oreos covered with chocolate stamped with little ducks are
the cutest baby shower favor you will ever see in your life, but seriously, they've gotta be in the top 5.

Yogurt bars are THE BEST for brunch time showers. And check out that low-cost and adorable flag banner!

Special Gifts

This thoughtful guest made a banner for the new baby's room. It's sweet to get a photo of the gift and the giver.

Fun Group Shots

It's likely that the gang doesn't get together very often. A group photo like this will be treasured by the new mom! Try to think of a cute place to take the photo. And take a few to make sure everyone has their eyes open.

Guests Having Fun

Mix it up with candid and posed shots.

Guests decorate wooden blocks with paint markers for the baby.
Hey, a shower activity that doesn't embarrass anyone! Awesome!

With the Host

You hosted this amazing party! Make sure you get a nice photo with the guest of honor. #friendsforever

Next Step - Don't forget to give the mom-to-be copies of your photos!!

Prisoners of Love Bridal Shower

2013-04-26T11:21:00.002-07:00

I recently had the honor of hosting a bridal shower for my friend. She works as a Victim Advocate and is marrying an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. So, these are two people who have dedicated their careers to catching criminals and getting justice for victims of crime. I thought a law enforcement themed bridal shower would be pretty fun, especially since almost everyone attending the shower would be their co-workers. The official theme of the shower was "Prisoners of Love". We had a blast!

The Invitation- As the followers of this blog know, I am a big fan of creating a PDF or image file and emailing the invitation to guests. This saves paper and maintains the integrity of your design. If this had been a more formal shower, I would have printed out the invitations and mailed them, but as we all work in the same office, email was the perfect way to get the word out. The benefit of the image file was that I could also print a couple color copies to hang in the office as a reminder.

The Decor - To go along with the theme - basically a mix of love and crime - I incorporated the colors from the invite, turquoise and red, to come up with a centerpiece. All the tables had red roses in a turquoise vase surrounded by handcuffs or shackles (that the probation department kindly let me borrow for the afternoon!)

The Activity - The guest of honor wanted NO GAMES. And, of course, I listened to the bride-to-be! But we had to have something fun to pass the time and make this more than just a luncheon with presents. It was decided to have a photo booth. I'd seen photo booths at weddings, run by professionals, but as this was a lower-budget affair, the co-host and I created our own photo booth with a twist. We made a WANTED poster out of a cardboard display board. I found a bunch of crimes - some from the Ohio Revised Code that were actual crimes, and some that we just made up for fun. The "crimes" people could choose from were: Assaulting a Police Horse, Running an Illegal Gambling Ring, Hoarding Fabulous Shoes, Doing the "Footloose" Dance in a Public Place, Swearing in Front of Women and Children, Public Intoxication, Misuse of a Public Transportation System, Driving Too Slowly, Stealing Doug's (the groom's) Heart, etc. Actually, at the shower, the bride-to-be started looking through the crimes and assigned them to different people, which in itself was pretty funny. Plenty of props were around so people could be as silly as they wanted to be.

The Bonus - I edited all the photos from the shower and put them in an album for the bride as a keepsake of the day. I also posted all the photos on an online site so that all the guests could laugh at the photos. I filtered some photos in sepia tone or black and white so they would look more old-timey.

World's Best Vanilla Cut-Out Cookie Recipe

2012-12-12T11:02:00.001-08:00

I have long held a love/hate relationship with cut-out cookies. I think they can be so delicious and look gorgeous, but MAN are they a lot of work and so easy to screw up. I have searched for years for the perfect cut-out cookie recipe (you know, not constantly searched, but I have tried literally SEVERAL recipes.) I am nearly bursting with jubilation to announce that perfect recipe here.

First, when searching for a cut-out cookie recipe discard anything that mentions Crisco. Butter, my friends, butter is the magical ingredient that blissfully clogs our arteries while we dream of Christmas.

Triple batch, baby! (Note to self: overkill - maybe double batch next year.)

Second, you need to take some time with your cookie decorations. I don't know when it became acceptable to just slap on some nasty tasting white "frosting," throw some red sugar crystals in the general direction of the cookie, and call it a day. Not on my cookie tray. Go big, or go make some rice krispie treats with my four year old. (Just kidding, but they do look nice when you take the time.)

Third, roll them out THICK. Some people enjoy really thin, crispy cut-out cookies, but those people, I feel, are the minority. A thicker, chewy on the inside cookie is going to balance the frosting better and accentuate the vanilla-y buttery deliciousness.

World's Best Vanilla Cut-Out Cookie Recipe:
from Bon Appetit December 2003 (with slight changes)

Cookies

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (get the real stuff, not the imitation kind)
Additional sugar

For cookies:
Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl to blend well. Add egg, sour cream, and vanilla; beat 1 minute. Beat in dry ingredients in 2 additions until just blended. Gather dough together; divide in half. Flatten each half into disk; wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften dough slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sprinkle work surface and top of dough disks with additional sugar. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to no less than 1/4-inch thickness. Dough may be very soft and sticky, so roll out the dough between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper. Using assorted 2- to 3-inch cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather scraps and roll out on sugared surface; cut out more cookies. Repeat until all dough is used. Chill all cookies on baking sheets at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until very light golden appears just at bottom edges, about 11 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool completely.

Icing

4 cups (or more) sifted powdered sugar (sifted, then measured)
3 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
(I also add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract)
Colored sugar crystals, sprinkles, and/or decors

For icing:
Combine 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir until icing is well blended, smooth, and spreadable, adding more milk by teaspoonfuls if too thick or more sugar by tablespoonfuls if too thin. Use a food coloring gel, such as Wilton's, and stir a tiny bit into a portion of your icing to make a pretty color. Using small icing spatula or table knife, spread thin layer of icing atop each cookie. If using colored sugar crystals, sprinkle over cookies before icing sets. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature.)

HOSTESS TIPS

1. Don't make your icing colors too bright. A pastel blue is nice, but some people are turned off by a dark blue frosted cookie. You just know it is going to give you blue teeth!

2. When decorating, get a bottle of those rainbow jimmies. They are great for giving eyes to your snowman or Santa.

3. You can freeze the cookies frosted or unfrosted, but sometimes the frosting gets a little blotchy in the freezer. They will still taste awesome and it's not like those tiny imperfections would prevent anyone from eating them. You really can't tell at all on the ones with lots of sprinkles, but if you look closely at the plain iced cookies, you may see a couple imperfections after they come out of the freezer - such as a couple spots that are a shade lighter. If you want perfect, freeze the unfrosted cookies if you need to, then decorate them just a day or two before you need them. Store in an airtight container.

4. Red food coloring added to icing often just looks pink. If that bothers you, a delicious fix is to put some red colored sugar over the top of the pink icing. You can see that effect on the cookies in the picture above.

5. Cookie pans. I highly recommend using a light-colored alumnium cookie sheet. Use parchment paper so your cookies don't stick. The cookies are very fragile when they first come out of the oven.

6. This is the same recipe I used to make the wedding favor cookies in this post. But I used royal icing to decorate those. Although royal icing arguably does not taste as good as the icing in this post, it gets really hard. This quality makes it ideal for wedding favors because it dries quickly and the colors don't run much.

A Party at the End of the World

2012-11-08T06:52:00.002-08:00

There has been a lot of speculation that the world will end on December 21, 2012. This belief is based on the calculation that a calendar made by the Mayans literally ENDS on that date.

So, what better way to spend the last day of our existence than to have a rocking party, surrounded by our friends? It's the last day to confess our transgressions, tell our friends how much we love them, and drink one last glass of scotch before God knows what disaster will happen on the morrow.

Note that December 21, 2012 is a Thursday, but most people probably won't mind attending a mid-week party. Just start a little earlier than usual. I mean, it's the LAST DAY OF THE WORLD, so it's not like anyone will have to go to work in the morning anyways.

HOSTESS IDEAS

ATTIRE - If this really is the last day of your life, what do you want to wear? I say, tell the guests to wear whatever clothes they want to wear once more before the END OF TIME. For me, this is going to be a fabulous floor-length gown, probably a boa, and definitely my wedding tiara. For my husband, it is going to be his jammies.

FOOD - Well, for once in our lives, calories REALLY don't count. So you might as well indulge. I'm thinking cheesecake, and sausages wrapped in bacon, and caviar. NO veggie trays in sight. Is there a food you always thought you should try before you die? Order some of that for the party.

BEVERAGES - You might as well drink whatever you want because the best thing about the world ending is that you don't have to worry about a hangover. Yay!

ACTIVITIES - Maybe you could play the old party game "I Never". It seems really poignant now doesn't it? Thinking that if you have to drink because you "never" did something, you really will never get a chance to do it now? (To think my life is over and I never got a tattoo in a naughty place. Sigh.) Or maybe everyone has to make an end of the world confession. They can have the chance to get some secret off their chest before the earthquakes, meteor, floods, and/or lava destroy the earth tomorrow.

PLAY LIST - Okay. I worked a long time on this. I think I have most of the Apocolypse-related music here. Let me know if I missed any songs we should play before the world ends.

"Until the End of the World"- U2

"It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"- REM

"1999"- Prince

“Learn to Fly” - Foo Fighters

"Until the World Ends"- Britney Spears

"The End" - The Doors

"Five Feet High and Risin'” - Johnny Cash

"When the Levee Breaks" - Memphis Minnie/Led Zeppelin

"So Long It's Been Good to Know You" - Woody Guthrie

"Black Diamond Bay" - Bob Dylan

“Flirtin’ with Disaster” - Molly Hatchet

“Apocalypse Please” – Muse

“The Day the Whole World Went Away” – Nine Inch Nails

“London Calling” - The Clash

“99 Red Balloons” – Nena

“Bad Moon Rising” - Credence Clearwater Revival

“King of the World” - Steely Dan

“1812 Overture (Finale)” - Tchaikovsky

“I Don’t Want to Wait (For our lives to be over)” - Paula Cole

“The Final Countdown” - Europe

“Death is Not the End” - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (by Bob Dylan)

“I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” – Aerosmith

“Highway to Hell” - AC/DC

“End of the Road” - Boyz 2 Men

“The End of the World” – Skeeter Davis

“Nothin’ But Flowers” – Talking Heads

“When the World Ends” - Dave Matthews Band

“Rapture” – Blondie

“Black Hole Sun” - Soundgarden

“Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan (but love the Edie Brickell version)

“Gimme Shelter” - Rolling Stones

“O Fortuna” – from Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)

These songs are more on the funny/ironic side -

“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” – Eric Idle

“Get Happy” – Judy Garland

“Come Sail Away” – Styx

“Apocolypso” – Jimmy Buffett

“Tomorrow” – from Annie

“Let it Be” – the Beatles

“Adios and Vaya Con Dios” – Zac Brown Band

“I’ll Fly Away” – O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack

“Last Dance” - Donna Summer

“People Get Ready” – I love the Ziggy Marley version

“Wastin’ Time” – Kid Rock

“The End” – The Beatles

Kate's Monster Cookies

2012-10-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

Some foods take on a legendary status in families. For my family those foods include Dad's chili, chicken paprikas, Mom's cheesecakes, and most importantly Monster Cookies.

Monster Cookies entered our lives sometime around 1990 through a recipe my Grandma Emily discovered. The recipe was actually called "Kate's Monster Cookies", so I knew they were meant for me. We never looked back. If my friends knew two things, it was that they were always welcome at my parents' house, and that there would always be Monster Cookies.

When I moved away for college, the recipe for Monster Cookies came with me. I made a slight variation to our original recipe - less white sugar. The variation was made by mistake, but as the taste and consistency of the cookies was actually improved, the variation became the law. My college roommates couldn't get enough of these beloved "Monsters". Later, my co-workers demanded that I make them again and again and begged for the recipe. I'm really not over-selling these cookies to you. They are, quite simply, the best cookie ever. These cookies have oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and M&Ms. There are chewy and crunchy. They are alpha and omega. They are ying and yang.

Hope you love them as much as I do.

KATE'S MONSTER COOKIES

makes 7 DOZEN (And don't even think about halving this recipe. You will want them all. Plus, they freeze really well.)

1 C (two sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 C creamy peanut butter
2 1/4 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 C flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
9 C Quick Quaker Oats
2 C M&Ms
2 C chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and corn syrup and mix until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together.

Add the flour mixture to the batter.

Add the quick oats, one cup at a time. Mix at the lowest speed. The mixture will start to really fill up your mixing bowl. The more you can do with the electric mixer though, the better, because the dough is very thick and difficult to stir by hand.

Add M&Ms and mix at low speed. Add chocolate chips and mix. Mix in by hand if you have to/want to.

Refrigerate dough for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll dough into 1.5 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, one inch apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees. They are done when you just start seeing a little golden brown on the tops of the cookies. Let cookies sit for a minute on the pan, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

TIPS
1. Refrigerate the dough between batches.

2. If the dough is too sticky for your liking while you are rolling them into balls, add a little flour. But don't go overboard adding extra flour or the taste will be adversely effected. My hands are absolutely covered with sticky dough when I am rolling the dough into balls, so don't be surprised by that.

3. Take the rings off your hands before shaping the dough into balls. Like I said, it gets messy.

4. Use RED and GREEN seasonal M&Ms and voila! You have the perfect Christmas Cookies.

5. You can make the dough one day ahead of time and refrigerate the dough overnight in a covered bowl if you want. It takes kind of a long time to make these since the recipe makes so many cookies, so I often make half of the Monsters one day, and finish them up the next day.

6. These cookies do not break easily, so they are the best kind of cookie to make and ship to friends. If you know anyone in college, they are a wonderful study food - you get the sugar rush plus all the protein from the peanut butter.

7. Do not over bake. They should be a bit chewy inside.

The Night the Baby was Conceived...

2012-09-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

I was at a charming baby shower over the weekend for a darling young woman. She's one of those pregnant ladies with a PERFECT pregancy shape. No bloating, no cankles, just a round little baby bump that looks like she has a honeydew melon under her shirt or something. (Unlike me, who looked like a beached whale from seven months on. But I digress.)

At the shower they had a fun little activity that made everyone giggle. I thought I would pass it on because it was just hysterical. And it only takes a few minutes to do.

BABY SHOWER ACTIVITY - PILLOW TALK

One host or guest secretly writes down all the things the mom-to-be says while she is opening her presents. After the presents are opened, the host explains to everyone that the comments were what the mom-to-be said the night the baby was conceived. All the comments should be read out loud to the group. The innuendos can be hilarious!

Obviously don't introduce this activity to a group who would be offended by the joke, but at the shower I attended, there were a bunch of the mom-to-be's friends, as well as a few older relatives, and everybody thought it was great.

Here's the list from that party, just so you can get an idea:

Easy Fruit Pizza - Delightful!

2012-07-19T16:55:00.001-07:00

Looking for the perfect summer pot luck dish or bridal shower snack? Fruit pizza is a hit with the very old, very young, and everyone in between. As a guest, I always a appreciate when there is something sweet on the appetizer table. I really cannot wait all the way until dessert is served to get a sugar fix, you know? And fruit pizza is just appetizer-y enough that it fits right in with the apps. Of course, if you have the willpower to wait, it makes a light and refreshing dessert.

I first made Fruit Pizza at Camp Libbey Girl Scout camp during the summer of my 12th birthday. (Man, sometimes I wish I could go back to carefree summers like that one.) Fruit Pizza just a really fun thing to cook, and if you have kids, they will like to help you in the kitchen for this one.

You can choose the fruit based on what is in season and what your family likes, BUT make sure the fruit is not too watery. After you wash the fruit and cut it to a good size, let the fruit sit on a paper towel for a few minutes so the fruit has a chance to dry. If you use bananas or apples, make sure you serve the dish right away before things turn brown. I put the fruit I chose into the recipe below, but substitute whatever!

RECIPE (revised from the Kraft web site)

1 pkg. (16.5 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened (can soften for 10 seconds in the microwave)

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 pint strawberries cut in half

1 pint blueberries

24 raspberries

2 kiwi fruits, sliced

HEAT oven to 375°F or baking temperature directed on the refrigerated sugar cookie dough.
LINE 12-inch pizza pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Press cookie dough into prepared pan to form pizza crust. Bake 14 min.; cool. Invert onto plate; carefully remove foil. Turn crust over.
Meanwhile... MIX cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Spread over crust after crust cools.
CUT the crust. (Yes, cut it BEFORE adding fruit and the finished product will look better.)
TOP with fruit. (You can serve it right away, or keep it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.)

Number of servings depends on how big you cut the pieces. I got about 16 pieces.

Olympics Party Ideas

2012-07-11T19:37:00.003-07:00

So, it's party time again. This time, it's a London Olympics themed birthday party for yours truly. My birthday is during the Olympics!!!!! That's too fun to miss. But you can have a London Olympics party at your house, whether it's your birthday or not. Here are some ideas.

1. English food - I'm thinking Cornish pasties (made ahead of time and frozen for easy party prep), Welsh rarebit (look it up - it's not rabbit, it's basically cheese fondue), and Pan Haggerty (potatoes, cheese, and onions - the perfect side dish!). You could always serve some English cheese with chutney and table water crackers as an extra appetizer. Add some scones or shortbread if you need something sweet! English beer (Boddington's, Newcastle) would be a nice addition. Or maybe go with an "around the world" approach to beer and get a six pack from imports of several different countries.

2. The GAMES - Have your own mini Olympics. Here are some event ideas to get you started:

Beerathalon – Contestants will drink a 12 oz beer and then run approximately 1/10 mile to the finish line. First person to cross the finish line gets the gold.

Pistol – Competitors will use Super Soaker water guns to try to knock a ball off of a traffic cone from a distance. To add a challenge, the competitors will simultaneously be shot with water guns from spectators as they try to hit their target. First one to knock the ball off the cone wins. May require several elimination rounds to determine the gold medalist. (Competitors may want to bring an extra shirt to the party.)

Greco-Roman Arm Wrestling – Men and Women will have separate competitions. Opponents will face off across a table at the ancient sport of arm-wrestling. All competitors may be given a toga to wear during competition. May require several elimination rounds to determine the gold medalist.

Rhythmic gymnastics – Athletes will be given a ribbon on a stick and must make up and perform a short rhythmic gymnastics routine to music that may be chosen ahead of time by the competitor (or will be chosen by the host on the day of the party). Routines may contain various gymnastic moves and ribbon tricks. Points for creativity, form, choreography, and use of the ribbon. Points will be deducted for dropping the ribbon, cursing, and stepping out of bounds. Highest score wins.

3. Judges/Refs - Some people at the party need to be judges and referees. Recruit people if they won't volunteer.

4. The Awards - So, the winners have to get something, right? Make gold medals or give out some other gold prize to the winners (Gold Tequila?) You might choose a "national anthem" for each contestant and play it if they win. My personal anthem would be "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News. (Don't you dare judge me.)

5. The Actual Olympics - You've gotta have the Games playing on a couple TVs. NBC promises great coverage this year. Maybe even get a projector to have them play on the side of your garage for some fabulous outdoor viewing. Leave out some rules for Olympic drinking games. (Examples: every time they play the Olympic theme song you drink, every time a commentator makes a really obvious observation you drink, every time you pick the winner all the other people in the room have to drink.)

6. Decorations - Clearly, you've gotta have Olympics rings on everything. Also, flags of other countries would be great decor. I like DIY water bottle labels to bring your theme to the people. And be sure to label the bar the "Official Bar of the 2012 Olympic Games" and the bathroom "The Official Bathroom of the 2012 Olympic Games."

Party like an Olympian!!

Inexpensive (but Thoughtful!) Wedding Favors

2011-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Favors are a great way to let guests know that you appreciate their love and support on your wedding day. And let’s be honest about the other reason brides like to provide favors – they can make your tables look really cute! But there is no need to spend a fortune on wedding favors. I mean, you are already providing entertainment, feeding these people, and probably offering alcohol.

The point of this post is to give the brides-to-be some suggestions for sweet favors that won't break the budget. I have to preface this list by saying that FOOD is probably the most guest-preferred wedding favor. You would think that people would get enough food at the reception, but no. I work at weddings almost every weekend and everyone always consumes their edible favors practically the moment they sit down. (And if for some reason they don’t eat their favors and leave them on the table, the catering staff pockets them after everyone leaves.)

Here's one of 200 cookies I made for a friend's wedding, featuring the couples' initials.

They weren't "JK" about their love. Photo by Sandy Chang

CHEAP, THOUGHTFUL, and CUTE WEDDING FAVORS

1. A small pack of recipe cards containing family recipes from the bride’s side and the groom’s side of the family. You only need to make one packet per family, instead of one per person. Use your wedding colors in your paper choices, and maybe the same font you used for your invitations and/or place cards.

2. Homemade cookie or chocolate covered pretzel in a glassine bag, tied with a ribbon. Label it if you want to: “How Sweet of you to come to our wedding.” Note that personalized, individually iced cookies take A LOT more time and effort than making a batch of bar or ball cookies. And iced cookies don’t freeze as well, so you probably need to make them no more than a few days before the wedding. So, factor that into your decision about what type to make.

3. A pack of seeds, and label it with a fitting verse and your wedding date. I like this quotation: "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." - Chinese Proverb. How appropriate for a wedding, right?

4. A Christmas ornament (if a late fall/December wedding). If you have a long engagement, buy the ornaments right after Christmas for the best deals.

5. Make a donation in honor of your guests to a charity that is close to your heart. Don’t pick a controversial charity, such as to a specific political party.

6. A baggie of candy in your wedding colors, tied with a neat bow.

7. A glass votive holder with a candle. You can get the votives and holders in bulk online inexpensively. For personalization, get a pack of sticker labels from the office supply store. Type a short note of thanks, along with your names and wedding date in a pretty font and print it on all the labels. Cut a length of ribbon in your wedding color and wrap it around the candle holder. Hold the ribbon in place with one of the personalized sticker labels.

8. Small potted plants – one for each couple/family. BONUS – they double as the centerpiece. You might include a tag that explains the meaning of the flower you chose.

9. A gorgeous apple with a paper flag that says "You are the apple of my eye" attached to the stem.

10. Lip balm personalized to say "Always kiss me goodnight" or even just "XOXOXO"

Free/Cheap Halloween Decorations

2011-09-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Halloween Parties are alot of WORK. A LOT OF WORK. (Yes, I use "a lot" instead of "much" - grammer police, come get me!) But they don't have to cost a fortune. Most of the decorations you can come up with for Halloween can be homemade. You will have to weigh the value of you own time, of course, but in this economy, it doesn't make sense to pay a ton for things you will only use one weekend a year. And the thing about Halloween parties is that if you have another party next year, you don't want to bore your guests with all the same decorations two years in a row. There's nothing scary about seeing the same old ghoul year after year!
This year I made our bathroom into a BATroom. (Hahaha, chortle at the cleverness!) Superfluous number of guano jokes aside, it turned out great. The cost of decor for the entire room was $1.15. We were lucky enough to borrow the bat-shaped lights to place around the mirror, but any old Christmas lights would have been sufficient to set the scene. The idea was that bright, overhead lights wouldn't looked very bat-cave-like. If you have a strobe light, it looks cool flashing behind the shower curtain. Unplug before showering.
In the picture above you can see various black bats. I purchased one piece of black poster board for $1.15. Found a template on the interwebs for a creepy bat (try a Google Image search for "bat template" or "bat clip art".) Traced and cut out fifteen bats from the poster board. (Your hand will hurt if you cut those all out by yourself. Take frequent beer breaks or get a significant other to help you. You may actually have to bribe the significant other with beer to get them to help. Please note that the quality of cut out bats will decrease after three beers, so moderation is the key.) Hang up the bats around the room. Tape some, hang some from string for a more "flappy" look.
I also thought, if I were a bat, what would I have in my cave? The answer was a framed picture of my best friend - in a bat's case, the Count from Sesame Street - and a picture of the coolest car ever - the batmobile. Again Google Image search for the pictures, then printed them to the size I needed. I already had the frames, just replaced the pictures (Sorry, picure of Grandma, you can return after Halloween.)
So, put your mind to it and you can come up with creative Halloween decorations without the scary pricetag.

Here's a link to another of my posts with a DIY Halloween project.

Scary Blood-Spatter Halloween Decoration

2011-09-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Looking for a NEW cheap and terrifying Decorating Idea for your Halloween Party?

I am a huge fan of decorating for Halloween. I am also a huge fan of NOT spending a ton of money. This idea combines those two goals into one easy and fun DIY project. Enjoy!

BLOODY TARPS

Someone (Dexter? Freddy?) committed a horrible bloody murder in your basement, hallway, or garage!!! Basically these are red paint splattered lightweight plastic sheets. This decorating idea has BIG impact. The tarps can instantly transform your charming country living room into a scary warehouse murder scene. Sweet! The other awesome thing is that you can hang the tarps in front of stuff to hide it. For example, if you want to keep people out of one side of your basement (maybe so they don’t see all the junk you store down there), a tarp can be hung across the middle of the room, blocking your dirty secrets (and Christmas decorations) from sight.

Total cost: about $11.

Materials needed:

1 Quart of Blood Red Paint – go to your local hardware store and have them mix up the bloodiest red you can find.

3 large clear plastic painters’ tarps. Also available in the paint aisle. Get the cheapest quality you can find. You don’t want these things to be heavy, or they will be difficult to hang.

Paintbrush

A rubber glove – I just used an old one we had under the sink. Bonus!

Duct tape

How To

Hang up one tarp outside, or in your garage, or any appropriate painting area - well-ventilated with a lot of space. (I held up my plastic tarp by tucking the top edge under heavy stuff on a high shelf, but you could also use duct tape.). You want the tarp to be hung up while painted, and not flat on the ground, because you really want those awesome bloody drips to form. Place one of the other tarps flat on the ground underneath the hung tarp. You don’t want the ground to be covered in paint.

Dip the paint brush in the red paint and flick red paint onto the hung tarp, creating a blood splatter effect. Start in the middle of the tarp. (If you get too close to the edge, the paint might spatter off the sides, getting your yard or garage paint-splattered.) Randomly spatter paint and brush paint in a slashing motion all over the tarp. You can also write “Help” or “Beware” or “Die” in messy brushstrokes.

When it looks sufficiently bloodied, put on the rubber glove and dip your hand into the paint. Make a few bloody handprints. I liked the effect of dragging my hand across the tarp. Like the victim was trying to escape or something. (I like to think I am theatrical and not a sick, sick person.)

After the paint drips down the tarp to your liking, lay it flat to dry. Takes a few hours to dry.

Repeat the process for the other two tarps. (One tarp could be enough, depending on your party needs, but a quart is enough paint to do three tarps, and since the tarps cost about $0.79 apiece, why not do more? Go big or go home.)

Now it’s time to decorate your party space! The plastic tarps I used were so light that I could hang them by duct tape, or in places, by tucking the tarp under something heavy on a high shelf, or by poking a preexisting nail through the plastic.

When the party is over, fold the tarp gently, paint-side-in. Note that a bit of the paint may chip off in places, so when you open it next year, maybe open it outside first so you don’t get red paint chips in the house.

Caution - bloody tarps may cause guests to pretend to stab each other.

Check my post at this link for another cheap Halloween Decorating idea.

Check my post at this link for an invitation to go with the whole "Blood Spatter" theme.

Check my post at this link for a "how-to" on creating Halloween Party Atmosphere.

Wedding Colors - Tips, Trends, and Choices

2011-09-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

Picking your wedding colors? It's kind of a big thing, isn't it? Color has to be decided for the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, the napkins, cake, and the invitations, among other things. Much has changed since your mother made your father wear a powder blue tuxedo to their 1976 wedding. Read on.

The Basics of Wedding Color

Pick a color scheme and stick with it. Receptions look amazing when things are coordinated. (Note, coordinated is not the same as "matchy-matchy." Don't go totally overboard making things match.)

There are NO rules on how many colors you can have for your wedding. Go monochromatic, or have the whole rainbow. It’s entirely up to you. Also, color can be a focal point, or it can be completely understated. Either option can be totally beautiful.

The elusive "Understated Multi-color Look". So beautiful!

I would advise that you keep some white or ivory or some muted color in the decoration scheme. Some brides have brightly colored or black tablecloths and it ends up looking like a prom instead of a wedding. (Unless "Enchantment Under the Sea" is the wedding theme you are shooting for.)

So, how to choose your wedding colors?

Some brides just KNOW what colors they want, and others have a really difficult time making a decision. I've come up with several ways to choose wedding colors. Which one works for you?

1. Consider my post on choosing two wedding words and how your two words can impact your color choice. Your color can really help the mood you are trying to create for your wedding.

2. Consult your bridesmaids on what color dress they would like, or alternatively, what they would HATE. Or at least think about their skin tone/hair color when choosing a dress color. With their preferences in mind, choose a dress. Then use that dress color as the main color for the wedding, or pick one or more colors that coordinate with that color. Those colors are your official wedding colors. Good to Note: all the dresses don't have to be the same color. I saw a stunning bridal store display with alternating bridesmaid dresses in green and yellow, surrounding a white clad bride. Talk about a striking combination!

3. Look at your venue for the ceremony or reception. If the entire church is salmon colored, don’t pick bright orange for your flowers and bridesmaid dresses. Talk about clashing! Gross. If your reception is at a college, and school colors dominate the room, choose colors that are the same as those, OR that coordinate with those, OR at least don’t clash with those. The colors of your reception space could really help with the overall design of your reception, IF you work with it and not against it. For example, if your reception site has navy chairs, go with a color scheme that incorporates navy. Then there is zero need to buy chair covers and your decorations will really coordinate with the space. Also, if you are having a destination wedding, such as at the beach, go with “beachy” colors like blue, white, and tan. Or if your destination is New Orleans, think about the traditional Mardi Gras hues of purple and gold.

4. Consider the season. Great choices for particular seasons are:

· Winter

o Navy and silver

o Icy blue and white

o Crimson and green

o Green and ivory

o White and silver and ivory

o Gold and red

o Purple

o Black and white

· Spring

o Yellow and green

o Yellow and red – think tulips, not McDonald's

o Green – different shades

o Light blue and green

o Pastels – think charming English garden bouquet

o Pink

o Light blue, yellow, white

· Summer

o Bright multi-color – all the brightest summer flowers

o Red, orange, yellow, green

o Blue

o Pink and green

o Yellow and ivory

o Grey and any bright accent color

· Fall

o Brown and lime green

o Brown, orange, red/yellow

o Your football team’s colors

o Wheat and green/cream/orange/brown

o Sky blue

o Purple

o Red

If you have any more ideas on favorite color combos for a particular season, please leave them in the comments!

Good to Note - the Two-Color-Combo trend is kind of over. When you want two dominant colors, like say, yellow and blue, don't stick with one bright yellow and one shade of blue for everything from flowers to dresses to bows. Consider doing a mix of lemon yellow, pale yellow, navy, baby blue, beige, and white. This really takes your pallette to the next level in terms of sophistication.

5. Speak with a florist. Talk to your florist about what kinds of flowers she recommends, especially for the time of year of the wedding. If she can show you a must-have, fabulous bouquet for your wedding, just go with that color scheme for everything else. They have bridesmaid dresses in every single color of the rainbow, so I’m sure you’ll be able to coordinate.

6. Is there a color that is meaningful to you and your spouse? For example, the colors of the school where you met, or maybe your unique engagement rings has emeralds and you want to go with an emerald color scheme. Which color makes you HAPPY?

7. Head to the paint store with your fiancé and choose a few colors that you both like. It’s not rocket science! Maybe you’ll think up some amazing combinations together. Do you want to go with pale blue, midnight blue, a swampy green, or all three?

8. Be practical. Your best friend got married last year and is willing to give you all of her red, black, and white centerpieces, candles, and gorgeous table runners. The money you will save on decorations might be enough to convince you that red, black, and white are your new favorite colors!

Charming DIY paper and cloth decorations by bride Shannon Reitz Nye gave her late

summer wedding a fun burst of color. Photo by Eileen Magno Grubb.

Length of Baby and Bridal Showers... A Rant and Some Solutions

2011-08-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

The Rant
Baby and Bridal Showers that last longer than 3 hours are unacceptable. Baby and Bridal Showers that last longer than 4 hours are torture. Long showers are tedious and boring. I can’t tell you how many showers I’ve been to where I’m had to force myself to suppress a cry of utter weariness when the hostess announces, “Okay, we have another game to play!”

I want to tell these hostesses, “Showers are not considered “better” than other showers if they last longer.” (They are considered better if the food is fantastic and you serve cocktails.) You don’t win any prizes for hosting the longest shower ever. So please, keep it short and sweet.

If you are planning a baby or bridal shower, please come up with a schedule that allows everything to get done in less than three hours. Actually, two hours seems to be the perfect baby/bridal shower length.

Showers are NOT like other parties. Why? Because there are no men. You can say what you want about the menfolk, but they can make a party more fun. Also, showers are typically held on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, not a “party all night” situation. Women have stuff to do/ errands to run/other parties to go to/kids to watch on their weekends. They don’t have time for a five hour bridal showers. (I attended a bridal shower of this length last weekend, thus igniting my desire to compose this post.) Therefore, shower timelines are not the same as other party timelines. Short is perfectly fine and much appreciated.

How to Shower the Bride in Three Hours or Less

1. Tell guests NOT to wrap presents. Sure people want to see all the gifts that the bride or mommy receives, and they want to see the look of joy when the guest of honor opens the present that was so lovingly selected for them. But, they don’t like to sit through two hours of gift opening! It's as boring as watching CSPAN through the congressional lunch hour. Plus, am I the only one who gets a little guilty watching all that wrapping paper waste go into bags of trash? Trees gave their lives for this cruel end? As a guest at these things, I would rather spend the $6 I spent on that sparkly gift bag and fancy tissue paper on a better gift (or on a mani/pedi for myself.)

So, how to make it clear that guests should NOT wrap? My girlfriends threw me a baby shower and this is poem they wrote on the invitations:

Please don’t wrap your gift,
We’re trying to be “green,”
And leave more time to socialize
With Kate and Poppyseed.

(We called my fetus/inside baby “Poppyseed.” Recognizing that is probably not very universal, you could substitute “With the Mom-to-Be”)

Can I tell you how many guests at the shower LOVED this!?!? One guest either couldn’t read or just loved wrapping paper, so I did receive one wrapped gift at the shower. It was no big deal. As the “showeree” I really enjoyed not unwrapping presents and having all that extra time to sit down and talk to my guests, many of whom traveled pretty far to be there.

So how does a no-wrap shower work, exactly? At my shower, all the guests put their unwrapped gifts on a table. Most had cards attached. Some guests even made cards out of recycled/repurposed items! After all the guests arrived, I went over to the table, picked up a gift, held it up, said whom it was from, said how cute the gift was and thank you, then put the gift back on the table. I went through all the gifts this way and it took ten minutes. TEN MINUTES!! Guests hung out by the gift table before and after to see all the gifts up close.

2. Serve dessert while presents are being opened. If your bride insists on wrapped presents and you want to save some time, serve dessert while she’s in the middle of opening presents. Guests may get pretty bored about halfway through the presents, and some cake and coffee service will give them the sugar and caffeine buzz they need to make it through ‘til the bitter end.

3. LIMIT THE DAMN GAMES. Sometimes it feels like the host is trying to make us play every shower game ever devised. Stop the madness. If you asked a random sample of women what they like least about going to showers, I bet the top two answers would be “watching someone open presents” and “the games.” Hey, I get it, playing games at showers is a tradition. Games can be fun, and they can be good ice-breakers. And let’s face it, people like winning prizes. But as a host, you need to limit the shower to ONE or TWO good games. I can hear you now, “Two games – what will the guests do with themselves?????” Umm, I don’t know, eat, drink, socialize with their friends, look at your charming décor, and enjoy themselves free from the stress of sampling various baby foods or pondering what candy bar is melted in that diaper?

And you thought telling your Mother-in-law that her son impregnanted you would be the most awkward moment of this pregnancy.

PS – DO NOT make guests play that baby shower game where guests have to cut a piece of ribbon to as long as they think the circumference of mom’s belly might be. I know lots of mommies-to-be who are sensitive about their weight while pregnant and just dread that game. And it’s the most awkward feeling in the universe when the guests have to try to wrap their arms around your baby bump to check if their guess was correct.

Advertising Slogans Game

2011-07-22T11:26:00.001-07:00

My grandmother is turning 90 years old and we are celebrating this milestone with a big birthday bash. It's pretty amazing that a 90 year-old has presented us with a 70 person guest list! I hope I have that many friends when I'm 90. But my grandma is a very friendly, loving person and I'm not surprised so many people care about her.

My mom was worrying that there wouldn't be enough entertainment available. I mean, it's not like a water balloon toss or limbo contest are going to fly with the octogenarians and nonagenarians in attendance. This party will also be an open house format, so people will be coming and going all day - not really conducive to a structured game-time.

Of course we'll have the usual birthday party events like cutting the cake, singing "Happy Birthday," and opening presents - AND great food - which in my opinion is really entertainment enough. But, to engage people and spark conversation, I came up with the game below - "Match the Slogan with the Product". I will just have a stacks of the Matching Game on the various tables, and if people want to look at it, they can. No pressure, no organization. Just something to do and discuss while guests are chatting.

The good thing about a game like this is that it's multi-generational - older people will know answers that the younger crowd won't, and vice versa. Companies have done such a good job infiltrating our lives with these slogans, that most people will be able to do this game. I think this would be a fun activity or icebreaker for a 70th, 80th, 90th, or 100th birthday party. Or even for a Mad Men theme cocktail party??

So, without further ado, here is the game I came up with. You should be able to click on the photos and get a google documents that you can print. The first photo is the front of the game and the answer key is the second photo below. (You should print the answer key on the back of the game.)

How to Set the Table - Memory Trick

2011-06-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

I've set more tables than the average person. Working in the banquet service industry, it's typical to set 500 place settings in one weekend. Even with all those tables though, I still have to think hard to remember where all the glassware and silverware goes at a formal, proper party. So, here's a nursery rhyme I made up as a memory trick! (Yes, sometimes I do reflect on what a dork I can be.)

Shorty and Tall Fork were running late.
They were slowed down by a big china Plate.
Dinner Knife threatened the Plate with a blade.
But he was distracted by a Spoony maid.
Water glass cornered the Knife from above,
While Wino looked over sweet Spoony with love.
Dessert Spoon and Fork hovered over it all,
While five o'clock Coffee kept right of the brawl.

You set the table just as you read the lines of the poem, from left to right. There's some variation to place settings, but this is pretty standard from what I've seen. Notice that knife threatens plate with the blade, so the sharp side of the knife should be closest to the plate. It's "five o'clock coffee" because the handle of the coffee cup should point to the direction of five o'clock - that's the most convenient direction for a person to pick it up (sorry left-handed people!)

Also, it is optional to wait until dessert is served to bring out the dessert silverware and coffee cups.

TIP- silverware should be placed one inch from the edge of the table.

Okay, so cocktail fork, bread plate, and champagne glass are not in the poem. I didn't want the nursery rhyme to be too long or it would be impossible to remember. The poem gets you through the basics. Maybe I will make a second verse in the future. :)

What do you think? Will this help you set the table?

Please just pretend that I was able to work bread plate into the poem.

Recipe Link

2011-04-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs to follow, Cookies and Cups, posted a recipe for

Pretzel Crusted Key Lime Squares

O.M.G. I just had to share the link! They look ah-mazing.

Co-Host Post

2011-04-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

Not all Co-Hosts are created equal. Just ask Seacrest
and Dunkleman from FOX's American Idol Season One

Reality check, my dear Hostess: you only have two arms, you only get 24 hours in a day, and you can’t be everywhere at once. Therefore, your party, and your sanity, might benefit from a co-host. This post was created to tell you everything you need to know about selecting a co-host and delegating tasks to them.

Should I have a co-host?
Co-hosts are generally wonderful sources of ideas and help. Many of the ways they can be helpful are detailed below. However, not every hostess has the temperament to deal with a co-host. I can admit that there are some parties where I get very “control-freak” and just can’t stand to let anyone else lift a finger! If you know you are the type of person who feels like life is easier when you just do everything yourself, rather than explain what you want to someone, then maybe you are better off hosting all by yourself. Or if you have a vision for an event, and you really don’t care to have anyone else’s input, by all means, go it alone. You might lose friends if you enlist co-hosts just to boss them around. However, if you are willing to give up a little control, a co-host can be a wonderful addition to your party strategy.

Additionally, you may not even need a co-host for some types of parties. If you are throwing a small birthday party for a child at an off-site location such as a Chuck E. Cheese, you can probably handle it by yourself. Additionally, if you have already hired help for the party, such as a caterer or party planner, a co-host might be superfluous.

Who to choose?
There is a certain etiquette to choosing the right co-host. Picture a bridal shower you are hosting for your sister. You may want to ask the bride’s best friend or future sister-in-law, or both to co-host. As to the best friend, well, her feelings might get hurt if you don’t want her help. As to the sister-in-law, it would be a nice sign that you consider her part of your family and that you are making an effort to get to know her before the wedding day. Just consider who you "should" invite to co-host.

Practically, you want someone who will work well with you and has some skills to contribute. Do you have a particular friend who always calms you down when you get stressed out? A friend who has hosted a ton of parties and will have great ideas? A friend that has a knack for just pitching in without complaint?

Finally, and very practically, you may choose a co-host because his or her name on the invitation will be enough to get more people to show up. Let’s face it – some people are more popular than others. We get all excited when one of these “cool” people invites us to their party and wouldn’t miss it for the world. This may be important for a fundraiser, a direct sales party, or a work party. If your feeling is “the more the merrier” you may want to choose a co-host who comes with their own extensive guest list.

The Benefits of a Co-Host
1. They can bring food. Work out the menu together and divide cooking responsibilities according to skill, kitchen space, and personal preference.

2. They arrive early. Do you hate that feeling of being at your house, waiting for guests to show up, and that awkward five minutes when only ONE guest is there for you to entertain? Having a co-host means never having to wait alone.

3. Help you set up and clean up. There are always a million last minute things to do from applying lipstick, to lighting candles, to opening wine, to making sure there is a spoon in the dip. Having a co-host means being able to pawn off some jobs on someone else!

4. Last minute errands. From picking up a stranded guest to running to the store for more dry ice, your co-host can leave the house while you have to stay and wait for people to arrive. Any little last-minute emergency becomes less frantic when you have someone to pitch in.

5. Take on real responsibility. Maybe all the guests call this person to RSVP. Maybe they are in charge of the drink menu. Maybe they will plan the play list. If they've agreed to be a co-host, they are willing to accept important tasks that will make the party great. So delegate already!

5. Brainstorming. Sometimes we party hostesses get a little carried away and our “vision” for the party is actually ridiculous. It’s nice to share ideas with someone. They may have a suggestion you didn’t think about. Consider the following scenario. (Use whatever voices you want for the characters.)

You: “Don’t you think a rental bounce house would be the perfect touch to the Easter party?”
Co-host: “Well, those power lines in your back yard are going to be a problem when some four-year-old bounces into one and gets electrocuted.”
You: “Oh yeah. Let’s do an Easter egg hunt instead!”

See how disaster has been averted by a co-host?

Alternatives to Co-Hosts
If you don't care to give up control of the party and don't feel like you need any suggestions about how things are done, just ask a friend for the little help you do need without labeling them a "co-host". A friend you enlist to bring a dessert to your party is not a co-host, but they are still providing valuable help. You may also consider hiring a caterer, wait staff, a bartender, or a maid to help with pre- or post-party clean up. What you should NOT do is is ask someone to be a co-host and then USE them like hired help. A person who agrees to be a co-host agrees to a partnership. That means that their name goes on the invitations, their ideas are respected, and they don't have to do all the crappy jobs!

And some Co-Host pairings make party history.

Hopefully this post has cleared up some of the murky waters of co-hosting! What do you think? Do you like having a co-host?

Party on,
Kate

The Tasteful Art of Fruit Carving

2011-03-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

I was banquet serving as a temp for a wedding this weekend. It was a charming afternoon wedding at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. Since the wedding started at noon, the bride chose to have a brunch with omlette and waffle stations, as well as many pastries and other delicious foods. (And plenty of mimosas!)

Placed on the fruit buffet table was this creation:

I was enchanted as were many guests. I was compelled to ask the chef about it. The chef informed me that he commissioned culinary students at the Bradford Culinary School to create the fruit scupture for the event, catered by "A Catered Event". (Clever name.) What a perfect centerpiece for an event at a botanical garden! I know I'm a nerd about all things "party," but I really could not stop looking at this intricate design. It's amazing what you can do with a couple melons and radishes. Sad that it will only last a couple days!

There's really no reason someone couldn't create this for a party at their own home. (I mean, you just need a boatload of free time and a willingness to waste fruit.) I looked into the art of fruit carving when I got home and found out that it is pretty popular around the world, especially in Thailand where it is a national art form. There, the fruit carving tradition dates back 700 years. I looked at a bunch of videos on youtube and this one CLICK THIS LINK (from some guy from Italy named Anthony) shows a watermelon being carved into a flower.

I have not attempted it yet, but it doesn't look too impossible to do. Anthony's design is less complicated than many others and might be a good start for a beginner. Grazie mille, Anthony! If anyone tries this, let me know.

DIY Flower Arrangements

2011-03-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Lilac, Dahlia, Violet, Aster, Tea Rose, Iris... All would look (and smell) GORGEOUS displayed on my dining room table!

Sure, you can buy a centerpiece display of flowers already perfectly arranged in a vase, but it's really not difficult to arrange your own floral centerpiece if you want to save a bit of money and give the bouquet your own personal touch.

I think it's really fun to pick out different stems of flowers from the local farmers' market in colors that match my tablecloth. (I am easily thrilled.) With spring coming, maybe you will have some daffodils and tulips to cut from your own garden very soon. Or, sometimes, a nice guest will bring a wrapped bouquet of flowers as a hostess gift. (We love those guests, don't we?) So, rather than just jam the flowers in a vase willy-nilly, here's a video tutorial on flower arranging that I found helpful. The lady in the video (Alexandra Lyons) explains everything pretty clearly. (Sorry they make you watch an ad before the video. I guess some people want to get paid.)

Click here for the video on flower arranging from videojug.com

She has some tips I found helpful:
1) Cut the stem of every flower at least an inch to make the flowers last longer.
2) Cut off all the leaves that would be underwater to prevent bacteria from growing.
3) Don't put all of one kind of flower together.

Here are some tips I've gleaned over the years that she didn't mention, but I've found helpful to make a beautiful bouquet. It makes it seem like you really know what you are doing!

1) It you don't have quite enough flower stems to fill your vase, use scotch tape to create a grid across the top of your vase. (Put some pieces of tape vertically across the top of the vase, and cross them horizontally with more pieces of tape.) It will keep the stems separated and make the bouquet look fuller and more orderly. The stems will stand upright instead of drooping over.

2) Cut some stems an inch or so shorter than other stems. Put the tallest flowers in the middle of the vase, and the shorter stems as a circle around the tallest flowers. It shouldn't look like a couple tall flowers poking out above a circle a short flowers - you need to cut them so the size difference is gradual. This creates a nice rounded shape for the centerpiece. This type of arrangement works in almost any type of vase.

Here is a bouquet from ftd.com that illustrates what I mean by cutting the flowers around the sides shorter than the stems in the middle.

Progressive Party - House Pub Crawl

2011-03-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

You may have heard of Progressive Dinner Parties – this is a variation on that. A Progressive Dinner Party is when each course of a meal is served at a different home. Kind of like a traveling potluck dinner. On Wikipedia, I read about a more complicated Progressive Party where the guests also change from house to house, so you get to party with a whole new crowd at each stop. The overly complicated directions (and pretty diagrams!) for that are at this link. Good luck explaining that one in an invitation!

My friends threw a Progressive Party/House Pub Crawl that the group still talks about today. I wanted to impart this idea to you in hopes that you will have an equally epic night.

Once upon a time, in a college town not far away, there were four friends who lived within a two block radius of each other. Each friend was given the responsibility to come up with a Drink and a Food for the progressive party that represented the country/place of his/her choice. Hosts and guests would then go from house to house together to sample the food and drink.

About twenty guests converged on the first house. There, the host provided Bailey’s shots and green jello. This was supposed to be representative of Ireland. The guests appreciated that instead of going with the obvious food choices of corned beef or potatoes, the host chose to go with green jello, the national dish of the Emerald Isle.

After eating their fill of gelatin, the mob of guests walked to the second house. The host at the location provided Sangria and Tortilla Español so the guests could explore the tastes of Spain. She also “entertained” the guests with an album of photos taken during her recent Study Abroad experience in Toledo, Spain and played some Spanish pop music.

The third host home provided some much appreciated food from the tropics. Teriyaki chicken and pineapple skewers and piña coladas were served - and by this time the tipsy guests were willing to laugh at jokes about getting lai’ed. (Drunken guests may or may not have also devoured an entire box of Samoa Girl Scout cookies that was inadvertently placed in plain sight on top of the refrigerator.)

No one needed to drink or eat any more at this point, but motivated guests gamely traipsed to the fourth and final party house. There they courageously imbibed Hurricanes and Jambalaya made by the host, a native of New Orleans. After the Hurricanes, no one can actually recall what else happened that night. Legend has it that the guests walked to a local bar to sober up and tried to remember all the places they had been to that evening.
Green jello - synonymous with Irish Pride

If you are over the age of 24, you may want to tweak this party idea so your guests don’t die of alcohol poisoning. (Our livers seemed stronger back then, didn’t they?) But I think the basic concept still works.

1. Have a theme for the party to keep it cohesive. Each host provides food from their home state or ancestral home. Each host has to serve a vegetable that they’ve grown in the garden. Each host has to pair their favorite wine with an appetizer. Each host picks an awesome scene from a movie to watch, then serves a coordinating beverage and food. (“Mystic Pizza”, anyone? Anyone?)

2. The hosts must live near to each other. Either walking distance or short driving distance. (Designated drivers!)

3. Limit the number of host houses to three or four. Three is probably better. (See above cautionary tale.)

4. Each host can invite a few guests. Decide ahead of time how many guests that will be so each host knows how much food and drink to prepare. It’s a great way for guests and hosts to meet new people!

5. Since guests are only going to be at each house for less than an hour, you don’t need to plan on table seating for every guest. Thus, appetizer type foods work better than foods that you need to sit down to eat with a knife and fork.

6. As a host, choose food that can be prepared ahead of time to reduce the wait time when everyone shows up at your house. The idea is that each party stop flows into the next. Plus, you will be at the previous homes, enjoying yourself, and won’t be at home to do the last minute things you normally would before a party. Have all the plates and cups arranged and ready on the table. Something in a crock pot or that can be served cold are great choices.

Donate a Prom Dress

2011-02-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

Kick off your Sunday shoes! And then donate them!

Ever skipped an event because you didn't have anything to wear? Can you imagine wanting to attend prom, but feeling like you had to miss out because you couldn't afford a dress to wear? Prom is the ultimate event for teenagers. So much more than a party, it's a rite of passage, an evening to remember forever. Some people feel like their prom was the highlight of their whole high school experience! It's a night to be with your friends, get your groove on, and feel like a princess. Unfortunately, prom also costs an exorbitant amount of money. And any woman who has ever been age seventeen knows the pressure to dress in style.

Disclaimer: I actually never attended prom, having been involved in a musical production the same night, but I've watched "Pretty in Pink" seven times, so I feel like I get it.

This is a really volcanic ensemble you're wearing, it's really marvelous!

There are alot of "Andie Walsh's" out there who want to experience prom, but don't have the financial means to purchase a beautiful dress. Here's where you can help!

Yes, YOU!

Donate My Dress is an organization that connects people who have dresses, with teenage girls who need dresses for prom. If you read some of the stories on their site, you will hear about girls who were homeless during high school but still attended their prom thanks to this organization.

DonateMyDress.org has links to local organizations in your state to find out where you can donate gently worn or new current style gowns (they don't want your 1982 taffeta monstrosity - sorry!), strappy evening shoes, purses, and jewelry. They want all sizes! I checked my local organization (Fairy Goodmothers of Central Ohio) and it looks like they are collecting these items at various Talbots stores and other locations from January 1 through March 30.

Help create magical and awkward moments like this.

So, check the back of your closet and see if you have a fancy dress you don't need. You could donate the dress and give a deserving girl the night of her life!!

Hosting a Direct Sales Party

2011-02-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

The burp means it's fresh!

Lia Sophia, Thirty-One, Party-Lite, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay…. All are home sales companies and you probably know one or more people who sell their products. Every so often you will get the (slightly dreaded) request... "Will you host a party for me?"

As I’m sure your entrepreneurial friend has told you, there are benefits to hosting a direct sales party at your home. The free merchandise you can earn by being a host is the publicized draw, but if you are like me, the main reason you agree to host is to support your friend.

So, you want your friend to have a successful party and you want your guests to have a good time. How do you meet both of these goals?

Helping your friend have a successful party
1. The invitations. You need people to show up or this party will be a flop! Work with the seller to find out what kids of promises you can make to guests. For example, can the invitees get a bonus raffle ticket or free merchandise for every friend they bring to the event? Will they get to sample fantastic recipes featuring Pampered Chef dishware? If you are sending an email invitation, provide a link to the current catalog, so people can start getting excited about the products.

2. Have a table cleared off or some other space for the seller to display her wares. Find out how much room she needs. If you do not have appropriate space, ask the seller to bring her own table.

3. Lighting. If this is a jewelry, make-up, or bag party, it’s nice if there is bright lighting on the products. Mood lighting is great to create atmosphere, but this is a situation where people need to see stuff! (Unless it’s a candle party, then maybe low lights would be better!)

4. Offer to wear or display the products. The guests trust you because you are their friend. If you are wearing the Lia Sophia jewelry or using a Longaberger basket, they will probably comment on the item and then you can explain how much you like it. Even if it is a piece you haven’t bought yet, your seller friend would probably like you to model the merchandise.

5. CALL the invitees the day before the party. This is a good reminder and will force the non-committed to make a decision to come or not. Calls are more convincing than email; it’s really easy to ignore an email. If you feel a little uncomfortable making the call, come up with some pretext. “I am going to the store and was wondering if people would like to have ice tea or soda at the Tupperware party tomorrow. What do you think I should get?”

6. Don’t serve greasy finger foods. People will get grease and fingerprints all over the merchandise! Ew.

Making sure your guests have a good time
1. Serve food and beverages. No, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but you should have something to eat – it’s a party! Use this opportunity to try out a new dessert. Although you are not the star attraction of the party, you should still aim to impress as a hostess! I like having a simple, healthy appetizer (like fresh cut veggies and hummus), a yummy, impressive appetizer (like chicken salad in phyllo cups or meatballs), a dessert (cheesecake is always a winner), and a signature cocktail (you don’t have to serve alcohol, unless you have my friends over, then you do.)

2. Clean up the party room and the bathroom. Everyone feels more comfortable in a clean, uncluttered space.

3. Provide enough seating and places to write. Most of these parties involve catalogs and writing down orders and it’s always a pain in the butt when the only place you have to balance your beverage and your catalog is your lap.

4. Think about asking the host to donate a percent of the profits to the charity of your choice, instead of taking a hostess gift. I know that as a guest, I feel more ready to buy and just generally happier with the whole event when I know the host is doing this for a charity. My friend hosted a Pampered Chef party and made the seller give a percent of the day’s profits to cancer research, instead of taking a hostess gift/discount. Since her dad had just survived some cancer treatments, I thought it was a touching gesture. How do you say no to a party invitation like that!?! And I will admit that I bought more products knowing the proceeds were for a good cause (at least that’s what I told my husband when I came home with $100 worth of Pampered Chef gadgets.)

5. Alternatively, if you are really doing this to support your selling friend and could care less about getting free products (seriously, I’m just not a “basket” kind of person!!), ask your friend if she will waive all the shipping fees for your guests instead of giving you a gift/discount. As a guest, I HATE paying shipping charges on these products!!! It just seems unfair.

6. Prompt distribution. Once all the purchased products are delivered to your house, do your best to distribute the products to your friends quickly.

7. Don’t worry about entertainment. The seller should take care of the entire presentation.

And your obligation is complete!! That wasn’t so bad. (Hope your friend knows that she is getting the first call when you need someone to help you move… or your kid is selling Girl Scout Cookies…or you need to bring a guest to some other direct sales party…)

For the Love of China

2011-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

When do you use your fine china? 1) Daily, 2) Often, 3) Special holidays only, 4) Never, 5) I don’t have china. 6) All of my daily nutrition comes in pill form. If you answered 3) or 4), this post is for you!

You can make a casual dinner a lot more fabulous just by setting the table with your nice dishes. Many of us received fine dinnerware wedding gifts, and the pieces sit in the china cabinet (or worse, in boxes in the basement) day after day.

China place settings look so beautiful and make your meal presentation instantly more glamorous. Why wait until Christmas to show it off?

The Arguments (and my scathing rebuttal!) –

China is a pain to clean. Umm, okay Monsignor McLazy. You are already going through the trouble of making a nice dinner, what are a few more minutes of washing dishes? You might even have a couple guests offer to help wash the dishes. (Those friends are definitely getting invited back!) Check your china – some brands are even dishwasher safe. (But use the “china” setting on your dishwasher if there is one.)

Everyone is going to be wearing jeans. China is too formal. Myth! You are totally allowed to use nice dishes even if your guests are not wearing ball gowns and tuxedos. (But be realistic. If you are hosting a pool party where everyone is wearing a bathing suit and eating burgers, china is going to be ridiculous.)

It will just be my family at the table. So are they chopped liver? If you make a nice Sunday dinner for your brood, serve it up on china to make the whole scene feel more special. Bringing out the nice dishes could lend a celebratory tone for such family events as good grade cards, promotions, reading ten books, snow days, or half-birthdays.

But my dishes look so nice displayed in the china cabinet. Seriously? They are dishes. Meant for eating. Give them the true place of honor for the evening – your dining room table.

My mom only used her china on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some traditions were meant to be trampled. And you can still use your china on the special holidays; using it more often will just make more days feel like holidays.

I only have four place settings. Even if you only received four place settings of china for your wedding, that’s not a problem if you are only having dinner for four people! There is no need to wait until you have a set of twelve to start hosting parties using your china.

TIP –
China dishware can scratch itself! Store your dishes with a cloth or paper napkin between each plate.

Will you be my Valentine, Kate Spade Gardner Street Platinum dinnerware?

The Two Words You Need to Plan Your Wedding

2011-02-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Planning a wedding is a big responsibility. It’s arguably the most important day of your life, everyone you know will be there (watching, judging you – at least it might seem that way!), there is a lot of money being spent (possibly even your own money!), and you have to find a way to combine the tastes of both the bride and the groom (unless the groom is a big pushover).

Where to begin??

There are so many “major” decisions that go into a wedding – dress, location, food, entertainment, guest list, and ceremony, to name a few. And you are faced with dozens, maybe hundreds of options to consider for each decision! Wouldn't it be nice to be able to narrow down those options immediately, and consistently be on the same page as your betrothed throughout the wedding planning process?

Here is my tried and true tip - BEFORE making those decisions, I suggest that you and your sweetheart come up with two words that set the tone for every later decision you need to make. It’s incredibly helpful. Let me explain.

Every wedding has a different vibe. Choosing two words – at the outset of planning - to reflect what you want the day to be, advises every detail of the planning. After it’s all over, you will be left thinking, “This is exactly how we hoped our wedding day would feel!”

Here are some two word combination examples: “Classy and Fun,” “Luxurious and Elegant,” “Passionate and Wild,” “Cozy and Intimate,” “Charming and Homey,” “Magical and Traditional,” and “Retro Chic.” Picture each of those weddings in your mind – do you see how each wedding looks different, feels different than the others?

Your two words will help you in every step of the wedding planning process. Using the examples above, let’s consider some wedding choices. You will see that the tone you wish to set for your wedding can be clearly conveyed to the guests.

Stationery:

Is the above invitation from Jessica Meredith Designs an example of “Luxurious and Elegant” or “Cozy and Intimate”?

Is the above invitation from Wedding Paper Divas an example of “Luxurious and Elegant” or “Cozy and Intimate”?

Bands: (these are just to give you an idea – a harpist can be “Fun,” too!! It’s all about your interpretation of your two words.)
Passionate and Wild - A Latin Music group, complete with salsa lessons for the guests.
Classy and Fun – A live band that plays great swing music or rock and roll favorites.
Cozy and Intimate – A jazz quartet
Luxurious and Refined – A harpist
Magical and Traditional – A DJ to play all your family favorites and the best (Disney?) slow dance songs

The problem if you don’t settle on two words is that your overall wedding vibe could end up being “Confusing and Odd” or “Messy and Unplanned.” Such as having a black tie afternoon ceremony on the beach. To me, that scenario indicates a couple who couldn’t decide if they wanted “Carefree and Romantic” or “Formal and Traditional.” And who suffered? The guests who had to wear flip flops with their rental tux in the midday heat.

Alright, so how on earth do we choose our two words?

First, I would recommend that you sit down with a few bridal magazines and bridal idea books from the library. I know that many of you are thinking, “Duh, I have been doing that since our third date.” But this time, mark a few things you like and then…. SHOW THE IDEAS TO YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE. Yikes! Your fiancé might have very divergent ideas from yours and you need to know that going in. Believe it or not, this day is for both of you. Wouldn’t you hate to get your heart set on “Grand and Frilly” only to find out that he would rather have a really small wedding and can only think about the time he overdosed on Pepto-bismol every time he sees pink? So, get an idea of both your tastes before committing to your two words.

Second, I would say if there is a wedding detail you both know you have to have, that one detail might dictate your two words. For example, if you know of an amazing converted airplane hangar that you both desperately want for your reception venue, you might start thinking of words like Vintage, Unique, or Uplifting. It’s pretty obvious already that words such as Intimate and Traditional won’t fit your wedding.

Going with the airplane hangar idea, let’s say you decided to go with “Unique and Uplifting.” So, what kinds of wedding details would fit those two words? Maybe non-traditional invitations, such as making the invites look like boarding passes. Instead of traditional rice being thrown at the couple, have people throw paper airplanes. What’s more Uplifting and Unique than having a gospel choir sing at the church ceremony? Maybe the bride and groom could toast each other and the bridal party, instead of receiving toasts. Think of some Uplifting and Unique theme colors – maybe light blue, yellow, or gold. (Certainly not black.) Do you see how the two words help you make decisions and bring a focus to your planning?

http://www.magnetstreet.com/browse/market/517/categoryList/5139,5050,5361

Whether you are a “Sweet and Whimsical” or “Romantic and Sophisticated” couple, I hope your wedding day will be a shining memory throughout your lives.