Planning a summer party can be intimidating for a beginner. You have so many things to look into that it can seem like a never-ending stream of concern, issues and worries. Yes, this is true even when the party is a relatively small one.

Fortunately, you have the following summer party decorating checklist to get you through the planning stage. With this checklist on your side, you can organize a successful party with less hassle, less cost and less worry.

Table Settings
The tables are important components of a summer party for the simple reason that the guests have to eat on a comfortable platform. We suggest looking at the following aspects to make for great table settings:

• Crisp table cloths or table runners in summery colors
• Paper or cloth napkins to coordinate with the table cloths
• Dinnerware, which can either be casual or formal depending on the theme
• Flatware from forks and spoons to steak knives and butter knives, if necessary
• Glassware including glasses, mugs and cups as well as water pitchers
• Barware like assorted cocktail glasses, coasters and mixers are also necessary, if you intend to offer alcoholic drinks
• Salt and pepper shakers

And of course, don’t forget the chairs either. Your guests will appreciate comfortable chairs to rest on after the dancing and singing of the party.

Decorations
A summer party decorating checklist will be incomplete if it does not include the decorations for the venue. Said décor will depend on the theme of the party, which can range from just a few summer plants to elaborate lights setup.

• Place candles and lanterns in strategic places like the tables and the trees to provide light as well as act as insect repellants (citronella)
• Set the ambience of the venue with the right music, which can either be provided by a live band or with a DJ using a CD machine
• Scatter inflatable toys on the pool if you are planning a pool party. Add in a few palm plants, mini-torches and even seashells to add a tropical feel

Your choice of decorations should complement the theme of the party. There is no need to go over the top of your budget is tight.

Food
The star of any party is almost always the food since there is no sense in inviting guests without offering sustenance. After all, even you will become hungry with the activities, games and hobnobbing.

We suggest looking at the theme of the party and the tailoring the menu on it. Thus, if your summer party is the tea party kind, then teas, sconces and pastries are the order of the day. If it is a beach or pool party, go for finger foods, soda and lemonade. If it is a barbecue party, meat and beer are on top of the menu.

There are other things that should be on your summer party decorating checklist, of course, like favors. But if you already have these three important things on the list, then you should be alright.

Posted by admin under Decorations & Summer Entertaining | No Comments »

Of all the seasons of the year, it is summer that presents the most possibilities for throwing great parties. You have the warm sun on your back, the brilliant colors to dazzle your eyes and the sounds of nature coming alive in a vibrant way. Add in the lazy days, cool breezes and great company and you have every reason to celebrate the season with a party.

The trick is in knowing how to host a summer party for less cost, less effort and less time. Well, this should be easy enough with the following three ways.

Sun, Sand and Sea
Summer is equated with the sun, sand and sea. Thus, it is logical that the beach is the best way to hold a party in summer without the hassle of thinking about elaborate decorations, complex cuisines and formal ambience. Just bring finger foods, barbecues and cool drinks to the nearest beach - coupled with your bikinis and sunscreens, of course - and off you and your guests on a lazy day of sunbathing, swimming and just lazing around.

But of course, if the beach is far away or it is too polluted with oil slicks, then the pool is the best alternative. Your decorations can include inflatable floats on the pool, colored lanterns on the trees and a few palm plants. Your menu can be as simple as the one on the beach, with many of your guests probably going potluck. Think mango and tomato salsa with nachos and chips, hotdog and marshmallows on a stick, iced tea and lemonade and even a homemade cake, all of which require less expenditure.

Fly Me to the Moon
An imaginative way to host a summer party for less is to take advantage of the clear black sky during the season. The full moon with its diamond stars are the perfect backdrop to a night out with family and friends while enjoying the food brought in picnic baskets.

Again, you can ask everybody to bring potluck food for sharing with everybody although you can always prepare the majority of the menu. Your food choices can include sandwiches, fried chicken and apple pie with lemonade on the side. All of these food items are comfort food in many ways - just the right thing to enjoy under the starry skies.

You need not even worry about the venue. Go to the local park and hold your summer party there for free.

Garden of Eden
If you want to host a summer party for less, your garden is probably the best place to do so. You already have the decorations in the form of the plants and flowers. You already have the natural ambience. You already have the venue for free.

Now, all you need to do is to take out the tables, cover them with your favorite tablecloths and set it with your summery cutlery. Your menu can be anything that your kitchen can cook up - just dress up your everyday recipes with special touches and you can become the new chef on the block. Your favors can be seed packets of your favorite summer blooms.

You can host a summer party for less money, less effort and less time. Use your imagination, use your available resources and use your family and friends’ generosity by asking for assistance even if it means going potluck.

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If you decide to have a colorful birthday party, use the rainbow as your color scheme. Pick colors from the artist’s palette for everything from invitations to decorations to food. Mark the location of the party with a brightly colored bouquet of balloons tied to the mailbox or tree out front of the party location. Encourage attendees to wear their best and brightest colored clothes to the event.

Send out invitations with every color in a box of 8 Crayola crayons. If it is a kid’s party send out invitations that the recipients can color and return to be included in a coloring contest. Award a small prize for the best and brightest coloring job. Send each kid home with a grab bag filled with brightly colored trinkets.

Decorate the party venue with red corvettes, blue moons, big yellow taxis, red apples, purple grapes, brown chocolate, purple Kool-Aid, rainbows, pink carnations, red roses, strawberry fields forever, green clover, yellow hay, pink elephants, yellow beans, silver bullets and gold rush.

How would a menu fit into such a birthday party? Start with a big bowl of fruit, crispy vegetables, cheese popcorn and multi colored M&M’s. The colors may clash but no one will notice. For cold drinks include different flavors of soda, juice and Hawaiian punch. If adults are at the party include Mai Tai’s, scorpion bowls and pina coladas with colored stirrers. Make different colored ice cubes for the punch bowl and the cold drinks.

Nothing says a colorful birthday party by setting the table with red table cloths, yellow napkins and plates and orange cups. Don’t forget brightly colored disks to be used for coasters, colored straws for the kids and the big kids. Cover the serving trays with different colored deli paper. Toss handfuls of confetti on the tables and maybe even the floor, stick balloons of different colors to the walls and ceilings, toss streamers at the guests as they enter the room.

Most food and condiments have a lot of color to them but accentuate the colors with their arrangement on the table. Arrange the mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise and relish in containers that look like a paint box. If you serve food that involves sauce or gravy put them in small paint buckets. I am relating painting with color schemes here. Corn on the cob piled on a platter will be like setting the sun on the table.

For entertainment play songs with colors in the title. Ask everyone to insert different colors as much as possible into the conversation. (“Boy did I have a crappy brown day today.”) Play charades but have the participants act out their favorite color. (“Hang loose with chartreuse” might be an interesting charade.). Movie trivia might be guessing movies with colors in the title. A cool kid’s game might be a scavenger hunt where they will have to find a red sneaker, a red headed kid, a green apple or a handful of green clover.

Possibilities of a colorful birthday party are endless and with a little colorful forethought, it will be successful.

Posted by admin under Children & Decorations & Hostessing & Occasions | 2 Comments »

I don’t remember my 1st birthday party but I’m sure I had a good time. I remember my nephew and niece’s first birthday party and I know I had a good time. My nephew tried to take a big bite out his cake by putting his face right into the cake after his number one candle was removed. My niece took two handfuls of frosting and rubbed it into her hair. Whipped, vanilla frosting gave her hair a lovely sheen.

A 1st birthday party is more for the parents than the child, I think. It is a wonderful milestone to see your child reach their first birthday and why not share the day and celebrate with family and friends even though the one year old has no clue why so many people are in the house. Watching a one year old open presents is a lot of fun. They might tear through one or two gifts and then they will be onto something else like following mom around or playing with the other kids. Or they may have no interest in presents at all and the gifts will stay unopened in the corner of the room. And that will be the last time that child has no interest in presents.

A 1st birthday will be a busy day for the wee little one. They may not get their nap and become a little cranky before the day is out. They will most likely wear most of their cake and ice cream and a cup of soda may be generously applied to the child sitting next to them. The patience of the child will be tested as he or she is passed from guest to guest as they wish a happy birthday to their favorite one year old.

Since parents and their kids will be in attendance at the 1st birthday party, it will be a bit of a brag fest for the parents. They will most likely spend time trying to outdo each other with tales of their extremely talented child who is able to perform tasks of a much older child. But no one can explain why that same talented and intelligent child is sitting in the middle of the room picking their nose and wiping snots on their clothes.

Getting the kids to play a game will be a challenge. Dodge ball is probably out of the question as some kids will just run right into the ball or try to catch it, removing the challenge of the game. A piñata is a dangerous game anyway but putting a stick in the hands of a one year old whom stands about knee high can be a real danger to dad if they swing that stick at the closest thing to them and dad is the closest thing.

A 1st birthday party is worth ever picture taken and the extra work getting cake crumbs out of the carpet. It is a mile stone for the child and the parent who only has 17 more birthdays to go.

Posted by admin under Children & Occasions | 4 Comments »

Hot dogs are the perfect cookout foods and they work great for parties too. I always plan a few parties a year around them. I like to have campy parties and weenies scream campy!

Have your friends wear their best touristy gear for a fun costume party addition. It’s easy to forget the stress of your week once you’re in plaid Bermuda shorts, sandals with socks and have binoculars or a camera around your neck.

Make sure to have a tropical fruity drink to accompany your festive fare. Something that looks good with an umbrella straw tucked away in it. I usually choose a pina colada or strawberry daiquiri. They may be predictable, but everyone loves them.

You could even go red-neck gourmet and make a hot dog enchilada casserole. Spread about 2 cups of pre-made chili over the bottom of a greased rectangle baking dish. Wrap a tortilla around each hot dog and arrange on top of chili. Top with the rest of the chili and shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven between 30 - 40 minutes. Serve topped with crumbled Fritos.

If you go for the traditional hot dog feast, make sure to have tons of toppings for your guests. Ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish are requirements. Make a Carolina dog by topping it with cole slaw and chili. You could also make a Greek salad dog with feta, olives, chopped tomatoes, red onion, and touch of Greek dressing. Feel free to add gourmet extras like roasted garlic, red peppers, goat cheese or even nacho cheese.

If it’s raining or you just don’t feel like cooking outside, use your slow cooker. I have a Crockpot trio that has 3 small slow cookers on one base. If you have lots of time you can heat the hot dogs up in the slow cooker. Personally I like to heat them on the stove and keep them warm in the slow cookers. I put veggie dogs in one, turkey dogs in another, and veggie chili in the last one. This way everything’s ready for people as they drop in.

Posted by Myriam under Drinks & Hostessing & Party Food & Spring Entertaining & Summer Entertaining | 5 Comments »

It’s finally the beginning of Spring. Everyone has a little bit of cabin fever and wants to get outside in the sun. A great activity for kids is growing some flowers and veggies. Even if you don’t have a yard or place for a garden, try planting a few things in containers. Your kids will be amazed at how things grow and they might just eat more veggies because of it!

Starting seeds is easy enough for kids to do, but you’ll want to make sure to supervise. After all, you may be surprised at what children will put in their mouths when left to their own devices. This is a good reason to get organic potting soil or organic seed starting medium. You can get seed starting trays that have soil disks that get big when water is added to them. Kids love to watch that!

First make a few invitations and make sure to invite the parents too. You can never have too much help at a crafty party like this. You’ll want to plan out a few treats for snacks. Try to include some of the fruit or veggies that you will be planting that day. Dress up a salad with fresh strawberries, blueberries and nuts. Then serve it on a unique square dinnerware plate to get the kids even more interested. Make lemonade with pureed blueberries. It’s just as colorful as the sugary drinks you can buy, plus you control how much goes in it.

You can buy peat pots and seed starting medium or get seed starting kits. The kits will cost more, but can be used again next year with new refills for the soil. If you are having a slew of children, peat pots will be the most cost effective. Have boxes or waxed paper bags to send the planted seed pots in so the plants actually make it home in the car.

Lettuce is a great plant to grow and can help kids like salad more. Don’t forget tomatoes, basil, pumpkins and fun flowers. One of my first gardening memories is plating a petunia plant in a milk carton in the first grade. This party is the fancier version, plus in a few weeks, everyone can re-pot the seedlings into their own container garden.

Posted by Myriam under Children & Spring Entertaining | 1 Comment »

Parties come in all sizes from giant to just your own little family. A snow day is a perfect opportunity to have a family party to celebrate the day off school and work.

Bundle up and get outside and enjoy the white stuff. Find a nearby hill and take the whole family sledding. Make sure everyone is bundled up tight, and you might want to bring an extra pair of  mittens along for the youngest of your tribe.  Make sure to bring a thermos full of hot chocolate just in case it gets too cold.

Once you walk back home make sure to decorate your yard with some snow sculptures. You could make a few traditional snowmen or really get creative. Who knows, you may have a modern art piece that the whole neighbor will miss once the temperature starts to rise.

Don’t forget to make some snow angels while you’re at it. Once you stand back up go ahead start a snowball fight. You might even be able to get some of your neighbors involved. Just make sure to call a truce before anyone gets too worn out.

When you come in make everyone’s favorite snowy afternoon lunch - tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Make some homemade croutons and they can go straight form the oven into the steaming bowls of soup. Really, any soup is the perfect way to warm up. My friend loves to make a huge slow cooker of vegetable soup in the coldest weather and eat from it almost everyday.

Keeping the kids busy will prevent them for the dreaded boredom. A perfect activity is baking. Kids of almost tan age can help with cookies or decorating cupcakes. Older kids may even be able to invent new cookies. Make a basic sugar cookie dough and get out all your extras like nuts, chocolate chips, even cocoa and crushed peppermint sticks.

After they eat more than a few cookies, you may find your whole family sacked out in the living room. The end to a perfect snow day.

Posted by Myriam under Children & Party Food & Winter Entertaining | No Comments »

Now is the time to get your fondue pot out of hiding. If you don’t have a fondue pot, go to your local thrift store. You’ll usually see a few inexpensive ones there. Mine gets packed up and trekked off to the shed, a friend of mine puts hers in the attic. I’d be interested in hearing form any of you that manage to store it were you can easily get to it. Maybe you could change my ways. One of the reasons I have fondue less often is that it’s so inconvenient to go and get it.

Another reason you may be avoiding fondue night is your cholesterol. You know your doctor doesn’t want a big pot of steaming cheese on your table for dinner. But there is another way! A non-traditional way, but I always love twists on the original.

White beans are the new main addition. Once they are pureed they actually create a perfect fondue every time. The other change is to use low fat or 2% cheese instead of full fat. Combined with the beans it still creates a richly textured fondue. No one will know the difference. Try a porter beer cheddar version, or the more traditional white wine and Gruyere and emmental. Set the table with a colorful array of dinnerware. My favorite for fondue is Sengware blueberry for the place settings with the white bistro ones to hold the food waiting to be dunked into the cheese. In addition to lightly toasted bread, try steamed broccoli and cauliflower, whole baby carrots, even thickly sliced baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Make sure to save room for a little chocolate fondue too. I make mine when I start the cheese fondue and keep it warm in a small Crockpot until I’m ready for it. Cut up some cheesecake, vanilla cake, and an assortment of fresh fruit. Try pineapple - it’s one of my favorites.

This is a good opportunity to have a period themed party. You could do the 60’s with smoking jackets and cocktail dresses. Or even the 70’s with polyester outfits complete with clashing colors. Pick the one your friends will have the most fun with.

Posted by Myriam under Party Food & Recipes & Winter Entertaining | 2 Comments »

Show your friends that you’re thinking of them this holiday season without breaking the bank. It’s nice to buy presents for everyone if you can afford it, but there are ways to spend less money and still have a ton of fun.

The traditional secret Santa requires a little planning but it’s not too late. Each person only buys one present and everyone leaves with something just for them. I like secret Santa because you can match people together and all but assure that everyone’s holiday will be a little happier. Of course you can also leave it up to fate and have people draw form a bag (or you can download a program that duplicates it right on your computer).

Either way you can send out email to let people know who they are buying for. It’s best to have a price range. Usually under 20 dollars, but if someone is making something make sure they take their time into account too. In fact if your friends are crafty you could have a completely handmade exchange.

You can arrange your party around an exchange theme if you want. Exchange ornaments, liquors, funny shirts, anything that you think all of your friends would like. This year I’m focusing on handmade items for my friends. Check out instructables.com or http://blog.craftzine.com/ for great crafty ideas.

Have everyone bring their favorite holiday dish for a nice buffet spread and put out on your bright red Pimento sengware dinnerware to create the perfect table. Ahead of time mix a nice drink with a bottle of sparkling wine and Chambord in a pitcher for a festive red drink. Also grab some lime sparking water and add some cranberry juice for your non-alcoholic alternative that’s just as pretty.

Send out an evite about your little soirée and give all the pertinent details to your friends. No matter how you decide to exchange gifts you will all enjoy celebrating the holidays together.

Posted by Myriam under Gifts & Holiday Entertaining & Occasions & Winter Entertaining | No Comments »

As you already know, I love to combine things. Almost any chore can be be made fun with a party and friends to work around. In fact, sometimes I even go grocery shopping with friends! Holiday cards can be a tough task for people like me who aren’t so good at getting things into the mail.

Selecting a card can be just as bad. So many boxed cards are geared to specific holiday traditions that aren’t necessarily appropriate for all of your friends. That’s why I’m having a holiday card making party this year.

You’ll need to get a few basic supplies at your local craft store. You can buy paper that is already cut and folded into a card size, or you could buy plain paper and make them in any size and shape you can think of. You can also buy ready made envelopes or make your own.

Pick up a few holiday themed stamps and colored stamp pads. If you have it in your budget, pick up a glue stamp pad and some glitter. It’s awesome to add somebling to your card. You could make paper snowflake cut outs and glue onto your card.

Still not feeling so inspired? Try looking at some of Martha’s cards, which are always breath taking.

This is a perfect party to have your friends bring the kids along. They love to create things and will inspire all your guests - including the adults. Have a sparkling cider or pour sparkling water into a glass half full of cranberry juice for some dressed up drinks for the kids. Go ahead and pop the cork on some champagne for the adults. Have a little Chambord to top the adults sparkly drink for an extra burst of flavor.

You may want to avoid the finger foods or you’ll find grease stains on your beautiful cards. If you think it’s a must, have the finger snacks before or after the card making session. I usually tend to have a cornbread topped chili pie or something thick that you eat with a fork. Of course, the kids should eat before they start making cards no matter what you are serving.

Ask everyone to bring Christmas stamps and you can address the cards and send them all off together in the morning. Have a nice dessert to celebrate your completed cards with. A super quick mousse can be made with a box of silken tofu, and a large handful of melted chocolate chips all blended in a food processor. Add a tablespoon of your favorite liquor and take it to the next level. I promise you, no one will know that it’s a healthy dessert and it takes less time to make than instant pudding!

Posted by Myriam under Children & Holiday Entertaining & Hostessing & Occasions & Party Food & Winter Entertaining | No Comments »