Category Archives: Party Ideas

Part 2: Let the Baking Begin!

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Italian Chocolate Balls that appear to have chocolate frosting instead of white in our family recipe. Image courtesy of Applecrumbs.com

Italian Chocolate Balls that appear to have chocolate frosting instead of white in our family recipe. Image courtesy of Applecrumbs.com

This is part 2 of Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin.Today, I’ll be adding three more recipes:
Italian Chocolate Balls (our own family recipe), Peanut Butter Balls (some call them buckeyes, but they really taste like a Reese cup), and
Almond Sugar Cookie Cutouts (my very own recipe that has been acclaimed by many).

 

 

Italian Chocolate  Balls

*This batter takes a fork and a strong arm for mixing or a heavy duty mixer. Yet, the results are so worth it.

Supplies: Continue reading →

Get Ready for the Christmas Baking to Begin!

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Homemade Christmas cookies warm just about everyone's heart. Find your favorite recipe that you can pass on for generations. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

Homemade Christmas cookies warm just about everyone’s heart. Find a favorite recipe that you can pass on for generations to come. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

The days are ticking quickly by and if you are anything like me, you already have your supplies on hand. No? Well, I can offer you my most requested cookie/candy recipes that have been pleasing people for over 35 years. Since some directions are longer than others, multiple posts will be needed as follows:

Part 1:                                    Part 2:  Chocolate Italian Balls
Spicy Gingerbread Cookies               Peanut Butter Balls
Italian Butter Balls                                 Almond Sugar Cookies
Rum Balls

Part 3:                                    Part 4:  Butterscotch Haystacks
Chocolate Fudge                                 Coconut Balls
Italian Neapolitan Cookies                  Truffles (multi-flavored)

Part 1: Spicy Ginger Bread Cookies

Gingerbread man image courtesy of What Ronronia Wants

Gingerbread men image courtesy of What Ronronia Wants @ blogspot.

Continue reading →

DIY Fall Table Runners and Placemats

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It's easier to make than you think: A Fall table runner and placemats. Image courtesy of shopfonsandporter.com

It’s easier to make than you think: A Fall table runner and placemats. Image courtesy of shopfonsandporter.com

Adding to our Goal: Bringing a Fall Table Setting Together

We started with Fall Centerpieces to Fall in Love With, followed by Fall DIY Napkin Rings and now we move on how to make your own table runners and placemats.

Budget Decorating, by Tonya Lee has a great tutorial on making a basic runner. Although they use fusing bond in their directions, using a Hi/Lo glue gun can help create a runner even faster and let’s not forget the old stand by: sewing(the most time-consuming).

My suggestion is to put some thought into the time and energy you will have as well as the durability from possible years of use.

With that in mind, check out some of these beautiful runners and placemats that can wow a crowd. Most will have a link to the original site tutorials – so you can make your own! Continue reading →

Fall DIY Napkin Rings

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Burlap makes a great fabric base to embellishments for Fall napkin rings. Image courtesy of Tater Tots and Jello, where they offer a tutorial at; http://tatertotsandjello.com/2010/02/burlap-napkin-rings-tutorial-dollar.html

Burlap makes a great fabric base to embellishments for Fall napkin rings. Image courtesy of Tater Tots and Jello, where they offer a tutorial at: http://tatertotsandjello.com/2010/02/burlap-napkin-rings-tutorial-dollar.html

 

Since we covered Fall Centerpieces to Fall in Love With, it couldn’t hurt to add a few posts on how to bring your table settings together.

How to Make a Napkin Ring

Sure, you can buy plain ones at the dollar store, but this frugal gal likes to use and recycle. By making the ring yourself, you can have the control of the width – which allows for more embellishment space.

Start with the base: Save cardboard paper towel, gift wrap or toilet paper tubes. Sometimes you may even be lucky to get a tube with your last fabric purchase. Continue reading →

Fall Centerpieces to Fall in Love With

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Simplicity at its best: Nature, harvest, and candles come together with a log with holes drilled for candles and accented with leaves, gourds, and mini pumpkins. Image courtesy of The Berry and SAS Interiors.

Simplicity at its best: Nature, harvest, and candles come together with a log leftover from pruning. Image courtesy of http://www.theberry.com and SAS Interiors.

Now with Halloween behind us, it’s time to begin planning our Fall or Thanksgiving centerpieces. These ideas below can work with a dining room table, mantle, or accent pieces. Best of all, not only are they charming, they are quick to craft and easy on the pocketbook. Click on each image for more info.

 

Old basins are easy to find and the worn, chipped edges only adds to the nostalgic charm of floating apples and candles. Toss a few silk leaves around and it can’t get much easier. Image courtesy of New Ideas for You.
A wreath, mini harvest pieces, and flowers surround a candle. Directions and image courtesy of http://www.decorating-ideas-made-easy.com/thanksgiving-table-decor.html
Use clear or colored bottles and fill with corn kernels and spices. Top each with a candle. Image courtesy of http://blog.2shopper.com/2013/11/13/13-creative-diy-thanksgiving-centerpieces/
With stores selling foam pumpkins more than 50 percent off, this simple idea of them wrapped with decorative vine can be used as a single, double or multiples. Image courtesy of Momtoob.com
This mason jar and silk leaves arrangement can be made quickly and emulates a country charm. Image courtesy of http://www.punchbowl.com/p/decorating-for-thanksgiving
There are many options to decorating this painted clay pot and card stock-rimmed pilgrim hat. You can fill the pot with flowers, pumpkin seeds or corn kernels and stick in a makeshift sign with your own personalized fall greeting. Image courtesy of Family Fun at Disney.

When making a dining table decoration, keep in mind the size of your table and the amount of space that will be needed for a Thanksgiving meal. But most importantly, keep it simple to save you time for other – more important things: enjoying time with friends and family. Now THAT is something we can be truly grateful for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Classy Halloween Party Idea

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Fang place cards are a perfect touch for a Halloween Wedding. Image courtesy of Natalie from Doodlecraft.

Fang place cards are a perfect touch for a Halloween Wedding. Image courtesy of Natalie from Doodlecraft.

Although I am one of the biggest fans of gory foods and props, I cannot deny the love I have for Halloween weddings or parties that can be pulled off in a more subtle, classy manner.

The idea for these silver fang place cards comes from Doodlecraft, a blog that has a plethora of beautifully crafty ideas.You can find the tutorial to make them at Instructables. 

Along with this theme, I could see tables including homemade bell jar dioramas and other Victorian-themed Halloween props/food, such as:

A Dark Raven Wreath
Victorian Halloween Invitations
Spiderweb Eggs
Styrofoam Grandfather Clock

Not all of us are crafty or have the time to make some of these ideas. This is where the VictorianTradingCo.com. can help. They have some inspirational items that can give the final touch to a prop, costume, or event.

The Guilty Pleasure of Making Gruesome Foods

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A body cavity cake with ribs made from white chocolate and every organ is made with a different flavor cake and filling. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

A body cavity cake with ribs made from white chocolate and each organ made of a different flavor cake and filling. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow. All Rights Reserved.

Confessions of a Party Planner

I must confess: it is a highlight for me to get an emotional response from guests before they even taste a morsel at my Halloween parties. But beyond their visual appeal (or gruesome effect), it has to be undoubtedly tasty.

Luckily, it usually only takes a few brave souls to initiate the tasting of horrifying foods and giving them the thumbs up. Word-of-mouth is very powerful and thanks to those who initiated the food fest, a chain-reaction will occur of good conversations, laughs, and most importantly, everyone else digging in.

Below you’ll find awe-inspiring Halloween recipes that have been tested by my own party attendees or are on my “must try” list from my peer’s tried and true recipes. Continue reading →

DIY Halloween Invitations You’d Die For

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With just over two months before Halloween, party planners have already started contemplating invitations, decorations, and more. Here are a few over-the-top invite ideas that can kick-start enthusiasm in any invitee.

Many of the sites listed have tutorials and it would be interesting to know which one is your favorite.

If you have an idea to add to the gallery, shoot me a message so I can share your creativity. Happy Halloween Planning!

Quick Food and Drink Ideas for the Fourth of July

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Skewers of food can make party planning easy and visually appealing. Image courtesy of Pinterest via Martha McCall.

Skewers of food can make party planning easy and visually appealing. Image courtesy of Pinterest via Martha McCall.

In order for party planners to have enough energy to stay awake for the fireworks, the execution of creating great foods should be simple, visually appealing, and of course, crowd-pleasing.

Here are a few quick and easy energy-saving recipe ideas:

Love the Skewers:

This can be skewers of meat and veggies for the grill, appetizers of fruit and cheese, or anything else that can be jabbed with a stick.They can be laid upon a tray, poked into a cabbage head that has been leveled by slicing a piece off the bottom, Styrofoam, or in tumblers or glasses. For more info on skewer recipes see 50 skewer recipes by The Food Network.

Arrangement of Foods

Continue reading →

Easy Last Minute Grad Party Favors and Snacks

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Guest couldn't resist the grad party hats that can be made in a variety of ways without any cooking involved. Photo courtesy of Mark Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

Guests couldn’t resist the party hats made from a variety of possible edibles. Photo courtesy of Mark Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

With the onslaught of graduation parties within the next few months, people are now scouring for party ideas more than ever.
Since I had the opportunity to just throw one of my own, I can offer some helpful tips that will save time, aggravation, and money.

Graduation Party Hats

These hats can be made with a variety of pre-made cookies, candies, and Fruit Roll Ups. You – the maker decides which is the easiest and most cost effective.

You’ll Need:
Chocolate-covered graham cracker squares
Choice of cap bottoms:
Mini brownies – premade as in mini brownies snacks or you can make your own brownie mix and use a mini muffin pan.
Mini muffin liners (if making own brownies)
OR  Peanut butter cups OR Round Chocolate Cookies – The choice is yours.
Choice of Tassel Tops:
Black or red string licorice OR Fruit Roll Ups (any color)
Candy buttons OR mini M & M’s OR other small round candies
Choice of frosting that hardens quickly:
Royal recipe, or my plain 10x frosting recipe: 1 cup 10x sugar, a tsp. of vanilla and enough water(add tbsp at a time) to make a very thick frosting. Mix well until smooth. Cover if not using right away or it will harden quickly.
To seal tassel top:
You can either add chocolate flavoring/cocoa to darken a bit of frosting to the side (1/8 cup) OR  melt choc. chips, melts, Kisses, or plain bar – you’ll need no more than 8-10 kisses for 40.

Before going into the directions, let me go over the most inexpensive options and my own mishaps during the process:

Continue reading →