Kitschy Christmas Party

This weekend we threw a Christmas Party for friends and colleagues.  I wanted the party to be kitschy and fun, but still tasteful and of course the food had to be delicious!  I knew I wanted to incorporate chalkboard decorations of some kind, so I made my own chalkboard wine glasses and chalkboard Christmas tree place cards to identify the hors d'oeuvres.  If you are interested in creating your own, I posted the instructions here.  The wine glasses were a hit!  Everyone enjoyed writing their names or other phrases on them and I know it helped me locate my glass on multiple occasions!  Crate and Barrel has a soapstone chalk for $1.50 here that was perfect for the event, because it didn't leave any dust or residue on our guests hands.

I found a few other decorations that I thought would be perfect, including the "HoHoHo" sign and some decorative plastic martini glasses, both from a local store, Tweed.  Other decorations included red, white and green Christmas tree ornaments in a glass vase, simple floral arrangements, red tablecloths and a green and white chevron print table runner and sparkly ornaments hanging from the chandelier.

For the menu, we served: Shrimp Cocktail, King Crab Bites in Phyllo Cups, Heated Spinach and Artichoke Dip with crispy French Baguette, Cheese Board with Manchego, Brie and Aged White Cheddar, Hummus with pita and cucumbers, Three Cheese Mini Macaroni and Cheese Bites, Pistachio Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting and Mini Cheesecakes with Strawberry topping.

The party was a complete success.  Everyone had a great time and I think the kitschy decorations really set a fun tone and mood for the party. 

The Bar

DIY Chalkboard Wine Glasses with Soapstone Chalk from Crate and Barrel

The centerpiece

Mini Pistachio Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting (and the DIY Chalkboard Place Setting)

Mini Cheesecakes with Strawberry Topping

The delicious hors d'oeuvres

Three Cheese Mini Mac N' Cheese 

The hors d'oeuvres table

More hors d'oeuvres

Chalkboard Wine Glasses and Chalkboard Christmas Tree Place Settings DIY

I wanted to throw a kitschy and fun Christmas Party this year and I knew that I wanted to incorporate chalkboard paint somehow, so I decided to make my own chalkboard wine glasses and chalkboard place settings to identify the hors d'oeuvres. 

Chalkboard Wine Glasses

I found the wine glasses at Dollar General (can't beat that) and bought a can of Rust-Oleum Chalkboard paint from Home Depot.  I used a business card to determine how big I wanted the chalkboard to be and cut it to the size that I wanted.  Then I used painters tape to mark the section. One thing I learned the hard way was to not overlap the tape.  The paint seeped through on the corners where the tape overlapped, so I had to scrape it off.  Not a big deal, but took a little time to remove it from 16 wine glasses.

Apply painters tape to glasses



It will take multiple layers of paint and you need to make sure not to put it on too thick, otherwise, the paint will drip.



After applying the last coat of paint and letting dry a little, remove the tape.  Scrape off any drips with finger nail or scraper (once the paint is completely dry).

Color chalk on chalkboard, wipe off and voila, they are ready to use!



The wine glasses were a hit at the party!  I think this is so much better than wine charms.  People could write whatever they wanted on their glass and I know it helped me find my wine glass on multiple occasions!  I found soapstone chalk for $1.50 at Crate and Barrel, that worked beautifully and didn't leave chalk dust on my guests hands.

Chalkboard Place Settings

I found wooden Christmas Tree cut outs that I thought would be perfect to create my own Chalkboard place settings.  I bought two different sets; one from Hobby Lobby and the other from A.C. Moore. Both were under 40 cents each.  I ended up using the A.C. Moore shapes because I liked the star or top. 

This is the set from Hobby Lobby, 4 for $1.47



I used two coats of chalkboard spray paint
 

Once completely dry, color chalk all over the trees and wipe off with cloth or paper towel (directions listed on paint)

Then I tied a bow on top with a red and white ribbon
 

I used the Crate and Barrel Soapstone Chalk to write the name of each of the hors d'oeuvres and placed them in place card holders 

  

Lavender Dessert Baby Shower

When my good friend told me she was pregnant, the first thought I had was what wonderful news, the second was that I get to throw another baby shower!  She didn't have a theme for the nursery, but knew she wanted lavender, so I decided to run with that as the theme for the shower.  I loved the idea of a decadent dessert shower and with close to 40 guests on her invitation list, it was cost effective!

For the menu, I chose mini strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream frosting, mini chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, dessert shots; strawberry cheesecake and key lime pie, petit fours, white chocolate covered pretzels, dusted with sanding sugar, old fashion candy sticks and red velvet cake balls as the favor.  I served a non-alcoholic sparkling punch, wine (I think wine is a requisite for any type of shower- baby or otherwise) and iced tea.

I kept the decorations very simple with lavender poms and lavender flowers in white vases.  The color palate of the food was beautiful (not to mention delicious).  But, I think the real hit of the shower was the cake pops!  People were commenting for months afterward about how good they were.   

A view of the table

My famous strawberry cupcakes

The real hit of the shower: chocolate covered cake pops with lavender sprinkles

Simple and elegant decorations

Lavender Petit Fours; these went quick, as did the refills.  I didn't even get to try one!

Chocolate cupcakes with lavender vanilla buttercream frosting



The shower recipient (left) and me (right) showing off our baby bumps.  My due date was six weeks after hers.

Cookie Monster Birthday Party

For my son's first birthday, I wasn't sure what kind of party and theme to do.  I wanted it to be a low key gathering with close family and friends, but if there's an opportunity to throw a party, I'm always ready!  My son didn't have a favorite character per se, but he liked Cookie Monster and I found such cute cupcakes on line that I couldn't resist using that as his theme.

The cupcakes I made were a little piece of heaven.  They were Vanilla cupcakes with a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough filling, (the recipe can be found here.) I made mini chocolate chip cookies from scratch to go in Cookie Monster's mouth and made normal size cookies for another Cookie Monster display (and to eat of course). They were so delicious that my mouth is watering just writing about them.  I used the Bird on a Cake blog for tips on how to decorate the cupcakes, although I ended up using marshmallows for the eyes, instead of white candy melts.  I baked a chocolate cake for the birthday boy.  I love the idea of children having their very own cake to eat/destroy for their first birthday.  You don't get many opportunities to dig into cake with your bare hands and I wanted my son to enjoy that moment at least once! 

I kept the decorations simple with balloons and a few Cookie Monster displays, including three blue poms that I bought and used paper to cut out eyes, mouths and cookies to add to make faces.  The party was a lot of fun.  I made a huge pasta dish, with salad and bread and then we all enjoyed cupcakes and cookies.  The cupcakes were decorated for kids, but they were definitely made with adults in mind!

Cookie Monster Poms

Cookie Monster Cake for the Birthday Boy

Cookie Monster cupcakes for everyone else

Cookie Monster Cookie Display

Dessert table set up

Decorations for the little guy

Here's the birthday boy enjoying his own cake!

Purple Princess Party

When I asked what kind of party my daughter wanted for her third birthday, her reply was an emphatic “purple princess party!”  I wasn’t quite sure what that would entail, but happily set about looking for purple princess things.  I found a website that sells princess dresses (www.myprincesspartytogo.com), so that was my first purchase; 8 dresses with tiara and purple wands.  I wanted all of her guests to feel like princesses and if my daughter wanted a purple princess party, I might as well go all in!

Next were the decorations.  I found a big cardboard castle from Shindigz and I painted it purple and took pictures of the little girls in their purple dresses in front of the castle (which they loved).  I also found a “Princess” sign from Hobby Lobby that painted purple and a mirror decal that I applied to the wall next to the castle so the girls could look at themselves dressed up.

For the dining area, I used a lavender table cloth and hung lots of poufs and poms from the ceiling and tied lavender tulle around each chair, tying a silver or purple wand in the middle.  I had lavender flowers as the centerpiece and a metal dress outline that I decorated in lavender tulle and a purple tiara.

I decided to do a dessert table for refreshments and continued the purple theme with those as well, serving Marshmallow “Tiara” Pops, Raspberry Yogurt Covered Pretzels, Purple M&Ms (lentils actually), Strawberry Cupcakes with lavender frosting and topped with tiaras, Castle Frosted Sugar Cookies and finally the Rapunzel birthday cake.
The party was so much fun and the little girls loved the fact that everything was purple!  The best part by far, was my daughter’s face when she saw the purple castle and the cake.  It was definitely worth the effort!

The dining area for the Purple Princess Party

Tulle and wands adorned all of the chairs

The centerpiece and gift bags

The Purple Princess posing in front of castle



The dress each guest princess received

Strawberry cupcakes topped with tiaras



The dessert table with all purple treats