The Quick List: Memorial Day Celebrations

Memorial weekend 2012 is upon us in less than 24 hours.  Here are a few last minute tips to throwing a celebration that your family & friends will be talking about all summer long!

#1. Fun Printables.  These FREE party printables are great for any summer party but why not kick off the summer with a bang?!

#2. Patriotic Food & Drinks.  There are endless wonderful patriotic ideas, I have picked my top 3 for you based on creativity and cost effectiveness: American chips and salsa, healthy fruit skewer flag and star spangled s'mores.

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#3. Keeping the Party Going.  Make use of all the outdoor space which is the best part about entertaining in the summer months!  Get out all the games you have; cornhole, ring toss, horseshoes and even set up a baby pool for guests to cool off their feet.  For shindigs that continue into the late hours, break out the tiki torches.  And as always, make sure to stock up on the essentials (food, alcohol, propane, ice, etc.) since grocery stores will be closing early all weekend.  Enjoy & stay safe friends!

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The Quick List: Celebrating St. Patrick!

It is no secret that here in America we celebrate March 17th with an excitement that rivals our own patriotic holidays.  While actual 'Irelanders' go to church on the holy day of their patron saint, Americans wear green, make Irish food and drink (a lot) of green beer and Guinness.  Here are a few more ways to honor St. Patrick, enjoy!

#1. I did two Irish posts last year, one suggested a beer tasting party and the other using St. Patrick's Day as wedding inspiration. 

#2. Irish inspired dessert recipes.  So many delicious treats and only one day to indulge!  I'm pretty excited about these chocolate stout cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting.  And these adorable leprechaun hat s'mores.  Oh and who wouldn't drool over this lazy grasshopper dish? Who knew there were so many Green Isle confections?

 

 

#3. Looking to go all out? Here is the top 10 list of the best St. Patrick's Day celebrations stateside.  Ever since I heard about the Charles River being dyed green a few years ago, celebrating March 17th in Chicago is (still) on my bucket list.  

  

Have Yourself A Healthier SuperBowl!

It's about that time again, the great American pasttime of celebrating the SuperBowl with friends, food & drinks.  Last year I wrote a post on festive football decor and snack ideas which a lot of people responded to, I even got a few photos of their set ups!  This year, one of my personal goals is to stay on track with my fitness, so I have been researching healthy SuperBowl ideas.  Besides, aren't most engaged couples looking to stay in great shape leading up to the wedding? 

While SuperBowl parties and "healthy eating/drinking" don't necessarily go together for some people, according to a recent poll conducted by the National Restaurant Association survey, "42% of Americans say that nutritious options are a mandatory part of their game day spread" (source).  So here are just a few ideas and recipes to help even out your game day table.

I've come across some great options thanks to my weekly (free) email subscription to Fitness Magazine.  They have some awesome suggestions for keeping this festive football holiday healthy.  Such as tips on healthy tailgating, crockpot recipes, healthiest party foods (YES! Bruschetta made the list!) and the best way to "tackle" a superbowl party spread & stay on track.

Grilled meat is healthy & delicious! Source

The most obvious way to integrate healthy foods into your gameday is to make a more nutritious version of your favorite foods.  Most parties have chips & dip and here is a great twist on the dip side, Grilled Corn Salsa.  Pair this with some multi grain chips and you are leaps and bounds below the typical chips/dip combo calories.



Another healthy take on an American favorite is swapping out regular french fries for sweet potato fries.  You can buy them frozen from the grocery store (I buy Ore Ida Sweet Potato Crinkle Fries, the serving size is 13 fries for 140 calories) or you can buy whole sweet potatoes and make them yourself. 

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And since I do realize the need to balance things out, here are free printables for football decor along with receipes for team spirit popcorn & homemade pretzels.  And one more free football printables for good measure.  Enjoy!

The Quick List: Prepping For Your New Year's Party

New Year's Eve is always a special time of year- one week after the hectic Christmas rush and the start of a whole new year of possibilities.  By your mid-twenties most of us have experienced the overblown & expensive hotel party experience.  If this type of NYE bash is not your style and you are opting for throwing your own house party, here are a few tips to make your night more enjoyable and keep your guests happy.

#1.  A new chic way to label drinks.  This idea is so easy, inexpensive and awesome that I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before!  Dip the base of your wine glasses in chalkboard paint so guests can write their names on their glass AND the chalk will rinse off in the wash  ready for your next party!  This chalkboard paint to label idea can also be used on pint glasses and on wine glasses to give pairing ideas as well.

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#2. Instead of spending a lot on a full bar, have a champagne bar.  Champagne is the drink for celebrations and specifically for New Year's Eve.  Create a champagne bar with different types of champagne, fresh sliced fruit and juices so guests can make any tasty cocktail from mimosas to bellinis to whatever their imagination can envision.  Also a free standing bar means the hosts can be free to mingle and not play bartender all night long.  Let guests know ahead of time that you are supplying a champagne bar and they are welcome to bring any other alcohol if they are not champagne drinkers.

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#3. Decide ahead of time what your crash policy is.  This is one of the few holiday parties throughout the year that you can almost guarantee that guests will want to crash at your place instead of go home at the end of the night.  There are few things worse than drinking the night away carefree only to realize that there is no room for you to stay over.   Hosting guests overnight brings a whole new set of responsibilities.  In addition to letting guests know how many people can stay over comfortably and asking them to bring pillows and blankets, make sure you have all your linens clean and ready to go.  Maybe even put a few 'night lights' around for people who are not familiar with your house to navigate in the dark.  A nice touch is to leave a basket of helpful items in each room/ area where people will be staying over to include; bottled water, tylenol, tissues, travel toothbrush set and anything else you think your guests might need.  Better for people to find the ammenities basket than try to wake you in the middle of the night for something.

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Do you have any other NYE party tips?  Leave them in the comments section or on the FCW facebook page!  Be safe and enjoy!

The Quick List: Making Your Holidays A Bit Easier

As we are right in the trenches of holiday shopping and all together holiday prep, I wanted to share a few tips for making this season a bit easier. 

#1. Holiday Cards-  As always, you have some options. You can buy cards (and upload your images) online in a 'one stop shop' like minted.com or vistaprint.com complete with printing and shipping, create your own template (I have used Microsoft Publisher) to send to your printer or you can buy stock cards without personalization (Target, Walmart, Kmart, etc.).  Well there is a NEW, affordable, time efficient option: using a professional template.  Blue Brush Studio on etsy.com offers uploadable templates on sale for as little as $3 and range up to $18!  I'm so excited about this new discovery, the one time purchase allows you to customize with your own photo(s) and print to your own printer instead of paying the printing and shipping fees associated with online card shops.   For that small template price, you can even splurge and print the cards off at a professional store like Staples or Kinko's.



#2. Gift tags- don't buy them.  Seriously.  They are such a waste since they are a one time use item.  My solution is for gift bags with tissue paper, fold a corner and write the 'to and from' on the tissue paper.  That way, the recipient can cut off that small section and re-use the tissue paper later.  

 

#3. Quick & easy recipes for your holiday parties- Most of us don't have time to make an elaborate dish for every holiday gathering this season.  While my tried & true recipe involves chocolate-covering pretzels and chips, I'm trying to expand my horizons.  Here are a few quick links to my favorite holiday recipes I've seen recently & I'm dying to try out!

http://camillestyles.com/2011/12-tastes-of-christmas-minty-meringues/

http://camillestyles.com/2011/12-tastes-of-christmas-candied-orange-peel/

http://theplungeproject.com/fab-friday-finds-cake-batter-recipe-roundup this link has 5 recipes!

Inspiration Station: Spooktacular Party Ideas

Yep, I did use the word 'spooktacular' like some run of the mill haunted house advertisement.  But part of the fun of Halloween for me, a bonafide scaredy cat, is the campy nature of the holiday.  Corny & scary go hand in hand and with so many great party ideas out there, I wanted to share some of my favorites.  After reading so many posts with elaborate Halloween displays, I've decided to group together my favorite that are both low cost and easy DIY for decor & food/drinks.  I even included some FREE printable signs to add some pop to your party.  Enjoy!

#1. Marshmallow ghosts aka why didn't I think of this before



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#2. Spooky candy bar

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#3. Spiderweb dip- add sour cream on top of guacamole for the web by starting in the center & drawing lines out to each edge.  Then create the 'web' by drawing lines in a outward facing curve from line to line.  Finally, use knife to smooth down original lines from center out to the edges.  Piping the sour cream would work best.

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Modern Take On A St Patty's Day Party

We're just about a week away from St Patrick's Day & it got me thinking about how people celebrate the Irish holiday.  The most obvious way is to head out to the bar for some green beer & Jameson (if you dare) dressed in as much green as possible.  The holiday falls on a Thursday this year and it will fall on a workday most years.  So what if you can't afford to get crazy when you have to work the next day or if you are like me and afraid to indulge since there will definitely be alcohol checkpoints set up across the country?  I have a solution for you.  I was inspired to create a modern take on SPD by Hostess with the Mostess blog's post on a SPD beer tasting happy hour.  My twist is to make it less of a happy hour tasting and more of a full-fledged party. 

The idea of a beer tasting is a great concept, but can get very pricey both with beer costs and based on the amount of guests.  Since the weekend is directly after SPD this year, why not have friends over to celebrate that Friday or Saturday?  For hosts looking to do a potluck, ask everyone to bring their favorite Irish food or drink.  There are so many great options; Irish soda bread, beer bread, cornbeef and cabbage, a mashed potato bar just to name a few and I would definitely have some Guinness & Jameson available.  Maybe even include Irish coffee.  The type of beer is up to you and don't feel obligated to dye all the beer green if you have a lot of light carpeting in the house.  Be sure to ask your guests to dress up in their Irish best and decorate your house in tons of green too.  The final touch is to put out tons of sweet treats with an Irish flair (shamrock cookies, cupcakes, etc).  Here are some pictures for inspiration.  Enjoy!

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Inspiration Station: Holiday Parties

I get a lot of questions about the details of a party, people always want to showcase something new whether it is decor, food & drink, or invitations.  I am such a huge fan of inspiration boards, I decided to create two myself.  I hope you like something you see!

 

Christmas Party Inspiration Board

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Fra-gee-lay. That Must Be Italian*

Now that it is November and Thanksgiving is on its way, Christmas and Hanukkah are not far behind.  I have already seen Christmas decor in stores and it seems like it is out earlier every year.  Putting aside the commercialism of the holiday season, it is really a great time of the year to see family and celebrate another year together.  The best way to celebrate is with a holiday party!  I know a lot of companies are cutting out holiday parties last year and probably this year but there are fun and inexpensive ways to get your jingle bell on without going bankrupt.  Or having a holiday party for your friends at your house.  One of the best and most fun ideas is to have a "secret Santa" or "white elephant" where each participant secretly chooses another person's name out of a hat and then the only person getting a gift for the name chosen.  It is never too early to plan, so I am posting some tips and inspiration.

Tip #1-  Definitely send out invitations and send them out as early as you can.  Facebook invites or text messages are nice to give people a heads up but having something to remind your guests of the date every time they head for the fridge is ideal.  Plus, the holidays are a busy time and people's availability often books up pretty quickly.  You can purchase invites online this the one posted below OR you can get creative and make your own.  I have used Microsoft Publisher the past couple of years for invites and holiday cards.  The only cost is printing that you can do at home or go to local printing shop.  Color printing is usually priced according to amount of pages, so make sure to ask that your invites are printed 4 to a page.

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