3 Kings Celebration

Background on the event:
My birthday is January 6th. Growing up my mother disliked letting me have birthday parties because of the weather. Mother Nature was never invited but frequently she stopped by for a visit that day. So usually I got to have one friend come over for a playdate. Now I know why. Don't you just hate when your mother is always right.

Luckily the snow was light this year and most of my friends drive SUVs. We had been off the two weeks prior to my birthday.  I knew the kids would be crazy so I asked some friends if they wanted to come over for Pizza and Wine and cake. I'd much rather chill out at home then go out for dinner for my birthday with all that craziness at school. Thankfully my friends were equally interested in the idea. So as the snow fell (lightly thankfully) we had some relaxation and great laughs. Thanks for joining me ladies.

Theme: 3 Kings
Since my birthday is January 6th we have always celebrated The Epiphany that day. A rememberance of the visit of the Magi (or 3 wise men) to the infant Jesus. So that sort of became my theme to decorate the apartment.

I found a beautiful box of Christmas Cards on clearance that had the nativity on the front of a well decorated box. Thank you Rite Aid. I took one of the cards that depicted the wisemen and cut them out. I pasted it to a black piece of construction paper to make a lovely wall decoration. I also found 3 really pretty pouch boxes. They are probably designed for jewelry box gifts. But they were perfect to hold a print out of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Whenever I have friends over I enjoy thinking up creative favors for them to go home with. They laughed this time - "Wait it's your birthday and you are giving us gifts?!" What can I say - that is fun for me. So I bought a bag of Rolo's (wrapped in gold papers) and found little green gauze gift bags that I had from another event around. I made little bags of gold for my guests. At our $1 Zone, I found very pretty airfresheners. They were a ribbon with a bead on a hook. I sprayed them with an extra shot of cinnamon (I couldn't find a frankincense like spray - they should have smelled more pine and lemon - but thankfully my friends wouldn't hold that against me with snow making it hard to get around to find things). And my favorite favor to give them - Tom's of Maine toothpaste makes one with Myrrh. Thankfully the larger Mrs. Green's on Central Avenue had enough boxes in stock for me to pick up for favors.

Okay I went overboard on cake. In my mind - three Kings - three cakes. Each cake would have had a crown. And I bought paper shinny crowns for my friends (who thankfully put them on without any prodding - Love you guys!). I drove by a bakery that I didn't realize we had in Larchmont - La Parissienne. I called ahead and ordered a traditional galette de rois. We had some great laughs discussing the history of this cake and finding out who would have the feve inside their piece. We ordered in pizza and opened some wine (of course I had wine bags in the traditional colors - gold, green, and purple) to round out the evening. Nightsky blue table cloths, star confetti, purple, yellow, and green napkins and plates and Voila.

The front door received a wreath with gold, green, and purple masks and ribbons. The Epiphany does usher in the Carnivale season after all. Below are some photos of my setup:

If you are looking for a party to banish the Winter Blues after Christmas and New Year's consider a 3 Kings Party for January 6th.

Sleigh Bells Ring... Thanks for Listening...well reading

Many years ago while in college, my mother suggested that I host a “Christmas Cookie Swap” party. A what?! I looked online. No mention. I looked in cookbooks. No mention. What on earth are you talking about. My mother explained that her mother (my Nana) and her friends use to have them all the time.

So I hosted my first Cookie Swap party. The next year I found a book Betty Crocker's Christmas Exchange Book (http://www.bettycrocker.com). It was like a minimag at the checkout at our food store. Hmmmm, there it is! Then the next addition was the Wilton line at Michael's Arts and Crafts (http://www.michaels.com ) started carrying Cookie awards and cookie boxes and more. It seems after about my fourth yearly Cookie Swap party suddenly they have come into vogue again. Everywhere you turn someone is talking about ideas for a “Cookie Exchange” as the magazines now refer to it. Love that my mom was ahead of the time. I have honestly lost count at how many Cookie Exchanges I have hosted. But I have loved them all. So here is the recap of this year's party – with a Sleigh bell/Country Christmas theme.

The inspiration for this year's theme came from a gift last Christmas from a friend. She gave me a large container of red sleigh bells. The brought to mind all those lovely Currier and Ives scenes that so beautifully represent the holiday season. So after several stages of visual word association in my head – I conjured up mental images of sleighs, sleigh bells, vintage parcels of brown paper with beautiful ribbons, mason jars of cinnamon and sugar, and more. So the party prep began.

Fete Avec Moi

At the dollar store I found a great brown and white gingham printed table cloth. Grabbed one for each of our tables. Add a little greenery – things are simply decorated. I wanted brown and red gingham ribbon. This year I could not find it anywhere. My husband joked that he is beginning to believe that the manufacturers are reading my blog and borrowing ideas the next year. (Isn't he sweet!) But watch next year, when I no longer need it, the correct ribbon will be available. So I settled for a nice green and red plaid ribbon from the Christmas Tree store. At $2 a roll they couldn't be passed up. 

Fete Avec Moi

Along the way I found a slightly nicer ribbon (red and beige gingham). This now adorns our Christmas tree. From an ice tea party (see former blog post), I still had plastic orange and lemon slices. I made a small slit in each and added them to the branches of the Christmas Tree. Our Christmas Tree Store had brown sleigh bells with gingham ribbon ties on a garland of old fashioned style string. Of course several of these were immediately purchased at $3 a garland.

At a Michael's Arts and Crafts, I found a lovely gold sleigh. I filled it with greenery and mason jars containing greenery, salt (to look like snow) and a gold faux candle. At the Christmas Tree Store I found snow blankets $2.99 a bag. And each bag when unrolled really has quite a lot of “snow” in it. They are perfect.

Fete Avec Moi

This lined the landing in our apartment hallway. A wooden sled welcomed guests and wished them Happy Holidays. A wooden set of mittens hung in the hall window also cast a warm hello to guests.

Now what party is a party without favors. Of course since this is a Cookie Swap (Or Cookie Exchange as others like to call it now), the was the obligatory box for cookies. This year's was beige with mini gingerbread on the pattern. A large tin of Cookie cutters served as another favor. And then I visited my favorite dollar store, The 1$ Zone on Central Avenue. They have such great items. There I found (http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/One.Dollar.Zone.914-793-7640 ) wooden spatulas (serving utensil kind), plastic mini spatulas (the removing batter from a bowl kind), and aprons. One for each of my friends was purchased and tied up with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.

Fete Avec Moi

Since it was expected to be a chilly afternoon in the forecast, I made a big crockpot of vegetarian chili and another of cheese tortellini in chicken broth. Of course we had to have some snacks. Gingerbread flavored popcorn was interesting find. Regular popcorn. Cheese platter. The usual.

Then it was party time. My friends thankfully arrived despite the threat of snow and the cold. They each brought cookies to share. And recipes – or information about the bakery. And we sat around enjoying a hot chocolate bar, chili, pasta and warm thoughts. Thanks for coming girls. Hope everyone had a great time!

Cookies Galore - Fete Avec Moi

  

Favors - Fete Avec Moi

Facebook inspired Front Door Decoration - Fete Avec Moi

Ere Long Leprechaun Luncheon

Today I hosted my Ere Long Leprechaun Lunch. My husband had to work today. So I figured this would be the perfect time to have the girls over for some fun and food. This way tomorrow the husband can relax and enjoy his day off/St. Patrick's Day. Luckily a couple of my friends were free to come celebrate with me.

Guests were greeted first by the rainbow on the stoop railing. This was featured previously on my blog post.

I guess my friends enjoy playing games and having fun too at my parties. I recently had two parties where I didn't go quite as grandiose. Guess my friends noticed and as our apartment steps echo I heard their comments coming up the stairs. I have overheard, "There aren't any decorations downstairs," "I was looking to see if you hid stuff on the steps and outside," and "What no games!"Some would think my friends at our age would be bored/over/vexed by my ideas for games. Apparently not. Yay! I enjoy spending a few hours having fun and acting immature. All work and no play makes Neene a dull lady, right?

So here is a brief recap of today's fun:

Fete Avec Moi

 Food is always a focus. I provided a buffet including:

• crock pot corned beef and cabbage [beer, chicken broth, cinnamon, a sprig of thyme]
• salad [red cabbage and brussel sprouts]
• Golden potato salad [store bought potato and egg salad]
• Greened potatoes [microwaveable mashed potatoes, steamed spinach, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and scallions]
• "Pesto" pasta [spinach, agave nectar, olive oil, egg noodles]

Desserts:

I love creative desserts. Since the theme was Leprechauns and pots of gold I found a great lemon bar mix.

Sounded so good in theory. The crust cooked up nice and golden brown. The lemon filling didn't bleeping cook through. Not serving those.

Darn it! So I ran out this morning to Stop and Shop. They had a heart shaped cake that they decorated like a leprechaun face. That will work! Sadly, I didn't think to photograph it before we dissected him.

I had found green sweet things: green blowpop lollipops, green and white starlight mints, green M&Ms, green wrapped rolo chocolates. So martini glasses were filled with each item to display them for the guests to enjoy. I had seen online a very creative blogger that dipped oreos in yellow icing and then rolled them in yellow sprinkles. Very cute pots of gold. This gave me an idea. What if I cut off the top of a chocolate donut 

hole and dipped them in sprinkles. I rushed off mid-week to our local Stop and Shop for supplies. They actually had gold (not yellow but gold) sprinkles. I sliced a donut hole. I dipped it in the sugar crystals. They didn't stick that well. So friday when I went food shopping I scooped up a can of spritzable yellow icing. Now the came out quite adorably. 

Games:

Fun 1: I found an ever so cute leprechaun printable puzzle online.

http://spoonful.com/printables/leapin-leprechaun-puzzle-st-patricks-day). I printed one for each guest. I placed all the pieces from each one into an

envelope. Each friend received an envelope. If they were able to complete the puzzle they earned a prize. The squeals of laughter were well worth it. The prize was a rubiks cube typed toy with St. Patrick's Day themes. Reminiscing about playing with these in the past was a ton of fun.

Fun 2: Have you heard of building a leprechaun trap? This is one tradition that I have never participated in before. But I found this online. How cute! Apparently  people create traps to catch a visiting leprechaun. The attract them with green, gold, and shiny things. So I placed a basket with grass and gold under a box and set the

trap. I tied 1 cauldron (like a little pot of gold) to the trap stand bar. All the rest were simply taped to the bar. I had my friends pull a number out of a hat. Then they each picked up the corresponding numbered cauldron. We all pulled and followed the strings until only one remained tied. This would be our lucky winner. The winner received a gold nugget candy, a leprechaun teddy bear, and a green lunch container.

Everyone received a pot of gold (gold chocolate coins) as a favor.

Now to recap the decorations:

I found a fabulous beer mug shaped stuffed thing. I think it was meant to be a hat. I stuffed it with green roses that I made from a roll of crepe paper. I saw this idea online while looking for St. Valentine's Day ideas.

I found a $.99 plastic green St. Patrick's Day hat. I filled it with 2 single

serve containers of Lucky Charms. And mixed this with a bag of popcorn and green sprinkles. A perfect combo of salt and sweet. Just the right amount of crunch.

Yes, I even decorated the cups. I found shamrock stickers that started it. I placed a sticker on each cup for the coffee. Then I realized hey I could draw shamrocks too. So on the second set I drew shamrocks with a green permanent marker. 

I covered all my tables with blue tablecloths to let the green accessories stand out in contrast. At the Christmas Tree Shop, I found sparkly shamrock cut outs. At ShopRite, I found a small potted clover plant. This rounded out the table decorations.

At this party as my friends came up the stairs I heard, "Oh my goodness would you look at this!" "How does she come up with this stuff?!" and "Oh I hate you how do you do all this". I just loved hearing these comments as I opened my door to guests. Thanks for joing me ladies. Thanks for embracing the fun. Looking forward to the next party. Now to dream up the next party idea.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow... Irish Eyes Are Smiling

So last year, as I celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I dug out the big witches cauldrons that I have for Halloween. I tied one to each side of our front steps. I put gold bows taped along the top to resemble a pot of gold. It was cute, but something was just missing. On about March 15th I realized what it needed...
A Rainbow

Fete Ave Moi

So this year, I planned ahead. I visited a local dollar store. Yes $1 each for plastic rectangle shaped table cloths. R-O-Y-G-B-I-V it's amazing how mneumonic devices really do work.  All these years letter I still remember the colors of a rainbow's light spectrum should range appropriately from red to violet. I also invested in a large pack of black hair ties ($1.99 for about 36). Lastly 2 gold table cloths to fill the pot (along with some Halloween stones for weight) and voila. Eleven dollars later we have an adorable, waterproof rainbow cascading down our steps into a pot of gold. Perfectly fit for any leprechaun.

Fete Avec Moi

We also have another set of steps that sit closer to the road down our hill. Needed a splash of color there. A green garland from the Christmas Tree Shop did just nicely.

Luckily, we have a lovely next door neighbor who looks forward to my decorations. So I get to decorate the landing on our level and our hallway too. I haven't gone all out yet. I have a few more ideas in mind for this weekend. But at least I have started adding a little cheer. I still have the $2.99 lit branches I had purchased around Halloween. Love getting a second use out of something so inexpensive. I placed them inside another cauldron, covered the bases with a navy blanket, and wrapped a green clover garland wire ($.49) around the branches. It looks rather ethereal I think. Especially at night when I can light them. They are powered by batteries. Another green garland wraps along the railing of our hallway stairs. Shamrock cutouts that were purchased in a multi-pack for $1.49 were the finishing touch. A few years ago, I purchased a set of bells covered in white and green ribbon that I just love on our apartment door for St. Patrick's Day. Of course, I dug them out.  A large green pull bow that I had in the closet from earlier gift wrap packages completes the look on the landing. When it comes to seasonal decorations I truly believe in choosing a color scheme and re-purposing items that you already have. Free decorating.

Of course, after all that decorating I had to relax and reward myself with a McDonald's Shamrock Shake and some time on the couch with magazines. This would have been the perfect end to a perfect Saturday. Except... then it snowed. Of course it did! I decorated for Spring. Glad all my decorations were waterproof.

Opening My Party Idea Blog

Most recent party creation - Tiki Iced Tea Party

Recently, I was having a discussion with a friend about blogging. Everyone has a voice. Some will care some will not relate to your topic. But everyone has a voice to share. By day, I assist teachers with using technology to raise the creativity level in their classroom and engage learning. In my "spare time" (hahahaha) I enjoy entertaining, cooking and more. My mother recently told me I should start a cookbook after I had family over for dinner while we were all away on vacation together. Another friend referenced that her "DIY friend (implying me) will have to create those for me". Their recent conversations have been rolling around in my head. I am in the process of collecting directions for a charity event that I will be part of next month. I decided since I research so much on the web and constantly learn from what I see, read, and hear that it is time for me to share back. So I guess it is time to start a blog. I will try to remember to share the ideas I use while entertaining. Care to party with me? (Fete Avec Moi: french for party with me) Will you be interested in reading what I have to share?