New Years Eve Favors and Decorations

I know we are all busy with our last minute shopping but New Year's Eve is also right around the corner. If you are having a party, here are some ideas for favors and decorations. 

If you are having a party in a dark space, these flashing, light up ice cubes are so much fun for cocktails. A few years back my friends and I hosted a NYE party and I ordered the light up champagne glasses - if you have a lot of people in a dark room, they look very cool!  Have a table ready with these glasses lined up, just before midnight fill them up with champagne and turn on the flashing lights.  These are available from flashingblinkylights.com - if you want anything that lights up, check out this site. 

If you are buying for a big party, visit www.shindigz.com, I typically find much better deals versus going to the local party store.  I love this 80's-ish party kit, they offer party hats in this theme as well, which I love!  If you go this route, I think you should be sure to order some glow in the dark necklaces to go along with the 80's theme.

Ask your guests to dress in black and then order sequin masks to add a splash of color. After a few cocktails people will be wearing them!  $29.99 for a package of 12. Put them around on tables or hang some string across a room and clip them on to use these as decorations as well. 

I love this Happy New Year banner, it's unique and I love the simplistic feel.  If you are going with black & white decorations, I think this is a must have! The banner is available on etsy for $22. 

Instead of the standard noise makers, order these vintage ones, $6 for a set of four. 

For favors, how about these "Quickits" available on etsy, each favor includes: champagne "bubbles", Hershey kisses, breath mints (very important if there is mistletoe around!), lip balm, streamers, NYE confetti.  Each kit costs $9 and you can choose your color ribbon. 

Brunch with Santa at the Beehive

I love the email that came out (below) for the upcoming Santa Brunch at the Beehive in the South End.  What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. 

Boston Santacon - 2009

A few years ago my parents were in New York City around the holidays, during their night out they ran into hundreds of Santas in central park, some even hanging from trees.  They thought it was one of the funniest sights they had ever seen.  Since then, we have learned that this was all part of Santacon.  

For those of you in Boston, Santacon is this weekend - Saturday, December 19th, 2009.  The meeting time is 1pm at the Purple Shamrock. For all of the details visit the following blog: 

http://santaconboston.blogspot.com/

I have just decided this is on my list of things to do (just once!) so hopefully next year. If you go, send us some pics!

Preparing for Chrismukkah

Tomorrow is an exciting day - it is the annual Chrismukkuh celebration that I host for a close group of friends each year. The tradition started years ago when we used to gather on Thursday evenings to drink a lot of wine and watch the OC.  Laugh all you want, but we had a lot of fun!  For us, that is when it all began. 

Tonight was the big preparation night which involved the standard cleaning and making lasagna but I have a few surprises in store for my friends.  (Note: sometimes it is okay to be a little tacky, makes life fun!).  Let's just say I have decorated my Santa's hat (there will be arts & crafts for everyone when they get here!), put together a stand up cardboard photo snowman (customized to say "Merry Chrismukkah") and last, but not least, I made some edible dreidels thanks to a recipe in the December issue of Martha Stewart.  

The picture below gives you an idea of what I made, but the newer recipe involves dipping the marshmallow in chocolate.  They are pretty simple to make but of course mine aren't up to Martha's standards (how is everything so perfect in that magazine??? Who has the time!!!).  To buy: chocolate to melt, white chocolate, thin pretzel sticks, Hershey kisses and large marshmallows. Dip the bottom of a Hershey kiss in melted chocolate, stick onto the marshmallow.  Repeat as many times as you want and then refrigerate for ten minutes.  Then - cut a slit into the other end of the marshmallow and insert the pretzel.  Then dip the whole thing into the chocolate and put on parchment paper.  Eventually you can add Hebrew letters (which I still need to do). 

Stay tuned for some photos from this special holiday...I am off to wrap my gift!

Happy Chrismukkah everyone!

A nutcracker brunch at the Ritz Carlton

This is a great brunch for the family - Sundays from November 29th through December 20th at the Ritz Carlton in Boston.  The Nutcracker characters perusing the room are bound to keep the kids entertained.  This is also the perfect for pre-theatre.   Tickets are $78 for adults and $38 for children 12 & under.  These fill up fast, so if you can't get in this year, keep this in mind for next year and plan in advance!

Personalize your own champagne bottles

Surprise your guests with a personalized champagne bottle at your next party!  This is a special takeaway for New Years, a big birthday but these would also make a great gift.  To cut down on costs, you could give guests mini bottle instead. At celebration cellars bottles start around $39. 

Holiday entertaining tips from a fabulous new online mag

A few months back, I was very upset to find out the Domino Magazine was closing down shop. Then, the good news came, a new online magazine with a similar vibe to Domino had launched it's first issue - Lonny Magazine. If you like to decorate, this is a must read. In issue number two, there is a great article on a winter soiree in LA where we can all pull great ideas from. The hosts - Nathan Turner, interior designer, and Molly Sims create a magical holiday feel. What I like about it, it is very comfortable and not too over the top. I am sitting in Vermont as I write this, so I am a nature lover, so I was drawn to all of the natural elements they pulled in. Be sure to check out this issue of Lonny!