Monday, December 13, 2010

Party Planning: Where We Go Hard-Core and There's Glitter on the Floor.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, We party.
Here is a run down of my December 11th Christmas Party.
What we ate:
Panini Bar
To keep things simple and easy for me to enjoy my party, I set up a Panini Bar. Complete with cheeses, spreads, produce and deli meats. It was easy to organize and my guests were able to help themselves when they felt like eating. It's also fun, interactive and took the pressure off me to prepare food. In fact Vanessa, the foodie of the group, took over for a bit and made sandwiches for other people. I provided a list of flavor combination's to spark some ideas.
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What We Drank:
Wine Sampling Selection
As part of my invitation I asked each guest to bring a wine in a paper bag to share. And we held a mini wine tasting. We sampled the wines covered in bags and discussed the flavors. All while guessing who brought what wine, and guessing what wines we thought they were. Again it was fun, interactive and took the pressure off me to provide all the drinks. Everyone thought we should do this at every party from now on.
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To differentiate glasses I picked out reindeer names for all my guests and made easy-to-make wine charms. I made sure to match their personalities to the reindeer names. It was a fun way to know who's drink was who's. In case you were wondering, I was Prancer.
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What We Did:
Ornament Decoration Station
I purchased the Martha Stewart glitter set (only $15 with my 50% off Coupon) and some ornaments from Joann's, at 60% off I only spent about $6.00. I set out glue guns, glitter, sequins and tinsel. My guests went ahead and decorated their little hearts out. Needless to say glitter was everywhere -- because who doesn't love to glitter things? This was such a hit we didn't even get to my second planned activity, decorating gingerbread houses. All my guests went home with their homemade ornaments as favors.
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forever 21 ring, alice and olivia dress
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What We Wore:
Playing Dress Up
Ya'll know I love costumes and outfit changes so I encouraged my guests to dress festively, some of who forewent their normal garb and dressed up just to appease me. Of course I had reindeer antlers, Ruldolph noses, Santa hats, and gaudy earrings and pins around the house for guests to decorate themselves with. I didn't take any pictures of my outfit but my dress is the one I am wearing in my blog header, it's an Alice & Olivia sequin dress.
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Coincidentally this picture just won me $200 to Rent the Runway from Styleit Style Sheets.
I guess that means I need to plan another party to dress up for!!
For more pictures of my Christmas party click here.

14 comments:

  1. Those ornaments are gorgeous! I'm glad you had fun!

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  2. this looks looks so much fun !!! gosh i wish I was your friend !!

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  3. I love interactive parties, then no-one gets bored or runs out of things to do or talk about. You have fabulous party ideas, I'll definitely take some notes and use a few ideas in the future.

    Lisa
    www.sweetlaundry.blogspot.com

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  4. I was thinking the same thing as Curves ahead makeup - I wish I was your friend too! Brilliant ideas! I love the ornament decoration station!!!

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  5. That panini bar is freaking ingenious!! L-O-V-E.

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  6. i love the idea of a panini bar!

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  7. that dress is soooooo gorgeous! it looks way better on you than it does on the mannequin on bluefly! :)

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  8. LOVE your panini bar and ornament decorating idea...lovely!!!

    Liesl :)

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  9. WOW thanks ladies!! You all make me want to invite you all over for a party!!

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  10. I just found your blog...looks like a fun and well thought out party! Love the panini idea!

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  11. What a cute party! I love the ornaments and the panini bar - yum! Might I recommend raisin bread, nutella and brie as a flavor for next time - incredible!

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  12. Love the panini bar idea! You always have the best parties Amber.

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  13. I might steal your idea for the reindeer nametags, that's adorable!

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  14. wow everything seems so shiny and glittery! how cool! reminds me of christmas *.*

    check out my blog too:)
    meluvsyou.blogspot.com

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