DIY Entertaining

New Year’s Eve Tinsel Trees.

A poor selection of flowers at my local Trader Joes this week inspired me to whip up a sparkly centerpiece for our annual New Year’s Eve party. I hit the Christmas sale section at the craft store and gathered up some tinsel garland and metallic tissue papers. With a hot glue gun in hand I wrapped some tinsel garlands around foam cones to create two tree-like pieces. With the silver and gold mylar tissue paper I layered strips of hand-cut fringe around the third cone. I topped all three with sparkly drink stirrers that I also found in the Christmas clearance bin at Target to finish them off!

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NYE Tinsel TreesTINSEL TREE

And of course I couldn’t pass up all of that discounted tinsel, so I used the extra pieces to outline some cardboard cut-outs of 2013 and strung them up on the wall — it’ll be a perfect backdrop for some festive photo-ops!

2013

Entertaining

Holiday cheer.

I spent this weekend working up a little holiday cheer — from addressing stacks of Christmas cards, to tackling hours upon hours of gift-wrapping I can say that the Christmas spirit has finally arrived at our house. And now I’m super excited about heading home for the holidays — did you tackle any holiday tasks this weekend?

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Entertaining

Shindig inspiration.

I know that this is a major faux-paus, but while everyone is excited about decorating their tree, my mind zooms straight past Christmas and to my favorite holiday: New Years Eve. While my annual New Year’s shindig may be a month away, I already have my wheels turning gathering inspiration for some fun little touches. Tinsel and drink toppers are on the DIY to-do-list, and I’m seriously eyeing those numbered  rocks glasses — aren’t they cute?

nyeSources: countdown glassware, curly-q DIY, caspari party crackers, tinsel drink stirrer, party hats

Entertaining

Macarons & Tinsel.

The snow started falling in Boston on Saturday and it made me feel like the holidays were officially here. I snagged some really cute metallic wrapping paper and tinsel bows while I was out shopping — I can’t wait to start wrapping presents with these. And Sunday I found the holy grail at Trader Joes: Peppermint Mocha macarons in a bright shocking pink — this box was just a ‘test’ to make sure they lived up to expectations for some holiday entertaining — and they certainly did!

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DIY

Handmade Holidays: Glitter Hangers

Next up in the Handmade Holidays series is a set of glitter coated hangers, the perfect gift for a stylish friend!

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong when you coat something in glitter — am I right? I started this project with inexpensive wooden hangers, and painted them with a layer of mod podge. Quickly, before the glue dries, sprinkle glitter until you coat the wood.  After this layer dries, go back over with another layer of mod podge to coat the hangers and seal in the glitter — you might need more than one coat depending on the thickness of your application. And there you have it, some sparkly gifts for your favorite clothes horse! (I love these so much that I might save one to hang my wedding dress on this Spring!)

 

DIY

Handmade Holidays: Polka Dot Candle Holder

Next up in the Handmade Holidays series has a little bit of glitz — a decorative candle holder with gold polka dots!

I love the idea of using this handmade holiday gift for a little hostess treat when you’re visiting friends for the holidays. To start I used a craft punch to cut out circles on a piece of thick cardstock, then taped the cardstock around the candle holder to create a stencil. From there, it’s as simple as filling in your polka dots with a metallic sharpie — you can add-on an extra layer of metallic marker after the first layer dries if you’d like the color to be a bit more opaque. Then pair it was a pretty scented candle and some fun matches (I love these ones!).

 

Entertaining

Good as gold.

When it comes to entertaining, most of my dishes and glassware are white and clear, then I can have fun with accessories and linens to switch up the theme. I think that gold is the new neutral and is also a perfect backdrop for lots of color combinations too. Plus a touch of sparkly metallic makes them extra festive.

Of course Kate Spade is right on trend, with their champagne saucers and gold place settings (on sale on Gilt!). And I love the cross-hatch pattern on Vera Wang’s serving bowls (also on sale!). Plus, a little elf told me that those striped and polka-dot glasses may be under my tree on Christmas morning… I can’t wait!

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