Holiday Entertaining Archives

Let’s Mingle & Jingle–Holiday Progressive Dinner Blog Hop

December 13, 2018

Don’t you just love entertaining during the holidays? I sure do! Today I’m joining a few of my blogging friends for the final installment of our Virtual Progressive Dinner Blog Hop. Throughout the year we’ve shared easy recipes, tabelscape inspiration and fun party ideas with you. Today we’re celebrating the holiday season with the Holiday Mingle & Jingle Blog Hop.

If you missed any of this entertaining series, you can find the other seasonal posts by clicking these links…Spring Floral Fiesta, Summer Backyard Bash and Flavors Of Fall.

If you’re coming over from Positively Southern, welcome. Tamrya’s main course pork tenderloin looks so good and is the perfect hardy dish for a holiday gathering.

fyi–If you need to join the Mingle & Jingle party from the beginning, you’ll find all the stops on the blog hop below and at the end of this post.

Now, who’s ready for dessert?

When I was picked to host the dessert portion of the Mingle & Jingle dinner, I panicked for a minute. You see, me and kitchens are not the best of friends. As a designer, I love to design and decorate kitchens but I’m not a fan of cooking in them. So what’s a designer to do when it’s time to whip up a yummy holiday dessert? Get creative and decorate her dessert!

Crazy Confetti Christmas Cake

My Crazy Confetti Christmas Cake was super easy to make and would be a fun activity to share with kids.

The first thing I did was pick up a plain frosted white cake from Publix. Then I popped into Target and bought candy canes, honeycomb ball cake topper and old-fashioned Christmas candy. I already had the mini bottle brush trees on hand.

Once home, I unwrapped 6 candy canes, put them in a zip lock bag and crushed them into small pieces to make confetti candy cane mix. Next I sprinkled the confetti candy canes around the top edge of the cake.

And then I decorated the top of the cake with candy canes and other holiday pieces. I wanted my cake to be fun and crazy so all the pieces are a bit off-center.

Once I had the cake decorated, I knew I wanted to dress up the cake stand. I cut strips of ribbon and taped them to the top of the stand to make it more festive. This is such a simple and easy trick you could use anytime you’re serving cake at a party.

After the cake stand was decorated and I had the cake in place, I decided to take my crazy cake over the top. I sprinkled old-fashioned Christmas candy around the base of the cake and called it done.

I think my cake is ready for a holiday party!

Now that I’ve tantalized your sweet tooth, it’s time to bring this party to a close. Head over to Atta Girl Says to check out the fun hostess gifts and party favors Amy created. She really knows how to end a party on a high note. And be sure to hop over to each of the participating blogs and Mingle & Jingle with them.

MINGLE & JINGLE PROGRESSIVE DINNER BLOG HOP

Cocktail Hour—Viva La Vintage For Your Home

Appetizer—M. Jones Style

Tablescape-–Home On Poplar Creek

Main Course—Positively Southern

Dessert–ConfettiStyle (yours truly)

Hostess Gifts & Party Favors—Atta Girl Says

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I’ve got more holiday inspiration posts planned for you as we count down to Christmas so be sure to check in each day. Or better yet, subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a post!

Reindeer Recipes Blog Hop–Holiday Cocktail Bar Cart

November 29, 2016

The holiday cheer is in full swing today at ConfettiStyle. I’ve joined 8 of my blogger friends for a fun & festive Reindeer Recipes blog tour hosted by Heather from Totally Tailgates. If you’re coming over from Positively Southern, welcome? I’m glad you’re here with me today.

While most of the bloggers on today’s blog hop are sharing one of their favorite holiday recipes, I put a little spin on things and I’m sharing my holiday bar cart. Plus I’ve got a few tips to help you style your bar cart for the season.

Every season I change the decor on my mini bar. During the holiday season I love to dress it up with a few festive touches.

Creating a holiday cocktail bar is all about pretty glassware, fun cocktail accessories and cheery Christmas decor.

One of the decorative pieces I love using on my bar cart is a small decorative tray. An acrylic tray is ideal because it’s clear and keeps the look light and airy.

tip: It’s also fun to add a decorative paper liner to your tray for an easy holiday update. I’ll share more about my tray next week.

If you have a small bar cart like mine, use petite glasses instead of regular size wine or martini glasses. I love these and these.

tip: use glittered washi tape to dress up plain glassware for a holiday party

Stemless goblets and cordial glasses which are perfect for serving up a signature cocktail like a Cranberry Blueberry Cosmo. In my book cocktails can be served in any style of glass so don’t let you glassware limit your cocktail offering.

Every holiday bar cart needs fun cocktail swizzle sticks. I’ll be sharing how easy it is to DIY these cocktail stirs next week on the blog.

Cocktail napkins are another bar cart essential and since my Christmas decor is all about color this year, a stack of colorful napkins adds a pop of color to my cart.

Thanks for stopping by today friends. I hope you enjoyed my holiday bar cart!

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The Reindeer Recipes blog hop fun doesn’t end here! The next stop on the tour is M. Jones Style so hop on over to Marsha’s blog for more holiday merriment.

And be sure to head over to the other Reindeer Recipe participants on the tour their yummy holiday recipes and tablescape inspiration!

Positively Southern|| M. Jones Style || Swirls of Flavor || Clutter Cafe

Life At Lydia’s House || Brittany’s Pantry || Totally Tailgates

DIY Merry & Bright Placemats

December 10, 2015

I hope you enjoyed part 2 of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home tour yesterday on the blog and my festive tablescape. Today I want to share the details of the DIY placemats I made for my table.

You might remember that I used printable art pieces from My Love Note Designs in my bedroom refresh back in May. Christina has a wonderful collection of custom art pieces available in her Etsy shop. Several weeks ago she reached out to me again and asked if I wanted to use a print in my holiday decor. I jumped at the opportunity. Not only are there loads of amazing designs at great prices, but since all the images are downloadable and printable after purchase, you have instant gratification.

In looking through the My Love Note Designs shop, I spotted several images that would have worked with my Christmas decor but the Merry & Bright print was a perfect fit! #merryandbrightholidayhome

image via MyLoveNoteDesigns

Once I saw the image I started thinking about other ways I could use it besides in a frame. The idea of turning it into a placemat came to mind.

So here’s what I did…

Originally I was going to cut my own wood but then I stumbled across 12″ x 12″ unfinished plywood sheets at JoAnn’s ($4.99 each). They were thin and the perfect size for a placemat. Next I grabbed four sheets of green glitter scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby ($1.99 and 50% off) and printed four of the Merry & Bright art images on glossy photo paper.

To create the placemats I used a permanent double-sided table to attached the glitter paper to the wood and then used Mod Podge to adhere the artwork to the glitter paper and to coat the surface. The Mod Podge creates a durable finish and seal over the art image.

I haven’t done it yet but I’m going to paint the edges of the wood with gold rub-n-buff to finish the look.

I must say without these placemats, my holiday table wouldn’t be as Merry & Bright!

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If you’re looking to add some holiday decor to your home this season, I highly recommend checking out the selection of holiday art in My Love Note Designs. These are a few of my favorite pieces and some creative ideas on how they could be used:

Snowflake Red Plaid–use as a decorative topper on gifts wrapped in white, craft or black wrapping paper

Eat Drink and Be Merry–frame and hang over your bar cart, cocktail station or food buffet

Making Spirits Bright–the perfect piece to hang in the guest bedroom or bath to welcome guests for the holidays

Be Joyful–a fun piece to include in a gift baskets as a hostess gift (I adore this image)

Merry Christmas Y’all–I’d place this piece in the center of a wreath and hang it on the front door to welcome family and friends southern style

Plaid Tree–this tree design would be cute framed and used as the topper on a Christmas Tree or the centerpiece of a DIY serving tray

Thanks for stopping by.

A big thanks to MyLoveNotedesigns for providing the prints used in this project. I love sharing my favorite Etsy shops with you and know you’ll find something for yourself in this shop. All opinions are 100% mine.

Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour-Part 2

December 9, 2015

Welcome to part 2 of the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. It has been such fun to partner with my 8 fellow bloggers to bring you lots of holiday inspiration.

If you’re coming over from Love Your Abode thanks for stopping in and if you’re one of my regular readers, thanks for your continued love and support! Did you see all the amazing details in Yuni’s decor this week?! WOW, I didn’t think she could top last week but she sure did.

This week on the tour we’re focusing on our entertaining spaces and how we celebrate the season. Entertaining is such a joy and this year will be extra special since my brother now lives in Atlanta and my mom is coming for Christmas.

When I think of holiday entertaining I think of family dinners at a beautiful table so I got a jump on things and set my table for a Merry & Bright Christmas dinner. Playing off the color theme from my Christmas tree decor, I created a classic red & white tablescape with a few fun touches.

***One of the special touches to my table are these DIY placemats I made featuring a Merry & Bright printable art piece from Christina’s Etsy shop, My Love Note Designs ! I’ll be sharing the how-to and more details on the placemats tomorrow so stay tuned.

I wanted a lush looking centerpiece so I used a greenery candleholder in the center of the table. To dress it up, I added mini ornaments and decorative ornament sprays.

And to add layers to the table, I used three different linen pieces—a white tablecloth, a wide red and white stripe runner (made from simple cotton fabric) and a solid red runner from HomeGoods.

I hung a wreath on the mirror and added the metal Noel sign in the middle. I made the bow from ribbon I picked up at Michaels.

I layered each place setting starting with the DIY placemat, a red charger and white china. The Merry Christmas plates are from HomeGoods.

My vintage gold silverware and brass candleholders add a touch of metallic shine to the table. The holly leaf candleholders were a flea market find–one of my favorites ever!

These cute red and white check bags came from the dollar spot at Target and I’ll be filling them with small gifts/treats for everyone at the table. (p.s. I added the rhinestone M sticker to personalize it)

So the console table on the back wall wouldn’t feel left out, I created a beautiful flower arrangement using a mix of fresh and faux flowers and greenery. More on how I made the arrangement later in the week.

Another special touch at the table are the chair cones I tied to the back of each chair. I’ve had these metal cones for years and this year I filled them with a cedar spray, a piece of garland and mini ornaments.

Entertaining at our house also involves a cocktail bar so I added a few holiday touches to our gold bar cart.

The Merry & Bright wall plaque is from Kirklands. I saw it online and had to pull some strings to get my hands on one. I added the cedar sprays, bow and ornament clusters to make it just a bit more Merry & Bright.

And because no holiday is complete without hot chocolate, I snapped this last night as I was addressing my DIY Christmas cards.

Here’s another glimpse of my tree. I made a few changes to it since last week and replaced the chalkboard I had over the table with this mirror I had stashed in the garage. I just love this entire vignette.

And you see that cart next to the table with wrapping paper in it? I’ll be sharing that little project on Saturday. So fun and easy!

I hope you’re enjoying the Merry & Bright Holiday Home Tour. The fun doesn’t stop here…the next stop is OMG Lifestyle Blog. You’re going to love what Elaine has to share this week and if you missed her decor from last week, you can check it out here.

And you definitely want to check out all the other bloggers on the tour…

Confetti Style (yours truly)

OMG Lifestyle

Design Asylum Blog

Refresh Restyle

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

I’ll be back next Wednesday, with part 3 and the tour finale. We’ve got more holiday decor to share and I’ll be doing a wrap up of my Merry & Bright Holiday Home!

You can see part 1 of my tour here.