Posted on December 21, 2012 by Kara

Up on the Housetop Holiday Christmas Party!

I’m excited to share another one of my personal parties with you today! I loved styling this UP ON THE HOUSTEOP HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS PARTY and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I actually thought of this theme last year while brainstorming holiday Christmas party ideas…it was a little too late in the season, though, so I didn’t have time to plan it. But, this year was the year and I’m so glad it was because I’ve been envisioning this party for a long time!

The party consisted of a main dessert table, full of treats and holiday goodness. The display was set up on top of a cream hutch covered in glittery paper and faux snow. Snow flocked frames hung on the wall behind the hutch, creating a dreamy & wintery feel.

Want to re-create this party? Party supplies/decor/candy from the Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Mini Clear Gable Boxes
Milk Bottles
White Rock Candy Sticks
Clear Candy Sprinkles
Sparkling Candy Flakes/Crystals
Silver Pearlized Gumballs
Aqua Rock Candy
Sugar Pearl Sprinkles
Candy Sticks

When I think of desserts & cookies I think of milk! I dipped the top of my glass milk bottles {from the shop, here} in Karo syrup, then gently rolled the tops in clear candy sprinkles, also from the KPI shop. The white candy sticks from the shop looked perfect inside each glass!

Chimney Smoke Cotton Candy

I filled miniature clear gable boxes from the KPI shop with white cotton candy, and labeled the boxes as “Chimney Smoke Cotton Candy” :).

I sprinkled sparkling white candy flakes {LOVE these} from my shop atop all the cupcakes.

I made a vintage replica paper banner that said, “Up On The Housetops” and hung it on the wall below the main center frame. Inside the main frame was a glitter reindeer, cut out of light blue shimmery scrapbook paper…

Metal sleigh cupcake holders held beautiful vanilla cupcakes. A white ruffle cake stand was placed in the middle of the display, on it were lovely white and aqua cupcakes topped with edible sugar glitter. Glass pedestal cake stands held other pretty desserts like peppermint bark and mint peppermint cookies. At the front of the table were two long white ceramic platters holding divinity and white chocolate covered star pretzels.

I have a special place in my heart for cardboard Christmas houses, and have collected them for years. They were perfect for this party, and really helped create the “Up on the Housetop” feel! Among the houses were also bottlebrush trees in silver and cream…

Marshmallow Treats

Regular marshmallows were dipped in white chocolate candy melts and light blue sugar pearl sprinkles from the KPI shop. Sucker sticks {also available in the shop, here} were then inserted into the top of each marshmallow.

More white rock candy sticks were placed on the table for guests to enjoy…this time, atop a cute mini metal sleigh…

Shimmery pearl silver gumballs from the KPI shop were placed in a small glass star dish…

A vintage glass tree held aqua rock candy from the shop.

Merry Christmas!!
xo,
Kara

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Kara

Winter Mint Holiday Christmas Party

What a fun HOLIDAY MINT WINTER CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Natalie Mudd of Wonderfully Made Events! Such a cute and clever holiday theme! When I think of anything ‘mint’ I definitely think of Christmas!

Natalie said this about planning the party- “This Winter ‘Mint’ Party was SO much fun to style and create. I LOVE the colors mint and red together so I decided to stick with the mint theme and create a bunch of mint treats for the dessert table.

For the decorations I used old vintage window panes, pine cones, old painted frames, pieces of wood, a vintage sleigh, a wreath, ornaments, flag pennants made out of scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby & twine, washi tape by Martha Stewart used on drinking jars, and presents wrapped in paper from World Market.

The desserts included Chocolate fudge MINT Cupcakes, Homemade MINT Fudge, Vanilla MINT chocolate covered pretzels, Iced Mint Mocha fraps, Chocolate dipped MINTOreo’s, MINT Chip Ice cream, Pretzel MINT Chocolate rounds, Mint Fudge Chip Cake Pops and Mint Vanilla crème Mousse.”

Vendors and Credits:
Wooden Signs- Joanie Ennessy
Desserts- Wonderfully Made Events
Photography- Christina Bos

Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Striped Paper Straws
Cupcake Liners
Mini Martini Glasses
Glass Milk Bottles
Washi Tape

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Kara

Mexican “Day of the Dead” Halloween Party

How awesome is this MEXICAN “DAY OF THE DEAD” HALLOWEEN PARTY submitted by Nikki Wills of Tikkido!

Nikki said- “The Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a traditional Mexican celebration, and immediately follows Halloween. It, like Halloween, features lots of skeletons and imagery of death, but it is a colorful, vibrant, and FUN celebration of life and a way to honor and remember those who have passed. Altars of photos of dead family members, their favorite foods, skeleton figurines, and colorful marigolds are built. Feasts are cooked and eaten. Music, dancing, parades, laughter–all bringing back and sharing happy memories of those we’ve lost. It’s a beautiful tradition.

At our Day of the Dead party, we served marigold tossed salad. (Did you know that marigolds are not only edible, but delicious? And absolutely gorgeous in a green salad.) We also served freshly made tortilla chips, sweet corn guacamole, shredded chicken, carnitas, and sweet corn tomalito.

Desserts are always important at our parties, too! We served Pan de Muerto (bread of the dead, a traditional Dia de los Muertos pastry), churros, conchas, tres leches trifle, pumpkin empanadas, sugar cookies (decorated as marigolds and sugar skulls), and the traditional, wildly decorated sugar skulls.

For drinks we served horchata, margaritas, mexican beers, mexican sodas, and a signature cocktail I created for this party, the Marigold Muerte. It tasted light, citrusy, and refreshing, but was sneak-up-on-you strong. I named it the “Marigold Death” for a reason!

DIY crafts/projects for this party included:
stamped “tin” napkin rings
paper placemats painted in colorful ombre stripes reminiscent of serape blankets
Glass plates embellished with papel picado style tissue paper cutouts
glowing photo candle holders/frames of those we love and wished to remember on this day.
lace-appliqued balloons
papel picado and fringe tissue banners
makeup for our Catrina (traditional female skeletal character at these celebrations)
sculpted skeletons of people and pets
the cut paper candle holders
miniature tissue paper flower decorations (for the table tents, straws, etc.)
all the food (except the tortilla chips, carnitas, conchas, and churros, which were bought at a local Latin american market)
I’m the photographer, too!

As you can tell, I love DIY affairs.”

Items used in this party that are available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Striped Paper Straws
Mini Pedestal Cups
Chevron Paper Bags
Jute Twine
Plastic Margarita Cups
Apothecary Jars

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Kara

Merry Christmas- Turquoise & Metallic Gold Christmas Party

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas. May your weekend be full of the true Christmas Spirit. This TURQUOISE AND METALLIC GOLD CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Suzanna Vasilevski of Mon Tresor is just lovely. I absolutely LOVE the mix of colors & hues. Look at all the shine & sparkle! Here is what Suzanna said about the party- “I decided to opt for a colour palette this christmas that was a little non traditional. I am all about glitter and sparkle during the month of December, so it seemed fitting to introduce shades of glittery gold combined with turquoise and chocolate. For the backdrop I used symbols of christmas- a twig wreath that I added gold glitter too and a handmade ruffleed linen stocking. On the dessert table I used three cakes in different shades of colour- gold, turquoise and sparkling snowflake white. My other weakness is warm cinnamon donuts and these were stacked elegantly on a milk glass stand that I adorned with a gold tassle fringe. Other sweets included chocolate cream cookies, honeycomb, turquoise m&m’s, persian cotton candy, rock candy and christmas cookies. Touches of christmas props such as the feather and the sparkle christmas trees, baubles and tote boxes adorned with candy canes and ribbon were also included on the table.”

Vendors:

Printables & styling: Mon Tresor- www.montresor.com.au Cakes and cookies- Couture cupcakes and cookies- www.couturecupcakes.com.au Cake stands- sweet style- www.sweetstyle.com.au Rock candy- Little Big Company- www.tlbc.com.au Persian fairy floss-Lily Chic Events- www.lilychicevents.com.au Christmas props- www.domayne.com.au

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Kara

Santa’s Kitchen, Christmas Baking Party

Curling up by the fire in an cozy rustic cabin sounds divine right now. I fell in love with this SANTA’S KITCHEN- CHRISTMAS BAKING PARTY submitted by Karen Ayars. I wish I had a cabin to host a fun Christmas party in! Karen did a fabulous job. I love how she used cupcake tins & pans as party trays & stands. From Karen- “I hosted this party in our family cabin, something very rustic, simple and small. I used things we had in our own kitchen to decorate the table. The main focus was the kids making some Christmas goodies for Santa.” Vendors: Party Styling: Karen Ayars Photography: Jeff Tureaud Printables: 9 to 5 Mom Gingerbread and Stocking Cookies: Baked Perfection Coal Cake Pops: Cera’s Sweet Shop Santa Claus Hat Cupcake Toppers: Krazy Kool Cake Designs

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Tag Archives: Holiday Party

Up on the Housetop Holiday Christmas Party!

Winter Mint Holiday Christmas Party

Mexican “Day of the Dead” Halloween Party

Merry Christmas- Turquoise & Metallic Gold Christmas Party

Santa’s Kitchen, Christmas Baking Party