Category

Party Tips

Category

While I’m obviously a fan of a styled party, not every get-together needs to be elaborate. Sometimes I just need a laid-back evening with friends. After a long work week I both want to see friends and relax. I love Friday night for game night. Break out the snacks and beverages and enjoy a night laughing with friends.

This post is created in partnership with Utter Nonsense. All opinions are my own. We tested out the Naughty Edition of the “hilarious accent game.” A quick note on the idea of a game with accents. I’m particularly sensitive to the idea of stereotypes and don’t find making fun of accents a good time. I was hesitant to try the game until I had the opportunity to check out their sample decks on their website.

Accents include things like, “baby,” “valley girl,” “chicken,” and “pooping.” There are also accent cards of different languages, but I found that my friends played these accents as close to the language as they could rather than playing to stereotypes. We had an absolute blast playing this game, but I wanted to put that out right in the beginning before delving into my tips for a fun and laid-back game night. 

Host a game night tonight! My tips for a super simple game night. | A Well Crafted Party

Host a Friday Night Game Night

When I’m hosting a game night after working all day long I do the bare minimum. I’ve been known to throw more involved game nights on weekends or holidays, but on weeknights it is as simple as I can make it! Below are my tips on creating a fun and EASY game night get-together with friends.

Tip One: Invite friends you don’t feel the need to impress.

There are absolutely times where you might want to invite friends that you don’t know as well for a dinner party or game night. It is a great way to get to know others! For a game night following a full day of work I’d highly recommend inviting friends that are easy-going and fun to be around. Friends who bring a six pack of beer or bottle of wine are the BEST to invite.

Host a game night tonight! My tips for a super simple game night. | A Well Crafted Party

Tip Two: Make sure there is food and beverages, but keep it simple!

If there was ever a night to order a couple of pizzas…this would be the night! Crockpot meals are also great for game nights. Throw together a crockpot of chili and put out all the fixins and let guests serve themselves as they get hungry. You can also host an after-dinner game night and just put out a few appetizers such as meat and cheese trays or chips and dip. Serve a variety of beverages such as beer, wine, soda, or sparkling water.

Tip Three: Pick non-complicated, FUN games!

If you can’t tell this type of party is all about keeping it simple. After a week of intensive creative work I do NOT have the ability to delve into a complicated game. I also really enjoy games where I can pop in and out as needed just in case I need to run to the kitchen to make something or hang with the kiddos for a bit. Utter Nonsense is a great option for a laughter-full evening with friends.

Purchase Utter Nonsense (affiliate link) at your neighborhood target or on the Utter Nonsense website.

The game rules are similar to games such as Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity in that each player has a chance to be a judge. Each player then gets a handful of cards and one card is then pulled out and read for all players to play. In this game each player holds a handful of phrase cards and an accent card is pulled and read aloud. Then, each player (besides the judge) reads out the phrase that they feel best fits the accent or will play best to the judge. We play the Naughty version of the game which produced tears of laughter and some seriously awkward situations!

That’s it! You’ve got yourself a game night perfect for ending out your week.

What is your favorite game to play at your game night?

 

The holidays are certainly here and though I’ve been celebrating nearly two weeks straight… the parties aren’t over yet! We still have New Year’s Eve around the corner. The great thing about New Years is that anything goes when it comes to entertaining. Whether you are hosting a laid-back NYE get-together with pizza or a fancy cocktail party with all the trimmings… it is just about the CELEBRATING!

I recently got to share a few holiday appetizer tips on KGW and thought I’d share them here today. See my spot here, and scroll down for more tips.

 

Holiday Party Appetizers

Your holiday party doesn’t have to be extra stressful, use some of the below tips to make whatever you are celebrating a fun time for everyone involved, including YOU the host. Affiliate links are included below and are marked as such. Affiliate links are one way that this blog is able to maintain content. Purchases made from affiliate links may result in small amount of income for this blog at no cost to the purchaser.

Mini Fruitcakes - A Well Crafted Party

Make miniature versions of your favorite holiday foods. 

Do you have a favorite holiday meal that you enjoy each year? Make it mini! Meatballs on toothpicks have never really gone out of style for good reason. Mini foods are fun to serve and easy to eat. This year I did a miniature version of fruit cake to serve at my holiday shindigs. I nixed the dried fruit in favor of a fresh fruit combination of cranberry and orange. The fresh cranberries made the cake much more tart than a traditional fruit cake. In order to balance that pop of tart flavor I glazed the mini fruit cakes with an orange glaze and white chocolate drizzle. You could certainly create little cupcakes to make this recipe, but I favored my mini loaf pan (affiliate link) to mimic the traditional loaf.

Some favorite Cranberry Orange Cake Recipes:

caprese skewers - a well crafted party

Get festive with favorites!

Caprese salad or caprese skewers are always a fan favorite at any of my parties and they are SO easy to make. Make it slightly more festive by putting the skewers in a ring around a dipping sauce to mimic the shape of a wreath or clock.

Caprese Wreath Appetizer

This recipe makes 24 skewers. You can easily increase this recipe to feed a crowd however.

Ingredients:

  • mozzarella balls – marinated in Italian seasonings, garlic, and olive oil. Approximately 24 mozzarella balls.
  • cherry tomatoes – halved – you need 24 halves
  • 24 basil leaves (fresh, not dried)
  • 24 tooth picks
  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

  1. You can buy pre-marinated mozzarella balls and just move on to the next step. However, if you can’t find the mozzarella balls pre-marinated then simply create a marinade of olive oil, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Cover the mozzarella balls in the mixture and let sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. If you can’t find mozzarella balls then you can cut up a larger portion of fresh mozzarella into 24 pieces and then marinate.
  2. Skewer 1 half cherry tomato, 1 basil leaf, and one mozzarella ball with a toothpick. I think that it looks more festive to go with red, green and then white, but you can really do it in whichever combination looks right to you. To create the wreath like look it just needs to be uniform with the other skewers. Circle completed skewers around a bowl on a platter.
  3. In the center bowl mix your seasonings and balsamic vinegar. This makes a delicious dipping sauce for your caprese skewers.

caviar chips and dip - A Well Crafted Party

Enjoy an unexpected decadent treat!

If there is any time in the year to splurge a bit and treat your guests it would be the holidays. New Years Eve screams oysters and champagne to me. Bring out the good chocolate or treat your guests to some caviar to really make the evening special. I shared one of my favorite dips that I learned from a team member at Whole Foods a few years ago. I call it my $50 dip. It is quite extravagant, but it can easily feed a crowd and is an extra special treat!

Caviar Dip & Chips

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped chives
  • 16 oz of creme fraiche
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • fresh squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 to 1 oz of caviar – I used Paddlefish Roe (affiliate link). Sturgeon Caviar (affiliate link) would also be a great addition. You could even substitute Salmon Roe for a different flavor profile.
  • Kettle Chips

Directions:

  • Mix chopped chives, garlic powder, and lemon juice with creme fraiche. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.
  • Top the dip with caviar – spread out with a spoon so that guests get a little caviar with each chip.
  • Serve with kettle chips.

 

Other decadent appetizer ideas:

Holiday Garnish Ideas - A Well Crafted Party

Don’t forget a festive garnish!

Elevate your holiday appetizers by making sure your platters and plates are garnished. Use fresh fruits and herbs for a truly spectacular (and useable) garnish. I like taking pomegranates, oranges, grapefruit, cranberries, and rosemary for a beautifully festive garnish for holiday treats.

Have a happy holiday season and don’t forget to treat yourself in the midst of all of the holiday entertaining and giving.

Tasting parties are so fun to do as they give guests a bunch of different choices and allows everyone to really find something to their own liking. We’ve done a variety of tasting parties in the past including a whiskey tasting, wine tasting, ice cream tasting, and beer tasting. Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit KGW’s Portland Today to share tips on how to create a great cider tasting party featuring Julian Hard Cider. See the segment here:

 

 

Host a Cider Tasting Party

There are a variety of ways you can host a cider tasting party. I tend to start by picking out my ciders at the store. This cider tasting is tasting different varieties of the same brand, but you could also choose to taste different ciders across a variety of brands. Below are some tips for hosting your next cider party:

  • Do a blind tasting. Want to see which company makes the BEST cider? Try getting the same style of cider from around 5 different breweries. Wrap each one in a paper bag or with paper. Mark each bag with a different number. Put out tasting sheets so guests can write down what they like and disliked about each cider. At the very end, have everyone say their favorite number and find out which cider was the overall winner, and on.
  • Taste food too. Try pairing the ciders with foods that should go well with them. Look for foods with similar flavors that may be enhanced when trying the cider with it. Food is important for more than just pairing flavors, it will help keep your guests from becoming too inebriated.
  • Keep your samples small. This is also a safety thing… but, it also serves to allow guests to really get a good taste of each of the samples and then move on to drinking their favorite of the samples.

Free Cider Tasting Printables

Get your free Cider Tasting Printables below. Print and cut out per the directions on the printables.

Beer Tasting Printable | A Well Crafted Party Free Beer Tasting Printable | A Well Crafted Party

I’ll be sharing the recipes for some of the pairings featured in the video above soon! Check back next week!

Have you ever been to a tasting party? What made the party fun? Comment below!