Christmas

Last Minute Holiday Party Tips

December 14, 2016 11 Comments Christmas

The holidays are seriously right around the corner and I am a little bit shocked. I still have my stocking stuffer gift guides coming to the blog and lots of holiday shopping that still needs to be done. YIKES! This weekend will likely be a big holiday party weekend and I was thrilled to be asked back to KATU’s Afternoon Live to share my last minute holiday party tips.

Here is my spot! Scroll below to look for links to some of the items discussed on this clip.

Holiday Party Tips

Below are some of the tips I shared in my segment and some great links to more tips, recipes, ideas, and DIYs. I also snapped a few behind the scene photos from yesterdays shoot and have shared them below.

Think of people’s schedules.

My favorite type of holiday party to host is an Open House style party so that people can come and go as they please and still make it to any other holiday obligations they may have. Brunch time parties, late afternoon, or early evening are great times for an Open House style party. Avoid dinner time as you would want to serve heavier foods and more people have plans during the holidays at dinner time.

Holiday Party Decor Tips - Behind the Scenes at KATU - A Well Crafted Party — The Holiday Party Decor Tips Segment Set-Up before rolling on screen!

Decorate with What You Have

Use items from your own holiday decor or that will coordinate with your holiday decor to decorate for your holiday party. Use natural elements such as garlands and rosemary Christmas trees as decoration as well. (See the Natural Green & White Holiday Party for more ideas.)

Pick a color scheme and use it throughout the party.

Pick a color scheme that coordinates with the holiday decor items you are using and extend that throughout the party to make everything look like it goes together. (Use balloons on stemless beverage-ware to make your glasses stand out and coordinate. This tip has been on a lot of party blogs, but I think the first place I saw it was over on Hostess with the Mostess – click for her tutorial on balloon dipped glasses!)

Create height at the food buffet.

Use platters and stands to create a food display at various heights. TIP: If you don’t have a lot of stands and platters fill a vase with holiday decor and set your platter on top. You can also make yourself an awesome (and inexpensive) cake stand with a glass, glue, and plate! (Check out my tutorial on EAT DRINK PRETTY for making your own cake stand.)

Serve bite sized appetizers and just refill your platters throughout the party.

This not only looks better but it is safer than letting food sit for several hours. Keep platters prepped and in the fridge or in the oven on warm setting so that you can easily replenish. If you are worried about spending the afternoon replenishing platters instead of engaging with your guests farm that chore out to family and friends who ask how they may help. (Check out my favorite holiday appetizers .)

The holiday bar set up before its TV debut!

Set up a Beverage Bar!

Don’t spend the entire party making your guests drinks. Set out a simple beverage bar or batch drink (punch bowls are totally back in style) and let guests serve themselves. For the holidays I recommend creating a Sparkling Wine bar with additions such as pomegranate seeds, sugared rosemary, sugared cranberries, and your favorite liquor. I love the Marrionberry Vodka from Wild Roots as a festive addition to a glass of sparkling wine. Pour 3/4 oz of Marrionberry Vodka into a glass and top (carefully, it will bubble!) with 5 oz of sparkling wine. Garnish with a sprig of sugared rosemary.

Yes, Give Party Favors.

Party favors are a way to extend your party in the memories of your guests. Give them something to enjoy after the party! My favorite holiday party favor ideas:

Set out little holiday bags or boxes for your guests to fill with sweets. BONUS: Now you won’t have a ton of leftover sweets from the party!
Give your guests a small bag of stocking stuffers. They can use the ones that they want or they can use them in stockings at home so that they don’t have to go out and buy as much. I’d LOVE for someone to do me the favor of getting some of that type of holiday shopping out of the way.
Give an ornament. Beautiful and small ornaments are a really lovely way for a guest to remember the party year after year.

Check out my NYE Ideas for a Holiday Game Night as well.

What is the best holiday party that you’ve ever attended? Comment below, I’d love to know!

A Well Crafted Home

DIY Table Runner for Thanksgiving Table

November 22, 2016 3 Comments A Well Crafted Home

I have been looking for ways to incorporate my son into my hobbies (aka parties) so that we are spending more time together and so that I nurture his creativity. We had a ton of fun together creating the paintings for our Halloween party. When thinking about how I was going to decorate the Thanksgiving table this year I wanted to work on something together that would give him a little ownership to the meal and table. A little paper and paint and we had a plan– a DIY Table Runner! Paper table runners are a great way to set the holiday table because you don’t really have to worry about spills ruining your good linens. Kids can draw on the runner when bored and waiting for the rest of the party to finish their food. It is just a win win.

DIY Table Runner with Watercolor Paints & Paper

I have a pretty good selection of every day craft supplies in my house. However, the one supply that I like to keep in stock that may not be in the average household is a large roll of butcher paper. I currently have a large roll of white paper and a large roll of black paper. I often find a use for large paper rolls whether it be a craft project or a last minute wrapping need. Below is a short list of supplies that I used when my son and I created this watercolor DIY table runner.

Supplies:

(Links below are affiliate links to products I use and would suggest!)

Watercolor palette (you don’t really need both liquid and solid water color paint, but I did use both for this project)
Liquid water colors
Paint mixing palette
Paint brushes in various sizes
Paper cut to the length of my table

Directions:

This was such an easy project and it really didn’t take too much time or effort. Use the steps below to create your own DIY Table Runner.

Cut paper to length of table or desired length/width (you could also make great little place mats or wrapping paper with this same method!)
Decide on a color scheme for this project. If you choose a lot of different colors then you are likely to get a pretty muddy mess. I like to choose colors that are shade variations. This project we took blue, green, white, and black paints to create different shades of blue-green. NOTE: Test out your desired color scheme on a scrap piece of paper so that you don’t have to waste the larger sheet if you don’t like the final look.
Paint in varying directions in large swatches. We really wanted the runner to look organic and a tad messy. This makes this project great for kids as it doesn’t require a lot of precision. Vary the amount of water on your brush to mix up the water color look with a bolder dry brush effect. My son really could have done this whole thing by himself with just me guiding him on when to switch colors so that they didn’t clump up all in one area.
Once you have the amount of coverage that you like let the paper dry. Water colors dry extremely fast. I think ours took about 10 minutes to dry once completed.
Fold the sides of the paper under for a seamless look.
DONE! Set your table and enjoy!

What else could you use this method of painting for in your home?

A Well Crafted Party

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume with Deseret Industries

October 21, 2016 4 Comments A Well Crafted Party

This Halloween DIY post is sponsored by Deseret Industries. Portland’s Deseret Industries Thrift Store and Donation Center is located on SE 82nd Street six days-a-week. I created my Felicity Smoak costume out of materials from my closet, the craft store, and items thrifted from Deseret Industries. All opinions are my own. To learn more about my posting policies regarding sponsored posts please visit my policies page. As always, thank you for reading more about the companies that help support this blog.

Can you believe that Halloween is just around the corner? I feel like the month has flown by and suddenly the holidays are here! Over the past eight years my husband and I have hosted a Halloween party. Some years the parties are more elaborate than others, but it is always one of my favorite parties to plan each and every year. This year’s theme is Comic Books and I’m having a blast coming up with decoration and costume ideas for the party. I’ll be sharing several projects between now and Halloween. So, check back for all the comic book party ideas which will work for Halloween parties or really any comic book themed event year-round.

I knew I wanted to be Felicity Smoak for this year’s comic book Halloween party. I basically live in a pony tail and glasses and am always glued to my screen so I pretty much fit the bill. My husband is going to go as the Green Arrow. My oldest son is going as The Flash. My youngest as Roy Harper/Arsenal/Red Arrow. Our little cast of comic book characters required a hodge podge of different items to create our looks. The Flash costume (affiliate link) was affordable and easy to find via Amazon but, the rest of the costumes I created using a combination of purchases from Amazon, the craft store, my closet, and our local Deseret Industries thrift store.

My visit to Deseret Industries Thrift Store in Portland was fruitful! I have been surprised in the past at how expensive thrifting in Portland is (being trendy and all) but at Deseret Industries I was happy to see the pricing be more in line with what thrift stores in my past have been like. I was able to get several comic books, comic-book themed masks, and clothing items to use for costumes all for less than $50. In my haul I grabbed a couple of business attire type items to see which would work the best for the Felicity Smoak costume.

I love thrifting for costume elements. However, if I hadn’t gone in looking to MAKE my costumes I would have been fine to find a pretty wide selection of Halloween gear. There were several racks of Halloween costumes and accessories in the store.

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume

Attire: I ended up working with the blue shirt (looks purple above due to poor lighting as I worked on my costume at midnight!) and black pencil skirt to create the look. I then used a black paint marker to cel shade the shirt so it looked more like a drawing.

Tips for Cel Shading a shirt: In order to cel shade the shirt I first ironed out all the wrinkles. I then went through and outlined all of the seams in the shirt. This gives a good general outline that you would see in any comic. The hard part, of course, is creating the shadows that you would see when someone wears the shirt. I looked pretty hilarious as I was wearing the shirt and shading in the natural creases as I was wearing it! Once it was all said and done however I was pleased with the results!

Accessories: I paired it with a handmade name badge utilizing a comic book picture of Felicity Smoak and an old lanyard and badge holder I had from a previous work conference. I finished off my look with a blonde wig put in a pony tail and a tablet.

Makeup: I wear business attire most days and didn’t want to just wear my hair in a pony tail and have on pink lipstick. It wouldn’t really get across the idea that I was the Felicity Smoak comic book character. So, I continued my fun with cel shading and did comic book inspired makeup. I shaded in my eyebrows and the edges of my face. I also created the comic book dot look with white paint. (Check out this tutorial for tips on creating this Felicity Smoak make-up look!)

The kiddo and I had so much fun taking photos dressed up for Halloween. I can’t wait to break out the costume again for our Halloween party and see it all combined with other members of our little comic book crew!

What are you wearing for Halloween this year? There is still time to pick up last minute items!

About Desert Industries: Deseret Industries is a national non-profit thrift store that provides employment, sponsors refugees and offers vocational and professional training for its associates. The stores collect inventory from individual local donations, enabling associates to process and recycle that inventory to fit others’ needs — a circular strategy of service and learning that benefits the entire community. For more information, visit www.deseretindustries.org

Party DIYs

Last Minute Holiday Party Tips

Holiday Party Tips

Think of people’s schedules.

Decorate with What You Have

Pick a color scheme and use it throughout the party.

Create height at the food buffet.

Serve bite sized appetizers and just refill your platters throughout the party.

Set up a Beverage Bar!

Yes, Give Party Favors.

What is the best holiday party that you’ve ever attended? Comment below, I’d love to know!

DIY Table Runner for Thanksgiving Table

DIY Table Runner with Watercolor Paints & Paper

Supplies:

Directions:

What else could you use this method of painting for in your home?

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume with Deseret Industries

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume

What are you wearing for Halloween this year? There is still time to pick up last minute items!

Check out other Halloween Posts from A Well Crafted Party here!