Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Nostalgic North Pole Cookie Exchange
This new NORTH POLE INSPIRED holiday theme from Anders Ruff will have you feeling like a kid in a Mrs. Claus’ cookie shoppe! And speaking of cookies, there are some ridiculously cute versions that showed up for this party… from Gingerbread Man pops and “santa postage stamp” designs to traditional round cookies sporting glittery North Pole motifs (just to name a few!).
Some of my favorite party details include the hanging winter mitten advent calendar (which doubled as a super cute garland for the fireplace mantle), the hot cocoa bar complete with fun mix-ins like red hots, peppermint sticks, cookie crumble and fudge drizzle, the parade of shiny red cookie stands, and the feather and rhinestone-bedecked North Pole Pillows. Oh ya… and we can’t forget all the fabulous paper details, which are all available in the Anders Ruff Etsy Shop and include everything from recipe cards to milk carton shaped favor boxes!
PARTY DETAILS, as told by Maureen…
::
Theme
“When I think back to my childhood memories of Christmas, I immediately think of the warmth and comfort I would feel when seeing images of The North Pole. From Santa and his reindeer to the stockings, mittens and candy canes, these were all symbols of the “feeling” of Christmas. There is a certain nostalgia that those North Pole “symbols” bring, which I want to carry through with my own family as well.
Theme
“When I think back to my childhood memories of Christmas, I immediately think of the warmth and comfort I would feel when seeing images of The North Pole. From Santa and his reindeer to the stockings, mittens and candy canes, these were all symbols of the “feeling” of Christmas. There is a certain nostalgia that those North Pole “symbols” bring, which I want to carry through with my own family as well.
This year, we designed a “North Pole” Collection that is perfect for adding style to any Christmas party or gift exchange, but also has elements that are perfectly tailored for a Cookie Exchange or baking party.
Printables
For the printable graphic collection, we incorporated vintage-yet-modern holiday elements in a red, aqua and white hues palette to reflect the feeling of the North Pole. These colors paired with patterns like vintage gingham, candy cane stripe and modern dot patterns resulted in a fun, versatile collection for the most diverse in design taste! The full decor collection also includes some new items such as our hot cocoa bar printables, advent calendar hanging mittens printables, and brand new gift tag concepts.
For the printable graphic collection, we incorporated vintage-yet-modern holiday elements in a red, aqua and white hues palette to reflect the feeling of the North Pole. These colors paired with patterns like vintage gingham, candy cane stripe and modern dot patterns resulted in a fun, versatile collection for the most diverse in design taste! The full decor collection also includes some new items such as our hot cocoa bar printables, advent calendar hanging mittens printables, and brand new gift tag concepts.
Photo Shoot Location
We shot this collection at a beautiful timber frame home in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Steve Frellick, owner of Yonder Luxury Mountain Rentals, built the home and has the most amazing mountain homes that he rents. It was the perfect setting with the timber beams in the kitchen and rustic charm of the fire place and mantle in this mountain luxury home. Yonder also has beautiful downtown lofts to rent for vacations in Asheville.
We shot this collection at a beautiful timber frame home in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Steve Frellick, owner of Yonder Luxury Mountain Rentals, built the home and has the most amazing mountain homes that he rents. It was the perfect setting with the timber beams in the kitchen and rustic charm of the fire place and mantle in this mountain luxury home. Yonder also has beautiful downtown lofts to rent for vacations in Asheville.
*****
Decor & Creative
The kids wore custom aprons from Made by Morgan for the baking party and then changed into their custom pjs (also from Made by Morgan) to open some gifts by the tree.
For our dessert table for this North Pole Cookie Exchange party, we wanted to highlight all of the fabulous cookie vendors that have contributed their desserts throughout the year to our parties and holiday photoshoots. Simple red cake stands on a stark white table cloth made a bold display statement while keeping the focus on the beautiful works of art – the cookies! A Fabulous Fete sent us 4 red cake stands and then we saw the cake stand tutorial in The Party Dress magazine, and decided to make some more of our own (an EASY DIY project using wooden candle sticks and wood plaques). To display the cookies, we used our 2” party labels on front of the cake stands and embellished them with ruffled crepe paper.
A framed printable poster of a graphic of Santa was hung on the backdrop. (This cute little Santa poster is included in our new North Pole collection!)
To add some whimsical style to the windows around the backdrop of the dessert table, we made a circle garland out of our patterned papers (which we printed 2-sided).
Next we punched the paper with various sized circle and scallop craft punches and sewed the circles together, leaving a little space in between. We hung this garland over the dessert table window and around the hood of the stove.
Next we punched the paper with various sized circle and scallop craft punches and sewed the circles together, leaving a little space in between. We hung this garland over the dessert table window and around the hood of the stove.
The front of the dessert table was adorned with precious coordinating felt stockings from RikRak. We embellished some of those with printable party logos from our collection.
Sur La Table let us use their fabulous red Kitchen Aid stand mixer along with some precious red melamine baking utensils and dish towels. We also hung a handmade wreath over the stove.
We displayed the materials on a fabulous runner that Nikki of Nikki in Stitches made for our photo shoot. Nikki just came out with a tutorial ebook that shows how to make the runner, wreath and the handmade paper ornaments that you see on the tree.
For the cookie exchange portion of the party, the children sat at the bar and started out by mixing and baking some cookies. We setup dishes ahead of time with ingredients to make it easy. The kids loved cutting out the cookies, and especially enjoyed eating them. We displayed vintage glass milk bottles with paper straws and party flags, since you always need milk with your cookies!
We also setup a Hot Chocolate Bar where we displayed different ingredients in little ramekins on our red cake stands. We displayed a printable hot cocoa bar menu and labeled the ingredients with party flags. Marshmallows, cookie and cream crumble, old fashioned peppermint sticks, red hots, whipped cream and more! Two Sugar Babies made some adorable fondant gingerbread men that we used to decorate the display as well. The children loved mixing their own hot cocoa with the various ingredients. They were all garnished so differently and that was a very easy activity for the younger children to participate in.
Adorable red polka dot favor boxes from My Little Love were displayed on the table and the children could fill up their box with cookies from the dessert table as part of the exchange. For the smaller items, we assembled the printable milk carton favor box from our collection.
The children displayed a plate of cookies for Santa along with a “Letter to Santa” {using a template from our printable collection that they filled out}.
The Fireplace
The beautiful fireplace at this mountain luxury home was easy to make beautiful! We displayed a printable party poster of Santa from our collection on the mantle along with tissue poms, lanterns and adorable pom pom trim. Huge fabric tubes were wrapped with candycane wrapping paper and displayed on the left and right side of the mantle. (Totally reminded us of the North Pole!)
The beautiful fireplace at this mountain luxury home was easy to make beautiful! We displayed a printable party poster of Santa from our collection on the mantle along with tissue poms, lanterns and adorable pom pom trim. Huge fabric tubes were wrapped with candycane wrapping paper and displayed on the left and right side of the mantle. (Totally reminded us of the North Pole!)
Our new Printable Advent Calendar mittens were hung from the mantle and filled with small candies. Gifts were packaged and we introduced several new printable gift tag collections that we displayed on the gifts. Santa stamp gift tags, hangtags and circle tags all coordinate perfectly with the complete collection.
A white feather tree by the fireplace was decorated with sweets (both real and fake) and creative DIY ornaments. We hung real candy cane and mitten cookies from ribbons (Cookies by Allyson Jane). An easy DIY was our candy cane lollipop ornament that we hung from the tree. Very easy to make by using a white/red striped pipe cleaner, lollipop stick and our printable party flag. We also placed a printable “North Pole” sign at the top of the tree. The adorable and creative DIY paper aqua and red ornament balls were also hung from the tree. Nikki In stitches shows how to make these precious ornaments in her ebook.
Below the tree were gorgeous custom pillows that MonMell Designs just added to their new line of handmade pillows featuring Anders Ruff graphics. The “Letter to Santa” pillow actually includes a printable that slides into the pocket to leave a letter to santa under the tree! So precious! The children loved that pillow as well as the North Pole square pillow with the adorable aqua contrasting trim.
The party ended with the kids unwrapping all of the gifts that they got each other!
This is a tradition we will continue for years to come.
This is a tradition we will continue for years to come.
The “North Pole” Collection Printable gift tags, decor collection, hot cocoa bar set, advent calendar and invitation are available in the shop on sale!
*****
VENDOR RESOURCES:
– Complete Event Styling: Anders Ruff
– Printable decor, hot cocoa bar, gift tags, advent calendar mittens (available here): Anders Ruff
– Photography by Becca Bond Photography
– Photo Shoot Location in Asheville, NC: Yonder Luxury Mountain Rentals
– Printable decor, hot cocoa bar, gift tags, advent calendar mittens (available here): Anders Ruff
– Photography by Becca Bond Photography
– Photo Shoot Location in Asheville, NC: Yonder Luxury Mountain Rentals
Clothing and Decor:
– Custom Aprons and Christmas Pajamas – Made by Morgan & Missy Annie’s
– Custom “Letter to Santa” and “North Pole” Pillows (with Anders Ruff graphics): MonMell Designs
– Felt Stockings by Rik Rak
– Handmade Ornaments, Runner and Wreath: Nikki in Stitches (DIY Tutorial Book available at her website)
– Red Wooden Cake Stands: A Fabulous Fete (and some DIY)
– Paper Baking Cups, Paper Fans, Tissue Poms, Nut Cups, Paper Straws, Favor Boxes, Glass Milk bottles from My Little Love
– Custom Aprons and Christmas Pajamas – Made by Morgan & Missy Annie’s
– Custom “Letter to Santa” and “North Pole” Pillows (with Anders Ruff graphics): MonMell Designs
– Felt Stockings by Rik Rak
– Handmade Ornaments, Runner and Wreath: Nikki in Stitches (DIY Tutorial Book available at her website)
– Red Wooden Cake Stands: A Fabulous Fete (and some DIY)
– Paper Baking Cups, Paper Fans, Tissue Poms, Nut Cups, Paper Straws, Favor Boxes, Glass Milk bottles from My Little Love
Desserts:
– Mexican Hot Chocolate sandwich cookies: Red Bird Bakery
– Fondant Cupcake and Cookie Toppers: Two Sugar Babies
– Santa Stamp and Santa Cookie Pops: Sweet Sugar Belle
– Sugar Cookies (Glittery Candy Cane, North Pole & Hanging Mittens): Allyson Jane
– Sugar Cookies (Square Pattern, Santa Stamp, Candy Cane, Mini Gingerbread Men & Reindeer): The Cookie Jar
– Gingerbread Man Cookie pops: Oh! So Yummy Cookies and Confections
– Chocolate Covered Pretzels: Pretzels Pleaze
– Mexican Hot Chocolate sandwich cookies: Red Bird Bakery
– Fondant Cupcake and Cookie Toppers: Two Sugar Babies
– Santa Stamp and Santa Cookie Pops: Sweet Sugar Belle
– Sugar Cookies (Glittery Candy Cane, North Pole & Hanging Mittens): Allyson Jane
– Sugar Cookies (Square Pattern, Santa Stamp, Candy Cane, Mini Gingerbread Men & Reindeer): The Cookie Jar
– Gingerbread Man Cookie pops: Oh! So Yummy Cookies and Confections
– Chocolate Covered Pretzels: Pretzels Pleaze
Crafty Materials/Printing:
– Labels: Onlinelabels.com
– Adhesive: Glue Dots
– Poster Printing: Sign Guy
– Labels: Onlinelabels.com
– Adhesive: Glue Dots
– Poster Printing: Sign Guy
courtesy of Hostess With The Mostess
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Christmas Rum Punch Recipe
Ingredients
- Lime slices, for ice and garnish
- Apple wedges, for ice and for garnish
- Cranberries, for ice
- 3/4 cup Citrus-Ginger Sugar
- 2 1/4 cups freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3 3/4 cups dark rum
- 2 1/4 cups Grand Marnier
- 1 1/2 cups Amaretto
- 3 3/4 cups apple juice, preferably organic
- 3 1/2 cups sparkling water
- Orange slices, for garnish
- Freshly grated cinnamon, for garnish
Directions
- Fill a 2-cup container with water and add lime slices, apple wedges, and cranberries; cover and transfer to a freezer. Freeze until solid.
- In a large punch bowl, mix together sugar and lime juice until dissolved. Add rum, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, and apple juice. Transfer to refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Add ice and top with sparkling water. Garnish with lime slices, orange slices, apple wedges, and cinnamon; serve.
courtesy of Martha Stewart.com
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
12 Days of Christmas - Day 12: Life Just Got a Little Sweeter with Deborah Diane Creations
It's the last day of our favorite things and we've saved a delicious treat for last.
We absolutely love desserts from Deborah Diane Creations. From moist rum cakes, cookies and brownies to her fabulous wedding cakes, the treats from Deborah Dianne are sure to make your Life a Little Sweeter. And for this week only, save 10% on your holiday orders! (Atlanta area ONLY) Use promo code EVENTTAGIOUS when placing your order.
Click HERE for more information or email deborahdsmith@gmail.com. Friday, December 16, 2011
12 Days of Christmas - Day 11: Bowery Weekend Duffle
We love, love, love this weekend duffle by Deux Luxe. It's comes in many fun colors including this Cognac color. It's roomy and fashionable! Click HERE for the details
Stay tuned for the final gift on Monday!
Stay tuned for the final gift on Monday!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
10 Gifts that Give Back
Looking for unique ideas that also support worthy causes, check out these gifts courtesy of Real Simple
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
A jar of homemade goodness. This sweet mix is packed with all of the ingredients (flour, brown sugar, chocolate chips) for baking three dozen tasty treats. Williams-Sonoma will donate a portion of the proceeds to Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign to end childhood hunger through December 31, 2011.
To buy: $16, williams-sonoma.com.
To buy: $16, williams-sonoma.com.
KLAPPAR ELEFANT
Soft, snuggly, and begging to be hugged. An adorable pick for the young–or young at heart–on your list. For every soft toy sold, the IKEA Foundation will donate $1 to UNICEF and Save the Children education programs through December 24, 2011.
To buy: $15, ikea.com.
To buy: $15, ikea.com.
Mercury Owls
If you're looking for a decorative piece with a little extra sparkle, these mercury glass owls are a wise choice. For every purchase, West Elm will donate 50 percent of proceeds to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Available in two sizes.
To buy: Starting at $14, westelm.com.
To buy: Starting at $14, westelm.com.
Kiehl’s Crème de Corps
Even winter skin needs extra TLC. Tuck this rich hydrating cream into stockings and feel even better knowing that Kiehl’s will donate 100% of the net proceeds from this collection to the Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy.
To buy: $29 for 8.4 oz bottle, kiehls.com.
To buy: $29 for 8.4 oz bottle, kiehls.com.
Christopher Radko Al Roker Ball Ornament
A bright and shiny accessory that does more than trim the tree: All of the proceeds from this ornament will be donated to the Child Mind Institute. Seven additional celebrity–designed styles available.
To buy: $40, bloomingdales.com.
To buy: $40, bloomingdales.com.
Kate Spade Hand in Hand Hair Pin
For the woman who has it all, this handcrafted cotton hair accessory will be a surprising addition to her collection. Each pin purchased supports Women for Women International.
To buy: $48, katespade.com.
To buy: $48, katespade.com.
Kids’ Victorious Graphic Tee
There won't be any complaints about getting clothes when he unwraps this cool graphic tee, designed by Dallas Clayton, author and illustrator of the Awesome book series. Proceeds from the sales of the t–shirts go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We'd say that makes this gift pretty awesome.
To buy: $25, jcrew.com.
To buy: $25, jcrew.com.
Sparkly Sequin Word Pillow
If you're looking for the easiest way to make a room feel festive, throw on a few holiday–inspired pillow covers. And the real magic: PBTeen will donate $14.50 to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for each pillow cover purchased.
To buy: $29, pbteen.com.
To buy: $29, pbteen.com.
TOM's Campus Classics
Cool enough to wear around campus; comfortable enough to make your weekend shoes. For every pair of kicks purchased, TOM's sends another to a child in need. Available in 26 styles.
To buy: $48, toms.com.
To buy: $48, toms.com.
Gifts That Give
Shopping for a cause just got a whole lot easier. Start browsing by brand (Jonathan Adler, Riedel), category (tabletop picks, beauty perks), or by cause (children, animals) and find the perfect gift for that special person on your list. From iPhone cases to pajamas, giftsthatgive.com will donate 20% of the merchandise purchased to the charity of your choice
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Gingerbread Houses and No-Bake Cookie Cottages
Sweedish Gingerbread House
These gingerbread houses are so charming, you'll want them to last all season long.
Sweet details such as piped icicles, boughs of greenery, and a cinnamon-stick woodpile lend realistic charm to a Swedish-style gingerbread cottage. A light dusting of confectioners' sugar mimics freshly fallen snow.
Snow-Swept Gingerbread Cottage
The caramelized-syrup windows of this colonial house are lit from within by a string of holiday bulbs, which flicker and glow like firelight.
Peppermint Place
The owner of this winsome house has had a busy day, whizzing around on his graham-cracker-and-mini-candy-cane sled and building a peppermint-ball snowman. To make your own little guy, slice off the top and bottom of a white gumdrop, and press it onto a soft swirl candy; use a piece of red gumdrop for a hat and two nonpareils for eyes. The cottage, which is studded with cinnamon candies, has a sour-belt roof, a heart-shape candy-cane window, and a graham cracker door.
Letters destined for the North Pole are hidden inside a mailbox created with a swirl candy, a piece of a candy cane, and a gumdrop; the flag is cut from a stick of gum.
Candy Land Cottage
Construct a basic cottage, and add details such as a wafer-candy roof and icicles made of royal icing. The wreaths are gummy rings with chewing-gum ribbons cut with scissors. The landscaping includes striped-gum paths, gumdrop shrubs, and a lollipop topiary. The snow is a mix of shredded and desiccated coconut.
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