Nov 2009

Say We Will Miss You – Planning a Bon Voyage Party

Filed Under: Appetizers, Party Food Recipes, Theme Parties |

If you have a friend who is going on a long vacation, or a good friend who is moving away, you know how sadness feels. It must be the doubt of ever meeting again, or the fact that the fun times together are over. However, there’s no way you can let sadness be the final memory you want your friend to remember you by. You can turn it around with a bon voyage party!

Your job is to get every single one of your friends together to send off your special someone. Even if it’s highly likely that he or she will come back (i.e. he or she is going on a short pilgrimage or medical travel), it’s still pretty awesome to receive a flood of bon voyage wishes and messages that say “We’ll miss you.”

A casual party wherein everyone can relax is a good idea. You can include holiday style dishes and drinks like pina colada or tropical punch. You can fire up your grill and have a barbecue in your backyard. If you’re looking for a good tropical dessert for your bon voyage party, here’s a good recipe you can try…

Tropical Banana Mini-Bites Recipe

What You Need:

? 4 bananas, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
? 2/3 C semisweet chocolate chips
? 2/3 C milk chocolate frosting

Prepare your Chocolate Dip

Cover a serving plate with wax paper.
Place the banana chunks, cut side down onto the wax paper.
Insert a toothpick into each banana piece.
Place the banana in the freezer for 20 minutes or until hard.
Microwave the chocolate chips on high for 60 seconds.
Stir the melted choco goo and mix in chocolate frosting
Place the concoction in the microwave on high for 15 seconds.

Now you have your dip! It’s time to prepare the banana…

Remove and stir until the mixture becomes a dip consistency.
Remove the bananas from the freezer.
Dip each banana into the melted chocolate mixture until completely covered.
Place the banana chunks back onto the wax paper.
Put the all the dipped banana chunks back into the freezer for 1 hour or until the chocolate has completely hardened.

If the chocolate frosting mixture begins to harden before you have all the bananas coated place it back into them microwave and heat on high for 10 to 15 seconds or until soft. Be sure to stir the mixture before you dip again.

Makes 10 servings

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Nov 2009

Rustic Home Decor for Your House Warming Party

Filed Under: Home Decorating |

A housewarming party is necessary if you just moved to a new location or if you just renovated your home. But you know what… most of the time, a housewarming party is just an excuse to show off your house decor. It warms every DIY home designer’s heart to hear people gushing over his or her handiwork. It’s thrilling to see people’s faces light up when they enter a room. Because they’ve worked so hard to beautify their homes, it’s just proper that they show off their work by throwing a party.

If you’re going for the rustic atmosphere, simply adding rough textures to your walls will suffice. Add a few copper sinks in a neutral and earthy color, and you’re done. Minimalist homes with rustic decor are great for parties. Guests feel like they have been transported to a luxurious old-style cottage with all the modern luxuries to make the experience more pleasant.

Authentic cottage style decor will complement a city home well. Think of the contrast between the bustling city life outside and the relaxed, cozy atmosphere inside your home. You can use stones with natural imperfections to build your fireplace. Using natural stone as wall material is less costly in the long run as small cracks will not be too evident on stones, unlike on tiles. Cracks on rustic style walls may even be considered “design”.

2009

Empathy and Happiness During a Retirement Party

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Posts |

When a friend or family member retires, you may be exposed to bouts of nostalgia and melancholy that these retirees experience after they have reached their career goals. It’s not just age that makes people want to retire, the reason could be as simple as getting their dream homes, finally saving enough money to travel abroad, or paying off a mortgage protection insurance. Whatever the reason for retiring, your task is to make the retiree feel happy with his or her decision.

Here’s a good way to do this… plan a retirement party!

The first step to planning a retirement party is to take note of what the retiree’s dream is. Every working man and woman loves to discuss with friends what they will do after they retire. Climb the Swiss Alps, go in an African Safari or hit that perfect stroke in the fairway. The list is endless, but there will always be one goal that stands out. That will be the theme of the retirement party.

For instance, the retiree wants a safari vacation, you can decorate your home with safari themed items to send him or her off. If it’s a ski vacation, have guests come in wearing ski goggles. It’s all about getting the retiree hyped over the coming adventure. This way, he or she will forget about the sadness of leaving a job.

What about gifts?

The party itself is a gift, but it’s still advisable to give a small token of remembrance for the retiree. It is important that one gives an exceptional retirement gift to help them cope up with a new stage in life, which should be welcomed with open arms rather than doubt. A keepsake that helps the retiree remember what he/she has stood for or loved for the past three decades. Maybe something that will remind him of his job, something he can use on his vacation or a gag gift to keep him from getting bored.

Use your imagination and make the party fun!

Nov 2009

Halloween Decor for Your House Party

Filed Under: Holiday Party, Home Decorating, Party Venue, holidays |

It comes as no surprise that we all want our homes to look as “Halloweenish” as possible for the big night. We want our guests to have fun, and “fun” during Halloween means getting creeped out by the surroundings and the whole vibe of a place. Here are some simple Halloween decorating ideas that will make your home look festive but won’t break the bank.

Orange Lights

Change the light bulbs in your outdoor lanterns or house lights to orange lights. If you can’t find orange light bulbs, you can purchase inexpensive Halloween themed string lights (like Christmas lights) and hang them around your front door.

Make Your Own Luminaries

Place homemade Halloween luminaries alongside the sidewalk or walkway up to your front door. You can make easy and inexpensive luminaries with paper lunch sacks. You can either leave them the original brown or spray paint them orange.

On each bag, lightly draw in pencil a rough outline of a pumpkin, ghost or spider. With a sharpened pencil or nail, poke holes about every inch along the outline of the design.

Fill each bag with approximately 1 ½-2 cups of sand. Place a votive candle in a glass votive holder and securely place the votive in the sand (or use glow sticks if you’re leaving your home unattended). Light the votives at dusk on Halloween night and your home will have a beautiful Halloween glow.

Make Your Own Scarecrow

Using old slacks, an old flannel shirt, some hay and a straw hat, you can make your home come alive with a friendly scarecrow welcoming your trick-or-treaters. The other supplies you’ll need are twine, permanent marker, an old pillowcase and an outdoor chair. Stuff the pants and shirt firmly with hay, leaving some of the hay sticking out from the bottom of the legs and bottom of the sleeves. Position the scarecrow’s pants in the chair and shift the hay so he “sits” comfortably in the chair.

Tie the arms and legs off with twine. Stuff the old pillowcase with hay. Tie off with twine and position the pillowcase inside the shirt collar to appear as the “head” of the scarecrow. Secure the pillowcase to the shirt by tying off with twine. With the permanent marker, draw a scarecrow face and place the hat on top.

Make Your Own Pumpkin Family

By painting silly and whimsical faces on pumpkins, you can create an entire pumpkin family that can be proudly displayed on bales of hay on and around your front door. On paper, sketch your ideas of what kind of face you’d like to put on your pumpkin. Transfer that design to a cleaned and dried pumpkin using a non-permanent marker. Paint the design using craft paints. Seal with a spray glaze or sealer. If each member of your family (even the little ones) paints their own pumpkin design, you’ll have a memorable collection of painted pumpkin decorations for your home.

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