Create My Event - Event & Party Ideas Blog

1st Birthday Ideas

I thought it would be appropriate for my first post of the New Year to be about first birthdays. A simple activity, yummy food and a great cake are usually enough to make a birthday enjoyable for young party guests. It's going to be those special little touches that establish the party’s theme and make it stand out.

Set the tone and then seal the deal by sending your guests home with an equally appropriate favor. A little inspiration from Parents.com and my own two cents should make baby's first blowout a blast! Not Just a Mommy!

Firefighter Many a baby loves the big red noisy fire truck and will thrill to see a birthday bash in this theme. A firefighter party is easy to put together. And firefighters appeal to a broad age range, so this is a good pick for a party that will have older siblings in attendance.
Hello! tiny print's fire truck party invite is sure to capture guests' attention with vibrant hues of yellow and rich red.
Goodbye! Red plastic firefighter hats from Oriental Trading or a party supply store is perfect for a young age group.

Superhero Okay, this theme is twice as much fun for the parents and a good one to pick if your guest list is going to include a lot of dads. Ask your guests to bring their little ones dressed as a favorite superhero, past or present.
Hello! Another fab invite from tiny prints, comic-book inspired.
Activity - Photo op with a Superhero. Using a Polaroid instant camera, capture mini Superman and Wonder Woman on film. Superheroes can pose alone or in groups.
Goodbye! Create magnet picture frames for their photos.

Making the Band Be sure to invite the neighbors -- this party is a noisy one! Babies love to make music and you can plan a party around that activity that'll be a blast. To make sure everyone has fun, have plenty of instruments on hand.
Hello! A fun music-themed idea from Ten Fingers and Toes.
Goodbye! Musical instruments like these plastic handled jingle stick cymbals. Keep it simple, so long as it can stand up to a good banging from baby.

King/Queen for a Day This makes a good choice for an event where many of the guests will be too tiny to truly party. The mood will be festive and the party favors fun, but the little ones won't have to do much more than sit around and be cute.
Hello! An invite fit for a king or queen; includes a die-cut crown embellishment with jewels. Goodbye! Darling crown cookies from Pink CakeBox.

Sesame Street An easy baby/toddler favorite. Sesame Street provides baby's first celebrities, and a party devoted to Elmo and friends is sure to be a hit.
Hello! These Sesame Street invites let you pick which favorite character to focus on. Goodbye! Board books like these from your local dollar store are fun and durable.

Bouncy Party Clear out a room and fill it will balls of all sizes (larger than a golf ball to avoid choking hazards, then let them at them!
Hello! Gather your child's "circle" of friends with an invitation in the round.
Goodbye! A few of these ball-pit balls are perfect to keep little guests active.

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Last Minute New Year's Party Plan

Want to do something for New Year's but didn't get on the planning wagon and you don't want to go to a faux-fancy New Year's Gala that's really expensive and you have nothing to wear anyway? Why not host a bowl-a-thon - find a local bowling alley or host your very own bowl-a-thon on your new Wii that you got for Christmas right at home.

What could be better - no fuss, no fancy outfit, and guaranteed laughs all the way until midnight?

For favors: buy the ginormous cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon (tres bowliscious), tie with a stripey ribbon to a bag of peanuts and a tiny bowling trophy that you can find at any party supply store (giggles guaranteed)!

For food: Keep it simple and in-line with your bowling theme with a nacho bar or meatball sandwiches. Have simple crudite with ranch dip, caramel popcorn served in paper cones and cheese and crackers done 70s style on a foam ball (like the one above).

For Music: There's a fun band called Let's Go Bowling, but you can put together your own tunes...remember Take The Skinheads Bowling, Let's Bowl (from Grease 2...I know you watched it), Let the Good Times Roll etc...

For decorations: Draw three dots with a sharpie on lots of balloons to turn them into bowling balls. Create a bowling lane table runner with brown kraft paper, draw in lines and white diamonds or do like The Hostess did above.

mood board credits: top row: bowl-o-rama print, vintage bowling bag from Lisa's RetroStyle etsy shop, Have Fun Bowling poster. second row: The requisite PBR, Rae's Diner on Pico in Santa Monica, Bowling Balls. Third Row: Fun and lovely painting of bowling shoes by Lorraine Mesh, Janeane Garafolo as The Bowler in the hysterical movie Mystery Men (one of my favorites), Bowling Cupcakes by jahendy. Last Row: Bowling Lane Photographed by Friendly Joe, awesome bowling shoe invitations found at PlumParty, KaPow Photograph by Friendly Joe.

Champagne Cocktail Ideas

Just in time to toast the New Year; a few easy and simple signature cocktails that you could set up as a self-serve cocktail bar. Not Just a Mommy!

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail - recipe courtesy of Southern Living.com
1 turbinado sugar cube*
2 tablespoons pomegranate juice**
1/2 cup Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

Place sugar cube in a Champagne flute; add pomegranate juice and Champagne. Serve immediately.

*1 rock candy stirrer or granulated sugar cube may be substituted.
**2 tablespoons cranberry juice cocktail may be substituted. Omit sugar cube.

Classic Champagne Cocktail - Recipe courtesy of Esquire.com
1 sugar cube
2 or 3 dashes of bitters (Angostura or Peychaud's)
Champagne lemon twist for garnish

Place a sugar cube in a chilled champagne flute, cover it with 2 or 3 dashes of bitters, fill glass with Champagne and garnish with lemon twist.

Kir Royales - recipe courtesy of Real Simple: Celebrations
6-8 tablespoons crème de cassis (black currant liqueur)
1 bottle Champagne, prossecco, or some other sparkling wine
chilled 6-8 raspberries (fresh or frozen and thawed)

Pour 1 tablespoon of crème de cassis into each champagne flute. Add enough sparkling wine to fill the glass 3/4 to the top. Drop 1 raspberry into each flute.

Back To Basics

Barefoot Contessa, Back To Basics is Ina Garten's lastest and 6th publication. Ina's cookbooks have taken the place of those by the Junior Leagues for never-fail, crowd pleasing recipes for entertaining in my kitchen. Back To Basics has proven to be quite reliable for my holiday entertaining and many of you are likely to find the book helpful as well.

The first thing one notices upon opening the book is how truly beautiful the photographs are. Ina comments, "I want you to see the photograph and feel like licking the page." There is such a quality of clarity that it seems as if the Pomegranate Comsopolitan is sitting on the tray right in front of you.

Recipes are compliled into 7 subjects: Cocktail Hour, Soup, Lunch, Dinner, Vegetable, Dessert and Breakfast. As in previous volumes, the chapter title page faces another listing the following recipes. For Back To Basics, Ina has added lists of 10 entertaining essentials for party givers. There's 10 no-cook things to serve with drinks, Arrange flowers like a pro, Cook like a pro, 10 things not to serve at a dinner party, Set a table like a pro and Bake like a pro.

Ina writes about her quest for "taking ordinary ingredients and cooking them - or pairing them - in a way that "unlocks" their true flavors." She writes about a magic ingredient that may be the salt you finish a dish with just before you serve it, the quality Reggiano Parmesean that adds flavor and texture to dishes that is "amazing" or a tablespoon of butter or cream to round out the final flavors of a dish. She share her Top 10 Flavor Boosters. Did you know you could salt your meat when you bring it home?

Ina has said that throwing a party isn't about the food but spending time with your guests. I have found her recipes enable me to relax and do just that. Better chefs than me may prefer 7 course dinners while pulling out all the stops. I find Ina's entertaining and cooking style fits mine perfectly - its caterer quality that allows a home cook to shine with his/her company. I've already made the Mustard Roasted Fish (recipe below) and Parker's Beef Stew to rave reviews. The French Chocolate Bark was delicious and EASY.

Next time you find yourself browsing the aisles of your favorite bookseller, stroll over to the cookbook section and check out Back To Basics by Ina. It's highly likely you'll be carrying it home.

Mustard Roasted Fish

4 fish fillets (8-ounce) such as red snapper

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

8 ounces creme fraiche

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

2 tablespoons minced shallots

2 teaspoons drained capers

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper (You can also use an ovenproof baking dish.) Place the fish fillets skin side down on the sheet pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Combine creme fraiche, two mustards, shallots, capers, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce evenly over the fish fillets, making sure the fish is completely covered. Bake for 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until it’s barely done. (The fish will flake evenly at the thickest part when it is done.) Be sure not to overcook it! Serve hot or at room temperature with the sauce from the pan spooned over the top. Makes 4 servings.

COQ AU VIN

Serves 6

Over the years I've tried many times to make a good coq au vin, the renowned French chicken stew with red wine, but with disappointing results. My television producer Olivia Grove one day told me, "Well, it's just beef bourguignonne with chicken," and I thought, "So it is!" With that in mind, I adapted my old recipe for beef and came up with an easy chicken version that's such a satisfying winter dinner. Usually the chicken cooks for hours and is dry and stringy, but I found that after only thirty to forty minutes in the oven, the chicken is perfectly cooked and still tender and juicy.

  Good olive oil
8 ounces good bacon or pancetta, diced
2 (3- to 4-pound) chickens, each cut in 8 serving pieces

  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound carrots, cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
2 yellow onions, diced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/4 cup Cognac or good brandy
1 (750-ml) bottle good dry red wine such as Burgundy
2 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 bunch fresh thyme sprigs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen small whole onions
1 pound porcini or cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon to a plate with a slotted spoon.

3. Meanwhile, pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. After the bacon is removed, add a few of the chicken pieces in a single layer and brown for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove the chicken pieces to the plate with the bacon and continue to add the chicken in batches until all the chicken is browned. Set aside.

4. Add the carrots, onions, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper to the pot and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the Cognac, stand back!, and carefully ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collect on the plate into the pot. Add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme sprigs and bring to a boil. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just no longer pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove.

5. Mash 2 tablespoons of the butter and the flour together in a small bowl and stir the paste into the stew. Add the frozen onions. In a medium sauté pan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste. Serve hot.

"I think Costco is a major resource. You can go there and buy a whole filet of beef and it costs half of what it would be in a butcher shop."

"It's not that I'm a great cook - I'm a great taster."

-Ina Garten

House Beautiful Article by Ina Garten about her book
http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/cookbooks/ina-garten-recipes-1108

Last-Minute Christmas Place Settings

Still looking for fun ways to set your Christmas table? Here are some great ideas from Martha, and I bet you have most the materials stashed in your craft room...Not Just a Mommy!

- An easy and fun tree place card.

- Can you believe this angel is made from paper plates?

- A piece of the tree creates these Christmas-tree and evergreen place cards.

- How simple and elegant is this paper scroll place card placed on a holly leaf?

- This candy-cane place card is made with ovals and ribbon.

Candy Cane Christmas Party Games

Get hooked on the holiday season with candy cane fun and games. The simple design of a candy cane allows for playful Christmas party games.

Candy Cane Fishing

• Cut out 3-inch long fish shapes from foam craft sheets.
• Make holes near the fishes' mouth large enough for a candy cane to fit through.
• Fill a big red plastic tub with water.
• Float fish on water. Fish should lay flat on the water's surface.
• Give each player a candy cane to try and hook the fish with the candy cane.

Candy Cane Relay

• Have teams line up behind a starting point, across from a determined “run to” point.
• Give each team a candy cane as a relay baton.
• Each racer must hold the candy cane by its hook using his or her finger.
• Each player must relay race to and from the “run to” point and pass the candy cane on to the next player on their team.
• The team who completes the relay first wins.

Slow Cooking Now

On a Monday night, you are likely to find my husband and I mentoring a 20-something over dinner. She heads over after working all day for a athletic wear retailer, with me barely beating her home after a long day teaching Pilates. On days like these, I usually prepare something in my slow cooker so I can serve something marvelous without a lot of effort.

Mary Anne thinks it is "cool" that I use the slow cooker and asks me for the recipes so she can entertain her friends in a similar manner. Most of us are not likely to think of the slow cooker as mod - meat swimming in cream of mystery soup is more apt to come to mind. But I've been treating Mary Anne to things like Braised Chicken with Figs and Sweet Potatoes and meals such as these meet her entertaining criteria: affordable, easy to prepare delicious food to share with friends.

I read that 80% of us own a slow cooker. And chances are we could make things easier on ourselves when entertaining if we brought them out a little more often. Obviously, they would are great for keeping things at the right warmth for buffets; brunch steel cut oats, open house mulled wine, holiday mashed potatoes. Any of your favorite soup, stew and chili recipes could be adapted for preparation in the slow cooker.

There are some new cookbooks to help with contemporary entertaining menus. A must buy is the Essentials of Slow Cooking by Williams Sonoma. These recipes simply beg to be shared with family and friends, with minimal effort on the part of the home cook. Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker, Recipes For Entertaining by Beth Hensperger is another go-to guide for utilizing your slow cooker when throwing a party.

Besides recipes, give consideration to your appliance itself. Part of making my meals in the slow cooker party worthy was an upgrade to the All Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker . I think it is the Rolls Royce of slow cookers! First of all, it has an insert (which my 20 yr old Hamilton Beach did not). The insert is safe for the dishwasher as well as for browning meats or sauteeing ingredients beforehand (1 pot cooking and clean up). This model also has a warm setting, which enables you to stop the cooking process appropriately for each recipe.

I can't imagine any home cook or entertainer that wouldn't find the process aided by a slow cooker.

 

Gingerbread House Decorating Party

Here's a great playdate idea, if you want to do a get-together before friends disappear for the holidays.  Every year, our family becomes confectionery architects, creating memorable temples to tooth decay. This year is no exception, as we had a playdate glorifying this wonderful tradition. Alas, I neither have the skills to bake the real thing or the dollars to purchase kits for everyone.  We decided to decorating graham-cracker gingerbread houses. They are so much fun to make, and as my kids attested to after dinner, more fun to eat.

I pre-assembled the houses, using white candy melts as the "glue", which is so much easier, and sets faster than frosting. As you can see, the roofs are chocolate graham crackers, because most of the regular ones were casualties, and luckily I had a package in my pantry. The little ones spread frosting on their houses, while the older ones used Wilton's Decorating Icing Tubes and Betty Crocker's Cookie Icing tubes.

Thanks to Garnish's party idea, I purchased the large gable houses and labeled with each child's name to take home their creations. I didn't get the white cups from them though, I swiped them from a local fast-food joint.

Although I didn't get a picture of the gingerbread men cookies (the cake platter was covered in them, I think they all ran off while I was fixing the cocoa), they were too cute, just regular cookies, sandwiching a layer of frosting.  Not Just a Mommy!

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Festival of Lights

In last December's Martha Stewart Living, Jodi Levine did a wonderful article on creating gifts and decor for Hanukkah. I most certainly have it in my ideas' binder, but you skedaddle over to Martha's and view it in all it's glory. My favorite ideas are the sparkly store-bought(GASP!) letter banner with decked-out dreidels (you can never go wrong with glitter, unless it's eyeshadow), and the "glittered" sufganiyot, how cute are they in cello bags? Elsewhere in the Marthaverse, a clever menorah of sherry glasses and beads would look beautiful on any table.

Fabulousness reigns over at Crate & Barrel, from beautiful silver table cloths to hand-dipped menorah candles. Classic OREO cookies are drenched in creamy chocolate, then artfully screenprinted with blue and white Hanukkah designs. And an added bonus, all the items in the Hanukkah section are eligible for free shipping!

Social Couture's Hanukkah Box of Questions is designed to help you connect with your loved ones in a more meaningful way. Not Just a Mommy!

Favorite Gift Idea - Eco Friendly & Made in the USA

My favorite gift idea right now Perch! Lunchbox Birdfeeder - it's made in the USA and eco-friendly. Comes in blue, brown or orange and can be hung inside or out - $79.00 at 2Modern.

Baker McLovin'

The holidays bring out the creativity in bakers, but alas, some of us are gifted and others have to purchase.  I recently discovered Two Sugars from the Fancy Flours blog, and they are truly gifted in their holiday cookie creations. Wouldn't a plate of these at your next get-together be divine? Or maybe you see them as party favors for your holiday gathering, either way, they won't make it out your home! Not Just a Mommy!

Holiday Decorations with Natural Elements

Take your Christmas decorations one step further by incorporating natural elements.

There are plenty of beautiful plants, berries, flowers and twigs you can use to embellish your Christmas tree, garlands and wreaths. Here is a list to get your creative juices flowing:

Flora

• Berries - Cranberries, holly berries, Christmas berry, green hypericum berries

• Dried Flowers – White English statice, bleached baby's breath, white and deep red roses, dried white peonies

• Branches, Leaves & Twigs - Ethereal skeleton leaves, birch branches, curly willow, silver dollar branches, small bleached Manzanita branches, bleached bell cups, preserved amaranthus

Fauna

• Feathers - Feathers of any kid, shape and color can make beautiful additions to your holiday décor. For easy decorating, buy pre-assembled feather sprays that you can insert in various places on your tree.

• Birds - Birds in general have been making a decorating comeback. From wallpaper prints to furniture fabrics, birds are back en vogue. Incorporate small, lifelike birds purchased from a local craft store into your decorations.

"Faux" Naturale

• Icicle Branches - Icicle branches are great to use when creating winter wonderland looks.

• Crystal Sprays - Crystal beading on branches can look like delicate dew drops.

• Snow Flocking - Flocking is a great look when you are creating a winter wonderland or monochromatic neutral color scheme on your tree.

Butterflys & Pine Cones at Asia De Cuba

 

Andrea & Jennifer are at it again - creating fun and creative parties for our friends in Marin and San Francisco. This Friday we created a magical evening at Asia De Cuba at The Clift in San Francisco for our friend Yvettes' birthday. With pine cones straight from Tahoe and silk butterfly ornaments that Andrea made, the table was fabulous and merged some holiday cheer with birthday decor. Each place setting had an ornament on the plate and pink Stretchy Ribbon from The Container Store. Kara's Cupcakes were brought out with coffee ending the night. We reserved a table at the Redwood Room next door after for champagne and met up with our dates. Happy Birthday Yvette!