Let Me Count The Ways!

By Poppie

As I pondered blog ideas for February, of course, the subject of love came to mind.  I am not normally a sappy person (I didn’t even cry during Steel Magnolias), but I did want to focus on that all too powerful emotion that intertwines our family life, acting as a glue that holds us all together through thick and thin.  Love, amore, affection, adoration.  No matter how you say it, this one word says so much about our passions.

There are so many ways to express how we feel about those we love, but I thought I’d list a few of my simple, inexpensive favorites here.

1)     Stamp out the love – Add a spot of cheer to your letters with a stamp featuring your child’s smiling face.  Take a picture of your child holding her Valentine message and either edit yourself or have a professional do it.  Make stamps, postcards, whatever you desire to send your message of love.

2)      A girl’s best friend - Jewelry is always a big hit, but who can afford it?  Make red and pink macaroni necklaces for your little sweeties.  Hey, it works when they give them to you.

3)      Letter of love – Write a special note to your sweetheart or child and put in a tiny bottle.  Have them discover it in various places – in the bathroom cabinet by the toothpaste, in the mailbox (make sure they get the mail), or by their favorite electronic device.  A fun twist on this is to use pre-messaged sticky notes with amusing, loving messages. 

4)      A rosy outlook - Red roses are perfect for Valentine's Day but they are so pricy at this time of year! Fluffy carnations make great substitutes. Or make your own flowers with bunches of tissue paper.

5)      Extended love - Get trendy and add some fun hair extensions or feathers in red and pink to your child’s hair so they will look extra fashionable at their school party.  Bonus points if you show up with extensions in as well.

Use these ideas to help set the mood, and your loved ones will soon be delighted at your expression of love.  Here’s to an oh-so-sweet Valentine’s Day!

Super Bowl XLVI

It’s that time of year again.

 The biggest of the biggest… the best of the best… the grand-daddy of all sporting celebrations…the super Sunday extravaganza… the Super Bowl!

 Everyone wants to be part of this great party and every business is vying for advertising space during commercials to be part of the game.  Fans know it’s not just something you watch, it’s something you experience.  Super Bowl XLVI is upon us and now is the time to plan your “fan–tastic” fiesta.

Invitations:  No little football invite is going to do.  Be creative and send a VIP sporting ticket to be redeemed for food and drink upon arrival at your gathering.  Or have your kids decorate huge footballs (the bigger the better) with all the super information your guests will need.

Décor:  Start by putting a football field table cover over your dining area. Add Super Bowl or NFL party supplies. Give each guest party beads in both team colors.  Let your guests decide which beads they will chose.  This is an easy way to know who’s rooting for whom - of course, they will probably be wearing a team jersey anyway, so it won’t be too hard, but for those guests who come for the commercials….

Ambience:  Add extra atmosphere by having colorful footballs dangle from the ceiling.  Turn on the surround sound and if possible, have a TV in all major party areas.  Have one guest dress as a referee to mediate between unfair plays.

Menu:  Chips and dip as well as buffalo wings are a staple at most Super Bowl parties.  How about putting a new spin on the two and combining them, into an amazing buffalo dip.  This recipe (below) is sure to be a crowd pleaser for your high-spirited crew.  Remember to put it close to the TV so no one misses any of the game or the commercials.  Of course beer will be flowing abundant, but remember, this is just a game, so keep the drinking responsible.

Favors:  Hand out handclappers or blow horns for fans to make some noise during great plays and flags to throw for those unworthy calls.

Remember what Joe Namath said, “Football is an honest game.  It’s true to life.  It’s a game about sharing.  Football is a team game.  So is life.”

Buffalo Chicken Dip:

Ingredients:

• ·         8 oz cream cheese
• ·         1 can chunky (pre-cooked) chicken
• ·         ½ cup ranch dressing
• ·         ¼ cup buffalo sauce
• ·         ½ cup mozzarella cheese
• ·         ½ cup cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. 1.       Make sure cream cheese is softened.  Heat oven to 350.
2. 2.       Add buffalo sauce, ranch, ¼ cup mozzarella cheese, and ¼ cup cheddar cheese.  Save the rest for later.
3. 3.       Add the chicken.  Stir until mixed well.  Add to 8x8 baking pan and smooth out over pan.
4. 4.       Cover with rest of cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!  Double recipe for 13x9 pan.

Wedding Colors 2012

The Color of Love

One of the first things to do before you start wedding planning, is pick the colors that will set the mood for the wedding that ensues.

Whether you want to show the world your energy with reds and oranges, express your joy with yellows and gold, or show your loyalty with blue hues, here are some great color tips for whatever type of wedding party you are planning.

The hottest new colors for 2012 are: 

Spring:  Light, airy, earthy tones are in for spring.  Hunter Green, Oregano, Peony Pink, Sage Green, White, Sweet Lilac, Bellflower Purple, Cabaret, Cockatoo, and Daisy Yellow.

Summer:  Bright and bold is the way to go for summer!  Kiwi, Strawberry, Lilac, Hot Pink, Slate Grey, Gold, Coral, Mocha, Navy, Emerald Green, Dark Cyan, Tangerine, True Blue, Driftwood, and Champagne.

Fall/Winter:  Bold, passionate hues are great for this time of year.  Dark Chocolate, Charcoal Gray, Brick Red, Myrtle Green, Pomegranate, Chestnut, Asparagus, Eggplant, Midnight Green, Royal Blue, Taupe, Agate Blue, Moccasin, khaki, Carrot Orange.

Accents: Cool earth tones are very big again this year mixed with a brighter hue. These colors will have different shades and mixtures of brown and gray, such as, charcoal, mocha, slate, and dark brown. Many of these shades will compliment an array of colors that will be very appealing to the eye.

Big Color Trend Of The Year: Tangerine Orange is the color of choice for many brides in 2012. The color is alive with a fresh and bold look that will look great on a bridesmaid’s dress or in a floral bouquet.  It’s also very versatile and compliments other color palates of every season. 

Color Combos:  

Whether you picked your colors to have meaning, want to follow the latest color trends, or you’ve used one color or several, follow your color passion and color your wedding perfect.

 

New Year's Eve Party

New Year's is an occasion that everyone gets excited for!  It's a time for new beginnings and a fresh start.  A great way to start the New Year is by planning a fabulous New Year's Eve Party.  Here are some fun ways to ring in the New Year:

Countdown to Midnight:

Try an invitation shaped like a clock bearing the name of the invitee and an image of a clock on top.  Add party supplies that enhance your theme.  Set the mood by having a grandfather clock as your centerpiece that will ring at midnight.  Have some fun, festive hats available for guests or try a party kit that has everything you will need for a successful countdown.  End the countdown with champagne and kisses at midnight.  We all know how important that first kiss is; it ensures intimacy and a close relationship throughout the New Year.  Give out lip gloss as a party favor and pucker up!

New Year’s New York Style:

 If you can’t be in New York for New Year’s Eve, bring New York to you with a Times Square scene setter, balloon drops, confetti, and poppers.  Make your own ball or use a disco ball and shine different colored lights on it throughout the night.  Hang your ball in a high traffic area as a key centerpiece.  New Year's Eve parties are widely regarded as the biggest celebration of the year, so make yours shine by having your sphere as the main focal point.   Have one of the New Year’s Eve specials set in New York on a big screen TV.   Countdown with the New Yorkers and at midnight let the balloons drop and confetti fly while your own ball slowly drops as well.

"Auld" Memories

Forget the past?  No way!  Instead of letting that "auld acquaintance" be forgotten, stir things up by remembering a few of the best moments of the old year before you ring in the new.  Go around the room and encourage guests to share the funniest, craziest, and most unforgettable moments of the past twelve months.  Good or bad, if they come to mind then they're probably worth a mention.  You can also take it one step further by inviting guests to bring their most embarrassing moments caught on camera or tape.  Put them together and you will all enjoy a rather nontraditional collage or funniest home videos that just might be the highlight of the evening.  Capture new memories by having guests pose for photos.  Send them home with a memento to last the whole year.  Something as simple as a background of iridescent balloons tied together at varying heights to create a solid wall of glitz will match the magic of the night and reflect the new memories of the year to come.

Superstitious New Year

Celebrate New Year's Eve by learning or simply revisiting some of the most fabulous New Year's Eve superstitions.  A popular superstition in Latin American is eating 12 grapes at midnight to ensure good luck for each month of the coming year.  Be sure to have plenty of grapes on hand for your guests.  For a fun twist, plop one or two in a glass of champagne for the midnight toast!  Be sure to keep some change in your pocket at midnight to bring good fortune and wealth in the New Year.  Just before midnight, pass around a roll of coins to your guests to make sure everyone is prepared!  Forecast your fashion fortune in the coming months and wear a new outfit on New Year's.  Even one new piece, like a fancy new skirt for you or tie for you guy, is the perfect excuse for a little shopping.  Or, double your luck and be sure to wear something in red.

With all these sure-fire themes, you are bound to have an engaging, exciting party and Happy New Year!  Remember, parties are fun but please drink responsibly.  However you celebrate, have fun and may the New Year bring you health, hope, and happiness!

Winter Wonderland!

No one ever tires of the beauty and sparkle of winter.  If you’re planning a gathering, a Holiday Winter Wonderland offers all the joys of the season.  There are as many party possibilities for a Winter Wonderland as there are snowflakes!

Invitations:  For an easy DIY invite, cut out snowflakes, decorate with silver and blue glitter pens, and write the party details on the back.  Add a little sparkle to the invitation by throwing in a pinch of iridescent snow into the envelope.  Ask guests to bring the invitation back to the party and have a special place to hang all your invites as partygoers arrive. Voila! Now you have instant decorations as well.

Another creative way to make your own invitation is to take a picture of your family doing something in the snow (making a snowman, creating snow angels, catching snowflakes on their tongue) and attach a copy of the picture to a piece of heavy cardstock.  Decorate and write out the party details on the back.

Décor:  There are so many vast choices for decorations and party supplies that the hard part is picking the right ones for your Winter Wonderland.  Snowy whites, sparkling silvers, and breezy blues are the perfect color combo for this party, so use them for all of your decorations and party supplies.  Cover tables with blue plastic tablecloths and sprinkle snowflake confetti across the top.   Make a bouquet of balloons and use small snow globes or weighted mittens as balloon weights!  Or link blue, silver, and white balloons together to make a wonderful arch for your entrance or for over the buffet!

Ambience:  Hang a few strings of blinking, twinkling, white lights around the party space and dim the overhead lights a bit to give the room a winter glow.  Use decorative paper lanterns and snowflakes in winter hues hanging at various intervals to give the feeling that it is snowing inside.  Set up an area where everyone can take a fun holiday photo! You can set up a backdrop with winter scene setters and give everyone hats, scarves and mittens to wear in the pictures.

Menu:  Think warm comfort food as your main dish and sides to match the Winter Wonderland theme.  Here are a few ideas for your main menu: Fettuccine Alfredo, white pizza, white chili, or potato soup.  For dessert, keep the scintillating colors going by serving blueberries with white dipping yogurt or cupcakes with white icing and blue or silver sprinkles.  Another option is anything made with shaved coconut for that fresh, just-snowed look.  Serve hot buttered run with whipped cream as your drink.

For extra presentation, add these penguin appetizers as a fun display for your winter wonderland.  You can also make silverware bundles by wrapping silverware in napkins and then tying them off with blue, silver, or white ribbon.  

 

Favors:  Your guests will be thrilled to leave your party with their own presents.  A few ideas are popcorn balls, chapstick, mini snowflake yo yo’s, glittery candles, butter mints, or snowflake photo frame kits.  Tie a tag on the favor that says "Thanks for coming to frolic in our Winter Wonderland!"

This party color scheme is easily adaptable for other winter holidays such as Hanukkah as well.  Of course, a menorah and a Star of David are great traditional choices to add for a festive party of lights.  Set out a snowflake doily and a dreidel on top as each guest’s place setting at dinner.

  Have a wonderful time frolicking in your Winter Wonderland, and Happy Holidays!

In Quest of the Perfect Christmas

By: Poppie

There was a time when I wanted the perfect Christmas.  All the decorations would match, all the tree ornaments would glitter in a golden theme, and everything would look like it just came out of a magazine spread.  I would be the hostess that invited guests over on a moment’s notice because the atmosphere was a wonderland of  golden gorgeousness ready to show off to the world.

  I tried to implement my plan last year.  “Let’s just put up the gold ornaments,” I said to my children and husband as we started our decorating duties.  They all looked at me as if I had lost my mind.  “But mommy, what about this Popsicle star I made you in preschool?” asked my 4 year old.  “And what about my snowman marshmallow ornament I made you last year?” asked my 10 year old.  “We have to put up my red Husker ornaments,” piped up my husband.   “And it would look weird not to add the colored ornaments as well,” he added.  Begrudgingly, I let them add their favorite ornaments and watched as my wonderful golden forest was lost in a sea of homemade items and unmatched colors.  

 Then my 4 year old decided that we must have all the ornaments in family groups.  She rearranged the tree to put a bigger colored ornament by a medium and smaller ornament. She looked at me and said, “Now the daddy, mommy, and baby can all be together,” smiling and satisfied with her work.  There they were; groups of three in various colored clumps around the tree.  Later I tried to rearrange them back, but to no avail, as she noticed one of the family members had gone astray and promptly put it back.

So my Christmas was ruined.  Or so I thought.  Then, on Christmas Eve, as I (I mean Santa) put presents carefully around the tree, I really looked at my twinkling tree and smiled.  This really was the strangest tree we’ve put up to date, yet its beauty beckoned to me and I felt warm and fuzzy because of how hard my family had worked to make this tree fit into our family, well…perfectly. 

This year my children and husband looked expectantly at me wondering if I would be a Grinch in our decorating.  I smiled and immediately got out all the ornaments, not just the gold, and had the girls go to town decorating the tree.  Sure, it has bare spots with no ornaments and other spots with so many ornaments on the same branch that the limb is starting to sag.  And yes, there are homemade paper antlers at the top instead of a star, but as I stood back and watched them work, I thought, what a gorgeous tree made with such dedicated, decorative love.

In the end, I realized that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I will never have a magazine spread Christmas, but I will have many amazing Christmas memories created with my family and friends.  As long as my family is happy, healthy, and together, I have found the ideal Christmas after all.  My quest for perfection has ended because it was right in front of me all along.

Have fun with all your family traditions and treasure the memories.  And to all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 

Animal Christmas Recipes

What could be merrier than cute Christmas critters for you holiday fiestas?  Our theme for the holidays is cherry, merry, and delicious animal treats.  All are so easy the kids can help as well.  Try one or try them all but be warned, these goodies are so cute, your guests may not want to eat them!

Cream Cheese Penguins

Ingredients

·         Jumbo black olives, pitted

·         1 package cream cheese, softened

·         Small black olives

·         1 carrot

·         Toothpicks

·         Pimentos (optional)

Directions

1.    Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive.  Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive and pat down.

2.    Slice the carrot into 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet.  Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak.  If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.

3.    Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

4.    Add pimento scarf around neck of the penguin (optional).

Christmas Mice

Ingredients

·         Double-stuffed Oreo cookies

·         1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

·         2 teaspoons vegetable oil

·         Red maraschino cherries with stems, well drained

·         Milk chocolate kisses

·         Sliced almonds

·         1 small tube green decorative icing gel

·         1 small tube red decorative icing gel

Directions

1. Carefully twist cookies apart; set aside the halves with cream filling.  Store and use the plain halves another time.
2. Unwrap chocolate kisses and have them ready to use.
3. On stovetop, melt chocolate chips and oil on very low heat; stir until smooth. Holding each cherry by the stem, dip in melted chocolate, then press onto the bottom of a chocolate kiss. Place on the cream filling of cookie, with cherry stem extending beyond cookie edge.
4. For ears, place slivered almonds between the cherry and kiss. Refrigerate until set.
5. With green gel, pipe holly leaves on the cream. With red gel, pipe holly berries between leaves and pipe eyes on each chocolate kiss. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Reindeer Cupcakes

Ingredients:

·         Twisted Pretzels

·         Cupcake Mix

·         Vanilla Wafers

·         Chocolate Frosting

·         Red Candy (M & M’s or Red Hots work well)

·         Candy Eyes

·         Cupcake liners

Directions:

1.    Line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.  Make cupcake mix according to the box directions. Let cool.

2.    Frost cupcakes with brown frosting. Add vanilla wafer to one side of each cupcake.

3.    Add pretzels as antlers and candy eyes.  Add Red nose to wafer with a bit of frosting to make it stick.