The countdown begins to 2015,
and you still have time to be the home family and friends gather in to watch
those seconds tick down to midnight. A
New Year’s Eve party can be simple and casual or glitzy and glam while being
festive either way. Do you want to ring
in the New Year as the ultimate holiday hostess? Send out the call, and get prepping.
Holiday-specific and colorful
paper goods make picking a theme and having ready-made décor on display pretty
easy. For New Year’s, some of the most
popular options are black and white and combinations of gold, silver, and
champagne. A party, craft, or supply
store is likely stocking those aisle end caps with both dinner and dessert plates,
dinner and cocktail napkins, paper hats, and noisemakers that clearly convey a
New Year’s Eve party theme. Take your
pick, and your theme is established. You
can also buy some of the plates and napkins marked with New Year’s and beef up
your stock with solid colors of each that coordinate.
If you start your party later
in the evening, like 9 pm, you’re not hosting a six hour long event that would
require dinner and snacks later on as well.
With many parties winding down after midnight (or the ball drop for the
sleepy), you’d be perfectly set with a nice spread of appetizers and finger
foods. Can you get creative and fancy
with dressy little nibbles? Sure. But it’s not required to have a great
party. Classics are often favorites:
pigs in a blanket with dipping sauces, meatballs on toothpicks, chips and
crackers with a variety of dips, a veggie tray, and cookies and brownies will
all be gobbled up. You can make it quite
simple for your set-up when you turn to the frozen section of a warehouse club
store and plate up eggrolls, potato skins, wings, mini quiche, and just about
anything in a little phyllo dough cup like you made them yourself.
Keep your beverage service
uncomplicated by choosing a signature drink or punch that can be offered in a punch
bowl or series of carafes kept chilled in the fridge. Frozen and fruity bases topped off with
ginger ale or lemon lime soda are quick and easily replenished. Have your champagne and sparkling cider ready
to serve just prior to the ball drop or midnight.
A little party atmosphere is set with good
music in the background and tabletops with lit candles for some sparkle. Use your hats, noisemakers, and bulletin
board number cutouts to add some flair around your serving area, coupled with
shiny tinsel and votives.
Special touches like round
sugar cookies decorated to look like clocks, groupings of balloons, and milk
and cookies for the kids at the big finish can all go a long way to create a
memorable, celebratory night surrounded by the people you will be happily
sharing 2015 with. Have a safe and Happy
New Year!
DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star December 28th.
