The Style Sisters: December 2008

cHRISTMAS

Colorado Christmas with Tiff and the Fam

By The Style Sisters - Saturday, December 27, 2008

4 Comments

cHRISTMAS

We are on our way to Tiff and Kelly's

By The Style Sisters - Wednesday, December 24, 2008

1 Comments

Christmas wishes come true

CHRISTMAS DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!!

By The Style Sisters - Friday, December 19, 2008

14 Comments

Cancer

A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR MY BROTHER

By The Style Sisters - Tuesday, December 16, 2008

9 Comments

Christmas Decorations

Holiday Kitchen Sneak Peak

By The Style Sisters - Monday, December 15, 2008

2 Comments

Buffet Ideas

HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING ON A DIME!

By The Style Sisters - Sunday, December 14, 2008

I had the fun opportunity of helping out my good friend Jan with decorating for her Daughters Wedding Reception Open House. We called upon another sweet friend, Marilyn to have her host this in her home. We tried to come up with ideas using Christmas decor to make it festive without spending hardly any money.

Here are some quick and easy ideas for any party:

This is just water with a gorgeous ice ring made out of cranberries and limes. It was perfect because all we served were mostly sweets so we didn't need a punch.

Tip: Use bottled water in a bundt pan, it makes the ice ring perfectly clear.

Think Vertical...by raising things up on pedestals or footed bowls and cake plates all your food takes on a new look and makes the food more appealing.

We called upon many friend to help make all the delicious cookies, brownies, chocolate tortes, choco covered pretzels, and baked Brie cheese.

Use what you have for display:

Notice the white footed bowl holding the grapes? That is actually a white footed bowl turned upside down and the square platter is duct taped on top to hold it in place.

Simple but elegant food items: These are just tiny chocolate cupcakes made from a mix topped with a swirl of butter cream frosting. They were placed on a glass cake plate to make them even more appealing!

Unique Food Items: This was the most delicious thing! Brie cheese topped with apricot preserves baked in puff pastry! OH MY GOSH WE COULD NOT STAY AWAY FROM THIS THE WHOLE NIGHT! We added some fresh raspberries sprinkled on the top for a little color.

Get help: You need great help in the kitchen whenever you are having a get-together. Kerri and Crystal were so fun to hang out with. We laughed the whole night!

Centerpiece idea: I used a regular old fish bowl (cleaned out of course) and I lined the inside bottom part and sides with sliced fresh limes and then filled it with fresh cranberries and covered it all with water. I then used leftover Christmas tree clippings and other greens to make the arrangement and to set the background and then added the gorgeous white roses (from the grocery store!) I wish you could see the limes better it was so pretty!

Costco: Also remember you can always pick up some items already made like these cream puffs and just add some melted chocolate squiggles to the top to make them more festive.

Include your friends when hosting a party or having an Open House. It brings women closer to one another and everyone gets to share their talents, recipes, decorating ideas and no one gets overloaded.