Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Holiday party DIY's

Yesterday I gave a peak at the Christmas party we hosted, and as promised today I will share some of the simple DIYs that we did.

Epsom salt candles
I saw these on pinterest and knew that I would be making them for our party. I have a collection of mason jars in the basement that the Mr is always encouraging me to use (ok, encourage is my word. His word may be "recycle"). How could I get rid of them when I know Pinterest is chock full of ideas? This one is super simple - put Epsom salt in the mason jar as your base, push a candle into it, and voila - candles in snow.

Bunting flags
This one is really easy and maybe teetering on overdone, but I like the cheery look of bunting flags. For these I used old scraps of wrapping paper (those ones I always keep just in case I find a present that needs a 2"x2" piece of wrapping paper - riiiight). Bunting flags are a much easier way to use up the odds and ends. I cut them into triangles and some pinking-sheared rectangles, punched two holes in the top and the laced white yarn through. Although I have different shapes and different patterns I made sure to keep everything white and red to carry a simple two colour theme.

Gold pine cones & nuts
These are leftovers from my wedding three years ago (do you get the message that I like to re-use??). I took pinecones and walnuts and spray painted them gold for some glitz. I put some in vases to complete my table runner centrepiece.

Wreath
I bought a fresh wreath from Home Depot and planned to Zhush it up. Unfortunately the last few weeks have got away from me, but I did manage to snip some berry branches from my front garden (it looks exactly like holly). Not a huge change, but it looks a bit more festive!
And finally the food. I baked a couple of weeks ago and put the cookies in the freezer until this weekend. Then I made a few recipes to round out the table including pistachio covered truffles (my new favourite) and mini pizzetas with caramelized onions and mushrooms.

The food was a hit, and I now have a new love for pistachios. What's your favourite new recipe for the season?

2 comments:

Kerry said...

Looks great Heather! :) I wish I had it in me to throw a party with the friends we've made out here... but things are so crazy. I just started my baking today with some sugar cookies. I still have some dough in the fridge I need to bake, with plenty more recipes to come! Great decorating inspiration though! Hope everyone had a great time! :)

Ashley said...

i saw the epsom salt + candle thing in style at home i think, love it! as for recipes there was a ginger cookie recipe that i made last year that was sooo good http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-wheat-ginger-snaps/detail.aspx

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