poi
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Carolyn Braden says "Winter Wonderland In My Home!"
We are about to have a Winter Wonderland themed party in our home. Even though our house is still under construction, we've managed to make it look very "winter-ish" and pretty!
Here are some ideas we have for creating a winter wonderland in your home:
Buy sparkling snowflake ornaments (we found ours at Wal-Mart....a big box for $4.00) and hang them from your ceiling. We hung them at different lengths all around the first floor of our home.
Buy plastic vintage light up characters and place them around your home. We searched thrift stores, E-Bay, and peddler's malls and found quite a few. They are a kitschy and nostalgic way to turn your home into the North Pole. We even found a big plastic North Pole light up sign.
Place "snow" in corners of your home. We purchased cotton filler from a craft store to place around the home and around the light up characters.
Cover some furniture with white blankets or sheets.
Spray paint some twigs and branches white and make a winter bouquet that doesn't need water. I filled a vase with gold and silver ball ornaments and placed some gold, silver, and white branches. My grandmother gave me some silver berry-looking bouquet filler and I combined them all together and placed them in the vase. I tied little silver bows on some branches, put a sparkly "Joy" sign beside the vase and sprinkled a few ornaments outside the vase and sign. I placed it on the mantle.
Buy a vintage tinsel tree. Hang vintage ornaments on it. We placed a color wheel near by itto shine and make it dazzle.
For Winter Wonderland party favors:
I bought gum packs that had snowflakes on them. I created labels to place on the packs that had the party date and a "Thanks for coming to our Winter Wonderland".
I also plan to dip one half of an Oreo cookie into chocolate. While the chocolate cools, I will sprinkle snowflake shaped sprinkles on it. I will place them into clear plastic bags and tie them with ribbons.
Party food:
I love Chick-fil-A! We are going to purchase a tray of nuggets. If you pre-order, you can get a tray that will feed over 15 people for $40.00. It comes with 3 tubs of dipping sauces.
Chips Con-Queso. (Make your own Queso! Melt Velveeta cheese and mix in a jar of salsa. Easy!!)
Cheese cubes. Every party I have, the cheese cubes disappear first! I've stocked up on these this time.
Ruffles and dip. This always vanishes too! I make dip using 16 oz. of sour cream and a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning.
We will also have cupcakes to celebrate some of my friends birthdays. I purchased sugar snowflake cupcake toppers to place on the top of every cupcake. (Wilton's makes these).
We are serving 3 types of wine, several labels of beer, soft drinks, and water. I am also making a drink called Ice Queen. It's just champagne, white grape juice, and ginger ale.
Party ice-breakers:
I am renting microphone stands to use for our Karaoke part of the party. On our Playstation 3, I've downloaded Holiday music to sing along to. I have every SingStar game and I've also downloaded a few other party favorite hits. My friends love Karaoke!
We love to dance. I purchased The Michael Jackson Experience for Wii. I downloaded the Michael Jackson videos that are on the game to play at the beginning of the party. When we play the dance game, everyone will be familiar with the songs and see how well the games graphics match the videos. I love this Wii game! We also have Just Dance 1 and 2 if we want a Jackson break. I'm not sure my friends will need a break from MJ though. :)
I purchased Singstar Dance for the Playstation 3 Move. It's much harder than Just Dance for Wii, but it's really fun. It films you while you dance or sing and you can play it back for all to laugh at! You can have singers and backup dancers for this game. Many of the dances match the music videos that play. Soulja Boy's Crank that is hilarious! It also has N Sync's Bye, Bye, Bye. Trying to do that choreography will wear you out!
For the boys, we have Sports Champions for the Playstation 3 Move. It has sword fighting, table tennis, archery, and more! Although it's not necessary to have 2 controllers, I recommend having 2 if you plan on being able to play against friends and family members vs. the game system.
Party games:
Frozen T-Shirt. Whoever can get their frozen shirt unthawed and put it on first wins a prize! (Wet the shirts and place in plastic bags and freeze the night before.) Guests can unthaw the shirt any way they can think up.
Cold Snowman. It's hot potato using a stuffed snowman.
Cold Feet. How many socks can you put on one foot in 30 seconds?
Snowball throw. How many crumpled up balls of white paper can you toss in a bucket in 30 seconds?
Here are some ideas we have for creating a winter wonderland in your home:
Buy sparkling snowflake ornaments (we found ours at Wal-Mart....a big box for $4.00) and hang them from your ceiling. We hung them at different lengths all around the first floor of our home.
Buy plastic vintage light up characters and place them around your home. We searched thrift stores, E-Bay, and peddler's malls and found quite a few. They are a kitschy and nostalgic way to turn your home into the North Pole. We even found a big plastic North Pole light up sign.
Place "snow" in corners of your home. We purchased cotton filler from a craft store to place around the home and around the light up characters.
Cover some furniture with white blankets or sheets.
Spray paint some twigs and branches white and make a winter bouquet that doesn't need water. I filled a vase with gold and silver ball ornaments and placed some gold, silver, and white branches. My grandmother gave me some silver berry-looking bouquet filler and I combined them all together and placed them in the vase. I tied little silver bows on some branches, put a sparkly "Joy" sign beside the vase and sprinkled a few ornaments outside the vase and sign. I placed it on the mantle.
Buy a vintage tinsel tree. Hang vintage ornaments on it. We placed a color wheel near by itto shine and make it dazzle.
For Winter Wonderland party favors:
I bought gum packs that had snowflakes on them. I created labels to place on the packs that had the party date and a "Thanks for coming to our Winter Wonderland".
I also plan to dip one half of an Oreo cookie into chocolate. While the chocolate cools, I will sprinkle snowflake shaped sprinkles on it. I will place them into clear plastic bags and tie them with ribbons.
Party food:
I love Chick-fil-A! We are going to purchase a tray of nuggets. If you pre-order, you can get a tray that will feed over 15 people for $40.00. It comes with 3 tubs of dipping sauces.
Chips Con-Queso. (Make your own Queso! Melt Velveeta cheese and mix in a jar of salsa. Easy!!)
Cheese cubes. Every party I have, the cheese cubes disappear first! I've stocked up on these this time.
Ruffles and dip. This always vanishes too! I make dip using 16 oz. of sour cream and a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning.
We will also have cupcakes to celebrate some of my friends birthdays. I purchased sugar snowflake cupcake toppers to place on the top of every cupcake. (Wilton's makes these).
We are serving 3 types of wine, several labels of beer, soft drinks, and water. I am also making a drink called Ice Queen. It's just champagne, white grape juice, and ginger ale.
Party ice-breakers:
I am renting microphone stands to use for our Karaoke part of the party. On our Playstation 3, I've downloaded Holiday music to sing along to. I have every SingStar game and I've also downloaded a few other party favorite hits. My friends love Karaoke!
We love to dance. I purchased The Michael Jackson Experience for Wii. I downloaded the Michael Jackson videos that are on the game to play at the beginning of the party. When we play the dance game, everyone will be familiar with the songs and see how well the games graphics match the videos. I love this Wii game! We also have Just Dance 1 and 2 if we want a Jackson break. I'm not sure my friends will need a break from MJ though. :)
I purchased Singstar Dance for the Playstation 3 Move. It's much harder than Just Dance for Wii, but it's really fun. It films you while you dance or sing and you can play it back for all to laugh at! You can have singers and backup dancers for this game. Many of the dances match the music videos that play. Soulja Boy's Crank that is hilarious! It also has N Sync's Bye, Bye, Bye. Trying to do that choreography will wear you out!
For the boys, we have Sports Champions for the Playstation 3 Move. It has sword fighting, table tennis, archery, and more! Although it's not necessary to have 2 controllers, I recommend having 2 if you plan on being able to play against friends and family members vs. the game system.
Party games:
Frozen T-Shirt. Whoever can get their frozen shirt unthawed and put it on first wins a prize! (Wet the shirts and place in plastic bags and freeze the night before.) Guests can unthaw the shirt any way they can think up.
Cold Snowman. It's hot potato using a stuffed snowman.
Cold Feet. How many socks can you put on one foot in 30 seconds?
Snowball throw. How many crumpled up balls of white paper can you toss in a bucket in 30 seconds?
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