{Parties} NYE

Happy New Year {a few days late -- my apologies}! My hubby and I thought it might be fun to host Gourmet Night {our dinner group consisting of 5 couples} on New Year's Eve this year. Here are the details:

First up -- table centerpiece. I literally threw this together in about five minutes. I arranged all of our NYE party props onto a raised cake plate, scattered some confetti and 2012 glasses around the table, and called it a day.


We kept our menu very simple, and I didn't cook one thing! We ordered Chinese and sushi for dinner, so I also added some sparkly silver and gold takeout boxes to the table to play up the theme. In addition, I created some very simple black & white signs that I adhered to some fun sparkly papers I bought at Michaels.


Aerial view...


The horns never even were used b/c by midnight I had a sleeping baby upstairs. Those are the breaks when you're a mama ;-}


The dessert buffet was incredibly simple. My mom lent me a big clock from her living room, which I leaned against the mirror. I love silver and gold for New Years and anything shimmery catches my eye, so I added some of those touches as well.


The shimmery papers from Michaels came in so handy -- I used them for almost everything I made, including the 2012 patterns I quickly sketched, cut out, and clipped to the shutter which previously displayed all my Christmas cards.


Next, I made a sparkly banner to drap across the mirror. I don't have a circular punch {really need one!}, so I used the bottom of a glass to trace the circles and cut them out by hand. I used double-sided tape to attach them to jute. Easy.


The confetti packs were simple too. I bought confetti mix from Micheals, dumped a little in some clear bags, and then used the sparkly papers again to create a little topper for each bag.


Then I spread them out on one end of the buffet.


I served a non-alcoholic punch for all my pregnant Gourmet Night ladies {I am not included in that mix so don't get any ideas ;-}


My mother-in-law bought me these beautiful metallic cake plates for Christmas -- they fit in perfectly with the silver/gold palette. I stacked them and served some simple desserts on each.


First I made "Ball Drop Shooters," which I served in little cordial glasses. They were nothing more than pudding, brownies, and coolwhip with a shimmery ball topper.


Next, I made vanilla cupcakes and frosted them with cream cheese icing and dusted edible glitter on each. Then I added sparkly cupcake toppers.


Appetizers :: mini egg rolls and pot stickers/dumplings with soy sauce for dipping. Like I said before, I was in no mood to cook, so my hubby ordered Chinese & sushi from Mandarin Court, our favorite local Chinese restaurant. The night was busy, so I never snapped any pics of the meal, but we had General Tso's chicken, vegetable lo mein, egg roles, California rolls, etc.


We call this Gourmet Night, but I served dinner on Chinet plates -- ha! So much for gourmet ;-} I found pretty plasticware at the dollar store and silver napkins at Target. And guess what? Clean-up was a sinch!


As a favor, I gave each of the girls a 2012 mini-desk calendar.


I added some simple decor to my bookcase by using sparkly silver & gold Christmas balls from the dollar store.


I also added a touch of NYE to my mantle.


Last but not least, my little NYE party crasher was MY FAVORITE ACCESSORY of the night. He hung with our guests for about a half hour or so and then off to dream sweet dreams he went.

**Hope you had a blast ringing in the New Year!
**I used this Silver & Gold pinboard I created on pinterest as my inspiration for our NYE party.