NEW YEARS EVE: BAR CART STYLE
How many of you guys have fun New Year's Eve plans? Sometimes we go out and do it up big, like did last year and other years we just keep it low key and invite a few close friend over. This year it is looking like Steve is actually going to have to work on New Year's Eve so we are keeping it low key. Today I want to share with you some fun ideas for setting up a bar car for your party and an easy recipe if you are entertaining.
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BAR CART
I have been on the look out for a great bar for awhile now and I was so lucky when I stumbled upon this beauty at HomeGoods. Yep, you read that right, I got it at HomeGoods, so everyone hurry to your local store and see if you can score one too. I love the idea of having a bar cart on hand for entertaining. It can really be a lifesaver, especially if your kitchen or entertaining space is small because you can move it around and it frees up your counter space.
Since my bar cart is silver I went with a mixed metal, metallic them for my bar car. Here is a great tip for you. I wanted something shimmery that would pop but would not create a huge mess that I would have to clean up later. To do this I just grabbed a couple sparkly placemats and called it good. I love that it provides the shimmer, while also defining the area that I am using to set up my champagne station.
That is another one of my bar cart tips. Well really just a general entertaining tip. Keep it simple and just provide one type of specialty drink and pair it with wine or beer. It will save you a ton of money and it will make putting your bar cart together so much easier. For this particular set-up I went with a bubbly station since champagne and New Years Eve go hand in hand. I love to provide some type of fruit for my guests to drop in their drink, whether that is fresh pomegranate seeds, raspberries, or blackberries. I went with blackberries for my bar because I like how they played against the metallic decorations I had chosen. Also, here is another little tip for you if you do a champagne station, if your champagne looses a fizz all you have to do is drop a sugar cube in it to activate the fizz again. Bubbly + brilliant!
I was also looking for another fun little addition to my bar and I stumbled across white cotton candy at HomeGoods, so I had to snatch it up. I love the touch of whimsy it adds as an unexpected little treat for your champagne. To make it extra special I dusted it with edible gold dust that I picked up at Michaels and I love how it turned out. It doesn't have to be fancy or hard to make for something to be memorable.
MAKE IT FESTIVE + HAVE FUN
Once you have your drink stations set up, you can move on to the fun part...decorating! Since I already knew I was doing a mixed metal and metallic look for my bar cart, that really set me up in the direction I was going. I took a plastic + velvet party hat and repeated the silver glitter element from the drink station by placing the hat on top of it. I found some inexpensive plastic gold and black Christmas ball ornaments and placed them in the hat. I then bought a bunch of fun paper goods and confetti poppers for us to use when the clock strikes midnight.
One of my favorite, inexpensive decorating tricks is to buy a ton of balloons to use in a space. I love to have the balloons floating loose in the party space with the strings hanging down for people to walk through. It makes a big impact for very little money. I got my balloons at my favorite local shop Shindigs and I had them tie them off with different colors of metallic string so they would fit in with the theme. I then got some paper confetti and sprinkled it all around the room. Here is a little word of warning, metallic confetti is really hard to pick up and your vacuum cleaner doesn't really like it. If you want to go for a confetti look, but don't want to be finding piece of it around your house for the rest of your life, then stick to paper confetti and vacuum it up afterwards.
WHAT TO SERVE
My philosophy when it comes to planning my menu for a party is the simpler the better. That is why I love a good cheese plate. I am always looking for easy appetizer recipes that I can make quickly or better yet ahead of time. And I am definitely not opposed to adding a few store bought goodies into my spread. Today I have put together a great recipe that is super easy to make and can be made ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until your guests come. This Cranberry Orange Cheese Ball is definitely one to include on your New Years Eve party this year.
CRANBERRY ORANGE CHEESE BALL
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- zest of one orange
- 1 tablespoon juice form orange
- crackers for serving
- rosemary for garnish
- In a medium bowl whip together cream cheese + cheddar cheese until well blended.
- Add orange zest, orange juice and cranberries until well incorporated.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on your counter and empty cheese mixture on to it.
- Wrap plastic around the cheese and use your hands to form into a ball.
- Refrigerate for one hour.
- In a shallow dish pour chopped pecans.
- Unwrap cheese ball and roll in chopped pecans. Gently use your hand to make sure nuts are in place and cheese is well covered.
- Place on a dish, garnish with rosemary springs. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
BAR CARTS
BAR ACCESSORIES
PARTY DECOR