TAPPED OUT? HERE ARE SOME MONEY_SAVING PARTY IDEAS:
Appetizer parties are great, especially if you are short on
seating space, time, or resources. Although youll want to
allow about eight hors d'oeuvres per person, they neednt be
expensive or complicated to taste good. Grilled, bacon-wrapped chunks of vegetables and fruits are always popular. So are halved tiny baked potatoes filled with sour cream, bacon, and chives or chili and cheese. Another favorite offering is fried stuffed ravioli or tortellini served with marinara sauce.
Rather than serve expensive whole shrimp, smoked salmon, or beef tenderloin, extend them by combining with spicy dressings, cream cheese, and vegetables for easy spreads. Accompany spreads with crackers and breads, or use them as fillings for puff pastry shells, wonton wrappers, or rolled tortillas.
Dont feel obligated to offer a full bar or even any hard
liquor. Beer and wine are usually sufficient, or stick to one
hard liquor drink in keeping with the seasonal theme, such as
a punch bowl of eggnog or hot rum toddies.
Use snow in ice buckets to chill wines, soft drinks, or beers.
Snow chills better than ice, looks nicer, and saves you the
cost of purchasing crushed ice.
Candles provide soft lighting that creates a relaxed party
atmosphere. Scatter inexpensive votive candles on mantels,
windowsills, plate rails, and tables. Candles burn more
slowly if theyve been stored in a sealed box in the refrigerator and are lit while theyre cold.
Decorate your tables with whatever is close at hand. You need not go to the expense of cut flowers. Use foliage cut from your outside shrubbery, nuts, small white birch logs, pinecones, bird nests or birdhouses, toys, fresh fruit (such as pears, apples, oranges, and persimmons), and small potted plants or herbs.
Purchase strands of tiny white Christmas lights during after-
Christmas sales for next years party. String your house with
them to create inexpensive, intimate, and elegant lighting.
Clusters of beribboned helium balloons make festive decorations for any holiday party. Buy the ribbon in economical commercial- size rolls.
Appetizer parties are great, especially if you are short on
seating space, time, or resources. Although youll want to
allow about eight hors d'oeuvres per person, they neednt be
expensive or complicated to taste good. Grilled, bacon-wrapped chunks of vegetables and fruits are always popular. So are halved tiny baked potatoes filled with sour cream, bacon, and chives or chili and cheese. Another favorite offering is fried stuffed ravioli or tortellini served with marinara sauce.
Rather than serve expensive whole shrimp, smoked salmon, or beef tenderloin, extend them by combining with spicy dressings, cream cheese, and vegetables for easy spreads. Accompany spreads with crackers and breads, or use them as fillings for puff pastry shells, wonton wrappers, or rolled tortillas.
Dont feel obligated to offer a full bar or even any hard
liquor. Beer and wine are usually sufficient, or stick to one
hard liquor drink in keeping with the seasonal theme, such as
a punch bowl of eggnog or hot rum toddies.
Use snow in ice buckets to chill wines, soft drinks, or beers.
Snow chills better than ice, looks nicer, and saves you the
cost of purchasing crushed ice.
Candles provide soft lighting that creates a relaxed party
atmosphere. Scatter inexpensive votive candles on mantels,
windowsills, plate rails, and tables. Candles burn more
slowly if theyve been stored in a sealed box in the refrigerator and are lit while theyre cold.
Decorate your tables with whatever is close at hand. You need not go to the expense of cut flowers. Use foliage cut from your outside shrubbery, nuts, small white birch logs, pinecones, bird nests or birdhouses, toys, fresh fruit (such as pears, apples, oranges, and persimmons), and small potted plants or herbs.
Purchase strands of tiny white Christmas lights during after-
Christmas sales for next years party. String your house with
them to create inexpensive, intimate, and elegant lighting.
Clusters of beribboned helium balloons make festive decorations for any holiday party. Buy the ribbon in economical commercial- size rolls.
