Home and Garden Diva

You are here: Home / Archives for decorations

Party Tips To Impress Your Guests

by



How to impress your party guests? It is a question that stumps even the best. Impressing party guests is not an easy job. From the dilemma of the type of drinks you are going to serve, to the kind of entertainment, decorations of your location to the type of food to serve. You may be feeling a little bit confident at first about it with the meal squared away, however, there is a lot missing in place. Some kind of flair; you definitely want your guests not only to be merely impressed by your flavor, but also aesthetically impressed. Whether it is a pool party, cocktail party or a normal multi course meal party, read on the following piece of guide and discover some tantalizing tips to enhance your party presentation.


The ideal party location
Depending on the type of party you want to host, you would definitely want your guests to be more comfortable throughout the party. For instance, if you are hosting a dinner party, these are generally intimate; your dining room would definitely be the most ideal place, if it is too small, think of your garden as an alternative. Of course, you will need the basics; lighting, tables and enough chairs. Ensure the hosting location in your house is sufficient and have a place reserved for everything to avoid awkwardness; assign a place for the shoes, guests’ jackets and so on.

Taste of your home
If you are planning an elegant party, you definitely won’t be serving take-away! Ideally, cook your best some food if you have enough time, if not, then buy pre made food from various restaurants. Food can also be a great way to explore some culture. If in case you are from a different country, keep a menu largely from your country. Keep in mind that some of your guests may be meat lovers others vegetarians, so make a variety of options. Some may be on a diet while others may be expecting a hearty-meal from the party.

Warm welcome
The food, décor and the location set-up are very important, but do not forget about being the best host! Greet your guests when they are walking in, all smiles and friendly and take their coat. Talk to them and guide them to the location; the best way to welcome your guests is simply to be there to welcome and guide them. You can have someone you really trust to be at the door if you are busy with other things but it would have been best if you were there yourself. Guests always love to feel special and treated as so, since they are your friends.

Décor: keep it simple and classy
There is absolutely no need to load your dining setting with various vases. It is called a center-piece for a reason and that is because just one is enough. Exactly what you are after is a focal-point for your dining table. You will be creating “clutter” in front of every plate by loading the table with lots of flowers. Settle for a single center-piece, you can have two or more candles however. Ensure that the table-cloth matches your napkins for an aesthetic look.

Entertainment
Some soft classical music, especially instrumental, would do for a quiet dinner party. Music forms an intrinsic part of any party, however, it can be a challenge to get it right. You wouldn’t want to be very loud neither very sonorously dull. Ensure that the music sets the mood of the party, for a younger party for instance, go with some contemporary fusion or some remixed soft music.

Cocktails before and after party
While you are welcoming the early comers and waiting for the rest of the guests, serve them some cocktails. Hors d’oeuvres can also be an impressive way to welcome your guests. After the main course meal, you can serve desert with some coffee. This should help counteract any effects of wine that was consumed. Use these tips and throw a memorable and fabulous party at your home.

Kara is a passionate blogger and works as a party tours operator in Australia.

Extreme Home Decorating Ideas for This Holiday Season

by

Ah, the joys of driving through your neighborhood around the holidays “oooh”ing and “ahhh”ing over the lights and joyous decorations that you see as you pass by each house. It’s a beautiful sight to see – so joyous and warm and inviting – it really is the epitome of the holiday spirit.

But there’s always an inner battle between your household and your neighbors between who can have the best holiday decorations each year, and it’s a battle that you just might win if you take some of these extreme home decorating ideas for this holiday season.

A Walk-In Gingerbread House

At Halloween, there are haunted houses. During the holidays, why not set up a walk-through gingerbread house in your yard?

Your house will be the attraction of the neighborhood, especially among the kids, if you set up a house that’s decorated from top to bottom in twinkling lights and fresh green wreaths. Inside, set up a display similar to those you see in malls when Santa visits – put in a big throne and have someone manning the Santa station at all times so kids can come visit and sit on his lap to tell him what they want for Christmas.

Make sure you decorate with lots of over-sized decorations. Think about a regular gingerbread house with all of the candy canes and gumdrops and pretty decor and replicate those same decorations on a much larger scale for a wildly successful walk-in holiday gingerbread house!

Santa and Sleigh on the Roof

No holiday house is complete until it’s decorated with a life size Santa sitting in a huge sleigh atop the roof of the house. And don’t forget the reindeer, too! Nine giant reindeer, including Rudolph, of course, make for a complete Santa scene that looks as real as can be.

For added effect, rig up some heavy-duty wiring into a nearby tree next to your house. Install the first few reindeer in the pack so that they look like they are lifting off up and away into the sky by securing them to the anchored wire. The neighborhood kids will love the illusion, and you’ll revel in knowing that no one else in your neighborhood thought of the idea before you!

A Singing Choir of Angels

Fortunately for you, this scene is fairly easy to pull of thanks to modern technology. All you really have to do is buy a few huge lit choir angels and place them in your yard. You can even buy ones that are attached to motors so that they move, or you can always install your own motors to customize the movement of your angels.

Then, all of you have to do is play some music around the display that goes with the movement of your angels, and you have yourself a giant singing choir of angels. Choose songs that are more hymnal than the classic holiday jingles, but be sure to mix those in here and there, too.

A Huge Christmas Tree

Nothing says the holidays like a giant Christmas tree in your yard that’s decked out in lights, ribbons and garland galore.

Choose the largest tree in your yard, or even bring in one from another location (we’re talking huge Christmas trees, like along the lines of the Rockefeller Plaza tree) and bring in the fire department with their huge ladders to help you get the lights strung all the way to the top of the tree. Don’t forget a large lit-up star on top of the tree to complete your holiday yard, and be sure to add the little details, too, like the ribbons and garland!

Your yard will be sure to be a hit with these extreme holiday decoration ideas – but remember to be creative, be original and don’t be afraid to go over the top!

Attached Images:

Ann Michaels is a freelance writer who loves preparing for Christmas. Her favorite day of the year is when she gets to bring out her life size Santa displays and start setting up her yard for the holidays!

Time to get out the Christmas Decorations?

by

We got our first real snow fall here in Toronto this week. I guess we have a few inches of snow on the ground and we expect more to come before the week is over. I guess we’re lucky compared to some areas near us who happened to get several feet of snow!

I think the snow actually made me have a bit of the Christmas spirit earlier today. We haven’t decorated the house for Christmas for about 6 years, but earlier today I seriously thought about pulling out our Christmas tree, Christmas decorations, the garland, lights, and of course our Christmas wreath.

Who knows .. maybe this weekend I’ll dig out all of our decorations and start putting some of them up. It’s been years since we’ve decorated so it would be a big change, but a nice one if we do it.

Ready for Halloween?

by

Our next door neighbors house is all decorated and ready for Halloween. I just noticed that they had decorated yesterday.

Their daughter is two and a half this Halloween so I guess they figure she’s old enough to enjoy the holiday. I haven’t seen them yet so I don’t know what they’re dressing her up as, but I’m sure she’ll be cute since she’s an adorable little girl.

I really like the pumpkins that are on my neighbors front porch. Instead of one or two large carved pumpkins they have 6 or 7 small pumpkins that have painted designs on them. It looks really nice. LOL they usually have things like power wheels and dolls on their porch so the decorated pumpkins are a big change.

We used to decorate our house, but we haven’t for the last few years. We don’t have kids so it seems like a lot of work for just one day. Still .. maybe we’ll haul out the decorations.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Or whether you do or don’t decorate, do you answer the door at Halloween and give the trick or treaters some candy?

Meta

Tags

basement bed bedroom clean cleaning clutter dog exercise family fitness flowers friends Furniture garden Health help home house husband ideas Kitchen laptop Lighting money Music neighborhood neighbors party plants room Shopping sick skin spring summer tips tired Toronto Travel tv Vacation walking warm winter work

Pages