New Year’s Eve…A night for reflection AND anticipation, an evening to celebrate both the past and the future – Not to mention one hell of an excuse to party. This year, John and I decided to host a handful of friends and spent the evening clinking glasses, nibbling on finger foods and chuckling over the sometimes wince-worthy NYE coverage on ABC and NBC.
(me and my lovely bestie, Alyssa!)
To make sure our guests were occupied into the wee hours of 2013’s first morning, I put out a little spread of goodies complete with cookies, mini ham biscuits and lemon and feta dip. But tasty nibbles weren’t the only things I was concerned with. A good presentation was also pretty high on my list. Luckily, I was able to throw something together using things we already had around the house.
Simple white dishware acted as a foundation, all of which we were gifted for our wedding, and the small pastry stand was a thrift store find that we picked up while collecting china for the reception. The chevron runner is another reuse from the wedding – This may be obvious, but it is SO gratifying to be able to use pieces from our special day long after the event. The memories won’t be waning anytime soon.
And of course no NYE party is complete without champagne! Although I was desperate to find an excuse to pick up a sparkly new brass ice bucket, I was eventually convinced to use the plastic blue one we already had. I’m so glad that I didn’t shell out extra money on a new one though, because the blue color was picked up by the washi wrapped candles, making it feel like it belonged all along.
Speaking of the candles, you probably recognize those from Monday – They burned all through the evening no trouble and brought just a little more pattern and color to the spread. At the last minute, I also brought in one of my DIY Cheers coasters, the ones featured last month on The Everygirl. I was maybe a little TOO giddy to use them on their inspired holiday.
We also set up the bar cart in the living room to spread the cocktail possibilities beyond the kitchen and dining room. My new set of gold-rimmed glassware was the star of the show – At least in my opinion!
Working off a budget of, well…nothing…I was excited to see that a party isn’t impossible. In fact, it’s not even that HARD. A little resourcefulness and using what you have (one of my own New Year’s resolutions), is all you need to make it happen.
Happy New Year!
