Host a Pumpkin Carving Party

This past Friday, I invited a small group of friends over to my house for cocktails and pumpkin carving.  Since none in this group (myself included) has kids, which is typically the most compelling reason for carving pumpkins, we had been missing out on this fabulous holiday tradition for quite some time.  So as you could imagine, the response from my guests to this party invitation was an enthusiastic "yes!".  After extensive plotting and planning, I came up with a pumpkin carving party that struck a perfect balance of sophistication with splashes of festive Halloween accents thrown into the mix. Below is a breakdown of the various elements from my recent pumpkin carving party, filled with great ideas and tips on how you can recreate this holiday tradition with your own group of friends!

Pumpkin Carving Station

Since there were a fair number of us carving pumpkins, I decided to transform my dining room table into the pumpkin carving station.  Here is a list of the supplies I used to create this space:

• Disposable Painting Tarp
• Pumpkins
• Set of Assorted Foam Brushes
• Carving Knives (I just used my favorite Victorinox Steak Knives)
• An assortment of paints (see this post for more details)
• Glitter 
• Glue
• Tea Lights
• An assortment of Halloween candies (to keep everyone's energy levels up)
• Free Pumpkin Stencils courtesy of Better Homes and Garden (so many fabulous options!)

Pumpkin Trivia

Instead of just sitting around the table carving pumpkins in silence or with generic conversation, I thought it would be a fun idea to take this time to share a little pumpkin trivia with my guests.  Not only was it fun to see what my friends knew about pumpkins, but it also added an extra element of fun to the party.  This site has everything you need to know about pumpkins. 

Food and Beverage

What cocktail party of mine would be complete without a cheesescape?!?  Here is a breakdown of what I served at this party:

• Cheeses: Jasper Hill Farm Clothbound Cheddar, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog
• Chutney: Virginia Chutney Co. Balsamic Fig Chutney
• Crackers: Raincoast Flats Kale and Walnut, Dr. Kracker Pumpkin Seed Cheddar
• Ina Garten's Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta
• Other Nibbles: Edamame, Somersaults, Assorted Nuts, Veggies and Hummus
• Wine: Napa Cellars Pinot Noir

Goody Bags

What Halloween party would be complete without a little Trick or Treat!  Well, in our case it was more of a nod to Trick or Treating.  Each guest received a goody bag and mini bottle of Prosecco at the end of the evening  to take home along with their carved pumpkin. See my post on Halloween Treat Bags for more details.

This party was a huge hit with my friends and the perfect culmination of the various projects I had been sharing throughout this past month.  Even though it may seem at times like pumpkin carving should be more of a kid centric activity, there are so many ways to enhance the sophistication level of this activity, ultimately making it worthy of adults and even a cocktail party!  

Halloween Treat Bags

Halloween is right around the corner and while those days of dressing up in costumes are far behind me, I still can't let this holiday go by without indulging in a little Halloween candy!  Looking through stores and Pinterest for inspiration, I came across the most fabulous (and not too juvenile, but still festive) Halloween treat bags, that of course I couldn't resist buying.   Even though my condo building doesn't receive any trick-or-treaters, I still wanted to put together a little something for my friends to enjoy.  This DIY is a easy and delicious way to share in the Halloween spirit with your friends.  Plus, who doesn't love a little candy during this time of year?!?

Halloween Treat Bag Supplies: 

• Meri Meri Something Wicked Party Bags
• Coffin Gift Tags
• World Market's Bat Cello Treat Bags
• Brach's Candy Corn and Autumn Mix
• World Market Skeleton Chocolates
• FIKA Gold Mini Chocolate Skulls, Set of 3
• Assorted Halloween Cookies (Similar here)
• Mini Prosecco Bottles
• Raffia Ribbon
• Gold Sharpie Pen

I am super excited to hand out these gift bags next weekend to my close group of friends.  While I may not be getting dressed up in a costume this year, I can still indulge in a few fun and festive Halloween treats with my friends and of course enjoy seeing Dolly dressed up in her Halloween costume!  Yes I dress her up in a different costume every year, so stay tuned! I will be revealing Dolly's 2015 Halloween Costume on my Instagram page next week! 

DIY Valentine's Favors

I love giving cute little edible gifts to all of my close friends for Valentine's Day.  This year I decided to step it up a notch not only with the gift contents, but also the wrapping.  Off I went in search of fresh wrapping supplies and inspiration for the actual gift contents.  

How did I fare?  Well it was certainly a very "fruitful" trip to say the least.  There are so many cute treats and ideas in stores at the moment.  And yes, I had some serious shopping success (probably more shopping success than I actually needed…but theres always next year, right?).

For the Wrapping: 

• Red Glitter Takeout Boxes- I actually found these at Pier1 on clearance from Christmas (Christmas Red vs. Valentine's Red = Same Thing!).  Since they no longer have these in stock, I was able to find a bunch of similar options to share with you all from OrientalTrading.com.
• Clear Cellophane Wrapping Paper- This is a wrapping "must-have" for me.  I use cellophane when wrapping any of my perishable gifts as well as many traditional gifts.  It's pretty, protective and displays my gifts beautifully.  Best places to find cellophane wrapping include: Michaels.com, Target, Amazon.com and World Market.  I also am a fan of using the clear cellophane treat bags for baked goods.  
• Ribbon-  I am a HUGE believer in saving nice ribbon that I receive on gifts.  My heart breaks a little each time I see to see perfectly good ribbon that could most definitely be used again, get thrown in the trash.  However, collecting ribbon doesn't guarantee that you will have the right colors available to you when you are say, wrapping Valentine's Day treat bags.  I went to World Market for the Pink Grosgrain Ribbon.  Purple and white grosgrain ribbons can be found on amazon.com or at Michaels. 
• Gift Tags- I used different types of tags for these little gifts.  On the takeout boxes I found these adorable chalkboard sticker hearts at Target.  Target has a second Chalkboard Sticker Heart with a red backing (also very cute!).  For the champagne bottle tags and other cookie bag tags, they were actually Home Goods finds, so I don't have a link to the exact tags.  However, I was able to find very similar tags to share with you from Target and Amazon. The best part about these tags is that they provided the perfect canvas for sticker decorating.  If you aren't up for buying tags that can only be used once a year, buy more neutral tags that you can adorn with festive stickers. (**Note- Metallic Sharpies and Chalkboard Pens are my recommendations for best writing utensils on these tags)

Valentine's Day Treat Ideas:

• Chocolates Wrapped in Metallic Foil- Valentine's Day is all about the chocolate.  These little hearts not only look great in a gift bag, they are delicious and the price point is what I'm talking about (I paid about $3 for 2 bags at Walgreens (or equivalent drug store).  You can also find these chocolates on Orientaltrading.com, Target and most Grocery Stores. 
• Popcorn- Love Angie's Boom Chicka Pop.  It comes in so many flavors and doesn't go stale immediately after opening (perfect for parsing out into small wrapped goodie bags).  
• Pressed Cookies-  I love my OXO Cookie Press.  Not only can I use this press year round (not just for Christmas anymore!), but it also comes with a mini recipe book (I made the chocolate and classic butter cookies for Valentines Day) AND each batch yields 50+ homemade cookies!  What's not to love about a homemade gift (especially when its cookies)?
• Mini Champagne Bottles (for ages 21+)-  This is the priciest part of my post, but a fun addition (so what the heck, why not!).  World Market sells an assortment of mini champagne bottles (in stores only).  I am also a fan of the Sofia Mini Champagnes and Pommery POP Rose Champagne Miniature.

I must say that I did feel somewhat like a Valentine's Day Goody Bag Factory while coming up with all of these different options.  It was fun, delicious and I definitely perfected my cellophane wrapping technique in the process (another great skill for my resume).  In all honesty, I really think that a homemade gift (even if the contents are store bought, adds a special touch.  Whenever someone makes that extra effort (even if its just adding stickers to a gift tag), it doesn't typically go unnoticed and gift recipients really do appreciate the additional thought associated with something homemade (at least thats how I feel, but I hope you do too!).  Happy Valentine's Day!