new year’s eve party hacks
Every year I’ve wanted to throw a Christmas party, but my ideals always get lost in the midst of the twins birthday, cookie making, and present buying – so this year we’ve decided to throw a New Year’s Eve Party. We will be celebrating East Coast style – since all our friends have little ones at home – meaning that we’ll call it a night slightly after 9pm! I’ve been excitingly planning out all the drinks, food, and decor – which is why this last in our 2013 series of Party Hack posts with Smirnoff has come at the perfect time.
New Years Eve is an event everyone wants to celebrate, but it can be a hard holiday to really go all out for – since most of us are spent from all the Christmas hoopla. It’s a perfect time for simple and stunning party hacks! The goal I have for all these ideas is that they can be done in under 10 minutes, and most of them with the left over supplies you have on hand. Making New Years Eve a bright and festive (and easy) party to remember.
No need for expensive drink markers when you can use colorful tinsel. Pick up a couple extra strands of this affordable tree decoration and wind different colors and different heights around each of your glasses. The result is a bright and pretty bar top where each guest will know which glass is yours.
The best part about colorful tinsel drink markers is that they are the perfect addition to fun and pretty drinks, like a Poinsettia Flurry. Here’s how to make one: 1.5 oz. SMIRNOFF® Fluffed Marshmallow Flavored Vodka, 2 oz. pomegranate juice, 1 oz. sparkling wine (optional). Combine the first two ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake thoroughly. Strain into a well-chilled martini glass. Top with the sparkling wine.
A second hack is to quickly make your drink display look brilliant, beautiful, and festive by topping each glass with sprinkles. Place a handful of sprinkles in one plate and a bit of water in another. Gently set down the glass in the water plate and then the sprinkles. Let dry for the pretty party look.
The sprinkle glasses are the perfect decor for a Snowday swirl. We adjusted Smirnoff’s yummy Peppermint Swirl recipe to include a snowball of ice cream in place of the half and half. It tastes great and is a fun way to present the winter drink. Here’s the basic recipe: 1 oz. SMIRNOFF® No. 21 Vodka, 1.5 oz Tonic Water, 1 snowball of moose track ice cream (or whatever type sounds lovely). Directions: Top the martini glass with sprinkles and pour in the Smirnoff, top with the Tonic Water and place snowball of ice cream over top of the drink to serve.
New Years would not be complete without festive party hats! I used our left over tinsel to create the fun New Years Eve crowns. To make them I bent floral wire into form, using one long piece and a couple others bent into different sized triangles. Continue reading
