Make Your Place the Best Place New Years Eve

Posted by admin

Not everyone has the opportunity to be in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. However, I contend that you can have just as much fun watching the ball drop in your warm family room, welcoming the New Year with champagne, sparkling grape juice for the kids, noise makers, and plenty of cheer with all of your loved ones. Here are some tips on making your home the best place to be for New Year’s Eve.

Setting the Mood
When I think of New Year’s and NYE parties, one word comes to mind: SPARKLES! Decorate the house in glittery decor sure to shine and help bring in the New Year. Of course, don’t forget to add yourself into this sparkle theme. Check out this DIY project so you know how to glitterize (no, that’s a real word); this technique can be applied to any decoration you want glittered. If you want to get young ones into the crafting, you can add a glitter mixture to travel size squeeze bottles so they can glitterize decorations sans mess.

Activities

Be sure to have plenty of fun New Years activities planned, especially since you’re planning to party all night! A craft table is a great idea for the kids: they could make their own noisemakers for midnight or countdown clock. I’m a huge advocate of board games. Some great party games include Apples to Apples, Telestrations, CatchPhrase, and Balderdash. A deck of cards is also a great idea for euchre tournaments or friendly games of poker. You can also conjure up some good playlists to keep your guests dancing. A Wii or Xbox Kinect is a great way to entertain both children and adults together, and karaoke is another way to provide hours of fun! Get creative — you’re celebrating a brand new year; that’s kind of a big deal!

Traditions
The great thing about New Year’s Eve is that it comes every year so why not make a tradition for your New Year’s Eve party? This could be as simple as having a little knick knack that you pass around each year to the loudest person at midnight. It will be a fun way to engage your guests and keep them coming back for more. It’s also fun to look into traditions from other cultures. A really fun tradition from Spain is to eat a grape with each bell strike of midnight. This is meant to bring prosperity for the New Year. This is referred to as “The twelve grapes of luck.”

Food
Finger foods are the way to go with parties. Not too expensive, not too messy, not too difficult to prepare. Make a dip. Get some fruits, veggies, crackers, and cheese and make sure your guests have plenty to munch on through the night. You could even make your party a pitch-in. A fun way to celebrate the upcoming year with pitch-ins is for each guest bring a different item depending on what season his or her birthday is in. For example, spring birthday people bring desserts, summer birthdays bring drinks, etc. Don’t forget to have champagne for midnight (or sparkling grape juice as a non-alcoholic option).

Party favors

People love gifts! Be sure your guests leave with something to remember what a great time they had at your party. Ideas include some sweet 2012 sunglasses, homemade hot cocoa mix, or even personalized luggage tags to wish your guests a year of many travels.