{Recipes} -- Pomegranate Tea Fizz

Pomegranate Tea Fizz (adapted from Southern Living)

Ingredients:
8 regular size Celestial Seasonings Morroccan Red Tea bags
4 cups of water
1/4 cups of honey
1/2 cups of sugar
1 (2 litre) bottle of ginger ale, chilled

Steep tea bags in 4 cups of boiling water.  Add honey and sugar, until dissolved.  Let tea cool.  Combine tea mixture and ginger ale.  Serve chilled or over ice.  Add a splash of vodka for a grown up version of the drink.

{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Sparkly Snowflake New Year's Party -- Tablescape and Drinks

Earlier today, I posted about the mini dessert table from this Sparkly Snowflake New Year's Party, HERE.  This post will focus on the dinner table and drinks for the party.  The pale pink, red, silver and snowflake theme was also repeated for the dinner table and drinks. 



A pale pink, ruffled, seersucker (a southerner's favorite) table runner was used down the middle of the table.  A red poinsettia served as the centerpiece, flanked by mercury glass trees.  Red and silver balls in silver bowls and mercury glass votive holders were scattered on the table.  The snowflake napkins were tied with a pale pink ribbon.  I hung a crystal and pearl adorned ornament from the chandelier, over the table.  This ornament has always reminded me of the New York City ball that drops at midnight, each year. 

For dinner, I adapted a menu from the December Southern Living Magazine -- Herb Salad with Pomegranate Dressing, Fig and Balsamic Glazed Turkey, Roasted Green Beans, Mushroom and Cheese Ravioli, and Artisan Bread.  The signature drink for the evening was Pomegranate Tea Fizz, which is delicious with a splash for vodka for those who want to ring in the New Year with a cocktail!

Vendor:

Snowflake Napkins -- Pomegranate, Inc.

The printable collection is available in my Etsy Shop for just $10.  It includes all the printables seen here, on the dessert table, plus a few extras! 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's and much peace, love and joy in 2012!

{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Sparkly Snowflake New Year's Party - Dessert Table

New Year's Eve is just a few days away.  I don't know about you, but I am not quite ready to take down my Christmas decorations.  So, I wanted to plan a New Year's Eve party that would fit in with, not compete with, my Christmas decorations.  This snowflake themed New Year's Eve party was the solution because it doesn't look out of place with all my Christmas decorations.

Dessert Table Details:

I set up this mini dessert table for a small, intimate New Year's Eve gathering.  The decorations started with a pale pink, red, and silver printables, that are now available in my Etsy Shop for $10.  The snowflakes on the printables were repeated throughout the table.  Snowflake items are easy to find this time of year and can be used in winter decorating and entertaining, long past Christmas.  The snowflakes on the backdrop of the table were clear and purchased from the Dollar Store.  A quick coat of white paint and they were ready to hang on the wall.  The snowflake garland was purchased from Michaels Craft Store last year, but had never been used. 

Desserts for the party included:  Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes (topped with cupcake toppers or with piped chocolate snowflakes), White Chocolate Oreo Pops, Dark Chocolate Oreo Pops, Snowflake Sugar Cookies, Peppermint Marshmallows and Cotton Candy.  I made all of the desserts (with a little help from my mini-assistant, Mira), except the cheesecake. 

The party circles, food label cards, patterned paper used on the tree stand, and oreo pop flags used on the table are all part of the 2012 Snowflake New Year's Party Collection.  It also includes an invitation, candy bar wrapper, and banner. 


You can purchase the collection for $10, HERE.  I will post about the dinner table and drinks, later today. 

Vendor Credits:
Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake -- The Cheesecake Factory
Ruffled Cake Plates -- Pier 1

{Recipes} -- Holiday Milk Punch

Yesterday, I posted a Christmas tablescape by decorator Eddie Ross, HERE.  Today, I have a Milk Punch Recipe by another one of my favorite interior decorating bloggers, James Snowden, over at the The New Victorian Ruralist.  In addition to providing gorgeous eye candy on his blog, Mr. Snowden owns the Finderskeepers Market in Lexington, Ky.  His recipe for Milk Punch was recently featured in the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper. It would be a delicious drink for your holiday parties. 




You can check out his recipe for an adult version of this classic childhood favorite, HERE.

Christmas Table Inspiration from Eddie Ross

One of my favorite decorating and party design blogs is the eponymous Eddie Ross Design Blog.   I am still planning the table decorations for our Christmas dinner on Sunday with my husband's family.  I decided to go with a color scheme of pale pink, red, white and silver, this year.  I found this gorgeous Holiday Table Setting from Eddie Ross, that will provide some inspiration for my table.  I love the light, bright color scheme, gorgeous patterned tablecloth, and silver glass accents. 



{New to the Shop} -- Vintage Red Truck Printable Party Collection

I have recently had some requests for the Vintage Red Truck Printables, without the Christmas trees.  So, I have decided to offer a Vintage Red Truck Printable Party Collection in my Etsy Store, HERE.  This party collection would be perfect for a little boy's birthday party or for a baby shower. 

The Collection includes the following:

1. 5x7 Invitation red truck design, blank (may be personalized for an additional fee)
2. 5" Square Party Banner, customizable with your child's name
3. 2" Party Circles: Vintage Red Truck Silhoutte, Name, Age
4. 3.5" Thank You Tags (please provide text)
5. Fancy Labels/Placecards, blank
6. Candy Bar Wrappers, 2 designs (please provide text)
7. Drink Flags, with child's name
8. 6" Party Circle with child's name (may be used for shirt decal, as a cake topper, etc.)
9. Patterned Paper

It can be purchased HERE for only $25.

{Fabulous Customers} -- Milk & Cookies Christmas Play Date Party & New to the Shop

My kids are already counting down to the start of their holiday break, next week.  Are you looking for something fun to keep your kids occupied while they are out of school?  If so, this next party is just for you!  One of my fabulous customers, Andrea, used my Christmas Milk & Cookies Collection for this seriously adorable play date party. 

Party Details:

Andrea invited the little ones in her son's playgroup over, asking the moms to dress the kids in their pajamas.  What a fun idea for a morning play date!  The setting for the party was Andrea's gorgeous kitchen. 

The kids snacked on homemade sugar cookies, white chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate doughnut Rudolphs, white chocolate pretzels, fruit salad and milk.  Andrea made all of the snacks.  I especially love the cute Rudolphs -- an easy treat that is sure to delight the kids.  Putting the fruit salad in little canisters, for individual servings, is a great idea.  Andrea ordered the striped straws and milk bottles from The Sugar Diva. 

Andrea added a rustic touch to her modern kitchen with the decor for this party.  She used butcher paper to cover the table, which the kids were able to color on during the party.  She also used upholstery webbing around the cookie jar and favor jars.  Upholstery webbing is an inexpensive trim that can be found at any fabric store.  The red stripe makes it perfect for Christmas decorating. 

Each kid was sent home with a mason jar of gingerbread play dough that Andrea made.  You can find a recipe for gingerbread playdough HERE.  Fabulous job with this party, Andrea!  Thank you for sharing it with us all!

If you're interested in hosting your own Milk & Cookies Party, you can purchase the Printable Party Collection, HERE for just $15.  Plus, the party colors can be changed if you want to host a Milk & Cookies party, after Christmas. 

More Cookies!

It's been more than a week since my last Christmas Cookie post.  Sorry to keep you waiting for some more cookie inspiration!  Here are a few more great looking cookies from my fellow Kentucky Food Bloggers:



Biscotti Regina from My McDonald Meal

Holiday Nog Cookies from A Healthy Passion

Peppemint Meringue Drops from Urban Sacred Garden

Ischler Cookies from Gourmandistan

{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Vintage Red Truck Christmas Toy Drive

We recently hosted a toy drive party for some of my son's friends to kick off the Christmas season.  We have hosted cookie swap and gift exchange parties in the past, but this year we wanted to do something to give back to others in our community.  The invitation we sent asked that each child bring an unwrapped toy, which was donated to our local firemen's toy drive. It was a great way to get the kids together, but also teach them that it's our responsibility to take care of others in our community. 

Party Details:

Decorations: The party decor started with the vintage red truck image I created for the printables.  Although the red truck image had a vintage feel, the pattern on the printables also gave the party a modern vibe.  I found two vintage coca cola crates that were used to hold favors and as a mini-cupcake display on the dessert table.  Two vintage red toy trucks were used on the shelves above the desserts, one which held our Elf on the Shelf, Freddy.  My daughter, son, and I made the mason jar snow globes, which we also gave to their teachers as part of their Christmas gifts.  It was an easy, fun DIY project that had a vintage feel, which even little hands could help make.  Two of my favorite vintage items from the party were the large, wire mason jars that held the bubble gum and the lace apron I wore.  These items were given to me by my 101 year-old great grandmother.  The apron was handmade by her, decades ago. 

The truck theme was also reflected in the wreath on the shelves above the dessert table.  I made it using a black leather steering wheel cover.  The flower on it was made out of coffee filters and a blind spot mirror. The food labels on the dessert table were held up using valve caps & sleeves.  Also, at the end of the party, each family was given a vintage truck ornament to take home.  My son's shirt was made using a 6 inch iron on decal of the Red Vintage Truck image.  My daughter's outfit came from Bella Bliss.

The red truck theme and printables could also work well for a little boy's birthday party or boy's baby shower. 

Food: The mini red velvet cupcakes that were topped with sugared cranberries were the perfect size for the coca cola crate.  The sweet tire wreaths were made using chocolate covered donuts with red ribbons made out of chocolate.  Those were a huge hit with the kids!  I also made red velevt trifles and the oreo truffle cake pops.  The sugar cookie trees were inspired by the trees on the printables.  The idea for the cookies came from similar gingerbread cookies made by Martha Stewart.  Guests were also sent home with mini coca colas and cinnamon roll push-up pops. 
You can host your own Red Truck Christmas party with FREE printables that can be found HERE.