Butterbeer Jelly Shots

Oh. My. Goodness. 
These Butterbeer Jelly Shots may be coming along to join in the New Year's Eve festivities this year. Aren't they beautiful and festive!

These jelly shots are beautiful cut into simple cubes, with rainbow sugar on top, for a little sparkle. (Make sure to add the sugar just before serving – it’s a beautiful garnish, but melts quickly!) Or mount the cubes onto lollipop-style sticks for some added fun. Either way, these buttery-flavored jelly shots will be the hit of your New Year's Eve festivities! Here is the recipe from tablespoon.com:


Butterbeer Jelly Shots

Ingredients

• 1 cup creme soda
• 2 envelopes plain gelatin
• 1/3 cup vanilla vodka
• 2/3 cup butterscotch schnapps
• colored large crystal sugar, for garnish, if desired

Directions

1. Pour soda in a medium saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to soak for a minute or two.
2. 2eat over low heat, stirring constantly, until the gelatin is dissolved (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat.
3. Stir in the vodka and schnapps.
4. Pour into standard loaf pan (non-reactive metal or glass, approx. 9" x 5"). Refrigerate until fully set (about 3 hours).
5. To serve, cut into desired shapes.
6. Immediately before serving, dip in colored crystal sugar, for garnish, if desired.

** For a kid-friendly version, gell 2 cups of cream soda with a tablespoon or so of butterscotch syrup with 2 envelopes of plain gelatin. **

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Crafty New Year's Eve Decoration Ideas

Now that the hussel and bussel of the holidays is behind us, it's time to get ready to celebrate the New Year! Here are some fun and crafty New Year's Eve Decorating ideas to help you kick off 2012 in style.

I love this Countdown and Clock Decor idea from Fiskars.

To create the New Year's Clocks, make assorted accordion circles by cutting strips of cardstock one half the width of desired circle and using scoring blade in your rotary trimmer to score each half inch. Accordion-fold along scored lines and repeat with enough strips adhered together to form a circle. Hot glue at center. Add number stickers at the 3, 6, 9, and 12. To create clock hands, trim a 3" square of cardstock and punch one corner with the Romantique corner punch. Using your trimmer, cut from the opposite corner to the design without cutting through. Repeat on other side, trim off excess, and adhere to center of circle along with a shorter version. Hang with clear thread.

To create the Countdown Decor, collect 10 champagne or wine corks (can also be found in your local craft store) and cut a slit in the top of each one using a craft knife.  Print out the reverse outline of the numbers using Word Art in Microsoft Word onto assorted, colorful cardstocks. Cut out each letter using the retractable craft knife on a craft mat. Punch the numbers randomly with a star hand punch and insert into corks to complete.

Dress up your New Year's Eve Napkins with this crafty idea from Martha Stewart.

Wrap 2 foam balls with strung sequins, and thread 1/4-inch metallic ribbon through them using a tapestry needle; wrap the ribbon around the napkin, then tuck the smaller ball through to hold it in place. Sew sequins by hand along a runner’s hemstitching for a confetti effect.

Make these Giant Confetti Bags from Oh Happy Day to hand out just before the clock strikes midnight.

Visit Oh Happy Day for project details, here.

Add a little shimmer to your night with these Streamers from Martha Stewart.

Visit Martha Stewart, here, for project directions.

Fab Find: Minted New Year Cards on Sale

I came across this week's Fab Find while visiting a friend and fellow blogger's site, A Wedding Story. When I saw Beth's post about the 20% off sale that Minted is having right now on all of their beautiful holiday and New Year cards I knew that I had to share {thanks Beth!}. Yep, for those of you that didn't get around to sending out holiday cards this year, there is still time for you to make your mark!



Minted offers some fabulous photo card options. Check these out:







Stop by Minted now through January 10th to and recieve 20% off all of their New Year cards. No more excuses!

Champagne Cocktails

Here are 9 ways to "mix up" New Year's classic celebratory drink as you ring in the New Year, courtesy of Food Network.




* Always pour the mixers in first, then top off with Champagne to avoid fizzy overflow. *

Mimosa
This one's a brunch classic. Increase the flavor by using a 1:5 ratio of freshly-squeezed orange juice to Champagne. Then add a splash of triple sec.

Kir Royale
The fancy cousin to the made-with-white-wine Kir, the Kir Royale consists of a dash of creme de cassis (currant syrup), topped off with Champagne.

Bellini
Invented at Harry's Bar in Venice, the Bellini is best when made with ripe peaches. If peaches aren't in season, try creme de peche (peach syrup). Use a 1:4 ratio of syrup to prosecco.

Black Velvet
This is an easy and strangely delicious drink with a 4:1 ratio of Champagne to black Irish stout.

Death in the Afternoon
Traditionally made from absinthe, a spirit now illegal in the United States, in a 0.5:5 ratio to Champagne, you can probably substitute pastis or another anise-flavored liqueur.

Poinsettia
For a holiday brunch, make Poinsettias: a 1:4 ratio of triple sec to Champagne, with a splash of cranberry juice added for color.

Nelson's Blood
Named for the British Admiral George Nelson, this makes a great, if slightly morbidly-named, party drink. The recipe calls for a 5:1 ratio of Champagne to tawny Port.

Moving on to the slightly more complicated ones...

Classic Champagne Cocktail
Soak a sugar cube in bitters, drop it into a flute, fill the flute with Champagne and garnish with a twist of lemon. This classic drink dates back to at least the mid-19th century.

French 75
There are a number of French 75 recipes floating around; the only thing people agree on is that it's a serious drink with serious ramifications. Here's the classic: a splash of simple syrup, a bigger splash of lemon juice, an even bigger splash (about an ounce) of gin, topped off with a glassful of Champagne.

New Year's Eve: A Family Event

New Year's Eve is an exciting time for everyone to celebrate the year past and welcome the new year ahead. When I was a child New Year's Eve was always spent with my family. My mom would fix a fabulous "fancy" dinner for all of us to enjoy together and my brother and I would sip our sparkling cider while mom and dad enjoyed the bubbly stuff. We would spend the night together and most of us would make it to see the ball drop at midnight. Looking back, I am so appreciative that my parents included us in their plans on New Year's Eve. It left me with wonderful memories! Since my husband and I had our first child 7 years ago, our New Year's Eve celebrations have always included our children as well. This year we will be celebrating with some wonderful friends and neighbors AND all of the children. I can't wait and neither can the kids! Here are some ideas to help make your New Year's celebration as kid-friendly (and FUN) as possible!

What better way to get the party started than with a great Party Hat! Provide the kids with craft paper, sequence, stickers, markers, string, and any other fun supplies that could be used to create their own hat for the party. For directions on how to make this party hat and others, click here.

photo from Martha Stewart

Provide party guests with confetti and noisemakers to help celebrate when midnight arrives. Fill small glassine bags with confetti and use double-sided tape to attach a noisemaker to each bag and seal shut.

photo from Martha Stewart

While you're toasting the New Year with champagne, let kids celebrate with a Spanish custom: eating 12 grapes at midnight for good luck all year long. Fill a champagne flute for every child older than 3 with a dozen grapes; they can eat one for every chime as the clock strikes midnight.

photo from Martha Stewart

Keep the memories alive from your New Year's celebration by creating a photo booth for your guests. By hanging a festive backdrop and purchasing wooden numbers from the craft store (or even cut some out of card stock) to use as a prop, you can create a fun and simple way for your guests to look back and remember what a good time they had celebrating the New Year with their friends and family for years to come.

photo from Family Fun

Happy Celebrating!

{Celebrations at Home} Holiday-Glam Table

Want some great New Year's inspiraiton that can be reused throughout the year? One of my favorite party gals, Chris of Celebrations at Home, recently designed a beautifully versatile Holiday-Glam table for The Party Dress' Holiday Table Challange. Chris wanted her holiday design to be glamorous and neutral enough to translate into other celebrations throughout the year (anniversary, special birthday, small wedding). Isn't it great! I think that this table would be fabulous for a New Year's Eve party as well as many other special events throughout the year. I especially love the silver, black, and white color scheme that Chris used. So SHEEK!








Thanks for the inspiration Chirs. It is beautiful! You can see more of Chris' work at Celebrations at Home.

New Year's Wine Wraps and Labels

Better Homes and Gardens has some really cute {and FREE} printables for New Year's wine wraps and labels. Whether you are hosting a party or bringing some bubbly as a guest, these will help dress up your bottles for a New Year's celebration.

Countdown Wine Label

Midnight Clock Wine Label

Happy New Year! Wine Label

Visit Better Homes and Gardens here to download these printables and several others as well.