Spooky Halloween cocktail ideas

Halloween has traditionally been a childrens' holiday... or has it? More and more adults seem to find entertainment in dressing up, heading out and enjoying festivities while in costume. Alizé Liqueur has developed some seriously sinful vodka-based drink concoctions for your Halloween party or as a treat for yourself after the kids have circled the neighborhood and gone to bed.

From Devil’s Punch to the Mad Scientist Sangria, Alizé offers a drink fit to be enjoyed by every ghoul and ghost. Muah ha ha. Here are some of our favorites...

Devil’s Punch: sweet and tangy with a punch of citrus
2 ounces Alizé Gold Passion
2 ounces Bacardi Limon
Splash of Canton Ginger Liqueur
Splash of Cranberry juice
Splash of Lime juice
Splash of Ginger ale

Passion & ‘Pagne: simple and oh-so-yummy
3 ounces Alizé Red Passion
3 ounces Taittinger Champagne
Serve chilled in a champagne glass.

Mad Scientist Sangria: we recommend adding berries and watermelon
1 ounces Alizé Red Passion
1 ounces red wine
Chill Alizé Red Passion and red wine. Just before serving add 1 part ginger ale. Serve in a wine glass and garnish with a slice of apple or orange.

Vampire Kiss Martini: WARNING, these are addictive!
1 ½ ounces Alizé Red Passion
1 ounces Alizé Gold Passion
1 ounces premium vodka
Top with lemonade and serve in a martini glass.

Embellish your stemware with fake spiders or flies and garnish your drinks with black sanding sugar for an extra spooky effect.

You're now ready for your Halloween party! Offer guests the cocktail of their choice as they arrive and prepare for a night of mayhem and mischief. Enjoy!

Katie's 30th Birthday

This weekend was full of celebration with a 30th birthday party on Saturday and Independence Day on Sunday. Katie turns 30 today and we helped her husband create a fun, relaxing birthday party for her.

The request was for a simple party that was "not over the top" with a theme but still created a fun atmosphere. Since Katie was born in 1980 we went with an 80's style party and added just a few touches from the decade.

Photos of Katie in the 80's greeted guests at the door and continued throughout the house. The only other themed decorations we chose were a string of neon cassette tapes adorning the kitchen area and small puzzle games for guests to work on and take home as favors.

Katie's husband barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers for guests and we set up a nacho bar in the dining room. The cake was made in the shape of a boom box by the incredibly talented Frosted Cake Shop. It was almost too cute to cut!

80's music played both inside and out, and while they mingled, we asked party goers to write down birthday wishes for Katie that we'll use to create a memory book for Katie.

Each guest's "wishes" to the birthday girl will be matched to a picture of Katie with that friend or family member. Guests were not required to dress up, but the ones who did had a great time with it.

Katie, thank you for letting us be part of your birthday. We hope the next 30 years are even greater than the last!

Inspiration Board: Jillian's College Party Housewarming

When you think "college" you can't help but think of red cups, keg stands and needing quarters to do laundry-- at least that was our experience! For Jillian's housewarming we've come up with a fun, festive college-feel for food, decor, and even games.

Here are a few thoughts to inspire and get you in the mood to party: kegs, chips, Animal House, beer pong, Jell-o shooters, quarters, Top Ramen and Tylenol. Lots and lots of Tylenol.

Image credits clockwise from left: Jell-o shots, Animal House, bunting, Doritos, quarters, beer pong, Top Ramen, chalkboard, keg

Melanie's Housewarming

This weekend we celebrated Melanie's new home! Friends and family helped christen the new house and we were thrilled to get to be a part of the party.

As guests entered the home they got to see "before" pictures of the rooms when Melanie purchased the home. She replaced flooring, painted, added baseboards and more. Having the "before" pictures there helped highlight the hard work Melanie put into the home.

As part of our Burlap and Barbecue inspiration we had custom burlap banners made for Melanie's entry way and mantle.

We do our best to use decor that is functional after the party and Melanie will be able to use these as decor in the future.

To brighten up the kitchen and draw attention to the food, we lined the large kitchen window with vases of sunflowers. Each vase was wrapped in burlap and secured by twine.

The menu included fruit skewers, Caprese sticks, Swedish meatballs, grilled pineapple and grilled chicken.

Of course we couldn't forget something sweet. These chocolate dipped marshmallows with graham crackers went fast!

Melanie's kitchen island served as a drink station, dressed with a burlap table runner and loaded with Mexican sangria, sparkling lemonade and a variety of Hansen's sodas. We used pineapple wedges to garnish the glasses.

Frisbees, soccer balls and foot balls were available outside for guests to enjoy the yard and it was a perfectly beautiful afternoon! Melanie's friends and family enjoyed themselves so much in fact, that the party lasted long after the time scheduled on the invitation.

Melanie, we are so honored we could share in the "warming" of your new house. We hope you have many, many years of happy memories there to come!

Inspiration Board: Melanie's Housewarming

Image credits, clockwise from top:
Burlap banner via Etsy

Chicken skewers

Wreath found at Tatertots and Jello

Burlap votive

Caprese skewers

Favors

Drinks with skewer garnish by Country Living

Invitations from Paper Style

Moving into a new home can be stressful, exhausting, exciting, and overwhelming-- all at the same time. After all the painting, remodeling, landscaping, decorating and unpacking is done, it's time to celebrate! Melanie has done so much work on her new home so it was important to us that her housewarming be simple, laid back and FUN.

To encourage guests to explore the home and yard with hands (relatively) free, appetizers on skewers is a must. We also want to highlight the home and decor instead of detract from it with party decorations, so burlap accents for this celebration are perfect.

We are so excited to be a part of this new chapter in Melanie's life and can't wait to PARTY!

Yuliya + Alex

Last Saturday was Yuliya and Alex's wedding in Carmichael, California. The ceremony and reception were both held at Carmichael Presbyterian Church, a gorgeous and quaint mission-style church. The image below is from the rear of the venue as guests arrived.

Carmichael Presbyterian is full of beautiful architectural details and (once the rain clouds cleared out) Yuliya and Alex had plenty of pretty places to take pictures.

These are just a few shots from the reception. When we get the professional photos from the photographer we will certainly share them. The image on the left is the guest view of the head table as they entered the reception hall. To the right were place cards hand written by the bride.

Yuliya's colors were bubble gum pink, chocolate brown and champagne so we used shimmery champagne linens throughout the room accented by chocolate brown napkins and chocolate brown ribbon on the centerpieces.

The bride and groom arranged for the caterer to have hor d'oeuvres placed on the tables before guests arrived so centerpieces needed to take up minimal space. Budding twigs combined with pink gerbera daisies in simple glass cylinders were perfect. A hint of winter combined with the promise of spring!

We took advantage of the high ceilings in the auditorium and secured giant, 36" balloons to the tables. Suspended at varying heights, the balloons provided visual interest, carried in the accent color and added a whimsical and fun feel to the reception.

While Yuliya was set on using pink gerbera daisies for boutonniers, corsages and centerpieces, she knew she wanted pink roses for her bouquet and her bridesmaids' bouquets.

We used delicate baby pink Peckoubo roses for Yuliya's bouquest, the three bridesmaid bouquets and Alex's boutonnier. Simple and stunning. As was Yuliya's dress, which we can't WAIT to show you when we get the professional photographs!

Thank you Yuliya and Alex, for allowing us to be a part of your beautiful celebration. Congratulations!

Feature Friday: The Roseville Utility Exploration Center

Today's Feature Friday brings you a fantastic venue that is perfect for a childrens party or baby shower: the Roseville Utility Exploration Center. Situated next to the Martha Riley Community Library and within the Roseville Sports Complex, the Center is "an environmental learning center focused on bringing visitors information on protecting natural resources in a fun, engaging way."

*Quote and all photos courtesy of the Roseville Community Exploration Center*

It is the mission of the Roseville Utility Exploration Center to promote a healthy environment by encouraging individual actions for a sustainable future. Topics covered include energy efficiency, renewable technology, water conservation and recycling.

The Roseville Utility Exploration Center was the perfect venue for Mason's Birthday "On the Green" in keeping with our commitment to making the event environmentally responsible. When we originally scheduled the room we reserved three and a half hours at a rate of $60 per hour. The party ended up running over by an hour and they didn't charge us any extra fees! While that was great in and of itself, what we were most impressed by was the impeccable service the Supervisor, Bob Garrison, offered.

From the moment we arrived, Bob asked what he could help with. He helped set up tables and chairs, instructed us on how to use the technology, brought pitchers for drinks, and provided ice and a jug for water. He offered a selection of movies to show and reassured us that his office door would be open should we need anything. Bob stayed visible until party guests arrived and then retreated to his office, still available if we needed anything.

The room itself was clean, bright and spacious with a functioning sink and ample counter space. One entire wall consists of windows, which allowed for light to flood in even on a cloudy and rainy day. Although not pictured, the room also had a large white board we were able to use-- children enjoyed drawing and writing messages to the birthday boy.

We will definitely utilize the Roseville Utility Exploration Center in the future and highly recommend the venue to others. For more information or to book the Center check out their website or call 916.746.1550.