Blog Swap- Cocktail Night In by Cher at Love, Actually blog

I'm excited to welcome back Cher to my blog for this blog swap. She has wonderful date ideas for you and that very special person in your life.
Hello, again! It's been a few weeks since I was here last...and I'm glad to be back! I hope you've taken the time to stop by my little blog, Love Actually. If not, come on over. You're welcome anytime! Okay, on to today's idea...

~~~

Did any of you happen to watch "Four Christmases"? If not, allow me to explain why it's pertinent to this post. The opening scene of the movie shows a guy and girl meeting at a bar for the first time. He's apparently hitting on her and she's not interested... Soon after, however, sparks begin to fly and a make-out session goes into high-gear! What's funny is that we later find out that these two strangers are actually a couple! They came to the bar that night with alternate personalities to "meet" again for the first time....what a way to spice things up! It was a hoot to watch...I'm sure it'd be even better in real life!

So, in lieu of this brilliant roleplay, I've created a late-night date idea that allows you and your spouse to kick back and enjoy a drink...notice that I said nothing about a bar!

Invite your spouse "in" for cocktails....or "mocktails" in my case. (alcohol-free).

-Have your kitchen cleaned up and use your table or countertop as your bar. (or if it's nice outside, use your patio or deck)

-Prepare some drinks (great recipes below..or Sparkling Cider is easier, faster, and probably cheaper!) (the drinks look really convincing with grapes or olives on a toothpick, or limes on the side of the glass)
-Get some cheap martini or wine glasses ($ store)
-Put some cut cheese and crackers on a little tray
-Dress up just a little...throw on some lipstick, ladies!
-
Get your act together... (pretend you don't know him/her, and they'll soon catch on and play along)
- "Do you come here often?"
- "Have I met you before? You look so familiar."
- Use some cheesy pickup lines (if it gets you both laughing, I'd be one happy blogger!)
- Make up interesting things about your "other" self (again, the movie provides excellent examples--I recommend watching it first!)

I designed these fun invites that you could give them that morning, when they get home from work/school, or just an hour before! Whatever works best.

Download Blue/White Invite HERE

Download Brown/Green Invite HERE

If you don't want to do the whole "alter ego" thing, then use this as a break from work, school, or the kids. Promise to only talk about each other, your love, but not all the stresses that have you down!

Here are some recipes (with my personal stamp of taste approval!) if you choose to make your own drinks:

Jingle Mingle- 3 parties in 1!!!

What is a Jingle Mingle? Well… that could be up for interpretation. Usually it is a party hosted by one couple for a few other couples to celebrate the Holiday season. Sometimes it means a sit down dinner, but usually it is more of an after-dinner get-together with appetizers and drinks. As the wanna-be dinner party guru that I am, it has to be something fun and festive with lots of atmosphere! For my December blog swap with Cher at Love Actually blog I have created 3 variations on a Jingle Mingle (and included 3 different invites that you can download, print and send out!!!). Also included are printable accessories to make your table look great!
For this party you first need to decide which invitation to send out. (all links in red)
Invite #1- an invitation for a ‘Jingle Mingle- A dinner with friends’

Invite #2- an invitation for a ‘Jingle Mingle- Appetizer Bar, games and gift exchange’

Invite #3- an invitation for a ‘Jingle Mingle- Christmas Cookie Exchange… Please bring ____ dozen cookies to exchange’ (and if you want to be traditional you can do this as a girls night, but this blog is all about including our men so… try it with the husbands)

Now that you have decided which of these 3 fun parties to host the hard part is over! On to the fun part of planning…..


Invites:
Download the invite and print as a 5x7 photo (.39 at Costco). Use a Sharpie fine point permanent marker to write party information onto the invitation. If it is going to be a potluck dinner party make a note at the bottom asking each to ‘Please bring a __________ to share’ (main dish, appetizer, side dish, dessert)


Décor:
It’s Christmas time so you should have your house already decked out for the holidays. Very little extra is needed. For a dinner use linen tablecloths and napkins, or at least attractive holiday patterned paper (not plastic) tablecloths. On the buffet put some garlands or poinsettias or those extra decorations that you have in storage. Burn a Christmas candle and play some soft instrumental or easy listening Christmas music. For the Cookie Exchange go a little more casual and crank up the Christmas music!!!!


RSVP:
Make a quick call to those that you haven’t heard from to verify if they are coming. In our culture RSVP seems to be optional to many (Having a guest count is crucial to party planning.) Tell them that you are wanting to make sure to have enough of everything. Too many desserts and only one main dish could be very bad! I know because that happened to me at one of my first parties.


Gift Exchange:
Make sure that you write on the invite that each person (or couple) needs to bring a gift valued at $5 or $10. Have a couple extras on hand for the person that will forget.


Cookie Exchange: This can be a lot of fun with couples! I have had 12 couples attend with each bringing 5 dozen. We just did quick math to figure out that each couple’s plate would get 4 of each variety with one dozen left on the bar after the exchange for all couples to dig into and sample and drink yummy Wassail or Red Christmas punch. Because December is a busy month only 70-80% of those you invite to come may be able to come, so invite a few extra so that you get the number of couples you want to come. As the host you provide the drinks and the trays for the couples to take the cookies home on. One thought- Since most of the guests (the women) will have been baking that day they may be in the mood for appetizers, rather than more sweets. Instead of eating cookies at the party you could have an appetizer bar with drinks. Some inexpensive appetizers include- Bruschetta, Bacon wrapped waterchestnuts, chips and dip, veggie tray, pizza or bagel bites, and soup in a crockpot. If you don’t want to provide all of them be sure and make a note on the bottom of the invite that they need to also bring an appetizer to share.


Games: See below-


My Craziest/Worst Present Ever- Have guests write the craziest/worst present they ever received on a piece of paper. Don’t share with others what you are writing (not even your husband). Turn them in to the host who will then read them aloud and have all guests guess aloud who they think each present belonged to. This always ends up causing lots of laughs and some fun embarrassment. If there isn’t a lot of time have each person take a turn telling everyone what that gift was. (example- A magazine subscription to Weight Watchers from my mother-in-law)


Family Traditions Truth and Lies- Like the game 2 truths and a lie. Have everyone tell EITHER 2 real traditions and 1 fake tradition and have them guess which tradition is a phony….. or 2 fakes and 1 REAL tradition and have them guess the REAL one. Guests can either write them down on a paper putting their name on the paper to be read aloud… or go around in a circle and let each couple share them on their own trying to disguise the answer. This can be a riot and so tricky!!!


Example- If we were playing the 2 Real Traditions and 1 Fake Tradition version… I would write:


1. We wake up to open presents every year before the sun rises.
2. We give our kids a gift that starts with the first letter of their name to open on Christmas Eve.
3. We don’t have stockings, we set out shoes instead for Santa to fill. It’s a Mexican tradition.
The fake tradition is #2


If I Were A Christmas Cookie- Let each person take a turn telling everyone which type of Christmas cookie they would be and WHY! Or which cookie they think their spouse would be and why!(this would be especially fun at the Cookie Exchange party) Example- My husband would be a Mexican Wedding Cookie because he is the palest guy I know with a cute round gut, a little bit nutty…. But so sweet.


Christmas Memories- This isn’t really a game, but is a more organized way to encourage conversation. Each person takes a turn sharing a favorite funny Christmas memory.


Downloads:

For the menu download print it onto 5x7 photo paper (use a Sharpie to write menu on it as it is glossy) or print onto cardstock. Place it next to each placesetting for guests... or lay it across each plate.
 

For the placecard it works really well if you download the design here and then upload it to Costco or Walmart.com and have printed as wallets. The size is perfect as a wallet and the quality is exceptional. Use a Sharpie to write each guests name on it. You could stand it up next to their water glass, or using a pop dot you can attach to an ornament and have next to guests plates.

Party Favor Idea:
The recipe cards below can be used for the cookie exchange as a party favor. You can make a recipe book by downloading the recipe cards and printing on matte paper, punch two holes on the left side and make a booklet with ribbon or small metal rings. You could also use the recipe cards as a way to label the different appetizers or cookies. Print off the cards below as wallets. Attach them to kabob sticks, toothpicks, coffee stirrers or whatever you can find. Have guests write the name of their dish on the recipe card with a short description, if necessary and stick into the appetizer or dish. See below a sample. (to upload the recipe cards click on the red link for each) 

Green Recipe with Red Ornament

Black Ornament Recipe Card

Black Gingham Recipe Card

Blue Snowflake Recipe Card

Colorful Snowflake Recipe Card

Candy Stripe Recipe Card

Blue Gingham Tree Recipe Card

New Moon Dessert - Cupcake Toppers

Don't you love this great dessert idea?
I sure do! Tonight I stayed up late working on this download of quotes for you. I had a lot of fun picking out 8 of my favorite quotes. (Just wait till Eclipse! I'll have double or triple the amount of quotes for that one!)
I created cupcake topper quotes that only require printing (I recommend through Costco or Walmart on an 8x10 because of the amount of red ink!), cutting out and sticking into the prongs. The first two quotes are from Edward using the Edward font (Be Safe), the next two quotes are from Bella using her font from the books (Pablo), then two quotes from Jacob, his font is Almagro and the final two are from Alice her font is (joeHand2). I hope you enjoy them. Download them here. Please let me know if you like these downloads that I have created. The more encouraging comments that I recieve, the more I desire to create them.

New Moon printable quotes- 4 8x10 and 10 5x7 quotes

New Moon Printables!!!! For your New Moon tables. Go Here. Thank you Hostess with the Mostess for creating these!!