Apartment Blog

So this year you want to host a fun green filled St. Patrick’s Day party, huh? Well, follow these tips and you’re sure to not disappoint!

Tip 1: Invitations
As always, we start our hosting parties with letting the guest list know who, what, where, when, etc. These invitations can be hand crafted, store bought or emailed! Chose whichever suits the party you’re throwing or guests attending. Regardless of the medium chosen, have the St. Patrick’s Day theme clear with lots of green, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc. Think of clever phrases or jokes to get a rise out of the receiver, such as: ‘Knock Knock, who’s there, Irish, Irish who?, Irish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!’ Ha ha ha!!

Tip 2: Decorations
Think green and silly when it comes to decorations for your party! Shamrocks and leprechauns are a must on the walls and windows. Take a look at our St. Patrick’s Day Crafts blog for ideas on how to create some of your decorations or go with store bought ones. I always advise using balloons as I think they scream party! But additional decorations would be needed on the buffet table such as green table cloth, napkins, cups, confetti, centerpieces, etc. Also make attire a decorative element by having everyone wear green and leprechaun hats!

Tip 3: Food & Drinks
Keep the green theme going with your food too! You can have green cookies, green M&M’s, chips with guacamole, fruit that’s green, green beverages, etc. Let your imagination run wild! And if you can’t think of enough foods that are green, you can always use food coloring! The obvious drink choice for a St. Patrick’s Day party is beer. Traditional Irish beers, such as Guinness or Murphy’s Irish Red Ale, would be served. If your party does have alcohol please be responsible for all your guests. Have someone as the designated driver for those that drink or offer guests to stay the night.

Tip 4: Entertainment
A must in every party is to have entertainment for your guests. You can have contests such as a limerick contest, St. Patrick’s Day games or just music or videos playing in background for noise. A suggestion would be having the music/movie coordinate with the theme, i.e. St. Patrick’s Day party having Irish music or one of the Top 10 St. Patrick’s Day Movies playing on your T.V. Either way, you’ve got to have something fun and interactive so your guests won’t be bored!

With these four tips your St. Patrick’s Day party should be a blast! Your guests will have a smashing time and you’ll be regarded as the best host! Enjoy!

Source: ehow.com

Are you throwing a Valentine’s theme party this year? Do you need some ideas? Check out our five tips for throwing an awesome bash this year!

Tip 1: Invitations

Depending on the formality of your party, you can choose official invitations, emailed invitations or just verbally announce. Either way you choose, make sure it’s using the holiday colors and verbiage (lots of LOVE) while also setting the tone for the party.

Tip 2: Décor

Obviously you’ll want to stick somewhat to the color scheme of Valentines, like red, white and pink. Incorporate these colors in many of the decorations to give your party a truly lovely look. You might want to think about streamers, plates, napkins, cups, table cloth and of course the party staple balloons! And as I mentioned in our ‘cheap decorations’ blog, you can always make a lot of your decorations by using construction paper, colored plates cut out in the shape of hearts, or print out images on your computer. It’ll add just a bit more flair while not depleting your funds!

Tips 3: Food/Beverages

This is where a lot of your budget is going to be spent. You could do the usual finger foods for the party, i.e. chips, dips, wings, etc. Or you could do a dessert buffet! Give your guests all the treats they can take! J For beverages you can have the normal soda, water, etc. Or you can have a theme drink like ‘lovers punch’ or something of that nature.

Tip 4: Entertainment

You’ll want your guests to be entertained during your party. So make sure there are plenty of fun games for everyone to be involved in, music for the background and/or dancing as well as crafts for any children involved or adults that particularly enjoy it! But if you’re having an informal gathering where everyone knows everyone, then it may not be necessary to do all this. Just let everyone mingle!

Tip 5: Gifts

If you are going to be doing games, make sure there is a prize for each of the winners. You could also do door prizes or a gift exchange. And don’t forget little party favors as a thank you for the guests attending.

Did these ideas help? Will you incorporate them in your Valentine’s Party? I sure hope so!

You want to host a Super Bowl party with all your friends and/or family, but have to watch what you spend? Food/drinks is obviously going to be a larger expensive, rightfully so, but how can you have a bit of décor to your themed party when you’re on a budget? Well, here’s a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Make Your Own Football! This is a really cute and neat idea. Just take some paper plates, cut them into shapes of footballs and decorate them (i.e. color them brown w/white threads or in the colors of the football teams playing that day). You could even hole punch them and string them up around the room like a banner!?!

2. Bake A Football Cake! Since you’re already going to be providing food (or maybe have a pot luck) make sure there is a football decorated cake. You can use food coloring for the icing and little sticks (or going really economical-matches) for the goal posts. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser, decoration centerpiece and a yummy surprise!

3. Styrofoam Bricks! These are really cute ideas for people to throw on the ground when the referee makes a bad call or their team gets scored on. Guaranteed to get some use!! Just go to your local arts and craft store and pick up a bunch of blocks. Get some spray paint (preferably the reddish/brown color of bricks) and paint away! Stack them up in the middle of your room, they’re bound to be discovered!

4. Balloons Galore! Balloons are a cheap and easy way to decorate your house for this party. Get a few bunches (probably not more than a dozen, which can cost you about $6 dollars) and strategically place them where the majority of your guests will be. They will make a big impact for not a lot of $$!

5. Paper Chains! Going back to your childhood days when you use to make decoration out of paper strips, staple them together in circles and build from there. It made a cute little chain that you could decorate the classroom with. Why not mimic that for your party? Sounds goofy, but for two packages of different colored paper (very inexpensive), you can cut them into five strips each and get a pretty decent size streamer around your room! Be creative and do one of the teams colors around the food and the other team’s colors around the T.V.

6. Use Your Computer! Have you found all sorts of neat graphics online that you’d like to use? If you have a color printer, why not use it! Print out some of these images and cut them out. Tape them on various surfaces around your apartment. It actually turns out quite nice (and really good for your budget)! Place them on the bathroom mirrors, the kitchen cabinets or on the fridge. It’s just a little bit of decorations everywhere without a lot of extra money coming out of your wallet!

7. Use The Dollar Store! I swear by this place to everyone! Seriously it’s amazing. Go here for your other items that you have to buy (i.e. paper plates, napkins, cups, utensils, table cloth, etc.). It’ll really save you money in the end and still be sufficient enough for your party! Other stores that are economical that might be in your area are: Dollar Tree, 39 cent store, Party City, etc.

Do you have anymore cheap ideas for decorations? Let us know! The more ideas you share, the more money in everyone’s pockets this Super Bowl Sunday (especially for any of you who have wagered on the game and might loose!!)

Christmas time brings a treasured tradition for me-Gift Wrapping. I just love to gift wrap presents (for Christmas as well as other holidays). But during the Christmas season is when I really get to strut my creativity.

In my house, I’m the gift wrapper. I even wrap my own gifts from other family members (taped securely of course). Something about taking a plain box and wrapping it in holiday colors/themes, adding some decorative elements and putting it under the Christmas tree gives me such joy! So I wanted to give all you last minute wrappers a game plan as there are only a few more days till Christmas!!

Okay, so in order for you to wrap the most amount of gifts in a little amount of time you need to set up a gift wrapping station. Here’s what your station needs to have:

Wrapping paper

Now while I love to wrap gifts, I still have a budget so I rarely spend a whole bunch. I usually buy gift wrap at the Dollar Store or Target where I get great deals. Now for paper you have a variety of colors you can choose from. You could pick whatever colors your décor is, specific symbol or theme of Christmas you love (i.e. Santa or Snowmen), or choose metallic wrapping paper that are colors of the season. (Bonus: if you get plain red wrapping paper it can double as your Valentine’s Day wrapping paper too!)

Gift Bags

Plain, colored, with or without handles, gift bags are terrific for giving presents that don’t have to be in a box or that have multiple items. I usually purchase these at the Dollar Store as well because I am able to get two for a dollar (which if you go to many other retail shops they can be up to $3.99!) Plus, with a little bit of ribbon, you can dress up any bag to be festive! (Which brings me to the next items at your wrapping station….)

Ribbon

I usually use curling ribbon for my gifts because they are inexpensive and I can create a unique touch by using a variety of colors and curling the ends. But there are many other ribbons you can use to decorate the gifts you are wrapping, such as: Wired ribbon, silk ribbons and more! Whatever you like best, make sure you have a lot of on your station so you can add a little embellishment to your gifts.

Tissue Paper

When lining gift boxes or bags, cushioning delicate items or for actual wrapping paper, colorful tissue paper will add some holiday colors to your gifts. I also get these at the Dollar Store as many sheets of paper are…you guessed it…..a dollar. I can get a variety of colors depending on which will coordinate best with my wrapping paper. And buying a few bunches will last me well into the next year.

Tags

I like to splurge a little on the tags because I think of them as the final touch on the ‘masterpiece’. I have some that are little cards with envelops, some I create from scrape booking leftovers and others that are holiday stickers. The actual gift and the ornamentation will determine which tag I use. But these are a must on your wrapping table as they identify who the gift is for and who it is from.

So now that you have your essentials for decorating beautiful holiday gifts, here are a few more tools you’ll need to complete your wrapping station.

○ Scissors

○ Tape

○ Pens (have a variety of colors and/or metallic)

○ Baskets (should you have any gifts that need to go in Baskets)

○ Cellophane (for baskets, if needed)

As you scramble to wrap your holiday gifts this season, I hope these tips provide you with some organization to make the process a little less stressful! Happy wrapping!

How do you and your family celebrate for the holidays? Are there any traditions that you’ve always done or are you starting new ones? I’m still new to this whole ‘holiday on my own’ type thing, so here are some traditions that I’ve found (plus some that my family have always done).

When you think of Christmas, what is one thing you know you’ve got to have? Well, the Christmas tree of course. Traditions start around this significant symbol in many ways, from picking out the Christmas tree, having special memories of ornaments, to sitting around the tree opening gifts. So that’s where my traditions start. Usually, my family and I would go to one lot and pick out a tree. Each year we’d take turns as to who got to pick it out. However, the last two years (the start of my ‘on your own holiday’) I have put up my fake tree. My old traditions with my family have been replaced by new traditions. And as far as time frames, I always put the tree up after Thanksgiving!! I say, let one holiday pass before you start celebrating another! And another tradition that surrounds the Christmas tree for me is ornaments. Every year my boyfriend and I pick out a Grinch ornament for our tree, since ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas´ is our favorite Christmas movie. So we get at least one Grinch ornament every year. (Pretty soon our whole tree will be all Grinch ornaments!)

Other decorative Christmas things that I’ve found (and do) are advent calendars. At my parents place, the advent calendar was a blank Christmas tree and each day we’d open up the calendar door that contained a surprise ornament. The 24th of December was always the star of the tree. Another decorative element that can be a tradition in your home is the dinning room table; whether it’s holiday dishware, a centerpiece or table cloth. I’ve never had holiday dishware but centerpieces we’ve had. It was always a large candle with a berry & holly wreath wrapped around it.

An extraordinary holiday tradition that I want to get into the habit of is giving to the less fortunate. When I was in high school I did the Angel tree with our National Honor Society and since then I’ve only done it once. I’d like to get back into the habit of doing that and maybe even doing some volunteer work too. Christmas is after all about giving not receiving!

What other holiday traditions do you and your families do? Are there any you’d like to incorporate in the future? We’d love to hear your ideas!

You want to add a festive touch to your apartment, but what colors do you choose? It’ll depend on several factors as to what fits your apartment home the best. Here’s a list of some ideas for how to choose your holiday décor color scheme:

You can focus on the color schemes that your home already has. If your apartment has warm colors, go with gold or reds. If your apartment has cool colors, go with icy white and silver. And another idea is to take the colors that you already have in your home and use complementary holiday colors (i.e. red-green, purple-gold, etc.).

A piece of fabric is also a great way to bring in the holiday season/colors. If you’ve found a stunning table cloth, make it the focal point of your room, using colors that coordinate with that table cloth to bring out its beauty. Have those colors also follow throughout your home (like accent pillows and candles).

And an idea that I think is really cool is using holiday gift wrap as your inspiration. Use color schemes and motifs that you see in gift wrap and use it around the house. Like a candy cane red, green and white striped gift wrap being mimicked in your centerpiece of the dinning room table or the wreath on the door. Another nifty idea is to wrap picture frames that are all your walls like presents! You can create a masterpiece using left over gift wrap and ribbons. The possibilities are endless (and fun to create)!

Below are also some sample color schemes. These combinations are great for creating your personal holiday décor.

• red and green
• red and white
• all white
• any color and gold
• any color and white
• any color and silver
• white, blue, and silver
• ivory and brushed gold
• sage green, ivory, and pewter
• bright purple, blue, and green
• icy blue, lilac, and silver
• autumn tones of beige, brown, golden yellows, and rust
• forest green, burgundy, gold
• primary colors such as red, yellow and blue

Also remember that cooler colors tend to encourage people to eat less and won’t be mingling as much. So you may want to avoid using cooler colors in the dining room or eating area, and to opt for warmer colors like burgundy, purple, or red with gold accents in those spaces. In sitting areas, cooler colors are still okay, but again, adding a punch of color will help warm up the effect so it’ll have a unified look through your apartment.

I just love decorating for the holiday season. But if you’re like me, you don’t have a lot to spend on Christmas décor-given that most of your budget is dedicated to gift purchases and food. So here are a few quick and easy (plus cheap) tips to get your apartment festive for the holidays without spending lot of money.

1. Decorate your apartment with bows. You can put them on chairs at your dining room table, door knobs for the bathroom/bedrooms, wreaths, baskets, etc.

2. Create your own wreath. Last year I made my front door wreath and it only cost me $20. Most of the ones that I saw were at least $25 to $50!! I bought a medium sized artificial wreath, a pack of bows, red berries and holiday ribbon. I arranged them in a way that I liked and bam, I’ve got a wreath that’ll last me a few years!

3. Let there be light. Candles are a perfect way to add warmth to the chilly weather; you should definitely get some that smell like the holiday season! Remember to never leave a burning candle unattended and be sure to extinguish candles when you leave a room. If you have pets and small children and do not wish to have real candles then consider using battery-operated flameless candles.

4. Table décor is a must! Whether you have plates, bowls, cups with a festive motif or use a table cloth, be sure to decorate your table as it is the center of your feasts this month! For inexpensive centerpieces you can use candles, a bowl of fruit (preferably with the holiday colors, i.e. apples), nature (twigs, pinecones, leaves, etc.), fake snow and many other creative ideas.

5. Use ornaments in other places than your tree. Another idea I did last year for a Christmas party was use left over ornaments. I used them everywhere. I strung up various shapes and sizes of ornaments on ribbon and dangled them on my staircase. Another great idea is to place colorful ornaments in a hurricane lamp, ceramic bowl, and festive basket or on a large serving platter (This makes a great centerpiece).

6. Make edible centerpieces. Fill glass jars or hurricane lamps full of Christmas candy (like the green and red mints). Tie a ribbon around the top and place them anywhere in the apartment. Another candy idea that works well around the apartment is candy canes. You can put them on your tree, dinning room table centerpiece, in cocktails and more! Letting each guest pick a candy cane out of the centerpiece is a great way to say thank you at the end of a holiday party!

7. Recycle your Christmas Cards. Use Christmas cards that people have sent you (this year and in years past). Place them on bookshelves or on the T.V. stand. I have also strung them up (by binding them to ribbon) on a spare wall (I did it over my breakfast nook). You could also string them along the staircase banister. In addition to that, you can use recycled cards to make name placement holders and coasters.

Many of these ideas I did last year and plan to do again this year. Do you have anymore cheap and easy ideas to decorate your home this holiday season?

The change in weather brings chilly temperatures; why not bring new warmth to your apartment! One way to do this is by decorating your home with autumn colors. Rich shades of reds, yellows, oranges, browns and greens will add a cheery and cozy atmosphere to your space.

Below are additional ways to welcome your guests in style this season:

Don’t know about you, but I ALWAYS have to have my apartment ’straightened’ up before I leave for work. Nothing is worse than coming home from a long day at work and seeing the apartment a mess. So I usually try and do a few simple things in the morning that literally take 5 minutes, that way when I come home it’ll be clean for me. Here are my secrets:

1. Always make the bed in the morning. I know that you’re tired when you first wake up, but take two seconds to smooth down the sheets and blanket and adjust the pillows. If a room has a messy bed, the room appears messy and unorganized. But if the bed is straightened and the pillows are upright, then the room looks clean and in order.

2. The next stop is the bathroom. If you’re like me, you’ll get your hair brush, toothpaste and toothbrush out to use and then hop in the shower. But, before you leave the bathroom, make sure you put away those items you just put on the counter. Although it may seem like a waste of time, having a clean counter in a bathroom makes the bathroom look less messy.

3. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? So after you prepare your breakfast, make sure you pick up after yourself. To have your kitchen looking clutter free, put the dishes away (either by cleaning them or hiding them in the dishwasher). Keeping your sink free & clear of dishes will help your kitchen appear neat and tidy.

4. Put any clothes or shoes that are lying on the floor in a certain spot. Whether your clothes need to be hung up in the closet or put in the laundry hamper or shoes go on a shoe rack. If you start to make a habit of putting your clothes up when you take them off, you’ll save precious time by not having to clean it up later!

5. And finally, make sure that any lose papers (i.e. newspapers, bills, etc.) are straightened up and put in a specific area (preferably one that you already have organized so you can find those items again later). This will help clear up the floors, coffee and dining room tables.

While it may seem like doing all this in the morning takes longer than 5 minutes, doing it daily will eliminate some of the clutter that has started pilling up. Day by day, the pile will dwindle down and it will take you less than five minutes. Next time you come home from work, you’ll walk into a nice, clean house-leaving you time to relax!