Entertaining

Posted by Janice Benoit

May and June are traditionally the months that parents host parties for their recent graduates. However, if you live in an area like I do, you will probably be subjected to an onslaught of party invitations all for the same weekend or two. Don't let that deter you from planning your own graduation party. You can still celebrate your child's accomplishment, without infringing on all the other events. How to do it? Just plan your event for later in the summer! Take advantage of the post-graduation sales of paper products and decorations, to stock up on your supplies, and then host the actual event shortly before the students head off to college! What a great way to end the summer with some meaning!

Posted by Janice Benoit

As your spring perennials are starting to bloom, you may notice that some are appearing overgrown, and look like they'll need to be divided at the end of the blooming season. Rather than just dividing and replanting them, take this opportunity to chat with your neighbors and plan an afternoon to swapping perennials.

Choose one house in a central location as the party location. Each gardener can bring dug-up perennials to be divided and split amongst the guests.

Set up a table of driveway location, where guests can choose the plants they wish to take home. Add some baked goods, lemonade and iced tea, and you have a party!

When you get home and plant each of the different varieties, you'll have fond memories of an enjoyable afternoon.

Posted by Janice Benoit

Forsythia a blooming everywhere right now! Take advantage of Mother Nature's plenty, but using flowering forsythia branches to decorate your front door. Several handfuls of yellow forsythia branches will add life and vibrancy to the dreariest porch. Just tuck the flowering branches into a pot filled with dirt, and add some colorful blooms that are shorter, for a lovely, natural and easy display

Posted by Janice Benoit

If you're looking for the best way to store your tablecloths or napkins, consider the following solution: use a mailing tube or plastic PVC pipe. Loosely wrap your linen around the PVC pipe and then thread a long ribbon through the tube, before tying it on the outside of the linen-wrapped tube. This method assures you of having a wrinkle-free tablecloth instantly!

Posted by Janice Benoit

Are you looking for something more creative than the hand scrawled “Happy Birthday” written on butcher paper to announce your child’s birthday? There are other options that will let you be creative, but still result in a professional-looking banner. Check out your local Kinkos or AlphaGraphics print shops. They can enlarge your personalized banner (done on any standard software and even incorporating graphics) and print it out in full color. Prices vary depending on size and the type of banner paper selected. In any case, this neat service can add real punch to any event!

Posted by Janice Benoit

Birthday Party season is upon us, as the summer months approach. Are you looking for clever items to fill your birthday goodie bags, but you don't want to break the bank? Now is the perfect time to start collecting those perfect treats.

Take inventory of your extra school supplies from the fall. Do you have extra pencils, erasers or crayons that could double as goodies? Have you shopped at your post-holiday sales all year long? If so, check your holiday inventory -- perhaps those black plastic spiders from Halloween could work for outdoor/camping/science themed parties. The noisemakers purchased from the New Year's Eve sales would be great for any kids' events! Just think outside of the box and repurpose kid-friendly items from throughout the year.

With these goodies as a base, fill in the holes with candy and inexpensive toys that are theme-specific for your event.

Posted by Janice Benoit

I love to greet the spring with a fresh facelift to the exterior of my home. The pine greenery is long gone, and spring is the time to bring out the colorful blooms that indicate warmer weather is on the way!

Try selecting a bunch of colorful silk blooms from your local craft store -- I use some realistic looking forsythia branches, some tall pussywillow branches, and a selection of silk hydrangeas, crocuses, and daffodils in a an assortments of blues, violets, pinks and yellows. Artistically arrange the stems in large planter pots (I use the faux concrete ones) filled with dirt.

Place a pot on either side of your front door or your front stoop, and tuck in some some feathery green grasses (real or faux) to fill any holes in the display.

Posted by Janice Benoit

Have you read the latest article on creating a Soda Fountain Experience? To add to your enjoyment of this event, here is a little historical tidbit surrounding the Soda Fountain.



The Sundae was invented in 1890 in Evanston, Illinois when a creative soda jerk put the kibosh on a law forbidding the sale of intoxicating beverages (including carbonated water) on Sundays. This creative operator foiled the law by altering the recipe for an ice cream soda and just serving the flavored syrup over the ice cream.

Posted by Janice Benoit

Have you read the latest article on creating a Soda Fountain Experience? To add to your enjoyment of this event, here is a little historical tidbit surrounding the Soda Fountain.



The Ice Cream Soda was invented in 1874 in Philadelphia by Robert Green. He was selling a beverage made of syrup, sweet cream and carbonated water, and when he ran out of sweet cream, he creatively substituted vanilla ice cream. And the Ice Cream Soda was born!

Posted by Janice Benoit

I just discovered a new tool that will change the way I use my aging candles. In the past, I have unceremoniously reheated my old and ugly candles, so that I could repour the melted wax into molds and keep my candles looking pretty. Now, this task always took an afternoon, filled my house with melted wax smells, and inevitably, I would finish the day with at least one minor wax burn!

However, I've just discovered a new candle tool at Solutions catalog. It's called the CandleWand, it is virtually a heated knife. You can use this tool to slice through the top, half-melted ugly portion of your existing pillars and a new level burning surface. How cool is that? And for approximately $25, you will recoup your candle costs within a couple of months --- and no 3rd degree burns!