We're in full-blown holiday mode at The Party Planning Committee, and we've been dreaming of beautiful and elaborate Christmas spreads! 

One of our favourite parts of holiday parties are dessert buffets. This year, we'd love to create a "twelve days of Christmas" table! 

First: the lyrics, so we're all on the same page...Wikipedia tells us that there are several variations that have been sung over the years, but the one that we're most familiar with is:

12 drummers drumming
11 pipers piping
10 lords-a-leaping
9 ladies dancing
8 maids-a-milking
7 swans-a-swimming
6 geese-a-laying
5 golden rings
4 colly birds
3 french hens
2 turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree!

(Funny note: we thought it was 4 "calling" birds, but apparently a colly bird is actually a name for the common blackbird!)

Here's what we envision: treats laid out in a pyramid (Christmas tree) shape on a long buffet or dining table according to number and theme. 

Depending on how many guests there are, you may need to 'cluster' the goodies so that you have more than 78 (12+11+10+9+...) treats. (Another side bar: plan on 4-5 appetizers and 1-2 small dessert bites per person per hour for a cocktail party.)

Now for the good part! Some of these may seem like a bit of a stretch from the lyrics, but you can make it easy for your guests to understand by putting signs beside each line of treats, or create a fun guessing game for those who don't remember all of the lyrics!

So as to minimize prep time, we've tried to mix home made and store bought goodies. It's always a good idea to think about this when planning a menu - how much time do you have to spend in the kitchen vs. with your guests, and how much of your menu can you prepare in advance?

Recipes/how-to for many of the pictures shown can be found by visiting our Pinterest page at www.pinterest.com/theppcottawa.

12 drummers drumming:

Gorgeous sugar cookies, stacked and decorated with edible silver balls and baker's twine:

OR, "drum" stick cookies!

11 pipers piping:

Flute-like chocolate cookie sticks (buy these at Costco!)

10 lords-a-leaping:

This was a tough one! In the end, we chose these gorgeous Finnish pinwheels because they remind us of movement and busy legs jumping around!

9 ladies dancing:

Lady fingers!

8 maids-a-milking;

Strawberry- or mint chocolate-flavoured milk in glass jars, with stripey straws!

7 swans-a-swimming:

Cream puff swans. Make a simple version using a round pastry base, and cutting wings and a neck from castoff rounds.

6 geese-a-laying:

We assume that the geese are laying eggs and we couldn't just choose one idea! Stick Cadbury mini eggs onto cookies as they're almost done baking, make mini bacon and egg candies (yellow m&m and pretzels on a white chocolate round), or scoops of mango sorbet in egg shells (use halved Kinder eggs to cheat!).

5 golden rings:

Orange yogurt mini bundt cakes (or buy crullers!)

4 colly birds:

We love these blackbird cupcake toppers! They would be super easy to DIY (especially if you have a Cricut!)

3 french hens:

These hen cookies are too cute to pass up!

2 turtle doves:

Use turtle chocolates and add fondant 'wings'!

and a partridge in a pear tree!

We've been dying to try these mini pear pies!

What variations can you come up with?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

While we love to DIO ("do it ourselves" - the lesser-known plural version of DIY), these vintage farm invitations from Tinyprints (www.tinyprints.com) were just too cute to pass up! And, we still ended up putting our own personal touch on them, as you'll see below. 

We were introduced to Tinyprints by a friend who threw an amazing 60+ person party for her daughter's christening this summer. So, we decided to try them out for the vintage farm party we threw a few weekends ago - and, they didn't disappoint! 

The quality and clarity of the images are good, and the "regular" cardstock is thick enough. (There is an option to order extra-thick cardstock, but we don't think it's necessary.) Shipping was quicker than expected - we ordered these on a Friday afternoon and they were delivered on the following Monday! There are tons and tons of really great design options for a whole variety of occasions, from birthdays to holidays and everything in between - many of the designs even have multiple colour choices. Some of the invitations also have matching thank you cards, place cards and more, which is great when you want a one-stop-shopping experience.

One downside about ordering from Tinyprints is that there isn't an option not to have the Tinyprints name and symbol on the back of each card. While we were aware of this before ordering, and thought we could live with it, we decided after seeing the invites that we wanted to cover it up. Various options for doing so were thrown around ThePPC office, including a sticker "patch" in the shape of a pig or other farm animal, but in the end, we decided to go all out. 

Tinyprints offered a free option to include a second picture on the back of this invitation, and we had taken advantage of it. To complement the farm theme, we decided to attach barn doors made out of corrugated cardboard, coffee stir sticks, and brad "hinges". When the invitee opened the doors, they were treated to an adorable picture of our little farmer. Super fun, right?

We won't bore you with the full details (feel free to email if you have questions though!), but, the process of making these involved cutting the cardboard to size and making an "I" shape in the centre, measuring and cutting stir sticks, drilling a tiny hole for the hinge, and attaching everything with a hot glue gun. Easy peasy!

While these are not the cheapest invitations you can find online, Tinyprints often has promotions for 20-30% off (but note that their free shipping offers do not apply to Canada). All in all, we would recommend Tinyprints for their variety of adorable designs and good quality printing and paper.

What online stationery companies have you used?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

A few days ago, we had the pleasure of meeting Eric Cardinal and some of his team at Mood Moss Flowers on Beechwood Avenue. 

From the moment we walked in, we were impressed with their creativity, the fun atmosphere, and with how helpful they are! Eric and his team have been at this location for nearly a decade, and have continued to impress local clientele with their original arrangements.

We're in holiday mode at The Party Planning Committee, and love the seasonal arrangements they created for Bridgehead coffee shop:

This holiday season, the combination of green and gold in the arrangement below is hot!

Check out their website at www.moodmossflowers.com or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/moodmossflowers to see more of the gorgeous bouquets and arrangements they've created!

We love working with talented vendors, and the designers at Mood Moss clearly fit the bill! We look forward to working with them soon!

What flowers are you using in your holiday arrangements this year?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

All images via the Mood Moss Facebook page and the Mood Moss website.

One trend that we're seeing with food and drinks these days is the ability for guests to create or personalize their own food, drinks and even favours. Displays can be customized with fun labels in the party's theme and colours. This is a great idea in today's everybody-has-a-food-restriction world!

We can't be sure, but we're convinced the trend started with the now well-known candy buffet. The Party Planning Committee has created lavish candy buffets, complete with candy trees, personalized favour bags, and custom colours - and we loved it!

What we're seeing more recently are 'food stations', which can include anything from appetizers to main courses to desserts to drinks to favours. Here are a few of our favourite ideas!

At one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants in Ottawa, Ox Head, they serve wrap-it-yourself rice wrap rolls that are delish! Toppings include cellophane noodles, bean sprouts, basil, shredded carrots and cucumbers, chicken/beef/pork, and the yummiest peanut sauce. This would be so much fun for an asian-themed party!

Another fun DIY main course is a mac and cheese station! Offer one or two base mac and cheese types, and set out chopped bacon, chicken, lobster, green onions, shredded gruyere, asparagus, mushrooms, fried onions, and any other yummy things you can think of.

A variation on mac and cheese: a pasta station.

We also loved the idea of a sweet, baked or mashed potato station!

For dessert, an ice cream bar would be a sure hit! Play with interesting flavour combinations - maple bacon, anyone? To keep it frozen, display individual servings in mason jars on ice.

Other dessert ideas: cupcake bar...waffle bar....mmmm!!!

For favours, our favourite trend is the popcorn bar. Super easy, chic and inexpensive! Set out various seasonings, add-ins like sprinkles and smarties, and of course, tons of butter!

As for drinks, the sky is the limit! This bloody mary bar is super fun!

What kind of food and drink stations have you seen recently?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

All images via Pinterest. Check out our Pinterest page for more ideas!

We are so excited to share the vintage farm birthday party that we threw last week for a very special little farmer! 

The decorations included plenty of vintagized grape crates, a party animal chandelier, mason jar candles, wooden farm equipment made by the birthday boy's grandfather, and the rustic birthday banner we featured a few weeks back.

In order to celebrate the birthday boy, The Party Planning Committee created a chalkboard our of grape crate lidsand wrote down all of his 'stats', and strung up lots of pictures of his first year!

Green cutlery was wrapped in orange napkins and tied with twine to look like carrots.

Mini guests adopted stuffed dog "farm puppies" as their favours. There is a free printable available on our blog here for the thank you tags. The same thank you tags were also used to label chocolate-dipped pretzel rods for the adults.

On the "mini" menu was:

• Sliders on homemade pretzel buns (we shaped the patties using a cookie cutter and followed this recipe for the pretzel buns)
• 2 kinds of mini pizzas (goat cheese with red onion, sundried tomato and kalamata olive, and meat lovers)
• Bacon-wrapped dates
• Mini "baked potatoes" (new potatoes baked in the oven, topped with sour cream and chives)
• Fresh veggies in ranch sauce
• An olive and pickle platter

For dessert, french vanilla cupcakes were dressed as sheep with the help of mini white chocolate chips and fondant faces.

The two-tiered lemon and french vanilla birthday cake featured fully edible fondant farm animals, and was surrounded by peanut-free haystacks (made with marshmallows instead of the traditional peanut butter).

The cake smash was, of course, done atop the scalloped splash mat we featured here.

The photobooth was decked out with farm-related props, including a cowboy hat and mini straw hats, bunny ears, a pig nose, mustaches (not so on-theme, but very necessary!) and fill-in-the-blank speech bubbles.

All in all, we think it was a night to remember! What do you think?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

Full details of the vintage farm party we threw this past weekend are coming shortly - but, in the meantime, we've made a free printable of the adorable tags worn by the farm puppy favours!

Each puppy wore one of three thank you tags, complete with a vintage cow, rooster, or pig, and a joke. 

Instructions:

1. Download and print the PDF file at the bottom of this post onto cardstock. 
2. Punch out each tag with a 2" circle punch.
3. Thread a large needle with baker's twine or yarn and 'sew' through the space at the top of the tag to create a hanging thank you tag. We found it easiest to put the tag on of a piece of cardboard and poke the needle through, removing the cardboard before pushing the needle all the way through the tag.

Enjoy!

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra