party Archives - Frugalbits

Baby Cakes: Hosting A Gender Reveal Party

February 3, 2014/3 Comments/in Culture & Leisure, Entertaining, FOOD, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All Food Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

Here’s a fun and memorable way expectant parents are revealing the gender of their baby.

SNEAK PEEK | Our daughter Alexis got married last spring, and now she and her husband Dave (pictured here on their wedding day) are expecting a baby. Last week, they went for their 20-week ultrasound. This imaging technique is used five months into a pregnancy to determine whether a fetus is developing normally. At 20 weeks, it can also detect whether the baby is a boy or a girl—if the gender is visible, of course.

Lexi and Dave wanted to know the sex of their baby. And they wanted to share the experience of finding out what it is with members of their immediate family, so this past weekend we had what’s called a gender reveal party at our house.

Here’s what Lexi and Dave did to ensure the baby’s gender was kept under wraps (and unknown even to them) until the appropriate moment.

Great Sources For Perfect Paper Lanterns

July 10, 2013/0 Comments/in DECOR & DESIGN, Entertaining, FOOD, HOME, Home & Garden, View All Food Stories, View All Home Stories /by Editor

Light up your summer party with paper lanterns. Here’s where to find the best ones.

SIMPLE & PERFECT | Yes, they’re only paper moons sailing over a concrete sea (my patio), but summer parties automatically feel more fun when I hang a few of these. Read more

How to Organize An Easter Egg Hunt

March 11, 2013/0 Comments/in Culture & Leisure, HOLIDAY /by Editor

This clever spin on the traditional Easter egg hunt is participant specific.

CREATIVE SOLUTION | At first it felt unnatural to hide plastic eggs instead of real ones because we didn’t grow up hunting for plastic on Easter so having our kids do so felt not only anti-Martha but like some kind of cheesy cop-out. But at some point it stopped being okay to sacrifice three dozen perfectly good hard-boiled eggs to the springtime muck in our backyard just so our kids and their friends could charge around Easter morning and ideally find them—yet never eat them.

So we have changed our tune and completely switched over to plastic, keeping the hand-decorated chicken eggs in the fridge for snacks or sandwiches. The plastic eggs have proved fantastic because we can hunt for them outdoors in all weather conditions and recycle them year after year.

Here’s how our hunt works: Read more

Chinese Lanterns On Mini'lights - Martin Tessler

Make A Lantern Plant & Mini-Light Display

October 24, 2012/0 Comments/in D.I.Y., DECOR & DESIGN, DIY, HOME, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All DIY Stories, View All Home Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

Harvest Chinese lantern plant pods to create the perfect, illuminated holiday display.

CREATIVE SOLUTION | I first spotted brilliant orange Chinese lanterns fitted over mini-lights on an organically decorated Christmas tree. This is one way to use them for sure, though I like them better when they are used to create an original Thanksgiving or Halloween display. I love them threaded through a tangle of branches on the front porch or on top of the mantel or on a dinner table. I also love mini-lanterns strung around doorways for a punch of spot-on seasonal colour. Read more

How To Paint Cookies Without A Pastry Bag

April 4, 2012/3 Comments/in FOOD, Food & Drink, HOLIDAY, Tools & Techniques, View All Food Stories /by Editor

For decorating cookies, there is an alternative to both tricky pastry bags and pricey tubes of store-bought frosting.

SHOPPING AROUND | Nothing says spring (and Easter) like hand-painted sugar cookies. My kids are begging me to make some, but since I didn’t inherit Cake Boss genes, I decided to YouTube for decorating advice where I ran across Iron Chef America’s Cat Cora channelling her inner Martha by cranking out these adorable designs on holiday cookies. Hopeless at using a pastry bag, I was about to settle for uneconomical grocery-store tubes of icing with clip-off tips when a girlfriend suggested a cool alternative: squeezable frosting bottles with interchangeable decorating tips. Read more

How To Make An Edible Place Card Super Quick

December 21, 2011/0 Comments/in Entertaining, FOOD, HOLIDAY, Holiday /by Editor

These unconventional place cards are beautiful, organic, yummy and take only minutes to make.

EASY & QUICK | Silver and pewter are traditional materials for decorating and never go out of fashion. These metal place markers were created by cutting bannerlike shapes with scissors from a disposable aluminum baking sheet. Read more

Repro Paintings - Photo By Calvin Whitehurst

Throw A Fab Party With Dollar Store Supplies

August 22, 2011/0 Comments/in Culture & Leisure, Entertaining, FOOD, View All Food Stories /by Editor

Here’s how to throw a fabulous end-of-summer “arty party” with supplies from your friendly Dollar Giant.

DOLLAR STORE DAYS | I believe there’s an artist in everyone and I’m throwing an end-of-summer party to prove it. I’m inviting a close group of friends —many of whom have never picked up a paintbrush —to my first “arty party.” We’ll gather in a room with a raft of art supplies and let our imaginations take a walk on the wild side. We may unleash our inner Picassos, our native Carrs, our chaotic Pollocks (well, maybe paint-throwing Pollocks will get to create on the back lawn). Read more

How To Throw A Last Minute Oscars Party

February 5, 2011/0 Comments/in Culture & Leisure, Entertaining, FOOD, Food & Drink, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All Food Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor

How to throw a last-minute, stress-free Academy Awards party that everyone even the host will enjoy.

EASY DOES IT | Pamela Anderson, one of Frugalbits’ favourite food writers, says people should stop entertaining and “have people over” instead. “Having people over,” says Anderson, is about coming together casually with good pals and enthusiastic acquaintances. It’s about serving uncomplicated food and having no other expectation for an evening other than that it be fun. The Oscars this Sunday is the perfect “having people over” occasion. No worries that today’s Thursday and you’ve only got four days to get your event together. We started planning our Oscar party yesterday, and you’re welcome to follow our game plan and our menu.

Frugalbits Oscar Party Day-By-Day Game Plan Read more

The Cheaper Show Has Art Worth Every Penny

June 23, 2010/2 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, Culture & Leisure /by Editor

The place to be this Saturday night is The Cheaper Show, the coolest, most egalitarian and original art-buying event in the city.

CHEAPER DOES IT | Do you have $200 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, there are plenty of fun ways you could spend it: mani-pedis at Holt Renfrew for you and your BFF; gourmet hot dogs (and then some) for a group of your nearest and dearest at Japa Dog’s new restaurant-style eatery on Robson Street. Or you could buy something that isn’t disposable at all, something your family and friends will also be able to enjoy for years to come: a great piece of original art. Read more

For Elegant Invites, Paperless Post It

May 3, 2010/1 Comment/in Entertaining, FOOD, Goods & Services, View All Food Stories /by carolannrule

Get your next party started with stylish online invitations no one can refuse.

SAVE ON CHIC | There is a beautiful way to scrap the paper and cost of traditional invitations but keep the timeless elegance of stationery. With Paperless Post, an online stationery service charging just $5 for 60 invitations plus a way to track RSVPs, you’ll save time, money, the planet and your sanity.

Paperless Post is the brainchild of New York siblings and business partners Alexa and James Hirschfeld, who founded the custom online stationery service in 2008, packaging aesthetics and efficiency into one neat virtual envelope. Read more

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