New Year’s Eve is a great time to gather with friends, reflect on memories from the previous year and make resolutions for a brand new year. We love the tradition of New Year’s Eve and the fresh start everyone is granted year after year. Whether you’re throwing a big soiree or keeping it small with close friends, we’re sharing our favorite NYE ideas with you.

The most important part of any NYE party is a festive atmosphere. We’re big fans of repurposing items you already have around the house. Turning champagne glasses into candles by placing votives inside or reusing mini ornaments from the Christmas tree combined with champagne glasses and your favorite cake plate to make a grand centerpiece. 

Keep things meaningful and play a slideshow of photos from the previous year on your Apple TV, re-decorate your tree with disco ball ornaments, sprinkle edible star glitter on your desserts and don’t forget to go all out with sparkle and star attire to help seal your midnight kiss (we love necklaces that feature a timepiece to ring in the New Year!).

1) Cover your tree with disco ball ornaments – F21 2) Play a slideshow featuring the year’s biggest events, and funniest moments, via your Apple TV – Apple Store 3) Crystal encrusted star necklace – F21 4) Track the countdown, to the countdown, with a necklace clock! – F21 5) Clock wine bottle stopper (this is a MUST!) – Z Gallerie

When it comes to feeding your guests a little can go a long way. Cheers to 2012 with these easy to make champagne jello shots that will make jaws drop.

Champagne Jello Shots

Ingredients:

1 package of Jello (flavor or color of your choice)

1 cup of boiling water

1 bottle of chilled Champagne

Directions:

Combine Jello and water into a bowl and stir until powder dissolves. Let set and return to room temperature. Slowly stir in bottle of champagne. Pour into ice cube tray or mold of your choice and refrigerate overnight (or until set). When ready to serve, dip trays into hot water for 5 seconds and loosen with a knife around the outside of each shot. Add edible glitter or festive garnish of your choosing.

Happy New Year! We wish you health and happiness in 2012. We’ll see you back here on Shop Talk next year!

 Kelli and Lisa

While many think New Year’s Eve is primarily a party for adults, it can also be a fun celebration for the family. New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate the old and welcome the new, and just about everyone can appreciate that, even children.

We usually like to have some friends and family over to celebrate the old year and cheer in the new one. During the course of the evening we take a moment to go around the room and recount happy and positive things that have happened throughout the year, as well as what our expectations are for the New Year.

Festive social foods like fondue are the order of the day. We get out the old fondue pot (you probably got one as a wedding present, too) and make at least one kind of fondue for dinner. Classic Swiss cheese is great, but varying the ingredients to make for more kid friendly versions (think yellow cheddar cheese) works too. We have an array of foods to dip in, including bread cubes, cooked broccoli and cauliflower, and ham.

When you’re popping the bottles of bubbly, don’t forget the kids by opening a bottle or two of ice-cold sparkling apple cider. A festive champagne flute of sparkling cider is fun to sip and welcome by children and adults who aren’t drinking alike.

If the kids aren’t going to make it to midnight—and let’s face it, many parents aren’t either—then celebrate the New Year by tuning into another celebration on TV. Remember, 2012 starts in the Pacific Islands first and works its way across the globe, so there are plenty of fireworks displays and celebrations to watch; one per hour, in fact.

Of course you need to make sure the children stay busy throughout the evening, even if they’re not staying up until midnight. I like to get the kids involved by letting them create fun crafts for the New Year’s Eve celebration:

• Make New Year’s crowns out of construction paper and decorate them with markers, crayons, and glitter. The kids usually make them both for themselves and for the grownups to wear, too.
• Noisemakers are also fun to make, and a New Year’s Eve necessity. Make some out of two paper plates stapled together and filled with beans. Decorate the plates as above.
• Go green and make shakers out of recycled plastic water bottle. Pour in some dried beans or rice (make sure the inside of the bottle is dry), cap it, and then decorate with tissue paper, glue, and glitter.

With these suggestions, the entire family can help ring in the New Year in style. Here’s wishing you and your family a fantastic 2012!