For New Year's Eve I Pretended to be Martha Stewart

Inspired by the book "Atlanta Cooks for Company" published by the Atlanta Junior League Music Club in 1968 my Boyfriend and I decided to throw a 1960s themed New Year's Eve Party. We had a menu of throw back cocktail party foods based on the menu provided in the book and I made most of our decorations by hand. Everyone dressed up in their best swanky 60s cocktail attire. It was a really fun way to ring in the new year.

The Menu:

Bacon Wrapped Tidbits (basically different stuff wrapped in bacon and baked. Yum!)

Deviled Eggs

Cocktail Wieners wrapped in Puff Pastry

A Good Old Fashion Cheese Ball (So easy mix two packages of cream cheese with 2 cups shredded cheddar, splash in so Worcestershire and hot sauce, form into a ball and roll in crushed pecans. It was a hit!)

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Crudites (in a top hat no less) with three types of dip

Shrimp Cocktail (served on a shell shaped platter of course)


As you can see we weren't the first ones to use the New Year's menu

For the decorations I scoured the Internet for home made decorations that would fit into the look I was going for.I decided on a red and gold theme to match our vintage cocktail glasses.

First up a banner saying "Cheers!" I wanted something that could work for both Christmas and New Years. It really made our apartment feel festive. For this I just created a pattern and printed it out on alternating red and gold paper. Then I cut the circles out and used double sided tape to fix them to the wall. I think it came out great. Also, we had the Yule Log up during the entire party and it added a nice cozy atmosphere. Did you know that the Yule Log has credits? It totally does.


Next I used the excess paper to create a garland. I used this tutorial as the basis for my garland. My boyfriend was big help on this one. It was actually somewhat tedious cutting out all those circles and gluing them to the string. Luckily we had plenty of "It's Always Sunny..." to get us through.


We put the garland on our little tree before Christmas and then moved it over the bar between our kitchen and dinning area for the party. I like that it was so versatile.

Finally, I fell in love with these tissue paper pom poms that I saw at a party store a few months ago and figured there had to be a way I could make them myself. Of course Martha Stewart, ever so reliable, has a tutorial for them on her website. I loved having the option of choosing the colors I wanted for them. It was pretty easy to do as well. Probably the most difficult/annoying part was ironing the sheets of tissue paper. You probably don't have to do that, but I think it makes them look a little bit nicer. I love how this look so much I may keep them up permanently.

So that's the run down on our party. I was excited that everyone was game for participating in the theme. It was a great group. I've already started planning next years. Any suggestions on the theme? Great Gatsby perhaps?