How to Throw a Colorful NYE Party with Paper

when the clock strikes midnight

If you blinked, Christmas is over, and a new year is now upon us. The thought of throwing another party can be totally overwhelming, but what if we told you that it could be easy and cost-efficient to #ColorizeYourParty and you could do it primarily with paper?

Intrigued?

Good, because we put together a colorful and fun way to ring in the New Year with Astrobrights Papers that you, too, can put together in less than a day.

Just like Cinderella, we hope year 2015 is a fairy tale for you. However, unlike Cinderella, When the Clock Strikes Midnight, a magical spell will not be broken, but another year will begin. A new beginning. A fresh start. Another chance. A new love. An opportunity for adventure. Travel. Good times {and some bad times too}. Lessons to be learned.

To celebrate 2015 and the magic that happens When the Clock Strikes Midnight, here’s 3 ways you can #ColorizeYourParty

Countdown Clock and Wishes
Colorize Your Party with a large, colorful clock made from paper. Print and cut out numbers, as well as the big hand and little hand, then stick to a wall. You can use a Silhouette cutting tool like we did, or you don’t need a fancy program at all – you can print numbers via Microsoft Word, and then cut. We used DAP BlueStik reusable adhesive putty to stick the paper to the wall, so it’s easily removable and reusable. Every hour, you can move the ‘hands’ as the midnight hour approaches.

when the clock strikes midnight

when the clock strikes midnight

Before the clock strikes midnight, encourage your guests to write wishes for friends, family and loved ones at the party. Your guests will go home with the mason jars as favors, along with heart-felt wishes for 2015. Remember to use colorful Astrobrights Papers to add labels to the top of the mason jars, and 2015 Wishes tags with twine. For extra table height, wrap small boxes like a package with colorful paper.

when the clock strikes midnight

when the clock strikes midnight NYE party

when the clock strikes midnight NYE party

when the clock strikes midnight NYE party

NYE Essentials Wall
Whether you hope for a magical, butterflies-in-your-stomach kiss, a first kiss, an old but favorite kiss, a kiss from your children or a kiss from a friend, this NYE Essentials wall will ensure everyone will have soft lips, good breath and confetti to throw when the clock strikes midnight. We filled 98 cent plastic ornaments with DIY paper confetti {we used a good old-fashioned hole punch to create bright confetti from Astrobrights Papers}, custom labeled lip balm and pink and white tic-tacs.

NYE colorful party with Astrobrights Papers

NYE confetti

NYE party with confetti

To make the wall more eye-catching, we hung tinsel and white twinkle lights with Painter’s Tape, and strung the ornaments on the tinsel. For the big ribbon banner made entirely of paper, we simply printed our sign, added Martha Stewart glitter to NYE letters, glued 3 sheets of paper together, bent the paper and taped the ends to the wall. As for ‘tails’ of the ribbon, we cut the paper and taped it to the wall.

NYE colorful confetti party

NYE midnight ESSENTIALS

NYE party essentials

NYE party essentials

NYE party confetti

IMG_7304

Photo Booth
We thought about doing a glitter photo booth, or even a photo booth with all kinds of paper props, but a simple geometric background with the words This is How G-double-O-D I looked in 2014 seemed like the most honest and to-the-point backdrop for our NYE celebration. You have to own your hotness in 2014 to look even better in 2015, right? We think so.

photo booth this is how good i looked

For the geometric backdrop, we simply cut Astrobrights Papers into 8×8 squares, and then cut it diagonally in half. We used 4 different colors, and once all the triangles were cut, we used a glue stick to stick it to a wood board. For the words, we used a Silhouette cutting machine, but you can trace or print your own letters.

NYE photo booth

We hope you create a unique and memorable celebration using Astrobrights Papers to #ColorizeYourParty, and we wish you a happy, safe and healthy 2015!

Stay inspired all year-long with Astrobrights Papers via Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

{images via j. sorelle}

side note about our model: Major props to Jessica’s hubby {the handsome model in our photo booth}, who not only took care of an entire family infected with Influenza A before, during and after Christmas, but kindly modeled for our backdrop despite lack of sleep and rest, when we were too sick to do so. 

j. sorelle received products and/or payment for this post, however we love Astrobrights Papers even if they didn’t send us product, and all opinions are ours, we promise. View all of Astrobrights vibrant colors here

 

party like it’s 2012

Reflection of 2011 and resolutions for 2012 is upon us with the upcoming New Year’s Eve celebration. It’s been a wonderful year for my family and me and I can only hope 2012 is filled with as much laughter, joy and good memories as 2011 blessed us with.

Start the year off with a fabulous party…with shades of pink and gold. Here are some fun ideas to add to your New Year’s Eve shindig. Now you just have to decide…who’s the lucky lad {or lady} you’re gonna kiss at midnight?

DIY Gold Mason Jars: We have serious mason jar love. These DIY spray painted gold mason jars are the perfect vase for pink flowers or pink-and-white-striped straw holder for your New Year’s Eve bash. Directions for how to spray paint can be found at 100 Layer Cake.

Strawberry Champagne Sparkler Cupcakes: When I saw these on Oprah several years ago, I just knew I had to include them on my next New Year’s Eve menu. So festive with the indoor-safe sparkler candle, and who doesn’t love the combination of cupcakes, champagne, strawberries and chocolate! Sign me up for one {or two of these}. Recipe and directions found here.

2012 Sign: Love the idea of adding a 2012 sign at your party made of wooden numbers covered in gold or pink coins or sequins like the LOVE sign above. It can be a DIY project that is sure to impress. 

Shiny Centerpiece: Crate a glimmering centerpiece by sprinkling pink or gold oversized sequins between two cylinders and nestle a votive candle inside. Visit Martha Stewart to see where her team found the products to create this shimmering look. Or, add gold ornaments to glass vases and flutes in varying styles, and cluster them on a cake stand to craft a truly stunning and effortless centerpiece just like Martha Stewart did here.

Wall Decor: Use shimmering gold paper {leftover from Christmas would make this a budget-friendly project} to make streamers like this. Or, hang pink accordion circles above your dessert table and modify them by turning them into New Year’s Eve clocks. This great idea and how-to details can be found at Fiskars. For champagne-like wall decor, add different sized gold and clear balloons to the wall above the champagne table to create the bubbly effect on the wall.

Champagne: You must have champagne when you throw a New Year’s Eve party, but spruce it up a bit this year with fun and cold {just like the air outside} popsicles to serve up fancy frozen fruit pops. Don’t forget a splash of Prosecco for a colorful and unique drink display. Add sticker numbers to each glass for an official countdown beginning with 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1!

Dessert: In addition to the Strawberry Champagne Sparkler Cupcakes, make smore’s with a dusting of gold edible sprinkles. More gold inspiration found at The Cake Blog. And, you will really wow your guests with homemade fortunes. Give your guests something to talk about and look forward to with homemade fortunes {all positive of course} using your favorite quotes. For directions on how to make the fortune cookies and how to insert the fortune, visit Alisa Burke.

Favors: Give your guests a mini bottle of champagne in a bucket with a straw so it can be iced all night and passed out before midnight. Chris from Celebrations at Home has some great ideas to decorate the bucket.

I gotta feeling…2012 is gonna be a good, good year.

 {images via 100 Layer Cake, TLC, Justine Smith, Martha Stewart, Southern Living, Alisa Burke, Fiskars, The Cake Blog and Celebrations at Home}