It's a New Year's Eve Soiree

SPOTTED:  The clock is ticking down, but does anyone notice yet?  Between the yummy champagne, adorable party hats, and finger foods that are almost too cute to eat, everyone is busy taking selfies and dancing, not watching the clock.  What sparkly winter wonderland brought everyone together?  You’ll have to read on because I’ll never tell!

                  XoXo,

                 Groove Girl

 A Formal Affair

We’re ringing in the New Year in style!  Whether you’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party, attending, or helping a friend get ready for one, you’re gonna want to make sure these ideas are part of the party! 

First things first, for any party your decorations have to be on point.   You don’t have to go all out to have a great looking party; there are some simple and easy decorating tips that are a must for your NYE soiree.  One of the easiest decorations that you can use in so many ways are balloons.  This is New Year’s Eve…I’m not talking about your average Happy Birthday balloon.  I’m talking about these adorable champagne inspired ones you can get from Etsy.com for $5!

Along with these sleek black balloons with gold lettering, you can also make your own confetti balloons with this simple trick!  Before you blow up clear balloons use a funnel and put a handful of confetti from the dollar store into the balloon.  Whether you pop them at midnight or keep them around the house for decoration, everyone will wonder where you got such awesome balloons!

If you don’t want to mess with balloons try this instead!  No need to put away those tree ornaments just yet!  Even better, after Christmas all the decorations go super on sale! 

There are so many cool ways to display balloons for any party, but these are my favorite that would be super fun for your NYE party.

Sky High Balloons: 

Get a balloon drop bag to put on your ceiling, and once the New Year’s here, release them all over your guests!  You can get them online, or at a party store for around $5, or just tape clear plastic (like for painters from Home Depot) to the ceiling and put the balloons in there!  Another way to have balloons above you is just to let them hang.  Take an edge of your scissor and run it along the strings to make them curly!

A Balloon Wall:

 A great way to block off areas where you do not want guests to wander is a balloon wall!  It’s super simple and easy…all you need to do is tape the strings of the balloons at different heights until you have a solid wall!  If you’re limited on space, but still want the look, just tape the balloons to the wall with some painters tape!  Keep it interesting with different sized and colored balloons!

Year in Review Chandelier:

 Print out pictures from 2013 and tape them onto the bottoms of the balloon strings.  I have actually done this before, except I had more pictures on mine…the max for your balloon to still float is 3 pics!  However, if you tape the top of the balloons to the ceiling you’ll have no problems!

Glitter, Glitter Everywhere:

It can’t be NYE without confetti!  Don’t just scatter confetti around the tables as decoration; make a confetti bar for your guests to grab during the countdown to midnight!  Order custom made confetti with the hashtag of your party to remind your guests so that it will be super easy for everyone to checkout all of the fun pictures on Instagram later!

Another fun way to incorporate confetti into the celebration is with these awesome Push-Pop Confetti poppers!  Stick with the black, silver, and gold theme and order these for your guests to pop at midnight, or if you're a colorful crowd they have a fun multicolor one too (they even have a biodegradable one for those outdoor celebrations)....get them here at Etsy.com! (You can also make your own by buying the push-pop containers and confetti at Michaels craft stores) 

Don't Forget Your Party Hat:

Perfect if you’re having a Gatsby themed party (one of the biggest trends this NYE btw), or any party!  The tiaras are really cute on and come in various colors to match any theme.  Don’t forget about the fellas and order some of these snazzy New Year’s hats!

If you wanna be more original, DIY! Get some of your average gold and silver paper party hats and add a little flair!  Get rhinestones and glitter from the dollar store/Michaels and get gluing!  While you're at the dollar store, pick up some barrettes so your guests don't have to wear the dorky string under their chins! 

Bars and Bubbly:

A party's not a party without sips and nibbles!  There are so many different finger foods you can serve at your party, it all really depends on your crowd.  However, there are a few snacks I've seen that would just be perfect for a New Year's soiree.

 

Make sure everyone gets a kiss when the ball drops with a bowl of Midnight Kisses! Not only are these delicious, but the idea is super cute! (I am definitely doing this at my party!)

If you don't have any go-to party appetizers on hand, check out this blog!  There are links to 50 recipes for yummy and mostly easy finger foods!  

Get all 50 recipes here!

Now for the fun part!  How much fun is sipping on champagne...New Year's or not!  Well, who wants to be caught in a pic holding a plain old paper cup, or worse, a generic red one on NYE!? No one.  Here are some of the cutest ways to dress up your bubbly!  

These sparkly flutes are a perfect DIY if you are using plastic champagne flutes for easy cleanup.  All you need to do is tape off the top portion of the glass, then glue and glitter the rest!  Its great for any party because you are making it and can make it match any theme!

10 Easy Cocktails for the New Year!

The next idea is also great for plastic flutes, or a set of your own (I'd use these everyday!).  For the disposable kind, you just need a gold sharpie, but for glass you'll need to purchase some glass paint.  Add a pretty gold ribbon bow and you're ready to start sippin'!

Got extra tinsel from Christmas? Wrap your glass in glittery stars by cutting about a foot long piece of wire tinsel.  Wrap the stem of the glass a few times before you start making your way up!  These are also great for glass or plastic champagne flutes.

A really popular drink topper I have been seeing a lot of lately are the cute pompom ones.  It's super easy and cute, you'll want to do it for every party! You can pretty much use anything you want for the stirrer and then glue a pom on the top!  The cute flags with 2014, or other text, are super fun as well and are made the same way!

If you don't want to go the traditional route, try these gold dipped mason jars!  While they're not disposable, you'll find yourself using them again and again.  The best way to get an even covering is to use gold spray paint. I have seen the same idea, but with blackboard paint so your guests can use chalk to write their name, or other silly things.

If you are planning on entertaining little ones, try this fun mocktini for them to enjoy....or it would also look super cute on your desert table!

There is nothing better than a crisp, chilled, fizzy glass of champs!  If you do want to dress it up a little bit, there are some very tasty recipes to try when toasting the New Year.

Have you ever had a champagne jiggler?! These are not only adorable, but they sound really tasty too! Just like a normal jello shooter recipe, you follow the Jello directions on the box.  Instead of adding in cold water, you add cold champagne!  DO NOT procrastinate on these if you're thinking of trying them out.  You need them to be fully set and solid (as solid as Jello gets hehehe) before you attempt to serve them. You can use an ice cube tray for a simple and easy shape, but you can also play around with the silicone trays for fun shapes.  Lastly, add some Pop Rocks candy and fun sprinkles like these stars, and you're ready to go!

All That Glitters:
 

Your party is almost complete!  The only thing left to do is focus on you! Be sure to check out my Monday's on Main Street post for some NYE outfit inspiration if you still haven't decided.  As for the little extras that just complete your look, I just had to share these perfect pieces with you!

Don't forget your lashes! NYE...one of the best excuses for fake lashes!

Kate Spade champagne coin purse! HOW adorable!

New Year's Nails! Black is where it's at this year btw!

I hope you all have a fabulous New Year's Eve and where ever you count down is as picturesque as all these pictures! If you want to see all of my other New Year's inspiration, be sure to stop by our Pop, Fizz, Clink Pinterest board!

Don't forget your party favor!

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