How to Host a Friendsgiving Dinner

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for sponsoring this post. Product and/or compensation was provided to me to share my ideas and tips, however, all opinions are fully my own. 

Thanksgiving is literally a few short days away and you may find yourself looking for last minute ideas for hosting a small gathering of friends....also known as a Friendsgiving. 

A Friendsgiving is a great way to host your friends for the Thanksgiving holiday, but you don't have to break the bank or do a lot of work to get ready - especially with my easy and affordable tips for setting a beautiful tablescape and preparing a delicious meal.  Below are some ideas and tips that I have on how to pull together a quick tablescape and meal for your closest pals.

With the right combination of decorative pieces, you can create a beautiful tablescape  that looks like you put in a ton of work....(but you really didn't)....I used a gold shimmer burlap table runner, a faux boxwood garland, mirror glass votives and metallic string placemats as the foundation of tablescape.  Using the votives creates a very intimate space and provides an extra element of lighting.  Spacing out votive candles with autumnal elements, like decorative pumpkins, down the center of your table, you can create perfectly natural looking centerpiece that will certainly wow your guests. 

Little details like burlap bows hot glued to the ends of the runner add another level of dimension to a simple decorative piece.  I just love, love, love mixing elegant pieces with more casual pieces and the combination of metallics and burlap completes this look perfectly.

Make it easy for guests to find their place at the table.  I painted wood cut gourds gold and white and wrote down the names of my special friends.   This is a simple DIY and if you add a magnet to the back of the place cards, your guests can take them home to attach to their fridge or magnet board as an instant thank you gift!

Instead of florals, I used a faux boxwood garland to fill in the middle of the table along with decorative pumpkins from my fall decor stash.  There is so much you can do with a few decorative pieces.  Keeping special occasional dinnerware on hand will always come in handy.  

These 'Thank You' gift tags make perfect napkin rings.  I plucked a few pieces from the garland to bring in some of the greens to my linen napkins I already had on hand.  

Place a wall sign or framed quote out to remind your closest friends how much they truly mean to you and how thankful you are for their friendship!

If you need an affordable idea for feeding your guests, my quick and easy tip for preparing a Friendsgiving meal is to keep it super simple. 

I went to my local Aldi and Trader Joe's and found a full meal to feed 4-6 people for less than $35.  Trader Joe's had a Turkey En Croute with cranberry sauce and gravy for $12.99!  That's a major score.  I also found frozen green beans and pearl onions, and frozen sweet potatoes...I doctored the side dishes up with spices and herbs and turned out a delicious meal!  I was even able to find mini pies from Aldi that were a perfect treat for dessert.

What makes this idea THE BEST is that there is very little clean up and the time to prep and cook everything was less than two hours!

Pulling together a last minute Friendsgiving is totally doable.  Just remember my tips when  setting it up:

• Simple decor can go a long way, a few elegant pieces mixed in with casual everyday tableware and linens will give you a stunning tablescape.  

• Dress up your place settings with cloth napkins, thank you tags and a few botanical sprigs (faux or real).  

• Make gifts serve a dual purpose by personalizing take home name cards....they'll mean a lot to your besties because you made them (and they take no time at all to make). 

• Make meal prep effortless with heat and go dishes that you can easily flavor with flair!

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Thanks again to Oriental Trading for always providing festive elements for my holiday entertaining ideas! 

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Winter Holiday Drink Station

 Disclosure: Thank you to Cost Plus World Market for sponsoring this post. Product and/or compensation was provided to me to share my ideas and tips, however, all opinions are fully my own. #GiftThemJoy #ad #worldmarkettribe

I absolutely love hosting parties in my home, especially during the holidays.  For years, I've centered most of our entertaining around our kids likes.  As they're getting older now and our family dynamics are changing, I'm turning more of our entertaining towards adult flair and fashion.  That being said, I realized with the holidays fast approaching, I needed to get our home into holiday hostessing shape.

We have a vintage dresser that my husband converted into a buffet for our dining room. I usually use it for displaying desserts or food when we entertain....mostly, it's just set up with regular seasonal decor and sometimes ends up being a catch all spot for homework - you know....real-life living.  

Recently, we changed the location of the buffet in the dining space.  It is now situated in front of our dining room window....that window has an eyesore of an AC unit behind those velvet curtains.  So, this setup is great for colder weather months....but it will certainly not work for the spring or summer.  This setup also works great as I can change out the drapery to suit the decor I plan use for whatever particular holiday occasion I'm hostessing.

We have an actual bar in our home but it is located in the Man Cave.  We also have a liquor cabinet in our dining space as well, but it doesn't function as a suitable place to mix and serve drinks.  Since most of our holiday entertaining takes place in the main living area of our home, I decided to use our buffet as a drink station.

I love the holiday selection at Cost Plus World Market so, I headed to my local store at Pentagon Row in Arlington, VA to find some essential Christmas Dinnerware pieces for our festive holiday Christmas Food and Drink station.  There were so many Christmas Decorations/ChristmasDécor options to choose from. 

I was instantly drawn to some of the icy accented decor as it reminded me of the day after a beautiful snowfall, from my years growing up in Connecticut.  I also thought the bold golden metallic glassware that I found was just beautiful and deserved a spot at our drink station.  

Here are my tips and suggestions on pulling together a winter holiday drink station for your home.

To set a winter holiday drink station, I recommend decorating with snow and iced kissed decor.  You can hang icy wreaths as a focal point to your backdrop.  They're festive and seasonal and add just the right decorative touch to the space.

Use metallic and mirrored pieces to bring lots of light and reflection to your drink station.  I found a beautiful mirrored tray and placed metallic confetti gold glassware on it.  I also added a few whimsical decorative snow birds and some fresh rosemary sprigs to create a winter look and feel to the table.

I like to offer guests options for their adult beverages, some people like alcohol and some do not.  So, for a signature drink, I recommend trying an Elderberry Cordial.  It's a very concentrated fruit blend that must be diluted with, sparkling water or juice for a non-alcoholic drink.  However, if you'll be serving alcoholic drinks, you can add white wine or vodka. 

I like to place Vodka or Gin in a large glass flask alongside the rest of the mix-ins.  This lets guests control what they would like in their drinks.  The cordial and sparkling water is the base for your cocktail mix and can be combined in a decanter.   

Set out garnishing to complete your drink set up - I think cranberries and fresh sprigs of Rosemary are perfect complements and trust me, the Rosemary adds just the most subtle and delightful flavor to your holiday drink!

When serving drinks, its a really good idea to offer some edibles.  Cost Plus World Market has a wonderful selection of quality gourmet meats.  You can create a simple meat and cheese platter and garnished with fresh seasonal fruit and rosemary.  You can present them on a white platter, slate tile or cheeseboard, whatever you have on hand would work perfectly.

Don't forget to add festive plates for your appetizers and bites!  

Adding a bit of candle light is another way to bring light and reflection to your drink station.  I like to use battery powered candles and dress them up with decorative candle rings.

Holiday entertaining is always a joy for me to share with those in my life I love dearly.  I hope you will be able to use some of the tips I shared on creating a winter holiday drink station and that your next holiday gathering is full of fun, food and good times.

FOR MORE HOLIDAY ENTERTAINING IDEAS LET BRANDI MILLOY SHOW YOU HOW TO BRING 3 DELIGHTFUL (AND AFFORDABLE!) COST PLUS WORLD MARKET LOOKS TO YOUR HOLIDAY TABLESCAPE.

Go for classic Christmas dinnerware colors, add a touch of wintery shimmer with silver and white table decor, or create global style with vibrant table linens. These festive finds also make fun Christmas gifts! Imagine the joy you’ll bring. #GiftThemJoy

Visit your local Cost Plus World Market for your holiday entertaining needs.  Find your local shop here:  http://stores.worldmarket.com/index.html

Icy Bird and Owl Set 

Metallic Confetti Glassware 

Belvoir Elderberry Cordial

Icy Circle and Heart Wreaths

Gold Mirrored Tabletop Tray

Daniele Italian Brand Spicy Gourmet Salami Pack

Champagne Glittered Fern and Pine Candle Ring 

Metallic Confetti Glass Decanter



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LET'S GET SOCIAL!

Follow me @cwbdparties on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and tag me when share your best holiday entertaining moments using ideas from my site! 

{Entertaining Ideas} Fall Tablescape Challenge

I have teamed up with some fellow party gals to share with all our readers different ways to set the scene for your fall holiday tables! We've gotten together, for a fun challenge to see what we can do with a mish-mash of items and a $25 budget to create a lovely fall tablescape.

Here were the rules:

Design a fall themed tablescape for $25 or less AND incorporate these items into your design:

1. Red Wagon
2. A pumpkin
3. Wheat Stalks
4. Apples
5 A wooden sign

So a group of talented party friends and I are sharing each of our tablescapes on our blogs.  You can read how each one completed the challenge by clicking on the link above each photo - Enjoy!  We also have a linky party at the end of the post where you can share your fall home decor ideas, tablescapes and recipes.

 Loving all the wonderful fall elements that Renee from Astonishing Cakes used to create a harvest inspired table.

Totally crushing on the Chevron burlap that Jessica from Everyday Party Magazine used as a focal point for her tablescape.

I've been a fan of Dawn, from Not Just a Mommy for years!  See how she created a charming rustic fall table.

I love all the sparkly fall elements in the table design created by Shannon of Painting Paris Pink.

I always adore how create and talented Ms. Sandra Garth of The Sweet Senstations is.  Look at how she completed her challenge and a VERY smart way!



....and here's how I created my tablescape using items from home and a few purchased pieces.

Items purchased for the table
$1 decorative leaves (Target)
$2 burlap daisies -2 each  (Target)
$3 Satin Ribbon (Michaels)
$5.70 Small Pumpkins (Giant)
$4 Felt Pumkins -4 each (Target)
$5.99 Wheat stalks (Michaels)

Total Spent: $21.69

So everything else was borrowed from my home or already part of my party stash (the wooden sign, woven placemats and melamine plates.  The apples, well, I forgot about them as part of the challenge, luckily, we had some in the fridge :).....I would prefer red ones for this table, but I think the green brightened it up a bit.  The red wagon was an almost forgotten find that I had for a baby shower thrown a few years back and never used - SCORE!  While most of the table looks elegant, the wagon filled with harvest fruits and veggies is really playful and fun! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing how we created a beautiful fall tablescape with just a few dollars. Be sure to check out all the other challenges 1. Astonishing Cakes   2.  Everyday Party Magazine    3.  Not Just a Mommy    4. Painting Paris Pink    5.The Sweet Senstations

......and make sure you link up your fall ideas below in the linky party!

An InLinkz Link-up

{Back to Routine} Easy Slow Cooker Asian Pork Tenderloin with Smithfield

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with 

Weave Made Media and Smithfield, all opinions are my own my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH

Summer's over, Fall is here, school is back in session and that means I start getting back into more of a routine in my home.  Between being a wife, mom, party stylist/designer, blogger and working a full-time job (wipes sweat from brow) I have to help manage a household alongside my better half.  One thing that makes our lives less hectic are easy slower cooker meals for dinner. 

Lately, I've been on an Asian food kick.  I love how the simplest ingredients in Asian recipes makes the most flavorful and healthy dishes.  I got to thinking how much easier it would be my Crock-Pot!  So, I made this DELICIOUS slow cooker Asian Pork Tenderloin recently and just had to share!

I headed to my local Safeway and picked up a Smithfield All Natural Pork Tenderloin and all my ingredients for my meal.  I've been trying to get my family to eat healthier and the All Natural line from Smithfield certainly fit the bill.

I used some of the ingredients found in this recipe and instead of pork shoulder used tenderloin - but you could certainly use your favorite cut of pork!  I didn't use Bok Choy cause I'm not a fan of it, if it's your thing, go for it.  Following the steps in the recipe, I mixed all my ingredients together and let my Sous Chef, The Mini Diva, assist.  One other thing I am trying to get into the routine of doing is letting the kids help prepare our family meals.  Hopefully, this will make them want to eat all their dinner (crossing fingers).

Using our trusty and well-loved Crock-Pot, I let the tenderloin slow cook on low for several hours and when it was done tossed in some scallions.....YUM!

Let me say that this dish was SO GOOD!  Only thing I would personally change if I made it again is the amount of  Chinese five spice powder I used.  Its not my favorite seasoning in the world, and I maybe could have even done without it.  However, the meal was awesome and filling.....and even Mr. Picky Mr. S. digged in and gobbled it up!

We're big on Smithfield here in our house and love us a good spiral ham and bacon!  I don't believe I've ever tried the tenderloin, but it was very tender, moist and carried the flavor of the dish very well.  This recipe would also make a fabulous dish for a Pot Luck dinner or even for a holiday buffet item.  Serve it with Jasmine rice and you will not be disappointed.  I can't wait to make this again for my family!

How are you getting back to routine?  Share your tips and ideas in the comments below. 

You can pick up your own All Natural Smithfield at your local Safeway, Tom Thumb, Randalls or Genuardi and be sure to use this $1 OFF COUPON (while supplies last) towards your purchase.  You will have to register for Just4U to get access to the coupon.

Find more Smithfield products here and follow Smithfield on Facebook