gather: Ringing in the New Year With Cards and Chocolate!

One of my all time favorite clients called me the week before Christmas and asked if we had time to plan a New Year's Eve party for her daughter and friends. She said she was leaving town in the morning and wouldn't be back until New Year's Eve day. I of course, said "yes" and began the planning right away.

What better way to spend New Year's than at a black jack table, roasting s'mores and creating a gourmet cup of hot chocolate!

When you are rushed to get the word out about a party you usually decide on an electronic invitation, but since this party was for teenagers we opted to get a cute invitation printed so the mothers would know about about the party. I called my friends at the Scribbler and they designed and printed a super cute invitation that went perfectly with my "casino night" theme.

There was a hot fire surrounded by hay bails for seating. The rain had graced us with its presence right before the party and a little throughout the party, so the fire was made and quickly put out. Regardless, the guests enjoyed hanging out and lighting sparklers from the flames even if it was for only a little while.

If you are like the Butlers, we usually use old wire coat hangers for our s'more adventures, but the party planner in me didn't want a bunch of unattractive hangers for this party. I hit up Home Depot the day before and found some metal rods that worked perfectly. If you decide to do this, don't forget to have a way for the rods to stand up. You will not want the marshmallow end getting on anything!

Ingredients for the s'more and hot chocolate bar:

S'MORE....chocolate and regular graham crackers, Hersey bars, marshmallow (you could always add a little peanut butter...I had a peanut butter s'more for lunch yesterday and all I can say is YUMMY!)

HOT CHOCOLATE.....hot chocolate, whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, cinnamon and chocolate stir stick and marshmallows.

What is a New Year's Party without some nonalcoholic champagne......

.....and party hats!!!!

Saving the best detail for last..........

The CASINO tables!!

I hired Good Fella's Gaming to bring in 4 black jack tables. They have professional dealers that handed out $1,000 in fake money to get the night going. It was fun for the experienced players as well as the novices!