If you’re looking to host a small New Years Eve get together, you don’t have to break the bank to do so! Today, we’re sharing a couple ideas that will help you get into the festive spirit without spending too much.

Decorations

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  • Find the largest dollar store in your area. All these items we found at our local dollar store (ok, technically $1.25 – not quite a dollar!). They may not be in the ‘holiday/christmas’ section, but more so down the party, craft and home aisles.

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  • We used this sparkly paper we found in the craft aisle to create our own Happy New Year lettering! If you want to hang it up – you can use tape to stick them onto the wall or string with tape to create a banner.

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  • Balloons are always fun – we were lucky to find these golden balloons (they were in the wedding part of the dollar store). You can tape them to your table, the wall or keep them loose on the floor if you have room!
  • The confetti came in different colours and shapes – we found one that had party hats and while you can use it as is – for the video, we separated the gold and silver ones to go with our theme.
  • These star plates we found in the party aisle – I originally bought them for a video game themed party I wanted to host but never got around to doing!
  • Christmas crackers – you can find these everywhere during the season. We dug through the piles to find gold and silver themed ones.

Cocktail Recipes

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If you’re looking for the two cocktails made in this video, you can find them here: Cotton Candy Cocktail and Sparkling Pineapple Juice.

Snacks to Serve

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Indulgent snacks are always the most fun to serve! You don’t have to go too fancy to please the crowd – there are so many great snacks that you pick up from your local grocery store. If you have a Costco membership, picking up meats, crackers, olives and cheeses are the easiest and (usually) the most cost efficient.

Here is the list of snacks from the video:

  • Smoked Bacon Chips – President’s Choice
  • Caramel and Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn – Smart Foods
  • Cake – Ice Cream cake from DQ
  • Purdy’s Hedgehogs
  • Trader Joe’s Hazelnut Cookies
  • Olives – Costco
  • Freybe Pate – Costco
  • Trio of Cured Meats – Costco
  • Rice Crackers, wafers – Costco
  • Cheese plate – Superstore
  • Raincoast Crisps – Lesley Stowe – you can buy anywhere
  • Fruits
  • Chocolate Truffles -made by Amy, the Food Queen

Serving Tips:

  • Use simple white or glass serveware to elevate the look. The key is to keep the colours consistent to make a great spread.

Some people have asked me about the items I use for entertaining:

  • I found this mirror tray at the local Value Village that is now where I keep my alcohol bottles when I have friends over.
  • I found the flat glass bowl also at a Value Village a couple months ago.
  • The popcorn glass bowl is from Crate and Barrel and was a bit of a splurge spend – I absolutely love it though!
  • The slate cheeseboard is also from Crate and Barrel, I was inspired when I saw the same cheeseboard at Nathalie and Josh’s home.
  • The Diamond Glasses I bought online on Amazon, I love them, they give my drinks a super awesome look.
  • The long olive serveware is also from Crate and Barrel and a cheap find!
  • My two tier tray was a gift from my wedding but you can find similar ones online. Like this one and this one.
  • The champagne glasses are from Crate and Barrel – also a cheap find!
  • The slate coasters are from Canadian Tire ($4.99!!).
  • I just so happened to have this Bath and Body Works candle from last year that fit the theme, it’s also one of my favourite scents – vanilla cupcake. 🙂