Forget the front door. These bite-size wreaths — whimsical enough to appeal to the smallest (and finickiest) guests — are meant to deck your plate (although they’re unlikely to stay there for very long). To make them, spread mini bagel halves with cream cheese (plain or tinted green with herbs or food coloring), then sprinkle on red, yellow, and green bell-pepper confetti.
The pine in this case is pineapple, and laden with colorful fruit kabob branches, it’s one holiday centerpiece almost too good to eat. To assemble one, cut off the top and about 1 inch of the bottom (for stability) of a large pineapple. On 4 to 5 inch bamboo skewers (you’ll need about 50), thread 3 to 5 pieces of assorted fresh fruits — melon chunks, grapes, strawberries, and the like — leaving an inch or so of skewer to stick into the pineapple; if your skewers are too long, you can easily cut them to size with the cutting blades of a pair of pliers. As you finish each skewer, insert it at a slight downward angle into the pineapple, starting at the bottom. Top with a skewered slice of star fruit or a star carved from the extra pineapple. Once the branches are eaten, don’t forget to slice up the tree trunk!
Look-alike plastic cups have a way of losing themselves in a crowd. To save guests the bother of cup hunting (and avoid waste in the bargain), add large starburst stickers to each cup, along with smaller stars or other stickers for decoration. Next to an assortment of markers, set up a placard directing guests to sign and retain the cup of their choice.
Here’s a neat way to let your guests help you trim the holiday tree. Create a tree shape and star topper from colorful construction paper or poster board; mount it on a wall or door with double-sided tape. On the star, include instructions for your guests (“Please sign in!”), and set baskets of colored-dot stickers and markers nearby. To give everyone the idea, have family members provide the first signatures.
Country & Victorian Times 