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I love to throw a party–a full-out themed birthday party or a simple dinner party. I love the creative process involved, and I love spending time with people I love with good food and drink.
At our house good drink is non-alcoholic. At a party I recently hosted our good drink was fruit juice. I love having my guests get involved with the food, and so I love to do “food bars or drink bars” where the guests actually assemble their own food.
It also cuts down on the work for me as the hostess. I don’t have to spend all my time in the kitchen; I can be part of the party, too.
At my most recent party, I put together a Juice Bar starring a new product by Simply Orange Juice Company – Simply CranberryCocktail which they asked me to try. I also made them work for their dinner. I’ll be posting about that tomorrow.
Host a Create Your Own Juice Bar at your next party!
For the Juice Bar I covered my old vintage ironing board with a vintage table cloth.
I provided a selection of juices including Simply CranberryCocktail the newest in the line of Simply beverages as well as Simply Orange® and Simply Lemonade®.
In addition we had some other “mixers”–peach juice, apricot nectar, pineapple juice, coconut, and lemon-lime soda. Simply CranberryCocktail is not made from concentrate so it has a fresh, pure cranberry taste, both sweet and tart and just a little different than the other cranberry cocktails you may have tried. Because it has no added preservatives you will find it in the refrigerator section of the grocery store; it is chilled from the time it’s blended.
I grew up drinking cranberry juice blends and I love cranberry cocktail all by itself but my favorite drink combines cranberry cocktail, orange juice and lemon lime soda. It was our own little “mocktail.”
It was fun to see how creative everyone got with their juice mixtures.
Simply CranberryCocktail comes in a fun carafe so no need to pour it into a pretty container; it comes in one, either 59 oz. or a smaller, personal size of 13.5 oz.
Some of our other favorite juice bar combinations were: Simply CranberryCocktail, pineapple and lemon lime soda; Simply CranberryCocktail, orange juice and lemon lime soda; Simply CranberryCocktail, peach juice and lemon lime soda; Simply CranberryCocktail, lemonade and pineapple.
I highly recommend a Juice Bar at your next party or dinner party. People love the hands-on process and being able to experiment with all different combinations.
As the hostess you provide the ingredients and let your guests do the mixing!
Simply CranberryCocktail is also giving away a $100.00 VISA card to one of my readers – how cool is that?
What is your favorite way is to make a party or get-together at your home more festive? Tell me about it in the comments for the chance to win a $100 gift card!
Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to see what we had to eat at the party. Here’s all you need to know to enter:
Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2012 – 6/6/2012
Be sure to visit the Promotions & Prizes page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
“Simply Cranberry™” is a trademark of Simply Orange Juice Company.
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I always make sure I have plenty of different foods to make the party festive.
My favorite way to make a party or get-together at my home more festive is selecting a theme but with simple decorations. I love to prepare homemade finger food, nice dessert and drinks. Love your juice bar idea, will plan it for my next party. Thanks for the giveaway.
ctong2[at]gmail[dot]com
I tweeted about this giveaway: https://twitter.com/ctong2/status/207020002111533057
ctong2[at]gmail[dot]com
LOTS OF HOMEMADE FOOD & FUN AT THE BEACH!
2ND ENTRY TWEET https://twitter.com/kytah00/status/207222669798682627
I make sure there is a variety of food and drinks.
I love to add great music and lighting to make a gathering more festive.
gina.m.maddox (AT) gmail (DOT) com
tweet-https://twitter.com/CrazyItalian0/status/207632251201134593
gina.m.maddox (AT) gmail (DOT) com
I always like to have a theme for the food & drink. We did a taco bar one year for my daughter’s birthday and all the appetizers and drinks were authentic Mexican too.
lots of snacks and cocktails.
And fun colorful decorations.
O and don’t forget the music.
I love to have spooky Halloween party’s..
dollhousecreation(at)gmail(dot)com
I love to themed potlucks. One time might be slow cooker foods, everything from appetizers to desserts. Another time might be sandwiches. It’s fun to see how creative we can be within the theme.
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/209053515820183554
What a wonderful idea! It’s been HOT here lately and I really think my friends would LOVE this at our next game night. It’s a great way to class up even a casual event!
dianarenata[at]live[dot]com
Deanna Eberlin recently posted..Can’t Get Going
I tweeted this post! I hope my followers like it.
https://twitter.com/DianaRenata/status/209348421360959488
Deanna Eberlin recently posted..Can’t Get Going
Parties are more festive with special bite size snacks and board games to get people interacting. I love the juice bar idea…will definately try that idea!
tweet https://twitter.com/prizepuzzle/status/209459506223132673
yummy food and we always try a different drinlk recipe
I love to pick a theme and then get decorations to match as well as food and drinks. Getting ready to host a hawaiian party for my daughter’s 6th birthday!
I like to find one unique thing to do that is unexpected. I have done hot dog bar, chili bar and I am trying the Italian soda bar for my son’s grad. party this month.
I think the best way to make a party festive is to include friends!! Even if you’re having a simple BBQ, having good friends attend (and feel welcome) is key to a festive atmosphere!
An ice cream sundae bar is a great way to make any event festive!
Theme, decorations and music are always great; but fabulous friends/family make the party a real party!
Fresh flowers always make it more festive.
Thanks for the contest.
Blogged:
http://slehan.blogspot.com/2012/06/win-100-visa-from-simply-cranberry.html
Keeping it simple so that I can interact with guests rather than busy cooking, and cleaning up, works for me.
Eden recently posted..Lasagna Casserole
Decorate with fresh flowers. Always festive to me and to my guests.
I want to win so I can beef up my silhouette cameo fund!
oops, I forgot to answer the question, I love a theme and a fun party favor for everyone to take home!
I love having tons of little finger foods as the main course! You can have a huge variety of food to offer and appetizers are always delicious!
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/jfong1130/status/209838476823236609
I like to add flowers and food labels!
A great way to make a party more festive is lights! I love to string up lights all over the house and yard (weather permitting) and not use any other form of light other than maybe a scented candle or two. It really creates a fun and intimate atmosphere!
angie lilly recently posted..Dewy Wild Mushroom by FotoMacro
I tweeted here: https://twitter.com/MsTofuFairy/status/210033560160178177
angie lilly recently posted..Dewy Wild Mushroom by FotoMacro
Plenty of appetizers and napkins!!
Julia {The Roasted Root} recently posted..Strawberry Mango Crumble
And I tweeted! : https://twitter.com/RoastedRootFood/status/210059705693896707
Julia {The Roasted Root} recently posted..Strawberry Mango Crumble
We have a theme for every event and encourage guests to dress accordingly.
I do like entertaining and my favorite thing is to do theme parties. I customize my food, drinks and decorations/decor around a theme and everyone really enjoys it….I just try not to get too hokey!
I like to do a food bar with everyone can pick what they want to eat and I free to enjoy everyone.
I add festive music and decorations to create the right atmosphere.
runningmatey at hotmail dot com
https://twitter.com/LuckyDuckyToo/status/210489221696327680
I love making the party a pot luck with a theme to see what people come up with to bring based on theme!