Inviting Alice to Christmas

As promised, I'm posting my newly redesigned Alice in Wonderland Christmas Trees. For the last several years, I've done an Alice tree with glass hearts, golden keys, little mushrooms and a collection of resin ornaments (of indeterminate provenience). This year, however, I discovered the wonderland that is Ebay, and scored some delightful Polonaise pieces.

     The new ornaments include Alice herself (who is very pretty but arrived broken-curses!), the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and Red Queen. Once they arrived, I knew they needed their own place without their resinous counterparts (which are cute but not nearly as interesting). They were given pride of place on my tallest spiral topiary, and the old collection was moved to a smaller bush across the room with blue and silver pieces. Now there are two Alice trees to complete my Winter Wonderland! I'm actually working on a third as well! My newest quest is for the perfect fabric roses.

     Unlike so many of my blog friends, I'm not much of a photographer so I know you'll forgive my less than perfect pictures. I haven't finished the dining room completely, but I'll be displaying little vignettes containing other pieces from my Alice collection to create a whimsical holiday scene sure to enchant all the children in my family from now until January. Please feel free to throw in your ideas, or tell everyone about how yooouuu roll at Christmastime! Oodles of Toodles, Your Kitty.

My brother and my nephew think these ornaments, especially the Hatter are "creepy."

I had to tuck Alice and her flamingo into the tree strategically; the bottom of her dress broke in transit. Apparently, I'll just have to deal with it and spend the rest of my life looking to replace this lone piece of the set. Bollocks!

The Red Queen of Hearts is my favorite; this old girl is bigger than my palm.

The blue and silver Alice tree with my old resin ornaments.

These Alices feature a tiny, glittery red bottle. I love the way she falls off the branch with her dress billowing as if she's headed down the rabbit hole!

I haven't found a perfect Cheshire Cat yet, so I'll leave you with this mysterious grin for now. Meow!

See the complete collection of Alice party ideas and other Wonderland topics on my new blog, Cabbages and Kings!

Pear Tree Eco-Friendly Holiday Cards

Please know that 75% of our ad commissions from the sale of these cards will benefit our Seva Project 09 for St. Mary's Child Center in Indianapolis. Learn more. Pear Tree Greetings is not directly affiliated with this initiative to provide art supplies for at-risk preschoolers in our community. Thank You So Much! Love, kitty.

Hanukkah Ideas Part 2: Chinoiserie and Modern Menorahs

     A Chinoiserie Menorah and another titled, "Silver Dove." Both from the Art Institute of Chicago's Museum Shop (please note: we have no relationship with the shop, so should you decide to get one from their website your purchase will not raise funds for the Seva Project 09). They have lots of other interesting options for your Festival of Lights, so why don't you shake a tail and have a look?

Thanksgiving Costumes - Really?

These fabulous finds are for Averill's amusement, but I hope everyone thinks they're as weird as I do. She hates Thanksgiving decorations! Pilgrim costumes? Really? Really?!? Please write in if you have seen this done at Thanksgiving dinner! Or tell us about your favorite Thanksgiving moment gone wrong!

"Coming up on Stage Number 4, it's Hester Prynne!"






I don't have any clever taglines for these coupla hot messes. Do you?
    

Curiouser and Curiouser!

Dear Kittens,

   Through a cursory analysis, I noticed my most popular posts on Shindigs are the Alice in Wonderland features. They're certainly the most fun to construct! I've decided to organize them and expand them on this new blog, Of Cabbages & Kings. I hope you enjoy reading the posts as much as I enjoy writing them. I've had a penchant for Alice since early childhood, and I've been collecting ever since.

     I've never been much of a fan of princess crap, preferring instead to live in a Wonderland of sorts, gawking at the absurdity of life the way Alice herself learned about reality. Alice in Wonderland is as existential as Camus or any dharma book I've ever read. In fact, if there is one work of literature that has run like a sutra thread through my life, it is Alice in Wonderland. I just love it. And from the looks of it, so do you!

     Here you'll find reprints of Shindigs & Soirees party planning posts, my Alice collection, special features and shopping links. In fact, from November 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010 we will donate 75% of our advertising revenue for the Innerspace Yoga Seva Project 09. Please click here for more information. Meanwhile, please tumble down this rabbit hole with me...and do drop a line. I want to see your Alice stuff, too! Oodles of Toodles,

Your Kitty, the Duchess of Bucquette.

Hanukkah Ideas

Each photo above is clickable for your convenience. Should you decide to purchase anything from these sites, a portion of our revenue will be donated to the Innerspace Seva Project 09. Please allow your browser to accept cookies from these sites so sales can be tracked and we can earn our commission for the cause. Thanks! Love, kitty.

My Alice in Wonderland Tree

     I just can't wait to put up my Alice tree. Forgive my photos from last year. These pictures don't do it much justice; it's adorned with red glass hearts from around the world (mainly compliments of Bebe) weird keys, smaller topiaries from my wedding 13 years ago, glass mushrooms, and very intricate Alice ornaments. It's also the place where I hang MIL's lone surviving antique ornament from her own childhood. Because of the red hearts, I stack red, white and green gifts under this tree. I can't put them under the main tree, obviously because that room is brown and tiger striped and neutral. Christmas morning is always a little treasure hunt through the house for all of us!
Update: I just scored the sweetest glass Alice ornaments on Ebay! They're from my favorite year, 1996, and each is palm sized. I'll be receiving Alice, the Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit. Although Radko made Alice in Wonderland ornaments that are somewhat rare and very cute, these are waaaayyy better and I can't wait to get them and put them up!
Update 2: Attention Alice fans: I've created a new blog, Cabbages and Kings. It's all Alice all the time. I hope you'll all join me there and on the other kitty: channels: Organic Orgy and Zen of Homekeeping. Toodles, kitty.

Your Corporate Holiday Parties

     I've mentioned most of my event planning experience comes from several years of directing corporate Christmas at our family business. I learned quickly in our industry that there is no such thing as "Christmas" per se in the professional world.
    There are "The Holidays" and there is "The New Year," and there is a "Season" which must be greeted, but it's not called Christmas. Now, our parties certainly reflected the Christmas spirit (one of the season's parties was a no-holds barred Santa extravaganza), but in secular industries, not being more sensitive to and aware of others' cultural diversities will come back to bite you in the arse. If you have Jewish clients and employees, take the time to learn about Hanukkah. Non-Christian Asians tend to put more emphasis on the New Year.
     When I took over the job, Harry & David hams were traditionally sent to clients. People of the Jewish and Muslim faiths don't eat pork, and neither do I. But we live in the Bible Belt, and this had not occurred to my predecessor. We switched to smoked turkeys, which some clients really liked. If I knew they had always enjoyed our meat in the mail, I'd send the bird. Otherwise, it was gift-towers for all. Eventually I settled on sending organic Fruit of the Month. I was never disappointed. They all loved it. Each individual piece always looked like something from a food styling photo shoot. If you have the budget and you're looking to impress, Harry & David is a great option. Their customer service reps are really great, too.
     Whatever you do and whomever you use during the season, start early. Be ready to ship December 1st. Sure, most vendors will handle ultra-last-minute pleas but shipping and schlepping will cost you dearly. I once had to phone our order in 3 days early from Cabo San Lucas. It arrived on Christmas Eve at clients' homes, but the charges were staggering. And the roaming. The roaming from my cell phone was a king's ransom. I thought I'd never hear the end of it.
      If you care enough to spend the money to send gourmet foods or something really cool, you obviously want to make an impression. If your items don't arrive until the day or two before the holiday begins, your big mucky-muck probably won't see it. Either it will get lost in the avalanche of gifts that pile into the office, or it will arrive after your executive has jetted off a day early on vacation. Then all your butt-kissing will be for naught. Get it there early!
     Conversely, you must take note of what's coming into your office as well. Do your thank you notes as time allows during this busy time of the year, but write your thank you letters as you receive the gifts.  Make sure you acknowledge the gifts, however small or mundane - and even if your company won't be reciprocating. My boss insisted upon a running inventory of who sent what. (continues below)

     Alright, I'm pretty sure I'll catch hell for this, but I'm just going to say it: I. Hate. Secret Santa. It's the worst thing ever. If you're in charge of office cheer, don't foist this upon people. For one thing, an office isn't a sorority house. I'm not grinchy, really I'm not, but it's really awkward. Really, really awkward. I felt weird receiving presents from people I hardly knew. A sweet high school girl who worked about 5 minutes a week for minimum wage drew my name. I felt like a total ass accepting her cute little bag of Bath & Body Works (which, of course I refuse to use because of paraben and SLS and fake perfume content). I am old enough to be her mother. I secreted cash into her little felt stocking in the front of the building. That's what Secret Santa should be about!
In this awful economic climate, please don't press people into playing reindeer games. These are the sorts of things that add to rampant holiday stress. If you must spread some office cheer, why don't you take some of the delectable fruit baskets nuts and sausages (oh yes, there were loads and loads of sausages - more than any family could or should eat) down to the local police station or fire house? Or food pantry, or shelter or whatever. Give your coworkers the opportunity to do passive service. I think that's what the corporate world, or at least Michael Scott, calls a "win-win"situation.

Fancy Folded Napkins

     When I was an undergraduate, I worked in the catering department of a large, old hotel. We had to do ornamental napkin presentations practically every day. Given I spent most of my breaks on the back loading dock, er, hanging out with a bunch of townies, I don't remember how to do any of the fancy folds other than sticking a napkin in a wine glass like this:

     It's not a bad technique in a pinch, but if you really want to set a table to impress, it's easy to learn the more intricate folds. I found this simple tutorial when I was looking for odd-sized table linens. I can never seem to find a tablecloth that's wide enough to fit my dining room table. I dread having to drag out the Singer to make one myself; how I hate sewing curved hems!

Natural Halloween Outdoor Decorating

 Photo by Matthew Benson for Country Living

     Plastic wrappers, flammable streamers and polyester spider webs: all the traditional trappings of outdoor Halloween decor. Couple these with off-gassing PVC masks and costumes and fog machines, and you've got one horrible mess of toxicity melting down. Consider the All Hallow's Eve hangover of a trashpile on November 1st. The items that frightened and delighted your trick or treaters will haunt us forever in the landfill! That's pretty scary!

     The photo above from Country Living showcases the most perfect, eco-friendly vignette I've ever seen. By using natural materials that can be composted (or heaped for next year's crops of pumpkins, gourds and squashes), you will avoid rampant consumerism and have a more tasteful display.

     I particularly like the candles in Kerr jars with candy corn to stabilize. After Halloween, you can take the spooky bits out of your decorations to have something to tide you over till after Thanksgiving when the big guns come out!

Tips for Holiday Invitations: You'd Better Get Busy Now!

I've been griping about the merchants foisting Christmas upon us before the leaves have dropped here in Indiana. It is such an anti-Zen way to live, shifting our consciousness ahead two and three months at a time. But if you read Shindigs & Soirees, I can only assume you are a doer and a planner, and there are, after all, numerous events creeping up on your calendar. That said, I know you'll forgive me for instilling holiday panic before you've even picked up your Halloween candy!

I was the party planner for our family business until Hubbs retired. At that time, my father in law (may he rest in peace) was still the CEO and our holiday extravaganzas included an employee party, a separate formal dinner dance for employees and clients/associates, a Santa party for our employees' children (complete with wish lists granted for 25-35 kids), client gifting, correspondence, and our personal family gatherings. Needless to say, my holiday planning began with our annual Halloween rager at my house and ended with me horizontal in a fuge state on a sofa by the fire by 3 pm on Christmas Day.

I abdicated my duties about 5 years ago, but inherited all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve cooking. Not a bad trade, considering all the work that went into the season. In those days, internet commerce wasn't as prolific, and I had yet to discover the blogosphere. I'm not entirely sure there was much content yet, anyway. That meant the week before Halloween, I had to scour all of the stationery shops, spending hours pouring over catalogs and invitation samples. The schlepping alone drove me nuts.

Despite the options and convenience of the web, etiquette time tables still apply. Formal invitations for Christmas and New Year's Eve really must go out 6 weeks prior: people should be receiving theirs right after Thanksgiving. Anything later, and you're really pushing it because of the rush and rigmarole of the season!

Start by thinking backwards. Figure out the date of your event, subtract 6 weeks plus 10-14 days for processing and shipping, and you'll know when to get started. Whether you order from your local shop or online, you can do your address labels while you are waiting for your products to arrive. One advantage to having your invitations printed locally is the occasional opportunity to take your envelopes with you while the cards are being made. If you choose to print your addresses on labels, choose clear for colored envelopes. In my case, my boss insisted all invitations be addressed by hand. This usually took me every bit of a week to accomplish, but the results were very personal.

Your invitation should set the tone of your party. Often, I would come up with the theme by finding a super cool invitation. We celebrate Christmas, but not everyone does. That's why I usually crafted my text to read something like "Celebrate the Season With (Our Company Name)." The corporate tradition was to send a Harry & David ham to our clients, but when I took over we began ordering turkeys instead. Not everyone appreciates pork - including myself. Definitely something to consider in a culturally heterogeneous business world!

Here are some ideas to get you started. There is nothing I love more than poring over stationery, and though I consume far, far less of it these days I am happy to daydream of the parties that might be as well as the soirees that have been. Feel free to drop me an email (kitty@innerspaceyogas.com) or a comment if you want to pick my brain while planning your own winter wonderlands!

I don't normally send Thanksgiving cards because everyone I want to greet is usually at my house eating free range turkey and organic cranberry chutney, but if your business is food oriented, you'll make a big impression on your clients before the deluge of December mail rains upon them!

Note: The designs below were handpicked and captioned for you by Kitty. They are posted in a "shop" format for your browsing/my posting convenience. The links are clickable if you need more information or you want to order anything. In that case, you will leave the Kitty website.

While browsing invitations all afternoon, I was inspired to begin planning my own holiday social schedule. Among the pending get togethers, I'm penciling in an afternoon tea for some yoga friends to kick off this season's Innerspace Yoga Seva project, a wild girls' night out, Thanksgiving for 3-23 people, an intimate cocktail party at home, Christmas Eve White Elephant, and of course Christmas Day. Whew! I've worn myself out just thinking of it. More on these projects as they develop - Please check back!

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Best Halloween Treat Ever

A friend asked, "Do you ever wonder about candy from China?" I try to minimize my consumption of Chinese products (it's really, really hard) because I try to maximize my American purchases. My mother-in-law is very strict about candy and toys not being from China because of lead content and the pet food scare a few years ago. Fine by me. That means my Easter baskets and Christmas stockings are loaded with domestic chocolate.

Behind in my blogging, I just found this adorable Halloween banner this evening. You totally have time to have some of these delivered in time for your favorite trick-or-treaters. They're fun to make and fun to give. I am actually going to click over and get some for my nephews as well as some of the NFL varieties to give to my son's football coaches as a thank you. Go Jets!

*Note: (Wed) I don't know what happened to the super cute orange and black banner I had posted; here yesterday and gone today. If you click on the ad, it will take you over to M&Ms, and you can see the Halloween variety there. Thanks, Kitty.*