PlumParty

Movie Awards

Hearts, Diamonds and Pigskin

Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day and Awards Show Ragers to Remember

ith the holidays and New Year’s Eve in the rearview mirror, you may be ready to settle in for a long winters nap. Don’t hang up your party hat just yet— Hollywood, the NFL and St. Valentine are throwing great party themes your way. From the red carpet to the red zone, we’ll help you get through the big chill, one party at a time.

SUPER BOWL

On Sunday, February 6, sports fans and friends of sports fans will unite to observe football’s national holiday. There’s never a better excuse to get together, yell at the T.V. and eat everything that isn’t nailed down. At Plum Party, we think the only way to do a Super Sunday bash is to project a casual, come-as-you-are vibe. Think easy prep, easy clean up, and an atmosphere that makes guests feel like they’re watching the game from their own favorite chairs, only better!

The Game Plan

Choose invitations with as much selling power as a first TV time-out commercial. We love our 3-D Spitfire Girl football invitations, or cards that tempt guests through their tummies—pizza and BBQ-themed invitations are good bets. Kick off the festivities with a no-sports-knowledge-required betting grid, so even the clueless can get involved. Anything’s interesting when you’ve got money riding on it!

While we like to provide a little something for everyone, the big game is the main event—make sure viewing conditions are ideal. If your 27-incher just doesn’t cut it, splurge and rent a big screen TV. If your couches don’t offer ample seating, stack some comfy cushions on the floor or rent folding chairs and set them up in movie theater-style rows.

If your crowd has more than a few members who don’t know a touchdown from an interception, treat them to a Foot Ball in an adjoining room. Hire spa technicians to give foot massages and pedicures and screen football crowd-pleasers like Rudy, Wildcats and Remember the Titans. Trust us: true sports fans may appreciate keeping all of the unrelated gab confined to the luxury box.

Looks Like Team Spirit

Deck your living room out to rival the stands in Jacksonville. Bring in the team colors with banners, Fun Fringe and Creative Crepe. If you’re crowd is pretty neutral, can’t-miss colors include bold reds, oranges and yellows (the international colors of food that is bad for us—why else would all of those fast food restaurants share the same color palette?). Line every surface with an Astroturf runner and scatter football and beer trivia coasters on top.

The Food Court

For a couch potato spread that would make Homer Simpson drool, serve chips & dips, nachos & salsa, six-foot subs, ribs and pizza cafeteria-style. We’ve got the trays, sandwich baskets and no-fuss squeeze bottles to make it authentic. Use football-shaped cookie cutters to make mini PB&Js. The kicker? A hot dog bar with homemade chili and all the fixin’s. Have tons of plasticware and napkins (in our diner-style dispenser) on hand—the goal is to get through the clean-up without having to do a single dish. Keep football-shaped serving dishes filled with popcorn and candy dispensers with chocolate footballs close to the couch for mindless mid-quarter munching.

When guests ask, “What can I bring?,” tell them to pick up a sixer of their favorite beer. Present it on ice in colorful metal basins with our handy ‘etch it’ cups, so guests can keep tabs on their brewskis.

Are you ready for some football? (We think so.)

Valentine’s Day

Whether you love Valentine’s Day or love to hate it, we’ve got entertaining ideas that will win your amour. Now back away from the Whitman’s sampler and check out our tips for a V-day so very un-Hallmark-y that you just might like it.

If You’ve Been Kissed By Cupid

Invite a mix of sweethearts and singles to your love nest for cocktails. Float a sexy Moroccan vibe with rose petals sprinkled in the driveway and a torrent of red bubble glass votives and beaded candleholders to cast alluring shadows. If you’re hosting a sit-down dinner, romance each guest with an ‘Art of Kissing’ book at each place setting. Red hot gummy bears in red flared bowls make lovely lovey dovey centerpieces. Our sophisticated glass spin-the-bottle toy keeps things interesting.

If You Think Cupid’s Stupid...

Opt for a “Crazy in Love” theme and have guests dress as notoriously bad couples, famous stalkers…you get the idea. Or, host an Ex-orcism. Use our little black book invitations to celebrate your friends’ freedom from those losers. Have everyone bring pictures of their most dastardly exes and let the ex-games begin! When guests arrive, give them each a conversation heart cookie on which to write an embarrassing tidbit of ex-trivia, from “He didn’t kiss a girl until junior year of college” to “She snores like a linebacker with a deviated septum.” Have guests guess which juicy morsel goes with which ex. Accessorize with Scandle Candles, naughty tattoos and Virgin/Slut soap. Check out our “Break-Up” theme party for more ideas.

Mood Food

If you’re pro-V, serve smoked salmon finger sandwiches, accompanied by mixed greens with goat cheese, toasted almonds and strawberries in our red gingham take-out containers. Use cookie cutters to shape ice cream sandwiches into hearts, and roll the edges in red sprinkles. Pour Cosmos into elegant acrylic martini glasses, and accent water with heart-shaped pink lemonade ice cubes. Keep plenty of bubbly chilled in metallic red wine bottle coolers. Around midnight, sweet talk guests with S’mores and gourmet hot chocolate.

If you’re a V-day cynic, well then, do you fondue? Serve a bubbling blend of Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses with veggies and cubes of crusty bread—it’s your “Cheesy Valentine’s Day” spread! Pair the fondue with your favorite garlicky, saucy side dishes…anything that it’s impossible to look sexy while eating. Chocolate and gummy shot glasses take the soiree to a whole new level. Line up bottles of your favorite spirits and label them “Love Potions Numbers 1-8,” and you may make some love connections yet.

Awards Show

The glitz. The glamour. The stuff she must have been smoking when she agreed to wear that dress! It’s awards show season—the Super Bowl of fashion, the Olympics of egos, the paparazzi prom—and we can’t get enough of it. Year after year, we gossip, we air kiss, we live vicariously, while at the same time, tearing it all to shreds. Trusts us, dah-lings, we’ve got the secret to awards show night bashes that would have A-listers clamoring for invitations.

Red Carpet 101

Make Joan and Melissa proud with a superstar red carpet welcome. Tempt guests to step their perfectly manicured toesies out of their limos with movie camera invitations or, if it suits your artistic vision, party details scrawled on yellow movie film in a tin canister. Set up a red carpet (ours is plastic…shh…don’t tell), complete with a glamourpuss star bar chock full of sunglasses, feather boas, beauty marks, cigarette holders and baseball-sized baubles, so guests can accessorize on the spot. Snap Polaroids of pals mugging and give an award for “Best Picture.”

It’s Showtime!

Distribute ballots with lists of nominees so guests can vote and play along. Add some of your own categories, like a “Worst Fake Bake Offender” award, or a “Should’ve Stuck to the Tux” (the award for the most brazen risk taken in the male formalwear category). Make sure to have plenty of prizes on hand. We recommend our starlet kit, Movie Awards Drink Charms, ‘You’re A Star’ Bath Confetti, Zagat Movie Guides and DVDs, of course. Tuck Hollywood Stress Mints or clapboard key rings into gold drawstring bags, so no one goes home empty handed…honestly, it was an honor just to be invited.

Set the stage with statuettes (both chocolate and metal), glittering star garlands, ‘Martini Spoken Here’ napkins and ‘Total Bitch’ soap in the powder room. Layer on the sparkle with star coasters, and gold & silver trays and table covers. Cut out unflattering pics of celebs from US Magazine, In Touch and Star, color copy and voila – celebfetti!

Concessions Stand

Wolfgang Puck has been trying to put some meat on those scrawny celebrity bones post-awards-show for years. Fire up a bunch of his frozen pizzas and serve on our exclusive ‘Hollywood Glam’ platter for bona fide star bites. Throw in some caviar and champagne if you’re going for big budget blockbuster, or opt for nachos and soft drinks, if your funds are more of the ‘indie’ variety. Keep gold star containers piled high with chocolate film rolls and tickets. If you serve a surprise second course of buttered popcorn in retro plastic popcorn containers and boxes of movie candy piled on trays (our set features nine classic faves), we guarantee your guests will like you. They’ll really, really like you.

Holiday 2005

PlumParty's holiday calendar: one month of easy ideas for hosting, guesting, giving, relaxing and enjoying.

 

thursday, december 1 - we've got spirit

So what if your neighbors have had their holiday decorations up since Halloween and you still haven't gotten around to hauling out your winter coats from under-bed storage. Just a few quick touches will transform your space into an elegant and welcoming bastion of holiday spirit. Snag a festive dazzler to hang on the front door-our hot holiday felt wreath makes a hip statement. Display red tin buckets filled with clementines or walnuts in their shells. Group votive and pillar candles atop silver lacquer coasters. Consider your halls decked.

Saturday, december 3 - greetings, salutations and shout-outs
If you plan on sending holiday cards or party invitations, this is the weekend to do it. Post offices are slammed and social calendars book up faster than Uncle Mel downs a cup of eggnog, so the earlier the better. Save stamps and time by sending holiday cards only to faraway friends and relatives. Invite the others to a holiday shindig where you can spread the good cheer in person. Our "happy" card covers all of the season's bases and our "la flame" and "jingle, jingle" invitations set a lively tone for holiday gatherings.

wednesday, december 7 - wish list, hold the mayo
Get your holiday shopping done on your lunch break. Without ever leaving your desk. No fighting over parking spaces, no waiting in line - online shopping makes it easier than ever to snag the perfect gift for every name on your list. From splurges to stocking stuffers, some of Plum Party's top picks:

 For hipsters: French Bull salad servers
 For little ones: Action Sample Camera, Ice Cream Sundae Kit
 For green thumbs: Bulb in a Bag kits
 For gamers: Roulette/Blackjack game
 For rock stars: Shuga Bud Earphones, sponge microphone
 For the chess club: How to be Popular book
 For budding baristas: Coffee Smarts game
 For movie buffs: 75 Years of Oscar book

sunday, december 11 - kitchen claus
One little afternoon in the kitchen nets gifts for the masses. Making a large batch of edible treats is affordable way to spread holiday love to a large group of people (co-workers, neighbors, fellow Lost fan club-members). Simply separate the goodies into cool containers and they're ready to give. Try star-shaped sugar cookies with blue sprinkles in gray takeout containers, peppermint bark in clear favor boxes, or glass bottles of infused olive oil presented in felt snowman wine bags.

wednesday, december 14 - wrap-sody chez you
Invite pals over for present-wrapping and pizza. Have each guest bring one roll of wrapping paper and a spool of ribbon. Stock up on creative crepe, fun fringe and gift boxes, bags and tags. Make sure to have plenty of tape and scissors on hand. Crank up the holiday tunes and get wrapping!

thursday, december 22 - winter solstice shindig
Because everyone throws parties on Saturday nights and on New Year's Eve, plus the shortest day of the year also means the longest night! Mix it up with a Winter Wonderland cocktail fete on the Winter Solstice. Primp your pad in silver and white-silver lanterns, silver star garlands and white feather boas. Serve champagne cocktails and white cranberry cosmos in disposable plastic flutes and martini glasses. Tempt guests with ice cream "snowballs" rolled in sprinkles, nuts and silver balls.

sunday, december 25 - chrismukkah
It's Christmas Day, the first night of Hanukkah... there's a lot going on. Take a break from tearing into gifts and partying to do something that truly embodies the holiday spirit. Invite friends over to make stockings, bags or baskets to drop off at a church, shelter or synagogue. Start with our cute red & white felt stockings and stuff with candy canes and chocolate snowmen. Or, fill our Star of David felt bags with wooden dreidels and gelt. Keep the elves in your workshop warm and happy with MarieBelle spicy hot chocolate.

monday, december 26 - moo shu holidays
Stay in bed until 4pm and order Chinese delivery.

thursday, december 29 - in de-stress
Organize a spa night to de-stress from holiday mayhem and catch up with the girls. Go for a yoga class, or, better yet, massages or pedis, and then re-fuel at your place over edamame, a simple seared tuna salad and green tea. Pass out "Positive Energy" drink spots to keep the good vibes flowing.

saturday, december 31 - new year's eve
Host an intimate dinner for 6 before you hit the party circuit. Create beaded charms with guests' initials - napkin holders, place cards and favors all rolled into one. White poinsettias in pails and mirrored balls make striking centerpieces. Serve a simple, stick-to-your-ribs supper of caprese salad, sauteed broccoli rabe and spaghetti and meatballs to help get you through a night of champagne toasts.

sunday, january 1 - see december 26
New year, new you. Not yet. Why fight crowds at the gym? It'll still be there tomorrow. Happy 2006!

Halloween 2005

Listen up, lazy Halloween costume offenders: this year, there will be no drawing black makeup rings around one’s eyes and calling oneself a raccoon. There will be no toting a telephone in an effort to pass oneself off as a telemarketer. There will be no carrying around a beer and saying “I’m a college student.” And there will certainly be no cutting-eye-holes-in-sheets malarkey. Not on our watch.

How to motivate pals to put a little extra effort into their costumes? Host a Halloween party with an awards show theme and a Transylvanian twist. Welcome to the “The Spookies”, a costume awards ceremony that’s equal parts V.I.P. and R.I.P., blood-red carpet and all. [browse our halloween costume category]

Hype Your Haunt
Choose halloween invitations in a de rigeur creepy motif; classic bats, witches and black cats always get the job done. Our owl eyes box invitations add a heightened air of Fright Night foreboding. Use your invitations to announce the Spookies, to motivate guests to get creative (mention prizes!) and to list your Spookies categories (Best Celebrity Impersonator, Best Costume Made from Stuff that Was Lying Around the House, Best Guy in a Dress, Best Costume Made Entirely of Tin Foil). If there’s not enough room on the invitation itself, include a printed insert with Spookies categories.

The Red Carpet Massacre
Set up a haunted halloween awards pre-show red carpet scene in the front yard or entryway to welcome Spookies “nominees”. Unfurl our plastic red carpet and bedeck it with lifelike black crows and tombstones. Go all out with a large cardboard coffin with the lid slightly ajar to reveal a bloody appendage. Use a metallic paint pen to scrawl on the coffin in large block letters, “Guest Who Arrived without a Costume, R.I.P.” Snap Polaroid pictures of each guest’s grand entrance and tack them to a corkboard.

Stiff Competition
Once your halloween guests have arrived, give them some time to mingle and check each other out before voting. Display the corkboard with the pictures and spook it up with a mummy garland and fake dripping blood. Set the scene for prime costume-judging conditions: candlelight from creepy candelabras, mist and horror movie sound effects. Position gargoyle, ghost and mummy decorations throughout the room. Use our Gothtini martini set to make eyeball martinis. Garnish supercold gin and vermouth with radishes that have been peeled (leave thin ribbons of skin to look like blood vessels) and stuffed with pimento olives. Give guests something simple to munch on like roasted pumpkin seeds and crudite arranged on a platter to look like a skeleton with dip for brains. Create Spookies ballots on the computer and present them on a table with a collection of syringe and bat pens. Collect all of the ballots and tally the votes in private. Be sure to record any funny comments or honorable mentions for the ceremony.

“And the Spooky award goes to…”
Conduct the Halloween Spookies ceremony during dinner. Decorate tables with black and orange papergoods and skeleton table sprinkles, placing several festive candy bowls filled with treats in the center. Our raven candy bowl is particularly chill-inducing with its flapping bird wings and light-up red eyes. Place a little gift at each place setting, like a Halloween Pez dispenser, a Halloween cracker or a loot bag filled with candy and spider rings. Serve Goop Soup (tomato soup with melted cheese and crusty bread), salad and single servings of pumkin ravioli presented in black takeout containers. For dessert, serve cups of dirt crawling with worms (vanilla ice cream with hot fudge, a thick layer of crushed Oreos and gummy worms).

BBQ & A

The PlumParty Guide to
Summer Grillfests, Well Done

Q: What’s the best way to entertain friends, relatives and neighbors all summer long without stress, high heels or turning on the oven?

A: The BBQ, of course! The perfect barbeque has something for everyone and practically throws itself. Choose your venue: backyard, rooftop, poolside or beach, and spark up the barbie (has there ever been a smell more intoxicating than smoking charcoal?!). With a little easy prep, a trusted pal on the grill, games for the kids and plenty of beer for everyone else, you’re free to linger over your margarita until the last rib bone has been sucked clean.

Q: How do I get guests fired up?

A: It’s all in the invitation. Opt for flip-flops invitations to float a casual come-as-you-are vibe, ideal for pool parties and seaside fetes. Our BBQ coaster invitations make guests thirsty for good friends, good eats and a frosty brew or two. For serious carnivores, you can’t lick our barbeque box invitations. Each features a barbeque illustration on the outside and opens to reveal a 3D animal figurine on a checkered tablecloth…saucy!

However you choose to rally hungry troops, indicate on the invitation whether they should bring anything in particular. Since barbeques often begin in the afternoon and last well into the evening, you want to make sure your guests are comfortable and prepared for the day’s activities. For example, “Bring a bathing suit, sweatshirt and lots of wet-naps!”

Q: How do I set the mood for grilling and chilling?

A: From seashells to palm trees and from hula girls to Uncle Sam, anything goes at a summer barbeque. Map out your space in your mind and determine where you envision guests eating, sitting and playing. String up Mexican celebration banners or lantern light strings around the perimeter of your deck or patio. Use striped beach mats to create different seating areas on the lawn. Treat each area as a little vignette, decorating it with conch shells and sand-filled pails with beach umbrella candles.

Set up picnic tables with our chalkboard tablecloths or roadside signs placemats. For country fair flair, choose our green plaid or old-fashioned tablecloth and wood watermelon napkin rings. Intersperse our “Day at the Beach” kits with flip-flop candles floating in clear glass basins for centerpieces hotter than Mesquite, Texas on the 4th of July.

Q: How do I up the ante on the standard burgers & dogs menu?

A: Remember, there’s a reason that menu is so standard — everyone loves it! Instead of overhauling family faves, we recommend refining them with gourmet touches that make the menu exciting but not totally unrecognizable. We’re talking lamb burgers with mint pesto, salmon burgers, spiced black bean burgers or sirloin burgers made with Peter Luger’s sauce. Try tofu dogs and chicken sausages on sprouted wheat buns. Serve in unfussy plastic sandwich baskets or with our summer stripes paper goods. Boil ribs in vinegar and spices, marinate, grill and heap onto colorful graphic platters.

On the side, serve corn on the cob, veggie kabobs, coleslaw, relish and sauerkraut. Don’t forget ketchup and mustard in our retro-kitsch squeeze bottles. For dessert: a self-serve buffet of waffle cones, several gallons of ice cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge and sprinkles. Or, host an old school pie contest, blue ribbons and all. Have guests bake or buy (and try to pass off as homemade) their best-loved varieties and reward the baker whose pie is gobbled up first.

Stay hydrated! Keep yellow plastic pitchers full of lemonade, margaritas and sangria. Snag colorful tubs for beer and neoprene cooling bags for wine. Perfect your summer sipping style with our party palm cocktail napkins and etch-it cups.

Q: Are there any special touches that will take my BBQ from ground chuck to finger-lickin’ flame-broiled fun?

A: Help pals get in the summer groove as soon as they arrive—pass out pairs of zany shades, from cat’s eye to heart-shaped to Risky Business styles. Stock up on beach balls and water guns for impromptu tossing and squirting. Have plenty of beach towels on hand for swimmers, sun worshippers and squirt victims. Our Tepper Jackson styles double as decor with their splashy, vibrant patterns. If you have access to a backgammon board, ping-pong table, croquet set and volleyball net, include them in your BBQ tableau and let guests choose their own adventures.

Even on the summer solstice, the sun goes down eventually. Take the edge off of putting another precious summer day to bed with creative favors. Bottle your own barbeque sauce, slap a bow on that bad boy and call it a day. Glue plastic ants to gingham takeout containers and fill with just-baked cookies, brownies or berry cobbler. Fill colorful bags, like our Mexican or floral mesh ones, with shell leis, ladybug lipgloss and ice cream stickers. Or, when in doubt, fill colorful beach pails with salt water taffy and call it a USDA Grade-A day!

PlumParty.com – The Art of Celebration

PlumParty.com delivers the unexpected.  Whether the occasion calls for playful kitsch or elegant sophistication, PlumParty.com shows party givers how to fully commit to a theme, presenting fresh ideas that will delight and surprise event the most jaded guests. A creative springboard for executing truly memorable events, Plum Party’s originality begins not with the products, but with the vision of elaborate and inventive party environments.

Owners Melinda Konopko and Risa Meyer spent years perfecting their own entertaining expertise before joining forces to launch PlumParty.com in January 2001. Originally conceived as a direct mail catalog business, Konopko and Meyer made the gutsy decision to take Plum Party online at a time when many new dot coms were folding. Their uncanny success speaks for itself; they’ve developed a market niche that has led to triple growth annually since they first launched.

Though PlumParty.com offers one of the most extensive collections of party-related merchandise on the internet (more than 3,000 products including invitations, tableware, decorations, party favors, gifts and more) the true differential is that PlumParty is more than an online catalog. It’s a great source of inspiration, a home site for entertaining, a truly user-friendly place for learning and perfecting “the art of celebration.” Simply put, it’s a place where average folks with busy lives can easily find creative ideas and everything they’ll need to “wow” their guests—whether planning an intimate dinner for four or a fabulous blowout for 300.

PlumParty’s sublime originality, edged with a bit of sophistication and style, starts not with the product, but with the idea of the themed party itself, from the usual, traditional holiday celebrations to many that are genuinely inventive, even slightly outrageous. Before anything actually reaches the website, considerable time has been spent building each idea and creating an actual, physical setting of the executed theme in real time. The company utilizes more than 300 different vendors to supply the vast array of product on the site that is organized by theme, and what they can’t find ready-made they have custom made to fit their vision.

Mastering “The Art of Celebration”

Anyone who throws an annual party knows only too well how hard it is to out-do themselves, year after year. With Plum Party, it’s easy to find renewed inspiration to delight and surprise event the most blasé guests. Visitors to the site will find an extensive list of themed ideas and the products to accomplish them, all just a click away. Outfit the perfect Super Bowl party with football-shaped candy dispensers, dishes, containers, chocolates and cookie cutters; set the table with green Astro-Turf placemats; and provide Beer Trivia coasters for fun and entertainment during those commercials!

Or invite a crowd in to celebrate the a movie awards show and make everyone feel like a star by rolling out Plum Party’s “red carpet” (yes, they have one on a roll), sunglasses, tiaras, gold star tablecloth, statues and chocolate trophies; and give out Hollywood clapboard key rings as party favors. PlumParty even offers everything you’d need to throw a Breakup Party: Forget Him Tea Bags, Voodoo Doll Man, a Getting Over Him kit, Men Are Such Fools candles, and a bright yellow “smiley” Affirmation Ball that will surely chase away the blues and rebuild self-esteem.

But the company’s offering is far from just playfully “kitsch.” With the fall/holiday season just around the corner, PlumParty can provide the know-how and tools that will allow any host to throw a spooky but classy Halloween get-together, a perfectly elegant and sophisticated Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukah celebration; and a spectacular New Year’s Eve party.

PlumParty Boutiques-The Ultimate Online Party Store

PlumParty’s newest trend towards becoming the most complete party department store on the Internet is the establishment of Plum Boutiques, specialty online “shops” of partner vendors each of whom offer attractive specialty items. Visitors looking for Party Partner’s vintage party supplies, French Bull’s contemporary tableware and serving pieces, The MacBeth Collection’s hand-découpaged buckets and bins, Groovy Holidays’ adorable felt totes and Tepper Jackson’s ultra hip wardrobe and accessories can easily find them here; Plum Boutiques is continually being refreshed with the addition of new partners.

Delighting and Surprising Customers

Of course, Plum Party’s owners know that delighting and surprising customers is just as important as it is for guests. They offer exceptional customer service that is uncommonly personal and responsive, and they make sure to let their customers know how very much they appreciate the business. A comprehensive inventory means no waiting for product, and to ensure customer satisfaction, Plum Party sends a note requesting feedback to every customer; included is an offer for a 10% discount if the customer places another order within a week. All just to say “thank you” for ordering. And if customers email them asking for help for a specific themed party, co-owners Melinda and Risa help out whenever they can in searching out the right stuff to make it happen. Plum Party sells online to consumers, professional party planners and corporate event planners. Although they refrain from presenting themselves as “party planners” in the true sense, individuals and corporations looking for ideas and product recommendations for themed parties often approach them for advice, and they openly welcome all inquiries.

PlumParty in the News

PlumParty.com, and its owners have been widely featured in national and local print, broadcast and online media.  Television coverage includes TLC’s Makeover Story, CBS The Early Show, NY1, Good Day NY and The Food Network’s “What’s Hot What’s Cool.” Plum Party’s products have been featured in numerous publications including Modern Bride, Woman’s Day, Daily Candy, Newsday, InStyle, Lucky, New York Metro.com, CBS News.com, The Washington Post, Time, Country Living, and The Wall Street Journal.

About Plum Party

Hi, we're Risa and Melinda and we were introduced by mutual friends who had heard each of us talking (over and over again) about wanting to bring unique, interesting gifts and party items online through a small - but (hopefully) cool - website. Ten minutes after meeting, we knew we wanted to work together. Our goal - to produce a website that helps elevate the ordinary (and not so ordinary) to the extraordinary. We always have in mind that woman (she's French in our minds) who knows how to tie that scarf just right so that she's transformed from working mother to something more like Audrey Hepburn. Plum Party's version is that perfect birthday present that makes the recipient know that you really put some thought into the giving, or that perfect Superbowl party where even the most anti-sports guest can't wait until next year. Towards this aim we've pounded the pavement and tracked down witty and practical gifts, great decorations and anything we thought was just too good to pass up. We want you to be able to give the kind of presents and have the kind of parties you want to have without spending hours and hours trying to pull it all together. We have already heard from a lot of you throughout the last year. We've implemented many of your suggestions, and added some new ideas of our own. We have put together the beginning of what we hope (we're keeping our fingers crossed) will be a long, long list of fun ideas for you to consider over the coming years. Please stop back often and see what we're up to, or send us your suggestions by using our form. We truly value your input. It really does make our day to hear from you about what worked and what didn't, what you wish we'd add, and what you can't believe we're actually offering for your consideration. We both love responding to e-mails, and most likely we'll get back to you within a day. Really we just hope you enjoy your own friends and family as much as we enjoy ours and that what we're offering is just the gentle push you needed to achieve what you wanted to do - but just didn't have the time...

Cheers, Melinda and Risa

1 -800-227-0314, 9:00am to 5:00pm EST

General Comments and Feedback

Hearts, Diamonds and Pigskin

Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day and Awards Show Ragers to Remember

ith the holidays and New Year’s Eve in the rearview mirror, you may be ready to settle in for a long winters nap. Don’t hang up your party hat just yet— Hollywood, the NFL and St. Valentine are throwing great party themes your way. From the red carpet to the red zone, we’ll help you get through the big chill, one party at a time.

SUPER BOWL

On Sunday, February 6, sports fans and friends of sports fans will unite to observe football’s national holiday. There’s never a better excuse to get together, yell at the T.V. and eat everything that isn’t nailed down. At Plum Party, we think the only way to do a Super Sunday bash is to project a casual, come-as-you-are vibe. Think easy prep, easy clean up, and an atmosphere that makes guests feel like they’re watching the game from their own favorite chairs, only better!

The Game Plan

Choose invitations with as much selling power as a first TV time-out commercial. We love our 3-D Spitfire Girl football invitations, or cards that tempt guests through their tummies—pizza and BBQ-themed invitations are good bets. Kick off the festivities with a no-sports-knowledge-required betting grid, so even the clueless can get involved. Anything’s interesting when you’ve got money riding on it!

While we like to provide a little something for everyone, the big game is the main event—make sure viewing conditions are ideal. If your 27-incher just doesn’t cut it, splurge and rent a big screen TV. If your couches don’t offer ample seating, stack some comfy cushions on the floor or rent folding chairs and set them up in movie theater-style rows.

If your crowd has more than a few members who don’t know a touchdown from an interception, treat them to a Foot Ball in an adjoining room. Hire spa technicians to give foot massages and pedicures and screen football crowd-pleasers like Rudy, Wildcats and Remember the Titans. Trust us: true sports fans may appreciate keeping all of the unrelated gab confined to the luxury box.

Looks Like Team Spirit

Deck your living room out to rival the stands in Jacksonville. Bring in the team colors with banners, Fun Fringe and Creative Crepe. If you’re crowd is pretty neutral, can’t-miss colors include bold reds, oranges and yellows (the international colors of food that is bad for us—why else would all of those fast food restaurants share the same color palette?). Line every surface with an Astroturf runner and scatter football and beer trivia coasters on top.

The Food Court

For a couch potato spread that would make Homer Simpson drool, serve chips & dips, nachos & salsa, six-foot subs, ribs and pizza cafeteria-style. We’ve got the trays, sandwich baskets and no-fuss squeeze bottles to make it authentic. Use football-shaped cookie cutters to make mini PB&Js. The kicker? A hot dog bar with homemade chili and all the fixin’s. Have tons of plasticware and napkins (in our diner-style dispenser) on hand—the goal is to get through the clean-up without having to do a single dish. Keep football-shaped serving dishes filled with popcorn and candy dispensers with chocolate footballs close to the couch for mindless mid-quarter munching.

When guests ask, “What can I bring?,” tell them to pick up a sixer of their favorite beer. Present it on ice in colorful metal basins with our handy ‘etch it’ cups, so guests can keep tabs on their brewskis.

Are you ready for some football? (We think so.)

Valentine’s Day

Whether you love Valentine’s Day or love to hate it, we’ve got entertaining ideas that will win your amour. Now back away from the Whitman’s sampler and check out our tips for a V-day so very un-Hallmark-y that you just might like it.

If You’ve Been Kissed By Cupid

Invite a mix of sweethearts and singles to your love nest for cocktails. Float a sexy Moroccan vibe with rose petals sprinkled in the driveway and a torrent of red bubble glass votives and beaded candleholders to cast alluring shadows. If you’re hosting a sit-down dinner, romance each guest with an ‘Art of Kissing’ book at each place setting. Red hot gummy bears in red flared bowls make lovely lovey dovey centerpieces. Our sophisticated glass spin-the-bottle toy keeps things interesting.

If You Think Cupid’s Stupid...

Opt for a “Crazy in Love” theme and have guests dress as notoriously bad couples, famous stalkers…you get the idea. Or, host an Ex-orcism. Use our little black book invitations to celebrate your friends’ freedom from those losers. Have everyone bring pictures of their most dastardly exes and let the ex-games begin! When guests arrive, give them each a conversation heart cookie on which to write an embarrassing tidbit of ex-trivia, from “He didn’t kiss a girl until junior year of college” to “She snores like a linebacker with a deviated septum.” Have guests guess which juicy morsel goes with which ex. Accessorize with Scandle Candles, naughty tattoos and Virgin/Slut soap. Check out our “Break-Up” theme party for more ideas.

Mood Food

If you’re pro-V, serve smoked salmon finger sandwiches, accompanied by mixed greens with goat cheese, toasted almonds and strawberries in our red gingham take-out containers. Use cookie cutters to shape ice cream sandwiches into hearts, and roll the edges in red sprinkles. Pour Cosmos into elegant acrylic martini glasses, and accent water with heart-shaped pink lemonade ice cubes. Keep plenty of bubbly chilled in metallic red wine bottle coolers. Around midnight, sweet talk guests with S’mores and gourmet hot chocolate.

If you’re a V-day cynic, well then, do you fondue? Serve a bubbling blend of Gruyere and Parmesan cheeses with veggies and cubes of crusty bread—it’s your “Cheesy Valentine’s Day” spread! Pair the fondue with your favorite garlicky, saucy side dishes…anything that it’s impossible to look sexy while eating. Chocolate and gummy shot glasses take the soiree to a whole new level. Line up bottles of your favorite spirits and label them “Love Potions Numbers 1-8,” and you may make some love connections yet.

Awards Show

The glitz. The glamour. The stuff she must have been smoking when she agreed to wear that dress! It’s awards show season—the Super Bowl of fashion, the Olympics of egos, the paparazzi prom—and we can’t get enough of it. Year after year, we gossip, we air kiss, we live vicariously, while at the same time, tearing it all to shreds. Trusts us, dah-lings, we’ve got the secret to awards show night bashes that would have A-listers clamoring for invitations.

Red Carpet 101

Make Joan and Melissa proud with a superstar red carpet welcome. Tempt guests to step their perfectly manicured toesies out of their limos with movie camera invitations or, if it suits your artistic vision, party details scrawled on yellow movie film in a tin canister. Set up a red carpet (ours is plastic…shh…don’t tell), complete with a glamourpuss star bar chock full of sunglasses, feather boas, beauty marks, cigarette holders and baseball-sized baubles, so guests can accessorize on the spot. Snap Polaroids of pals mugging and give an award for “Best Picture.”

It’s Showtime!

Distribute ballots with lists of nominees so guests can vote and play along. Add some of your own categories, like a “Worst Fake Bake Offender” award, or a “Should’ve Stuck to the Tux” (the award for the most brazen risk taken in the male formalwear category). Make sure to have plenty of prizes on hand. We recommend our starlet kit, Movie Awards Drink Charms, ‘You’re A Star’ Bath Confetti, Zagat Movie Guides and DVDs, of course. Tuck Hollywood Stress Mints or clapboard key rings into gold drawstring bags, so no one goes home empty handed…honestly, it was an honor just to be invited.

Set the stage with statuettes (both chocolate and metal), glittering star garlands, ‘Martini Spoken Here’ napkins and ‘Total Bitch’ soap in the powder room. Layer on the sparkle with star coasters, and gold & silver trays and table covers. Cut out unflattering pics of celebs from US Magazine, In Touch and Star, color copy and voila – celebfetti!

Concessions Stand

Wolfgang Puck has been trying to put some meat on those scrawny celebrity bones post-awards-show for years. Fire up a bunch of his frozen pizzas and serve on our exclusive ‘Hollywood Glam’ platter for bona fide star bites. Throw in some caviar and champagne if you’re going for big budget blockbuster, or opt for nachos and soft drinks, if your funds are more of the ‘indie’ variety. Keep gold star containers piled high with chocolate film rolls and tickets. If you serve a surprise second course of buttered popcorn in retro plastic popcorn containers and boxes of movie candy piled on trays (our set features nine classic faves), we guarantee your guests will like you. They’ll really, really like you.

Holidays 2004: Hip Parties & Gifts

Baby, it’s cold outside — so stay in!

We’ve got a host of holiday entertaining ideas guaranteed to bring the fun right to your doorstep. We’ll help you lure friends, family and neighbors with good eats, good gifts and good spirits (both the kind you drink and the warm, fuzzy holiday kind). First, choose the type of party that best suits your schedule, family and personality. Is it a cozy afternoon get-together, a rocking cocktail party or an unforgettable holiday dinner? Next, remember the Plum Party Yule rule — mix and match our suggestions with your own traditions to make Holiday 2004 your very own. Cheers to holly jolly holidays!

Snow Day

Remember the thrill of a snow day – waking up to find school’s been cancelled, then spending hours baking cookies, playing in the snow and sipping cocoa by the fire? (If you grew up in California, just trust us). Recreate the wintry wonder of a snow day by throwing a daytime shindig. From Thanksgiving straight through New Year’s, friends’ calendars book up quickly with after-dark commitments, so they’ll welcome a Snow Day as an easy, low-pressure alternative.

A Snow Day lends itself to tons of our fave seasonal activities. Make it a tree-trimming party and have guests make ornaments, or a gift-wrapping party and have guests bring gifts to wrap together. You provide the eye-catching garlands and creative gift-wrapping materials, from splashy paper to fun fringe. Afterwards, bring the gang together to build the ultimate gingerbread house with our ‘Home Sweet Home Gingerbread House Kit.’

If it’s pink-cheeked, see-your-breath exhilaration you crave, go caroling or usher everyone into the backyard for a snowman-building contest (please note: this will not work if you still live in California). Pass out snowman kits and unexpected accessories like trendy hats and scarves. Or, simply use your Snow Day to gather in the living room for a low-key afternoon of football and board games.

Keep your Snow Day spread simple and hearty. Warm up with chili served in bread bowls, followed by apple slices dipped in melted caramel. Create a Hot Sips bar with several kinds of cider, coffee and hot chocolate – we recommend Jacques Torres’s Wicked Hot Chocolate – and serve with bowls of fluffy marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, candy canes and peppermint schnapps. Sweeten the deal with snowballs (roll scoops of ice cream in nuts, coconut or crushed candy canes and set in the freezer). Send guests home with felt holiday bags filled with chocolate snowmen and packets of cocoa. They’ll be humming ‘Let It Snow’ along with every weather forecast this side of April.

Liquid Cheer

Live it up and drink it in — the cocktail party is a fun, festive and totally manageable way to get people together. You don’t have to limit your guest list or worry about your in-laws judging your cooking skills.

Host a traditional cocktail party before dinner, or make it a Midnight Madness party and have guests arrive at 10 for nightcaps and dessert (a fun idea for New Year’s Eve). Just make sure to include a start and end time on the invitation, plus an idea of what you’ll be serving (“Join us for light bites and stiff drinks”), so guests can plan their evenings accordingly. Set a spirited tone with our ‘Jingle Jingle, Come to Mingle’ coaster invitations. Or, bring the flirts out to play by tucking a spring of mistletoe and a small tin of breath mints into each envelope.

Since you’re simply serving cocktails – no fancy table settings required – the focus is on your napkins and barware. Pour drinks into plastic or acrylic martini glasses — everyone looks more sophisticated holding a drink by a long, graceful stem. Try peppermint martinis garnished with candy canes. Dress martini or wine glasses for the occasion with jeweled or beaded wine charms. Chill wine or bubbly in a festive champagne bucket. Mix polka-dotted and striped cocktail napkins in bright colors for a mod look or opt for napkins with a boozy word or phrase like ‘O come all ye thirsty’, ‘Alcoholics Unanimous’ or ‘Lush’.

After guests have had a drink or two, it’s time to get loose. Ditch the civilized stemware in favor of gummi shot glasses. Spin fun tunes from the Jackson 5 or Jessica Simpson Christmas albums or ‘Now That’s What I Call Christmas’. Tantalize guests with a holiday candy bar brimming with peppermint bark, red & white striped lollipops, candy canes and old-fashioned ribbon candy served on metallic trays and in dishes that spell out the word ‘Joy’.

If your party is on New Year’s Eve, go for over the top glam with silver lanterns, feather boas and chocolate cigars. An hour before the ball drops, ramp up the excitement with snazzy tooters, noisemakers, hats & tiaras. If you’re Jewish, why not host a cocktail party on Christmas, so your Jewish pals have an alternative to Chinese takeout. Call it a Matzo Ball – snag a few of our inflatable matzo balls to bat around, serve blue martinis and send guests home with Star of David soaps.

Gather Round

There’s nothing more heart-warming and unifying than a holiday dinner. Bring friends and family together around a table to languish over a home-cooked meal and glasses of wine, and into the wee hours with mugs of steaming coffee. Buck the traditional red and green overload, and choose your table settings to complement your personal style. Think rich, think inviting, think sparkle. We love layering gold or silver elements to create a look that is sumptuous, festive and adaptable for an elegant Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s dinner.

Start with beaded placemats or a metallic runner. Add shimmer with Lucite ball napkin rings and silver crackers at each place setting. In lieu of flowers, group mirrored balls, silver pillar candles and chandelier crystals as centerpieces. Or, pile rustic metal pails high with metallic ornaments or candy canes. Add a playful touch with Santa or snowman pushtoys as place card holders/favors. Adapt the look for Hanukkah with a generous dose of blue fun fringe, Hanukkah crackers and scattered dreidels. We also adore our chalkboard place cards; they work for any occasion and wipe off for easy reuse.

Even if you don’t have a fireplace, you can create the illusion of a glowing hearth with countless candles in varying shapes and sizes. Try beaded candleholders, colored glass votives and gold tapers.

As for the meal, scour cookbooks and websites for recipes that can be prepped in advance. That way, you can spend more time with your guests and less time in the kitchen. Or, make it a group effort and ask each guest to prepare a secret family holiday recipe. If you don’t have a dishwasher, or just hate doing dishes, check out our selection of paper and plastic plates and utensils. They’re convenient and stylish, and let you focus on eating, drinking and being merry!

Peace on Earth and Good Gifts to Friends

For your hyper-caffeinated office grab bag pick: Striped Thermos

For your hard-partying upstairs neighbor: Coal Bubblegum (left anonymously on his mat, of course

For young and the restless: Snowman Paint

For your sister who has everything (because she earned it): “Everyday Epiphanies” Strong Women/Strong Words Set

For the angels who teach your kids: Angels Fly Paperweights

For the star of your Christmas morning photos: Multi-Dot Lounger PJ’s

For your Hanukkah hosts: Make Your Own Hanukkah Candles Kit

For your effervescent New Year’s Hostess: Bubbly book

For your banker brother (the frustrated musician): Santa Maracas & Kazoo

Halloween 2004: Outhaunt. Outhowl. Outspook.

Teach an old holiday some new tricks and treats

Halloween’s got something for everyone. Tricksters revel in the thrill of the big scare and the mystery of masquerade, while Treatsters just live for the candy. At Plum Party, we get everyone involved, balancing frights and delights to create creep-tastic Halloween haunts. Whether you’re hosting a family fright night for 40 or a sophisticated last supper for six, we’ll show you how to spook the masks off of guests and win the freakiest house on the block award. Trick or treat? We’ll take both.

SCARE WITH FLAIR:
Decorate your Haunted Mansion

Greet guests with a chilly “Vvvvelcome.” Transform your front yard into a haunted graveyard with black crows, RIP tombstones, ghosts and spider webs. Indoors, set the stage with hair-raising garlands. Skulls & bones, bats ready to swoop or shrunken heads dangling from above keep will keep guests thrillingly on edge. Decorate around one freaky focal point, like a life-sized coffin or glowing skeleton and accessorize with spiders, bats and dripping blood. Use creative lighting to cast cryptic shadows. Try some sleek Halloween tapers for a sexy vibe or campy candy corn candles for a playful one. Go for all out eerie atmosphere with a mist maker or a black light shining on glowing tape or paint.

MONSTER'S BALL: Invitations, Favors & Stuff to Do

Spark Halloween spirit with eye-catching spiders and bat invitations, strike a nostalgic chord with our old-fashioned Party Partners offerings, or dare to scare with our 3-D invitations featuring ominous pairs of owl eyes.

Be sure to note on the invitations if you’ll be hosting a costume contest. The promise of prizes will inspire even the most indifferent guests to take their costumes to the next level. Have some easy one-two step costumes on hand for bah-humbuggers who dare come as they are. An assortment of masks, hats, glasses and feather boas make it simple to do-it-yourself upon arrival. Fierce costume competitors guarantee a host of photo-ops, so have a handful of disposable Halloween cameras on hand.

Other Halloween hits include bobbing for apples, pumpkin carving challenges and channeling Great Aunt Matilda on the Ouija board. Get the party going with a spooky soundtrack; spin a CD of haunted house sounds, or opt for upbeat tracks like Thriller, Monster Mash and It’s a Dead Man’s Party.

Send guests home with a little piece of your ghoulish get-together. We recommend Halloween crackers, tombstone candles, skeleton keychains and witch pushtoys.

GHOULISH GRUB

Eat up, my pretties, from a buffet overflowing with festive goodies. Use servingware that doubles as décor. Amass an assortment of skull trays, ghost and jack-o-lantern cups, and decoupage Halloween buckets. Present a brain-shaped Jello mold in a skull bowl atop a bony pedestal and serve punch from a witch’s cauldron.
A little imagination makes everyday foods spooky. Use place cards to present spaghetti marinara as “Bloody Intestines,” Buffalo wings as “Bat Wings” and dried cranberries and cherries as “Scabs.” Create “Eyeballs” by frosting donut holes with white icing and using red and blue food coloring for the bloodshot irises. Round out the menu with pumpkin seeds, sandwiches shaped by Halloween cookie cutters, and caramel apples. Wash it all down with ‘I Vant to Suck Your’ Bloody Marys served with bone stirrers.

Don’t forget the candy! Set up an indoor candy bar and pass out cool loot bags for do-it-yourself trick-or-treating. Let guests go to town, gobbling all of the candy they can grab.

Happy haunting!