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Whether you’re a parent gathering the kids together for a fun family celebration or you’re a college student looking to “go all out,” there are many Saint Patricks Day party ideas from which to choose.

For some, the party hits the streets along the parade routes, in local Irish pubs and in restaurants. For others, a more intimate gathering at home with a potluck dinner is preferred. After all, Saint Patty’s Day is about so much more than wearing a spot o’ green to avoid getting pinched!

If you’re hosting an adult party, then there are many Saint Patricks Day party ideas to keep everyone entertained. Some Americans like to prepare green beer by adding a few drops of food coloring to a glass of light beer, like Harp’s.

However, if you want to go with the authentic Irish customs, you should go for a Guinness or some Irish whiskey instead. For a green cocktail called “Green Grog,” mix two 12-ounce cans of frozen limeade concentrate, two 12-ounce cans of frozen lemonade concentrate, two 2-liter bottles of lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage, one 750 milliliter bottle of rum and 2 quarts of lime sherbet.

For a delicious “Girl Scout Cookie” tasting shot, fill half a shot glass with Bailey’s Irish Cream, pour to three quarters full with white chocolate liqueur and top her off with creme de menthe liqueur.

You’ll definitely want to incorporate Irish songs in with your other Saint Patricks Day party ideas, since music often sets the tone for the celebration. You can go modern Irish with rock bands like U2, The Boomtown Rats, The Chieftains, The Cranberries or Sinéad O’Connor.

Other top-selling Irish acts include Enya (Celtic-New Age) and The Corrs (pop). Or you might want to go Irish punk rock with bands like the Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Pogues, The Real McKenzies, Blood or Whiskey and The Street Dogs. Amazon also sells mixed compilations with traditional folk songs like “Whiskey in the Jar,” “Danny Boy,” “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” or “Pub With No Beer.” Bagpipe CDs are a good way to set the tone, while borrowing from authentic Irish traditions.

To read more Keeping Friends Entertained With Saint Patricks Day Party Ideas

Forget fancy gowns and champagne toasts this year. Sometimes hosting a New Years Eve party for kids can be a welcome respite from overpaying for drinks, running around town on one of the busiest nights of the year and worrying about nursing a New Year’s Day hangover.

Besides, you only have so many years to decide how your children spend their holidays. Soon they’ll be running off to teen parties and college bashes, leaving you wishing you had just one more year to spend with them. Here are some tips for creating the perfect party.

Naturally, a New Years Eve party for kids will require some supplies. Hats, party blowers, noisemakers and glow-in-the-dark items are kid-friendly additions meant to ring in the New Year. Many parents decorate with balloons filled with confetti, streamers and festive table cloths.

Party crackers or party poppers can be purchased in the holiday section of stores like Wal-mart. You may want to have the kids make their own “Happy New Year” signs to hang in the living room for added ambiance. All these elements can contribute to a festive celebration.

At your New Years Eve party for kids, make sure to stop the activities just before the ball will drop in Times Square. Be sure the TV is on and ready for the countdown. Have the kids gather their party hats and noisemakers. Pour the kids’ glasses of Sparkling Grape Juice and set them aside.

At the stroke of midnight, you may want to tell the kids to run outside and shout “Happy New Years” at the top of their lungs (so the decibel level inside doesn’t blow the roof off!) Once the wildness of the celebration has quieted down a little, have the kids put on their PJs and watch a movie, which should get them calmed down and ready for bed.

To read more Planning Ideas For A New Years Eve Party For Kids

Choosing which New Year’s Eve food to make for your party can be a tough decision. If you insist on being the host with the most, you are probably tallying up the cost of ingredients in your head to find that you could easily spend a small fortune.

If you’re only hosting a handful of family members or friends, then you may be able to serve a full sit-down dinner. However, if you’re inviting anyone and everyone, you may want to stick with appetizers and finger foods.

Another option would be a “pot luck” style meal, where each guest brings his or her favorite dish to share. Celebrations are all about food and gathering together, so choosing the right bites is essential to the success of your New Year event.

One approach to New Year’s Eve food is the “breads and spreads” theme. Your buffet table will have little plates ideal for grab-and-go foods like Mediterranean hummus, feta cheese and herb pâté spreads; stuffed grape leaves, stuffed olives and spinach pie triangles make nice additions to this plate.

Gourmet cheese is always a hit, so be on the look out for pepato, Asiago, Monchego and Brie. Cheese goes well with crackers, fresh berries and warm baguettes. Mini-croissant sandwiches made of turkey, Brie and basil aioli are to die for. Little slices of filet mignon with bleu cheese crumbles, Vermont cheddar, crispy onions and horseradish cream make a nice dish as well.

New Year’s Eve food doesn’t have to be as focused as the offerings served at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. Spirits are surely the main course at this party and the food is merely to keep people from getting overly intoxicated or ill.

The best foods can be gobbled up on small plates just to satiate. Think of the foods that bars and pubs serve up, such as chicken wings, hot pretzels, potato skins and hotdogs. You also have the opportunity to bring out some really creative finger foods that aren’t seen any other time of the year, when main courses typically take center stage.

If you’re not much of a cook, then you may even want to get a caterer to serve little sub pieces or sandwiches. Throw a few bags of chips out there and some fresh veggies and dip; before you know it, you’ll have a tasty New Years buffet table of food!

To read more Better New Year’s Eve Food For Your Party

The first day of a new year is steeped in superstitions. Many of our popular New Year traditions revolve around tricks that supposedly bring good luck. For instance, it is believed that good luck will be bestowed upon family and friends if they celebrate together.

Foods like donuts, black-eyed peas, ham, cabbage and rice are all viewed as “lucky.” The first visitor on New Year’s Day is believed to bring either good or bad luck for the rest of the year. When you plan your New Year celebration, you will likely keep many of these traditions in mind.

Naturally, food is what makes celebrations go round and the New Year celebration is no exception. Parties can be an awful lot of work for the hosts, so you may want to delegate by asking guests to “bring a dish.”

Often times, hors d’oeuvres are simply served — cocktail shrimp, mini cocktail wieners in baked croissants, pizza and taco dips, canapes, puffed pastries, cream cheese roll-ups, cheese and crackers, fruit, chips, cold cuts, deviled eggs, sausages, dumplings, bruschetta, cheeses and raw veggies with dip. Wine and champagne are usually served to guests as well.

The day after your New Year celebration, you may be feeling a little worn out. It’s the perfect day to veg out on the couch and watch the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl college football championship game.

The parade dates back 121 years, when the Valley Hunt Club used to decorate their carriages with an extensive array of flowers. They wanted to show others across the country the bountiful harvest they had at this time of year, as the orange crop was ready.

The Rose Bowl game used to feature ostrich and chariot races, but reverted back to football in 1916 with the sport’s increased popularity.

To read more Better Ideas For Your New Year Celebration Party

If you have a particular Christmas party theme in mind for your holiday party this year, then you may want to consider playing some games that will tie in with that theme.

Of course you do not need to have a theme as there are party games that are fun to play whether you are an adult or a child, as well as some that are fun for both.

“Date that toy” is another great idea for adult party games at Christmas. You just gather together several pictures of toys that were very popular during the time when your guests were kids, and then see if they can name the toy.

You can do this by either having them guess the name or you can provide the answers on cards and then have them match the card to the toy. Check out the Internet for other Christmas games that are fun to play for adults, as there are many different sites that have great ideas.

Party games for kids are fairly simple. You can try different versions of pin the tail on the donkey by changing it to pin the nose on Rudolph or pin the star on the top of the Christmas tree.

A Christmas party for children would not be complete without a game of musical chairs, use Christmas tunes for the music and handing out prizes to the winners.

To read more Party Games For A Fun Christmas

Throwing holiday parties can be more than a little stressful, yet if it is a Christmas family party that will also include the in-laws, then that stress level can soar. However, there are some things that you can keep in mind when you are planning the festive party that should help you to keep your stress level down to a manageable level.

Sometimes alcohol can bring out the worst in people, so consider limiting the bar. For these types of holiday parties consider setting up a coffee and eggnog bar with different liqueurs and creams for everyone to sample. If anyone asks tell them that you are trying out a different Christmas party theme including different refreshments.

Giving gifts to each and every family member at your Christmas party can be expensive. As well, there is always the chance that someone will not like what they receive or that they may think someone else got something better; however childish this may be.

If you feel this may be a problem, then you can give them all something similar like some homemade goodies, or you can let the kids open theirs gifts during the party but give the adults their gifts as they are leaving, so that they can open them at home.

This should help avoid any unpleasant situations during holiday parties, at least when it comes to the gifts.

To read more Avoiding Unpleasant Situations During Holiday Parties

The holidays; just hearing those words will often bring back fond memories of previous Christmas gatherings and celebrations, as well as ideas for new ways to celebrate that will create even more great memories.

As well, children have vivid imaginations and thoughts of what they would do if they were the party planners, so just maybe when you are planning your next holiday party you can dig into your repertoire of childhood Christmas party fantasies.

Holiday party ideas are a way for you to sit back and decide what you would like the theme to be and there are dozens from which to choose.

This type of decorating Christmas party idea can be done either at a ballroom or at your own home.

Outline the entire house, including the trees, with twinkling white lights, perhaps adding one of the Christmas decorations of a carriage outlined with the lights as well. Make your holiday party site even more special by placing all white Christmas trees both outside and inside of your home.

Your holiday party menu and how you serve the food can be done in keeping with your theme by using them as part of the party decorations. Use a white table cloth and place white Poinsettias at the center of the table, or an ice sculpture of some kind.

Place a few bowls around the room with white candles and white flowers floating in them, etc. Have several different desert type snacks set out as well, such as white chocolate mousse, white chocolate fondue for dipping and possibly rice pudding; anything that keeps within the theme will work.

To read more Holiday Party With A Christmas Theme

Thanksgiving is a time steeped in history and family traditions. However, why not take the time to stir things up a bit by adding some Thanksgiving games to the day.

You can play some games while waiting for friends and family to show up and before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps you will start a few new traditions in your family.

There are many different things you can do to add some fun to your Thanksgiving celebrations, as there are many different Thanksgiving games and crafts that you and your kids can enjoy.

For instance, how about a Mayflower craft that may also inspire some questions about the history of Thanksgiving? Visit http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/thanksgiving_craft_mayflower.htm. to find out how and to assemble the supplies needed.

There are so many different Thanksgiving games that you can play but one for the whole family is always a good choice. For this one have everyone sit around in a circle and the first person will start with something like, “the Thanksgiving food I like the most is turkey” and the next person repeats what they said and adds their own item.

It continues around, yet if someone says it incorrectly they are out. The game ends when one person is finally able to state the whole Thanksgiving menu perfectly.

To read more Entertaining Your Family With Thanksgiving Games

For every birthday party, birthday cakes are often the center of attention. What will be on the cake? One candle or 10? Or 44 candles to indicate the real age. What will the cake be made of? Ice cream or something smooth and tasty?

These days of decorated cakes, you can ask a baker to bake a cake that looks like a castle, a favorite cartoon, a movie star, a baseball glove or even a favorite hobby. You can even ask for the cake to be decorated with photos, showing the life of the birthday boy, from a small child to graduation from college.

Birthday cakes have come a long way from the dull and predictable icing, cake mix and one candle.

To read more Decorated Birthday Cakes With A Theme

There are a different party planning ideas for different parties. For example, ideas to celebrate the birthday of a one year old, are different to a retirement party. But, there are a few basic tips and ideas you need to ensure all goes well for your party.

If you are inviting a number of children to celebrate the birthday of your little princess, then you need to know how to ensure the children to not eat anything that may affect their health. Some children may be diabetic, others may be wheat intolerant. You need to know all these facts, before you invite these children to celebrate her birthday. You should contact the parents of the children to find out any special dietary requirements.

You may also need to ensure children with special dietary requirements, do not eat food that may affect their health. If a child cannot eat sugarry food, then he may not be able to eat a slice of birthday cake, but you should have something that does not contain sugar as an alternative, so the child does not feel the odd one out.

Knowing the needs and requirements of your guests is one of the better party planning ideas.

To read more Better Party Planning Ideas To Please Your Guests