On the lookout for some pretty new holiday dessert ideas? Check out the lovely – and mouth-watering! – ideas in BHG’s Irresistable Holiday Cakes and Cupcakes gallery.

The gallery features 21 different recipes and also includes ideas that would work well for Thanksgiving, like this gorgeous Chocolate Harvest Cake and elegant Pistachio Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream:

And these lovely red and white cakes and cupcakes would actually be great for Christmas AND Valentine’s Day…

Click here to check out the entire slideshow at BHG!

If you loved the fun Oliver plates from cb2 (see earlier post here), then you’ll probably also love these coordinating Oliver Martini Glasses. This style is so unique: mixed media hand sketch with a color photo of a maraschino cherry that’s actually ON the glass (looks like there’s a real cherry in there!). {$4.95 each}

And in the same style as the Oliver plates & glasses come the holiday-friendly Sammy Appetizer plates featuring doodles of elves skiing on a party pick and riding a “cork” reindeer. {only $2.95 each!}

It’s that time of year again, so today’s Surprise Giveaway feels especially relevant… Just in time for the season, CardStore.com is offering up $100 Shopping Sprees towards their HUGE selection of personalized Holiday Cards and Thank You Cards to TWO hwtm readers! This should help out significantly with spreading the holiday cheer!

In the Holiday Cards Section, you’ll find everything from Christmas Photo Cards and Greeting Cards to Holiday Party Invitations. Pictured above and below are some personal favorites (there was so much great stuff to choose from I went a little crazy with the examples!)….

Several of the designs also come with coordinating pieces, so if you really like a certain party invitation you can also order thank you cards or photo cards to match. Pictured below: “Merry Chocolate” cards & invites by Amy Suther.

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HOW TO ENTER:
• Post a comment here telling us which design(s) from CardStore.com’s Holiday Cards and/or Thank You Cards you especially like or would love to send out.
• Giveaway ends Monday, November 16th at midnight PST. The 2 winners will be chosen randomly and announced here after they’ve accepted the prize. Good luck, everyone!!

Maddy from Inspired Bride and Amanda from Bake It Pretty recently put together this absolutely stunning “Winter Wonderland” themed dessert buffet… seriously, how gorgeous is this?!

Better yet, they’ve broken the buffet down into a series of detailed DIY posts for each individual element – from the winter wonderland cupcakes (pictured below) to the dessert treat bags, so that holiday hostesses & brides-to-be can recreate this exact look at home!

I’m especially loving the winter wonderland centerpiece… check out this close up of the adorable white birds perched on the white branches:

The white & aqua blue color palette looks so pretty together and would also work nicely for a Tiffany-themed wedding or bridal shower…

Leigh Wells of Ink Wells Calligraphy also provided the fantastic hand lettering on the set of downloadable table signs and favor bag labels.

Pictured above: marshmallow pops are always a fun, surprisingly easy treat that makes for an impressive display.

Dessert buffet treat bags make for very pretty party favors, especially when filled with winter wonderland brownie pops:

Can’t resist including one more shot of fabulous centerpiece!

Thanks so much to Maddy for sending this over! For complete details, check out the DIY category over at InspiredBride.net.

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CREDITS:
Photography: Michael Haug
Prop Styling: Kirki Schultz
Food Styling: Maddy Hague of the Inspired Bride
Calligraphy: Leigh Wells
Selected Featured Products: courtesy of Bake It Pretty

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Love this concept? Check out our entire archive of candy/dessert buffet ideas.

First things first – I’d like to sincerely thank every single person that entered the Inspire Me! Holiday Entertaining Contest or passed the word on to friends and family – your efforts are truly appreciated!

Narrowing the entries down proved to be extremely difficult, so thank goodness for the talented & creative minds that graciously signed on to help with the process: Robyn Bomar from Mix Mingle Glow, Amy Belle Isle from Stem Parties, and Jen Berson from Jeneration PR. The 10 finalists are based on which entries had the most overlap from amongst the judges – but I’ll also be featuring the individual lists soon so that you can see who everyone picked…as there was definitely a great mix in the overall group!

For now, though – let’s focus on just the TOP 10 FINALISTS, which are listed below in no particular order.You can vote for YOUR favorites at the bottom of this post! (More details on the entries be found over in the flickr gallery) 

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Girls Night Cocoa Party
Submitted by: TDL (Rexburg, ID)
Judges’ comments included: “Really cute party and wonderful DIY invitation. Looks like a fun party!” / “Love the or concept, details, invitations, adorable chocolate dipped marshmallows, and favors.”

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Retro Christmas Favor / Place Card
Submitted by: Erin Godbey (Greenville, SC)
Judges’ comments included: “I just adore these place card favors. I love that they are so unique and go so perfectly with the retro feel of the entire table. Very well done!” / “love this idea!”

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Whimsical Christmas Party
by: Kendall Shiffler (Dallas, TX)
Judges’ comments included: “cute & colorful” / “creative & affordable” / “true HWTM vibe” / “I’d love to sit at this table – looks like a fun party! ”

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Swanky Snowflake Soiree
Submitted by: Celeste B. (Portland, OR)
Judges’ comments included: “Love this party b/c it’s simple and elegant.” / “Amazingly simple idea to use scrapbook stickers for glass “identifiers”!  Why didn’t I think of that??”

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“Time to Party” New Year’s Eve Bash
Submitted by: Tammy Mitchell (Southern California)
Judges’ comments included: “…the clock invitation is just a fantastic idea!” / “makes a fabulous statement” / “bold and elegant – just like New Year’s Eve should be!”

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“Joy” Digital Inspiration Board
Submitted by: gardenpartynyc (New York, NY)
Judges’ comments included: “festive and fun with a great use of color” / “I feel happy just looking at this – it makes me want to bring the concept to life!” / and “love all the reindeer elements – especially those adorable cookies!”

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Modern Chanukah Tablescape
Submitted by: Laura Gross (Milwaukee, WI)
Judges’ comments included: “…I think her novel version of a menorah is not only beautiful and sleek, but just all around fabulous and so creative!” / “a wonderfully modern take on a Chanukah table”

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Naughty or Nice Holiday Party
Submitted by: Chris Nease (Raleigh, NC)
Judges’ comments included: “…clever theme for a Holiday party. Love the idea of keeping everything from food & drinks to decor in two distinct categories.” / “Witty and so much fun, with impressive attention to detail”

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Festive Red Cocktail Party
Submitted by: head of the table (St. Louis, MO)
Judges’ comments included: “I LOVE this party.” / “Great DIY treat favors!” / “The white feathers and metallic ornaments give this party a fun, swanky vibe…like being at a cool bar, only without the $15 martinis.”

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Gingerbread House Decorating Party
Submitted by: moggiegreen
Judges’ comments included: “Creative place settings!” / “LOVE the set up for each guest (prefilled pastry bag, cookie cutter place cards, individual pieces for different types of houses(!), and cake board ‘plates’.”/ “The cookie cutter place cards are genius!”

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And now… it’s up to YOU to decide which entries will win the 3 Inspire Me! Contest Prizes – generously sponsored by VIVA® Diva Café and worth over $2500 total! You can select up to 3 favorites below.

HOW TO VOTE:
Post a comment here telling us which entries are your favorite (you can mention up to 3).
Please use or include the corresponding letter to the left of the entry titles below.

A. Girls’ Night Cocoa Party
B. Retro Christmas Favor / Place Card
C. Whimsical Christmas Party
D. Swanky Snowflake Soiree
E. Time To Party New Year’s Eve Bash
F. “Joy” Inspiration Board
G. Modern Chanukah Tablescape
H. Naughty or Nice Cocktail Party
I. Festive Red Cocktail Party
J. Gingerbread House Decorating Party

Voting closes Friday, December 19th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced Monday, December 23rd. Thanks so much for participating!

UPDATE: 12/20:
Contest voting is now closed. You can still leave comments on the finalists here, but votes cast later than midnight December 19th won’t be included in the final tally. Check back Monday for the winners!

So… we had a flood of last-minute submissions for the holiday contest yesterday – hooray! The only problem? You people are way too talented and I’m pulling my hair out trying to narrow this down to 10 finalists… it honestly feels like the impossible task!

There are 463 photo entries total – and if you haven’t checked them out – definitely take a minute to browse the flickr gallery – it should help put you into “holiday mode”! You can even post comments on your favorite entries to give them some much-deserved kudos if you’re feeling especially “spirited”…

Unfortuntately, flickr decided to exacerbate my holiday stress level by only showing about 1/2 the gallery entries to viewers UNLESS you’re logged into a flickr account – so sincere apologies for that hiccup! We tried to figure out the issue, but all roads led to the same brick wall. I attempted to start dragging every single photo off flickr to create a new gallery on facebook around 1am last night, but after a half hour of drag-n-drop, no amount of caffeine proved to be a match for how tired I was :0  Maybe this can be a project for another evening…

Anyways, the “Top 10″ from the other judges are in (more info on them later), so I’m cross-referencing everyone’s picks to compile the FINAL 10 that you guys will be voting on – along with some honorable mentions because 10 is way to few to share!

UPDATE: 4:45pm – Still grinding away at this and want to get it right…working on creating mini galleries so these posts aren’t literally 2 miles long. They’ll be up sometime tonight…promise! Thanks in advance for your patience.

(Once voting starts it will be open until 11:59pm this Friday – December 19.)

{Pictured at top: Retro Christmas – Favor/Place Card by Erin Godbey}

Pink may not be one of the colors you’d usually consider for your holiday party decor, but one look at this fabulous “Pretty-in-Pink” gallery from BHG.com just might change your mind! These ideas would also be lovely for a holiday-set wedding, bridal shower, or girlie-girl birthday celebration.

And of course every pink party requires matching pink treats, right?! How about this Pink Martini and Pretty in Pink Pretzels recipe for starters:

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PINK MARTINI

Ingredients:
2 ounces good-quality gin
½ ounce guava nectar
½ ounce fresh orange juice
orange twist (for garnish)

Directions:
Shake the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Run the orange peel around the rim, twist it over the drink, and drop. Enjoy!

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Do you have any favorite pink-hued recipes that would be good for a Pink Party?

I’m loving these non-traditional – and super chic – red, white, & green floral arrangements for an elegant holiday party. The white stones and monochromatic blooms create such a serene, modern minimalist vibe…

The top and lower left images are from Pottery Barn and originally intended to showcase these platinum vases (which do happen to be on sale!), but you could also achieve the look of these vases – “economy style” with standard glass cylinder vases and some metallic gift wrap.

The right side of the image above shows a cluster of ruby breadseed poppies displayed in a pewter vase…casual elegance! {via brides.com}

Make your holiday decor sparkle with a healthy dose of glitter! Here are a few shimmery project ideas from Martha’s gallery of Glittered Holiday Crafts…

Pictured at top: Glittered Bird Centerpiece featuring glitter-dusted birds and tinsel-wrapped branches.

Pictured above: Snowy Balloon Ornaments.  There are detailed instructions on how to make these here – but I’m thinking you could also achieve a similar look the “short-cut route” by spray painting and/or glittering spun rattan balls or wicker balls.

Pictured above, clockwise from top left: Glittery Star, Glittered Branch and Ornaments,  Glittered Nuts & Ornaments, and Glittered Candlestick Holders. Have fun!

{”Holiday in the City” dinner party}

There are only 2 days left to enter the Inspire Me! Holiday Entertaining Contest – the cut off is TOMORROW night (December 16th) at midnight EST! Remember that you can submit both inspiration boards or actual pictures… here’s a link to all the contest details.

Pictured above & below are a few examples of the current contest entries – which include everything from elegant dinner parties to festive cocktail parties to fun ideas for kids!

{”A Pink & Silver Christmas” inspiration board}

A recap of the prizes up for grabs: $1250 (first place) & $500 (2nd place) gift cards to Crate & Barrel, plus the $250 Modern Entertaining Essentials Prize pack, a year’s supply of VIVA® paper towels, and more for all 3 winners! {Prizes generously sponsored by VIVA® Diva Cafe}

{DIY Martini Glass Charms for a “Swanky Snowflake Soiree}

{Polar Express Cake}

(More entries after the jump…)

{”Pink & Blue Holiday” baby shower}

{”Girls Gift Swap” holiday party}

{”Festive Kids’ Table” inspiration board}

Visit the flickr contest gallery to check out lots more entries – and to find some inspiration for your own holiday get-togethers!

{Note: for some reason when you’re logged into your flickr account you can see about twice as many entries as you can when you’re not logged in. Not sure why this is happening, but we’ll be creating a separate photo album with all the entries on Facebook soon so that EVERYONE can see all of the pics!

{To enter the contest, you can email your entries to inspiremecontest@hwtm.com or add them to the contest gallery yourself… complete details on the contest page.}