Hostess Jo

Welcome!

Hi,

I am in the process of changing my blog over to Typepad.  There is still a lot of fine tuning and designing to take care of.  Hopefully the result will be more user friendly and visually appealing!  Please stay tuned...

Cheers!

Jo

A Dazzling Discovery

For those of you who like a bit of rustic style in your decorating these Metallic Bark Candles from Pottery Barn are for you! They are available in different sizes and come in white, silver or gold. I personally love the birch bark candles I bought from them last year and have several compliments on them. I grouped them on a large plate and in the fall and winter I use acorns around them and in the spring and summer I use bright green moss around them. These metallic candles would ad so much to your decor around the holidays or year round. Don't you think?

I am also loving these glass sphere candle holders.

Also for fall or year round decorating, check out these twig themed accessories also from Pottery Barn: Twig Hurricanes

Twig Wall Sconce

And Twig Bowl

Sangria Recipe

I am busy planning my 30th birthday party and have decided to have a Mexican Fiesta! I'll have photos and such up next week from it but wanted to share with you my sangria recipe. That's what I am planning to serve as one of the beverages. You can purchase the mix with fruit and spices off of hostessjo.com! I use the Brandy recipe but you can use red or white wine and omit the Brandy...

Mixed Fruit Sangria

One package of Mixed Fruit Sangria
One 750 ml bottle of red or white wine
One cup of Brandy
Cut pieces of fruit like orange, lime, apple or peach
Add a cup or so of club soda

Mix together in large pitcher, let set for a few hours for best taste. Pour in glass over ice and top with club soda. Enjoy!

A Dazzling Discovery

Did you know that stamp-pad ink is removable by glass cleaner??? I didn't, but am so glad it is. Now you can decorate windows and glassware for Halloween and totally remove them the next day! There are a variety of scary stamps at your local crafts store. Use to decorate windows, glass hurricanes, candle holders, mirrors, etc. You could also decorate your items and give them as gifts! Check out this pic from marthastewart.com:

Football Season

I almost forgot about football season with all the Halloween parties coming up! We had a couple of friends over this past Saturday for the games and I made a dip and used one of HostessJo.com's platters. Thought it looked really festive and colorful and I wanted to share it with you...

The dip couldn't be simpler:
Mix a packet of Fiesta Ranch with 16 oz. of sour cream-voila! I paired it with green, red, and yellow bell pepper strips and taco chips. Very tasty!

Another “Kraft by Kara”!

Here is another example of Kara's Krafts...So cute! Check out all her krafts here!

Halloween Party Inspiration

For a twist on a traditional Halloween party decor why not use black and purple, pink or green? I still love orange and black but the black and purple really gives a different vibe to the space. Black lights put off a purple glow inside and out. Check out this pic from Pier 1, it puts a glamorous spin on Halloween!