The new year brings a new diary full of commitments but also new and exciting adventures, and I'm delighted to be joining the awesome team over at Gig Masters  as their newest contributing blogger!  My first post is up on their site today - " How to Style a Hot Cocoa Bar ".

Cinco de Mayo is nearly upon us and it's the perfect time of year to celebrate all things Mexican. Starting with the delicious, colorful cuisine, which of course includes some of my favorite fiesta cocktails! Last year I shared my cocktail recipe twist on the classic Mojito here . So this year I thought I'd do the same and re-visit another classic cocktail (the Moscow Mule), to inject a Mexican twist to my happy hour! 😉

Hey sweet friends, missed you! Been working on some fun things this summer , taking some time off to chill with the family and generally catching up on those little things that get neglected during the year (like reading a great book!) so we're totally in relaxed-blogging-mode 'round here...be warned. But today I'm happy to be back giving away a cool 4 Recipe Books to one lucky winner -  to help make your summer reading even yummier!

Winter rhymes with cozy, comforting food. And a cheese fondue sure ticks both boxes! A few years ago, I shared my recipe for a traditional French Savoyard Cheese Fondue here on the blog . It's the perfect cheese fondue recipe for entertaining!  But this year, I was inspired to re-vamp and make my cheese fondue a little lighter and easier to prepare. Hence this delicious Camembert cheese fondue, baked in its own box and served on a board of rainbow-colored veg!

I created this gorgeous and super easy Christmas baubles ornaments garland for my Holiday Cocktails & Appetizers party I shared last week. Did you see it up behind our the bar?! So pretty! Originally, I wanted to make a baubles ornament wreath, but those things look a LOT easier in theory, I tell ya! Have you ever tried making one? Man, they are a pain! Not only you always end up with a lot less baubles than you thought you might need, which means endless trips to the shops to buy more...not to mention they take aaaaages to get looking so full and pretty like you see on Pinterest , and let's not even mention the hot glue burns. Sigh...

Frangipane is an almond based French cream. Now that we've got the vocabulary lesson out the way, let's move on to the cooking, shall we?! 😉 This delicious apple and frangipane tart is the bom diggity of tarts, and it's one of my favorite recipes to make this time of year, especially for Thanksgiving as you saw in my Boho Chic post here ! 

This promotion is now closed! Maybe because I surround myself with  whimsical parties and fairy tale characters for a living, but one cool gadget I wish I had was a magic wand !  Either that, or a real life remote control that copies and pastes. With an 'undo' button of course! I know a girl can dream, but while this Cinderella waits for technology to catch up with the fairy-tale, there's nothing stopping me playing fairy-godmother...in the party arena at least. And it's a great way to start the new year!  'Cause "being party-fairy-godmother"  is a genuine resolution, right?! ;)

Click here for more Black and White Party Ideas According to Marie Claire Magazine, "Monochrome - it's this season's it word." - And often, fashion spills into the every day life. Including our party tables!  So it seemed like the perfect palette to tackle for our second post in the Paint My Party   blog   series.

This year, I teamed up with a French craft brand to create some easy but super chic and glam Christmas tree ornaments using their latest "So Chic" collection of craft supplies in pinks, golds, rose golds and burgundy. Talk about a dreamy color palette, right?! 😍 So I came up with three easy but super gorgeous, DIY Christmas tree ornaments that anyone can make. Whether you live in France and have access to these specific craft supplies...or not!

This time of year we're all looking for tasty but easy party food and nibble ideas, right? So, I decided to bring you my family's favorite snack/treat for the holidays - my husband's curried sausage rolls ! These curried sausage rolls have been a tradition in our home every Christmas, New Year and beyond! They're SO delicious, quick and easy to make, not to mention budget-friendly too!

This giveaway is now over! Ok, this is mind-boggling! Not only we have now reached over 10,000 fabulous facebook fans  in just over a year, but we have some pretty amazing vendors and friends come together to award one of you, a whopping $800 worth of fantastic prizes!!

Since Bird's Party Shoppe will be closing soon for the Holidays ( from Dec 3rd to Jan 02nd ), I decided to give you a quick taster of all the NEW printable party collections  now available in the shoppe so you can go get yours before it's too late! ;)

Happy New Year sweet friends! :) Back to blogging properly next week (with a link party on Monday!) but just came over to share the first piece of good news of 2013 - The STUNNING Dinosaur Birthday Party styled by Crissy's Crafts is being featured on Pizzazzerie !! Woo-Hoo! :)

We've always loved Hellmann’s® mayonnaise in our house, so I was really excited to try one of the recipes from the Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-Up , which promises  "to transforms your chicken into a juicier, crispier, more delicious meal that your family will love."   The Hellmann’s® Chicken Change-Up aims to help parents manage dinner dilemmas in kitchens across America – and their yummy ideas aim to remedy our dinner time challenges with  "Time Saving" , "Budget Friendly",   "Picky Eaters" and  "Twist on a Classic"  chicken recipes!

Hi guys, today I'm guest posting over at A Few of My Favorite Things (AFOMFT) showing you how to make these fun paper Xmas Trees, as part of PROJECT SECRET SANTA ! When I was asked by Danielle to be part of this AMAZING project, I just could not say no! During the holiday season, AFOMFT will be sharing recipes, craft projects and party planning suggestions so readers can throw their own Project Secret Santa party!!

Hi there, cake friends! While I (Tess) am usually here to share my experiences with cake decorating and tricks working with fondant and icing in the " Cake It Pretty " series, I am happy to be talking about another passion of mine today...

I love using crepe in my party tables too , it's so versatile and inexpensive! But this tutorial is even simpler than using double-sided tape, and this cute table runner can be made in minutes - only requiring 3 craft materials! The ruffle table runner adds a nice texture and dimension to the table. Here is what you will need to make your own no-sew ruffle table runner...

As you well know, Bird's Party Blog posts are the result of many creative and talented minds, and I thought it would be nice, to start the year showing you a little more about each of these fabulous contributors who grace our pages every day! Today we're kicking things off with one of our newest contributors , Mindy from the aptly-named blog, Creative Juice . Mindy is not only talented, but she's a total gorgeous gal inside and out. She's a real sweetheart and I'm so happy to have her as part of our team!! 

Thank you PayPal for sponsoring this post. Visit PayPal to give the gift people really want this season: money! Christmas is next week (yikes!), and if you need a last-minute idea for gifting anyone in your life, then this post should come in super handy! We've teamed up with PayPal to show you how simple and quick it is to send the gift of money to your friends and family this holiday season using PayPal P2P . And I'm in love with their new digital holiday greetings, co-created in partnership with Leandra Medine, founder of Man Repeller , for a personal touch every time you send! 😍

This giveaway is now closed! With the cold weather here to stay, sometimes you just gotta reach for that plate of comfort food to keep moral in check. It feels good to indulge in a plate of something familiar that makes me feel fuzzy inside. And despite trying to keep my new year's resolutions, I have no problem taking a detour in winter. It's my go-to equivalent of wearing a really snugly woolly sweater. But involving melted cheese instead. Yes, some of my fave comfort foods include cheese. The melted kind. Like a good ol' mac and cheese. Or a lasagna. Or tuna melt. Are you the same?