These are a few of our favourite things!

With Christmas just around the corner, we thought we could help you out a little by giving you our list of favourite Christmas gift ideas, for every budget!  We'll start with the big ticket items and work our way down.

At the top of the list for both of us is the iPad 2!!!  Who wouldn't love to have this under their tree?  Not only fun but also effective for working individuals,  educational for children and students, and it looks good too.  Starting at $519, I hope you were all well behaved this year...Santa might be feeling generous!

The next item on this list is Paula's pick.  Last year Paula's husband bought her the Canon PowerShot SX210 IS camera and she fell in love with it!  This year they have an even better updated version, the Canon PowerShot SX220 HS.  It shoots a full 1080p HD movies, better maximum light sensitivity, CMOS Sensor for better quality images, and a higher resolution screen.  At $319.99 its a steal for those looking for a camera with professional quality images without paying the high end DSLR price tag.  Perfect for traveling!

Next up is the Kobo eReader, for the book lover in your family! Starts at $109 and is available at any Chapters location.  But for $30 more we recommend the touch screen version which is also twice the capacity at 2GB and holds up to 1000 e-books!

For the jewelry lover, Amy & Paula both adore Savi Jewelry which comes from the creative mind of Jennifer Whelan who is the owner and designer of Savi.  She carries a wide range of jewelry ranging in price from about $25-$100 so I'm sure you can find something beautiful for the lady in your life on any budget!  She uses high quality beads & pearls to create works of art and we haven't seen a piece yet that we haven't liked...which is dangerous for the bank account.  Check Savi out on Facebook by clicking here: Savi Jewelry Fan Page or order directly from her website here: Savi Jewelry

These are just a few of our favourite things... of course we could go on, but that would just be greedy.  If you need more suggestions or help with your hard to buy for friends & family on your list, contact us, I'm sure we can come up with something fabulous!  Good luck completing your Christmas shopping and to keep things simple, all of these items are available ONLINE so you DO NOT have to leave the comfort of your home to brave the rowdy mall crowds.

Happy Holidays to you all - xo Amy & Paula

Cocktails anyone?

Just for some fun we thought we would have some Christmas Cocktail recipes!  Feel free to share your favourites in the comments section.

The Red Velvet Martini
Although not officially a Christmas Cocktail, Red Velvet always invokes a feeling of Christmas just like when you imagine Santa's red velvet suit & hat!

1 oz.     Skyy Vodka (any Vodka can be used, but Skyy is great tasting at a great price!)
1oz.      Red Raspberry Sour Puss
1.5 oz.  Cranberry Juice (100% Cranberry juice preferred but Cranberry Cocktail can be substituted)
Squeeze of Lime
Shake ingredients over ice, pour into glass, add frozen cranberries to garnish and you're done!  Just be careful, they can be potent ;)

The Candy Cane Martini
This should be a Christmas staple like boxes of chocolate and stockings hung by the fireplace.  And I will give you a few options to make it, all equally delicious but one a little more powerful to really get the party started! 

First, take a candy cane and crush it in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin.  If you don't have a rolling pin use a can of soup or something along those lines.  Next, take 2 small plates - one will have water on it the other will have the candy canes you just demolished.  Take your glass and turn it upside down in the saucer of water to get the rim wet then put it in the candy canes to have a nice rim of yummy candy!  Next is the drink part:

1 oz    Vodka (Vanilla Vodka if you can find some)
1 oz    Peppermint Schnapps
1 oz    White Chocolate Liqueur (Godiva's)

Shake over ice and strain into the martini glass you just rimmed with candy canes, garnish with a mini candy cane and drink up!

Other options for this cocktail are to just use your favourite vodka and the peppermint schnapps but that can be a little strong, feel free to add club soda or 7-Up AFTER shaking if you need to.  White Cranberry juice can make it tasty & easily drinkable as well! Add a splash of grenadine to make it festively red.

And the final way to prepare the candy cane martini is in the form of a jello shot!!  Check out this link for the delicious recipe:

Candy Cane Martini Jelly Shots

After Eight
Christmas time tends to be a little on the chilly side, so why not warm things up a little with this delicious and toasty coffee drink!  If you're not a coffee fan, its just as scrumptious with hot chocolate!  I'm sure you all know of the After Eight chocolates that are ever so popular at Christmas time...well this is the liquid/alcoholic version! And if you're really daring, leave out the coffee altogether and try it as a shot!

1/3 oz   Kahlua
1/3 oz   Creme de Menthe
1/3 oz   Bailey's

Pour these in a shot glass and then throw it in your coffee or hot chocolate.  Top it with some whip cream and maybe some of those demolished candy canes from the previous drink or shaved chocolate.  You can also use the After Eight sticks as a garnish.  For the pros out there, this can be a really cool shot by layering them starting with the kahlua, then carefully pour the creme de menthe on top of that and finally the bailey's, try not to mix them!  Makes for a great presentation.

I hope you all enjoy your Christmas holiday parties!  Introduce these drinks to your guests and it is sure to be a hit!  Hope we helped make your holidays a little sweeter and spiced up those cold nights!

xo - Amy & Paula

Baby Love...

Since we started this business in August, it seems our most popular event to date is the baby shower!  You might think the baby shower is to celebrate the upcoming (or recent) arrival of a beautiful baby, but we like to think of it as more of a special celebration for the mom-to-be!  Whether its her first or her fifth child, every mom deserves a day to celebrate with her friends and family.  And we can help make it extra special by adding some lovely decor elements or we can take all the stress off everyone involved and plan the whole thing from finding the right location, sending invites, setting up decor, and organizing games and food!  Check out some of the showers we have done in the past! 

 
Gender Neutral Baby Shower

"What Will Baby Bee?"

 

Boy Oh Boy!

Pretty Little Princess

Welcome!

Welcome to Sugar & Spice Events and Decor’s blog!  We will be blogging about our many wonderful parties we decorate and coordinate, as well as a number of other topics to offer advice and inspiration to all of our wonderful clients and fans.  We hope you will check back often and hope to update at least once a week.  If you have any topics you would like to see us blog about feel free to leave a comment or contact us at info@sugarandspiceevents.ca and we will be sure to consider it!
Thanks for visiting and come back soon!
Amy & Paula