I am a homebody through and through. The pandemic was difficult in the sense that I couldn’t have anybody over to my house, but I honestly really didn’t mind staying at home all the time. I have always been that way. In college, our house was WAY more put together than a lot of the other houses on our street. The boys across the street would always come over for home-cooked meals and good smelling candles. I continued this into my teaching career, when I was living on my own. I chose to spend more money on a nice apartment than to have extra spending money to go out on the weekends (thank God Larry and I already knew each other, otherwise I’d probably still be single).
When Larry was playing in Detroit, his teammate Rob and his wife Natalie regularly hosted people at their house after home games. Any time I would drive up for a game, I knew that I would be welcomed with open arms. Rob and Natalie always welcomed everyone, whether it was young players fresh in the league or even the parents of a girl that one of the players was dating (yep, that was me and my parents). I will never forget their hospitality and it really was what inspired both Larry and I to do the same in the next city.
When we moved to New Orleans, in Larry’s fifth year in the league, and bought our first house I knew that I was going to host just like Rob and Nat. Well, I would try my best at least. We opened up our home to guests after most home games and even threw in a few Derby parties and Christmas dinners here and there. I wanted people to feel welcome in our home at any time, just like Rob and Natalie made us feel. Over the years, I have fine-tuned my hosting game and wanted to put together a bit of an essentials list for anyone who is ready to improve their game. I’ve started with items that I think are great to have around the house for any occasion and then we get into some smaller upgrades that will really make an event feel special! So let’s get to it!
The Essentials
1. Beverage Tub $25 – These are great for icing down beverages or even wine, but they can also be used for simply holding ice for beverages. It makes everything at your drink station look a little classier. However, I would recommend lining any metal tubs like this with plastic or something to keep it from leaking water as the day goes on.
2. Serving Utensils $20 – Upgrading your serving utensils is an easy way to take your serving station to the next level. Don’t just stick with wooden ones either. You can try adding in some other colors or metals too!
3. Pots and Planters $49 – Grabbing pots and planters from your shelf decor is an easy and inexpensive way to display items when hosting. You can use larger ones for fresh flowers and smaller ones to hold your silver or plasticware.
4. Woven Baskets $86 – Woven Baskets like this can be used around your house for décor, but can also be great to hold crackers, bread, and chips when hosting people at your house! Line it with a cute cloth napkin and you’re good to go!
5. Upgraded Barware $100 – These might seem like a silly thing to upgrade but when you are hosting a party where everyone makes their own drinks, it’s a simple way to take things to the next level. No more college shot glasses to measure ingredients for a cocktail. This set includes everything you’ll need on a regular basis without all the extra nonsense. For stirrers and anything else, check out this gorgeous gold line from target. You can also add a nice ice scoop if you’re really trying to go over the top!
6. Wood Cutting Boards $32 – Notice how I said wood cutting boardS (with an s) This is the easiest way to upgrade your hosting game. You can use them for cheese boards, sure, but you can also use them to elevate your liquor display by simply throwing down a cloth napkin and putting your bourbon for mint juleps on top!
7. Serving Bowls $25 – Serving bowls, trays AND plates are absolutely essential in hosting any big party. They can be used for dips, chips, bread, crackers, and veggies. I like to keep a variety on hand when it comes to bowls and plates, but you know me, I like to stay in my neutral palette. For example, I like metal bowls, white trays, wooden bowls, and black platters (or really a combination of those).
8. Miniature Serving Utensils $54 – These small coffee spoons are PERFECT for serving smaller amounts of dips or scooping roasted garlic on a charcuterie board. Knives and forks are great too but I often find myself wanting spoons more than anything else.
9. Reusable Food Signage $30 – This is where we separate the rookies from the pros. I found a few metal food labels in a boutique in Michigan when Larry was playing with the Lions and I have used them over and over and over again. It’s as easy a grabbing a chalk marker and writing each food item! If you don’t have great handwriting and prefer to print something nice and clean, check out these modern food labels in my Etsy shop.
10. Elevated Drink Dispenser $35 – Elevated is the key word here. I have had plenty of drink dispensers over the years and always end up putting them on up-side-down bowls to prop them up enough to pour the liquid out. Yeah. Not super elegant. I like to stick with glass just because it tends to last longer but these plastic ones with the metal stands are too pretty to pass up.
11. Cheese Knives $24 – This is a staple for ANY home. Not just someone who hosts a lot of people. I own a set of these gorgeous cheese knives and they do not disappoint. They’re very sturdy and look beautiful on any charcuterie board. Nothing else needs to be said, just buy them 🙂
12. Cloth Napkins $30 – We always use cloth napkins around our house, replacing paper ones. I’ve collected so many over the past year or so. They are always great to pull out and use for display! You can use them in a basket for bread or on top of a wooden cutting board to display drink items. They’re also perfect just on the countertop under serving platters and bowls for an added layer. You already know that I’ve tagged my favorites from Food52
Upgrade Your Plasticware
13. Colored Plasticware $5 – Buying gold, silver, black, or colored plasticware is such an easy and inexpensive way to upgrade your hosting game. I always keep gold plasticware around to make random occasions feel special.
14. Craft Paper $5 – I keep craft paper around the house for gift wrapping but it can also be used as a table runner or even to wrap an entire table to make a party easy to clean up or VERY kid-friendly. For adult parties, you can use craft paper as a runner across a kitchen island. Then write food items with sharpie directly onto the paper instead of having to use individual food labels. I wrapped our entire dining table in craft paper for Thanksgiving last year and the kids were able to draw and color right on the table! How fun is that?
15. Clear Plastic Cups $3-6 – This might seem really silly, but I HATE ‘red solo cups’. No, seriously. I think that taking away those RED solo cups is such an easy way to elevate your game. Even just around the house or when you have a girlfriend over. It’s a simple game-changer but a necessary one. I would also recommend keeping regular sized cups AND smaller cocktail or wine cups around to be ready for any occasion.
16. Chalk Markers $11 – You can use chalk markers for LOTS of things, but most importantly to replace that old-school chalk! Chalk markers are great for using on those metal food labels and even on the craft paper! I have tried to use them to write names on plastic cups but don’t take my lead on that one. Stick to Sharpies for cups and chalk markers for almost anything else!
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