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How to Celebrate at Home

How to Celebrate at Home is your simple guide to making the most of your time at home.
Start new traditions with celebrating at home from birthdays to anniversaries to the first days of school!

how to celebrate at home

It’s Back to School season, and everything is up in the air. 2020 has been the roller coaster we can’t seem to get off of!

But, learning to celebrate at home can help you create unforgettable memories around the table with your people.

Maybe you’ll even create some new traditions that will help mark this year as the year you stayed home and ‘did small things with great love.’

how to arrange a buffet table

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s how to stay at home, and lean into being there.

Celebrations are now taking place in homes, driveways, porches, etc. and they might not feel as special or celebratory as before.

I’ve got some tips for you to create unforgettable memories around the table celebrating the people you love and celebrating them really well.

Tips for How to Celebrate at Home

Establish “celebratory items.”

red you are special plate

For our home, this was a red “You Are Special” plate.

This was used for birthdays, graduations, awards, etc.

Anything we were celebrating, the “special person” would get the red plate.

((Still, even though I’m 33 years old, we use that red plate, and I get just as excited to use it as I did when I was 5.))

Maybe use the china that’s in your cabinet, that you haven’t used since you took it out of the boxes. ?

Stack your table filled with candles and turn off the overhead lights to serve dinner.

Creating ambience is a huge way to celebrate at home. The ambient lighting creates an evening you’ll talk about over and over.

((This photo is from a Thanksgiving several years ago — we had a family over with four boys, and I thought it would be funny to use fine china, only candlelight, and make it super fancy. To date, we still reminisce about this Thanksgiving!))

If you don’t use a tablecloth normally, go ahead and set the table with one.

Really bring out the “goods” for celebrating special things. 

Making the mealtime magical fashions moments into memories. 

Some of My Favorite Recipes for Celebrating at Home

Appetizers:

Baked Brie with Apricot Jelly is an easy way to start your evening off well. Open a nice oaky chardonnay and dig into the sweet and spicy brie wheel.

roasted garlic and herb shrimp cocktail appetizer recipe

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail is the make-ahead wonder to really get the party started at home. Also an amazing option for socially distant entertaining!

Quick and Easy White Queso Dip

Quick & Easy White Queso Dip pairs perfectly with the Chalupa recipe below. But, it also helps bring your favorite Mexican restaurant home!

Main Dishes:

bean chalupa bar

Quick and Easy Pulled Pork Chalupa is a dinner that is ready in under half an hour but tastes like it slow cooked all day long.

It really puts the Fiesta into an evening at home with your people.

This always works super well for socially distant gatherings.

Ask your friends or neighbors to come over to your porch, driveway, front yard, and divide up the chalupa into individual pots. Separate your toppings into individual containers, and let each person/couple have their own setup. 

Low Carb Shrimp Recipe

Easy Tarragon Shrimp makes any meal a little more decadent!

A simple cream sauce laced with dry sherry coats every piece of shrimp in a delightful shrimp recipe idea.

Serve it in seashells for a super over the top appetizer. Or, with pasta for a sumptuous dinner!

Beef Tenderloin is our family’s number one celebratory meal choice. For birthdays, anniversaries, big moments, this is the most requested.

While it sounds fancy, it’s about the easiest thing you can make!

You’re three steps away from the most tender beef you’ve ever made at home, and you (the host!) won’t believe how simple it really is.

Side Dishes:

Sheet Pan Roasted Fingerling Potatoes are deliciously simple, extra crispy, and super easy to prepare!

bacon wrapped green bean bundles

Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles are a deliciously simple side dish recipe perfect for any time of the year! But, they’re festive enough to celebrate the small thing at home anytime.

Pineapple Cheese Casserole is what southern pot luck dreams are made of! Sweet pineapple, creamy cheese, and salty butter crackers create the perfect combo — and the perfect way to cheers to something good.

Sweet Things:

Apple Galette is the apple pie’s super easy-going sister who enjoys being laid back and ready for anything, anytime. 

The best part, you can make this a few days beforehand and still enjoy it to it’s fullest!

It's National Dairy Month and we've got goodness galore for everything dairy -- eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt. Plus, link up at Home Matters with recipes, DIY, crafts, decor. #Dairy #HomeMattersParty

Cream Roasted Pears the creamy amazingly warm and simple dessert recipe idea that will have you licking your plate!

Classic Vanilla Cupcakes, that are iced over the top! Top with your family’s favorite idea and create a new sweet celebration!

Finally, let’s chat about things you can use to celebrate well.

Head over to Etsy and purchase some festive items you can use over and over!

Y’all know I’m not for keeping lots and lots of things. But, small touches make all the difference when celebrating at home.

It’s also an easy way to let someone know you’ve thought of them before they arrive at the table. 

KPecks Party Cafe is filled with the adorable cupcake and party toppers!

So, friend, how are you going to be celebrating at home?! 

Pick up your eBook copy of How to Celebrate at Home and dive into unforgettable memories around your table with the people closest to you at home! It even includes a printable journal you (or your little people!) can use to remember those moments!

Cheers to the small things, that you celebrate with great love! 

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8 Comments

  1. You’re so right – 2020 has been one heck of a roller coaster ride! But, I love how you flipped it to the positive here, focusing on what we can learn from 2020 about celebrating at home, creating moments to treasure, and maximizing time with those we love. Lessons we can carry with us, even once the challenges of 2020 have passed (which will hopefully be VERY soon)!

  2. I love this post and the ideas! I can’t wait to try some of these recipes as well! So excited!

  3. This is a fantastic post – I am so glad I’ve stumbled upon it. I was going to organize something this weekend, so this is the perfect timing!

  4. Great post with a ton of great ideas. I’m looking forward to trying a few out! Loved reading this!
    Have a wonderful day
    H

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