I was super excited when the PR team from Starbucks contacted us about helping them style a special “Holiday Preview” media event in NYC last month!

In addition to creating a festive atmosphere for the event, we also wanted to provide some great home entertaining inspiration that both event guests and HWTM readers could use at their personal holiday celebrations. So, I have TWO versions of this new “Mod & Merry Peppermint Twist” theme to share with you today!

This first recap is the home entertaining inspiration portion and features the tablescape and dessert displays we shot at our house. Everything pictured here is easy to recreate and budget-friendly.

Scroll down for more images & creative details + a link to the full party album with more images of the tablescape design and DIY dessert displays…

CREATIVE DETAILS…

THEME

In keeping with the vibe of the Starbucks Holiday Line, the goal was to come up with a cool & MODERN – yet still warm & inviting – holiday atmosphere with fun touches of sparkle & glam! Starbucks is known for their iconic red cup during the holiday season, so a color palette of all red & white was chosen, with touches of silver for added sparkle.

CENTERPIECE

The {very easy!} table centerpiece was created from 2 manzanita branches spray-painted red and decorated with different types of red and white Christmas ornaments. A cute white penguin figurine from Z Gallerie embellished with a ribbon “scarf” sat next to the branches for a playful touch.

PLACE SETTINGS

The place settings featured rhinestone-bedecked white chargers, white plates, and red napkins. “Napkin rings” were created from strips of custom paper patterns with DIY “holly berry” clusters attached to the top with a glue dot. To make the berry clusters, I pulled individual berries from faux berry picks, hot glued them into groups of 3, then attached each trio of berries to a sparkly silver leaf. The silver leaves were also pulled from decorative holiday picks (which are about $1.29 at stores like Michaels).

Mason jars were embellished with holiday ribbon and used as water/drink glasses. I also embellished red stripey straws with custom straw flags for a fun touch!

The red champagne flutes were purchase years ago at Target, but we created an alternative DIY stemware option for the larger event this theme was used at – where mini sparkly red balls were used to decorate the base of the wine glasses all the way around the stem. They were attached to the glasses with craft sized glue dots for easy removal later.

CHAIRS

Chairs were decorated with little garlands made from and miniature glittered styrofoam balls, which come packaged together in bags at Michaels.

DESSERTS

Mini desserts from the Starbucks Petites collection (including whoopie pies, cake pops, and mini cupcakes) were creatively presented on various DIY display stands and white trays lined with decorative paper.

• Chocolate Créme and Red Velvet Whoopie Pies  were topped with the same sparkly holly berry clusters form the napkin rings and set on top of miniature stands made from cordial glasses (or tall shot glasses) flipped upside down and topped with paper-covered wooden discs. Glue dots were used to secure the wooden discs to the glasses. {Full DIY coming Monday.}

The Cake Pop stand is actually a holiday gift box (purchased at Target) and filled with gift wrap covered styrofoam. Just measure the styrofoam before cutting it to make sure you have a snug fit, then wrap it “present style” and insert it into the box. We also cut pieces of stripey straws to create festive little “sleeves” for the white cake pop sticks before sticking them into the foam! {Full DIY coming Monday.}

The Mini Cupcakes stand is simply a recycled wooden wine box embellished with ribbon and a lightweight snowflake ornament from Target. You can find similar wood boxes for purchase at JamaliGarden.com.

COORDINATING EVENT

This photo shoot was tailored for a holiday dinner party at home — but if you’d like to see a lot of additional inspiration for this theme — check out the photo album for the holiday event we styled for Starbucks in New York. We used this exact same theme, but scaled it up for a large cocktail party at The Gramercy Park Hotel (with LOTS of sequins, sparkle & glam)!