Entertaining | Offbeat Home

This is Offbeat Home's archive of Entertaining posts.

These posts cover all the ephemera of having people in your offbeat home.

Most Recent Posts About Entertaining

Photo by Sarah Ackerman. Remixed under Creative Commons license.

In this era of Pinterest and craft blogs, it can be easy to slide into party anxiety; if your party isn't themed to the teeth, color coordinated, and perfect vintage-chic, somehow it's not a real party. To this I say NONSENSE. Parties are about the people attending them, not how they look.

NO! Not another pretty party! With perfectly-planned coordinating courses, a playlist, and cleverly-crafted decorations! NOT TODAY! Today, we celebrate the ugly party.

This winter I have been learning the value of the ugly party. The unplanned party. The no-decorations, unfancy food, just-get-together-and-love-it party. These impromptu parties have been some of the most enjoyable socials I've been to all year — and I think hosting an ugly party fosters skills you need to ensure you'll never attend a boring party — ugly or pretty — again.

I love animated gifs! They're like the magical photos in the Potterverse. Here's a reason you can make one this week: PARTY TIME. Whether you're planning a Super Bowl party, a Valentine's Day cocktail hour, or just a mid-winter soiree, you can make an animated gif invitation in a few quick steps.

About two weeks before my 30th birthday, someone reminded me that my "dirty thirty" was coming up soon. To which Aaron, that guy I married, responded: "With Megan, it's more like her nerdy thirty." And thus, a theme was born!

This is how I pulled off one hell of an awesome Nerdy Thirty birthday theme with only two weeks to plan, and with a little help from my friends.

We believe strongly in letting our kids decide what parties they’re throwing (I mean, how else would we have ended up with Nora Lea’s last birthday theme?) Asking Dottie, “What kind of birthday party do you want to have?” returned the answer, “COOKIE PARTY!” so James and I shrugged and went to work and came up with an assemble-your-own-cookies-and-pizza party concept — which turned out pretty simple. Assembling your own food helps divert attention from food sensitivities and gives guests something to do when conversation slows.

Scenario: I'm having a holiday party and need party-music-that-sounds-cool-but-also-wintry.

Scenario: My cube-mate's been playing Christmas tunes since Dec. 1. If I hear Mariah Carey sing All I Want for Christmas is You once more I will snap. I'd like to take over the airwaves with my own mix for a day — what's a good list to work from?

Scenario: I JUST LOVE CHRISTMAS SONGSSS!

Offbeat Home has solutions to all the scenarios — songs to stream and songs to buy that are full of jinglebells.

How do you create a sense of community with a group of people who aren't forced to put up with each other? If you're creating your own chosen family, this post will help you get through the holidays a little more warmly.

My husband and I just recently moved closer to our families and we were thinking it would be fun to start some new traditions at our now expanded Thanksgiving table. What sort of quirky, offbeat Thanksgiving traditions do you have?

Desperately wanting to celebrate Halloween, but found yourself without the time to plan anything? Take on Natalie's no-thought Halloween party with her scavenger hunt cards. There are three! This is just one!