Say so long to turkey, pumpkin spice and those pictures on instagram of people stomping around somewhere with fall foliage. Although it was beautiful, I’m ready to move on. It’s officially acceptable to be in full holiday mode, and since it’s my favorite time of year, you can expect to see a lot of it around here.

One thing that you probably won’t see though, is a traditional palette. I’m always up for a challenge and love coming up with new ways to celebrate. Lenox introduced me to their Domino Collection for part two of our partnership, and even though it was a mix of pink and merlot, I knew that it would be perfect for a holiday happy hour! I wanted to play on the classic red and green, but swap out the red for it’s cousin, pink (maybe they’re sisters, I don’t know... but you get it. same family). So I found the perfect occasion, a simple happy hour you can host for your friends, and got to work.

I’m all about finding easy ways to entertain these days. And part of that battle is figuring out how to feed people with minimal effort. I’d rather focus on having some delicious wine choices than slaving over appetizers. What i’ve been doing lately is purchasing a few pre-made options, for example a few dips for this happy hour, and then topping them to make each dip look a little fancier than it would straight out of the container. I add nuts, herbs, spices, fruit, or seeds and it works wonders!

The Dish Details:

To top our happy hour bar, I used the Domino Gradiance Canape Plates and the Domino Gradiance Nut Bowls from Lenox. They were the perfect size for just the right about of dip for a few ladies. Add their Domino Spreaders for guests to add dips to their plates. My favorite part was that the bowls had a design at the top, once you put food inside, the best part wasn’t lost which is usually the case with bowls that have fun designs.

The Domino collection consisted not only of the pieces shown here, but other items such as dinner plates, salad plates, etc. Almost anything you will need to host a holiday event of any size!

Finish it off:

No happy hour is complete without my go-to essentials; flowers, candles, and linens.

I wanted to play on the palette and keep the flowers white, green and pink. I also added a simple garland (from Trader Joes! They’re so pretty) to make sure the table looked festive and not just like any old get together. Add ornaments to be even more merry and bright;)

Candlesticks also added a little ambiance, a little light, but weren’t so low on the table that they got in the way of guest getting drinks and apps. Always remember to keep these hazards in mind when setting up an area for entertaining. I’ve seen it all from hair catching on fire (not at my event i promise!) to wax being spilled all over furniture.

I love how it all turned out. The metallics and traditional touches like the garland were in typical holiday fashion, but the colors were such a fun update.

I hope these tips help you host your own simple gathering this season.

What color plattes are you guys gravitating towards? Are you a classic red and green entertainer?

Post in partnership with Lenox