Holiday

Perfect for a New Year’s fete, Little Miss Party Planner’s holiday-theme Little Miss Party in a Box includes balloons, napkins, plates, flatware, confetti, and more in festive patterns. The collection, $78, serves eight people and will be available in November.

Employees can design their own snowman (or snowwoman) with repositionable wall decals from WallCandy Arts. Each wall sticker, $38, is removable, reusable, and safe for surfaces.

Back this year, Counter Culture Coffee’s holiday blend Iridescent will be available online beginning in November and featured at select cafés around the country. The limited-edition coffee features chocolatey notes and is packaged in a gift-worthy box. Plus, the roaster donates a nickel per pound from all coffees sold to fund projects in coffee-growing regions. Pricing starts at $15 for a 12-ounce bag.

Podo is a tiny app-controlled camera that turns any surface into a portable photo booth. The device sticks and un-sticks thanks to its reusable and washable “sticky pad.” Users can manipulate their phones to preview and control the shot; the images and videos are then wirelessly transferred to the phone. It’s available in blue, red, black, and white and gold, and costs $99.

Jars by Dani creates cake jars and can customize colors and toppings along with logos and messages for any event. Flavors include white chocolate, cookie dough, fudge brownie, and more.

For a nonalcoholic option, try the hot chocolate kit from artisanal food purveyor Mouth. Kits, $53, contain a mix of hot chocolate pops, cocoa mix, handmade marshmallows, and peppermint sticks for stirring.

A playful frosted cookies-printed place mat from Minted is available in various table runner sizes and as a napkin; place mats cost $24.

San Francisco-based Smitten Ice Cream will introduce two new seasonal flavors this season: New, Old Fashioned Pecan Pie, available in November; and Chrismukah, available in December. The latter, commemorating the dual holiday, combines homemade chocolate gelt (aka, chocolate coins) and Christmas cookies into a smooth, sweet cream flavor. Pints cost $11 each.

The holiday punch kit, $97, from Mouth contains gin, bubbly, a hibiscus cocktail mixer, and bourbon-infused cherries for garnish—everything but the punch bowl.

For cocktail parties, chef Anthony Bucco of Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg, New Jersey, suggests a modern passed hors d’oeuvre like his quail egg, trout roe, and chicken skin dish, which is presented in a shot glass and topped with yogurt foam, chopped pistachios, and more chicken skin. Bucco also serves potato croquettes topped with crème fraîche and orchid leaves for the holidays.

Just Bars recently launched its Mirrored Wave collection, which is available as a designer bar in various configurations, a high-top table, and a communal high-top table. All are available with white or black tops. The collection ranges in price from $150 to $600 and is available for rent in Orlando, Tampa, Naples, and South Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

In the third event of Rent the Runway’s Holiday Field Notes series in December 2015, Salt & Sundry owner Amanda McClements shared her tips for creating a bar cart and showed how to mix the perfect holiday punch.

Custom-designed laser-cut signage from 43Layers can help guests find the food or bar. Pricing is approximately $150 depending on the size of the sign. The San Francisco-based design company also offers custom stir sticks with initials or two letters that cost $1.88 each.

New York-based candy line Sweet Saba offers a collection of whimsical, artistic handmade treats in the shape of watches, lipsticks, and more, starting at $15. Plus, the candymaker will be introducing a holiday collection, along with new items at Eataly, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and at the Miami Beach Convention Center during Art Basel. All candy ships worldwide, and custom orders, from sculptures to event favors, are available upon request.

Last year, Mockingbird Hill in Washington invited guests to its first Miracle on Seventh Street pop-up bar, which was decked out in festive decor and featured a completely revamped holiday-theme drink list with specialty cocktails. Activities included Christmas movie nights, Manischewitz pong competitions, and cookie-baking classes.

A customizable invitation from Minted features a metallic martini and comes with free recipient addressing. Fifteen flat cards cost $44.

At Tasting Table’s Open Market Chicago event at Revel Fulton Market last December, guests posed in front of a Santa-approved photo booth featuring a wall full of colorful ornaments.

Wolfgang Puck Catering works with Los Angeles’ Chefs to End Hunger, Dallas’ Equal Heart, and other food recovery programs in local markets around the U.S. to help feed the hungry with any leftover prepared food.

Founded by cancer survivor Dan Schorr, Vice Cream features tasty mix-ins in eight different flavors such as Choc of Shame (chocolate ice cream with brownie dough and dark chocolate shavings), Toffee Wife (peanut butter ice cream with chopped toffee bars, peanut butter cookie dough, and a toffee ripple), and Breakfast in Bed (sweet maple ice cream, sticky bun dough, pecan praline, and a touch of cream cheese). Through its “Nice Vice” program, the brand partners with national cancer institutes, donating a portion of sales to support patients, doctors, nurses, and organizations that care for patients and their families. The ice cream ($5.99 per pint) is available throughout the U.S. at retail stores.

Made from fallen palm leaves, VerTerra’s lightweight, compostable products are a sustainable alternative to disposable paper and plastic plates. The collection includes plates, bowls, serving trays, to-go boxes, cutlery, and cheese boards, and is able to withstand hot and cold foods and liquids, plus items are microwave- and oven-safe. Pricing starts at $9; shipping is available nationwide.

New York nonprofit Transfernation picks up extra, untouched food from events and corporate cafeterias and delivers it to the closest local food program such as a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Event hosts can download the organization’s app and request a pickup for their leftover catered food, similar to a rideshare app. The service charges a small fee to reimburse the independently contracted food runners; donors receive tax receipts for the donated food.

Random Acts of Flowers delivers recycled flowers to local health care facilities by coordinating with event hosts in Knoxville, Tennessee; Tampa; Chicago; and Indianapolis. The Knoxville-based organization transforms lightly used flowers, which it receives from florists, grocery stores, funeral homes, weddings, and other local events, into bouquets. (Donations can be dropped off, or pickup can be arranged within a 30-minute radius of the facilities.) The group also hosts Flowers After Hours events, where attendees can participate in a hands-on demonstration with a local floral design expert. Each person takes home an arrangement; any additional arrangements are delivered to a local nursing home.

Orlando-based Play With a Purpose offers the “Ye Olde Toy Shoppe” activity where groups can assemble and decorate a variety of children’s toys and furnishings, which are then donated to a local charity.

Instead of plastic straws, set out Kikkerland Design’s eco-friendly, wax-coated paper straws, which are printed with soy-based inks and are biodegradable and compostable. A pack of 144 straws costs $9.

Hyatt Regency Austin, located on the shores of Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, recently introduced its “Keep Your Meeting Weird” experiential menu for meetings and groups. Planners can now organize Austin-theme experiences for attendees, including goat yoga, build-a-guitar teambuilding, an interactive graffiti wall, and more. Also, inside the pop-up PeaceBox, a mobile venue for meeting attendees to relax and recharge, instructors work with groups to provide wellness training and guided meditation during an event.

Ancolie, located in New York’s Greenwich Village, creates meals prepared in reusable glass jars including salads, desserts, and breakfast items like oatmeal. The fast-casual eatery also offers catering options. Pricing for a typical lunch with a large salad jar and chocolate bite starts at $16 (plus tax and delivery) per person. Items are served in reusable vessels or with compostable utensils, and all food scraps are sent to a community garden in the East Village.

Charity gift card-giving site Donors Unite allows users to purchase a tax-deductible gift card, which recipients can then redeem and donate to one of more than 1.5 million registered and IRS-approved charities listed on the site. Gift card amounts start at $10. Donors Unite also lets users buy an unlimited number of gift claim codes that can be printed on their own correspondence or on pre-printed personalized cards.