“Inspire Me” Holiday Entertaining Contest Finalists – VOTE for Your Favorite!

First things first – I’d like to sincerely thank every single person that entered the Inspire Me! Holiday Entertaining Contest or passed the word on to friends and family – your efforts are truly appreciated!

Narrowing the entries down proved to be extremely difficult, so thank goodness for the talented & creative minds that graciously signed on to help with the process: Robyn Bomar from Mix Mingle Glow, Amy Belle Isle from Stem Parties, and Jen Berson from Jeneration PR. The 10 finalists are based on which entries had the most overlap from amongst the judges – but I’ll also be featuring the individual lists soon so that you can see who everyone picked…as there was definitely a great mix in the overall group!

For now, though – let’s focus on just the TOP 10 FINALISTS, which are listed below in no particular order.You can vote for YOUR favorites at the bottom of this post! (More details on the entries be found over in the flickr gallery) 

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Girls Night Cocoa Party
Submitted by: TDL (Rexburg, ID)
Judges’ comments included: “Really cute party and wonderful DIY invitation. Looks like a fun party!” / “Love the or concept, details, invitations, adorable chocolate dipped marshmallows, and favors.”

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Retro Christmas Favor / Place Card
Submitted by: Erin Godbey (Greenville, SC)
Judges’ comments included: “I just adore these place card favors. I love that they are so unique and go so perfectly with the retro feel of the entire table. Very well done!” / “love this idea!”

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Whimsical Christmas Party
by: Kendall Shiffler (Dallas, TX)
Judges’ comments included: “cute & colorful” / “creative & affordable” / “true HWTM vibe” / “I’d love to sit at this table – looks like a fun party! ”

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Swanky Snowflake Soiree
Submitted by: Celeste B. (Portland, OR)
Judges’ comments included: “Love this party b/c it’s simple and elegant.” / “Amazingly simple idea to use scrapbook stickers for glass “identifiers”!  Why didn’t I think of that??”

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“Time to Party” New Year’s Eve Bash
Submitted by: Tammy Mitchell (Southern California)
Judges’ comments included: “…the clock invitation is just a fantastic idea!” / “makes a fabulous statement” / “bold and elegant – just like New Year’s Eve should be!”

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“Joy” Digital Inspiration Board
Submitted by: gardenpartynyc (New York, NY)
Judges’ comments included: “festive and fun with a great use of color” / “I feel happy just looking at this – it makes me want to bring the concept to life!” / and “love all the reindeer elements – especially those adorable cookies!”

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Modern Chanukah Tablescape
Submitted by: Laura Gross (Milwaukee, WI)
Judges’ comments included: “…I think her novel version of a menorah is not only beautiful and sleek, but just all around fabulous and so creative!” / “a wonderfully modern take on a Chanukah table”

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Naughty or Nice Holiday Party
Submitted by: Chris Nease (Raleigh, NC)
Judges’ comments included: “…clever theme for a Holiday party. Love the idea of keeping everything from food & drinks to decor in two distinct categories.” / “Witty and so much fun, with impressive attention to detail”

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Festive Red Cocktail Party
Submitted by: head of the table (St. Louis, MO)
Judges’ comments included: “I LOVE this party.” / “Great DIY treat favors!” / “The white feathers and metallic ornaments give this party a fun, swanky vibe…like being at a cool bar, only without the $15 martinis.”

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Gingerbread House Decorating Party
Submitted by: moggiegreen
Judges’ comments included: “Creative place settings!” / “LOVE the set up for each guest (prefilled pastry bag, cookie cutter place cards, individual pieces for different types of houses(!), and cake board ‘plates’.”/ “The cookie cutter place cards are genius!”

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And now… it’s up to YOU to decide which entries will win the 3 Inspire Me! Contest Prizes – generously sponsored by VIVA® Diva Café and worth over $2500 total! You can select up to 3 favorites below.

HOW TO VOTE:
Post a comment here telling us which entries are your favorite (you can mention up to 3).
Please use or include the corresponding letter to the left of the entry titles below.

A. Girls’ Night Cocoa Party
B. Retro Christmas Favor / Place Card
C. Whimsical Christmas Party
D. Swanky Snowflake Soiree
E. Time To Party New Year’s Eve Bash
F. “Joy” Inspiration Board
G. Modern Chanukah Tablescape
H. Naughty or Nice Cocktail Party
I. Festive Red Cocktail Party
J. Gingerbread House Decorating Party

Voting closes Friday, December 19th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be announced Monday, December 23rd. Thanks so much for participating!

UPDATE: 12/20:
Contest voting is now closed. You can still leave comments on the finalists here, but votes cast later than midnight December 19th won’t be included in the final tally. Check back Monday for the winners!