Family-Friendly New Year's Party

Tables on casters hold party favors and treats, yet they wheel away when it's time to open up the space for party games. Guests are sure to smile at the colorful commands printed on the sides of the tablecloths.

Use an out-of-the-way table to hold adult beverages and keep everyone from congregating around the food. Perk up the table with ticking clocks, colorful paper lanterns, and items with a New Year's theme.

Toast the New Year with champagne flutes in custom-etched designs. To make your own, wrap self-adhesive vinyl around clean glasses, and use a crafts knife to cut away the design elements (wherever the vinyl remains, the glass will be clear). Apply etching cream, following the manufacturer's instructions.

The plainest purchased cake looks festive when decorated with bright bubbles of fruit leather. Cut circles from several colors of fruit leather, and press them gently into the frosting. Add candles if you wish.

Chill drinks in a tub of ice and make sure that fruit and olive garnishes are close at hand. To add some color, place the fruit bowls on clear blue platforms made from plastic boxes purchased at a crafts store.

Non-traditional containers provide extra interest at the table. These snacks double as decoration when they're layered in a clear glass vase.

Antipasto platters have a variety of tasty foods that appeal to every eater. Don't forget to include rolled salami slices, fresh mozzarella cheese cubes, and sweet peppers, along with other veggies and artisanal cheeses.

Satisfy the cravings of little guests with familiar foods. Include shoestring potatoes, pretzels, cheese cubes, pepperoni-wrapped pineapple, olives, and veggies with dip on the New Year's table.

Oversize flowers made from tissue paper are easy to make and create a colorful table decoration. Anchor the pipe cleaner stems by filling the vase with small plastic-foam balls.

As guests unwrap the paper from these fortune-telling balls, they'll discover New Year's predictions tucked inside. To make them, wrap plastic foam balls with yards of 2-inch-wide crepe paper that comes on rolls, stretching the paper as needed and slipping handwritten fortunes in between the layers.

Provide an activity center with bright paper, scissors, glue, ribbon, and tape for younger guests. Let the kids make creative hats for all partygoers -- the wilder they are, the better.