News and photos

Issue No 46:
27 December 2007

Welcome to our forty-sixth PartyChitChat.

Here is our news:

• Unfortunately I have to admit that I haven't done a lot of work in the last two months as I went on a holiday to India. But I do feel more creative and rested now and I am sure in the coming year we will add a lot more new kits. If you would like us to add a kit about a certain topic or era, please let us know via info@merrimysteries.com as we are open to suggestions.

• Work is continuing on the mystery set in Hawaii. A friend who lives in Hawaii sent a few pages of character descriptions which should be very useful. I would like to also thank everyone who has sent in suggestions. They have been very helpful. If you have any suggestions for items you think we should include or if you would like us to let you know when this kit is ready, please email us via info@merrimysteries.com.
• Unfortunately work on our spicy kit called "Murder In Outer Space" has stalled as the person who was helping didn't have time to complete it. We have finished some spicy versions of "One Of The Girls". If you would like us to order these, please email us via info@merrimysteries.com.

In this issue, we have articles about:

• Our photo competition winners
• Our decoration competition
• New Year's eve party suggestions.

Our photo competition winners

Unfortunately our winners this time didn't send in their photo permission signatures and so I am afraid we will have to keep our prizes. We need more entrants, so please send in your photos!

We are commencing a new competition with a closing date of 15 January 2008 (see photos.htm for details).

Decoration competition

Unfortunately we haven't had any entrants in this month's competition and so we are not able to give a prize. We need more entrants, so please send in your photos!

We are commencing a new competition with a closing date of 15 January 2008 (see decor.htm for details).

New Year's Eve Party Suggestions

Have a glass or two of champagne by all means, but don't forget that this is the time to think about the new year ahead and it's always better to have a clear head when you do that. So don't overdo it. Serve some non-alcoholic cocktails at your party some of the time – like "mock pinacoladas" – a mixture of coconut milk and fresh pineapple juice. They are my favorite! You can make them pretty and add little umbrellas or whatever. They don't have to be boring drinks – just a bit more healthy.

Don't serve really heavy food or everyone will just sit down and go to sleep rather than waiting for the midnight hour. Instead serve a number of lighter dishes over a longer time period.

Make sure there are designated drivers to take everyone home. You don't want anyone to "drink alcohol and then drive". You may like to give the designated drivers some sort of reward (eg a bag of fudge to take home).

Play a variety of different styles of music to dance to as not everyone will have your taste and you want to get everyone dancing. If there are a variety of different age groups present, make sure you don't just play old-time favorites from your era. Younger people like to dance to current music, so make sure you include a few of the latest hits too.

Parties provide an opportunity for you to talk to your friends and relax and dance and enjoy yourself. So don't go overboard with fancy dishes that mean you spend your whole time trapped in the kitchen. Keep it simple so that you too can enjoy it. Or ask everyone to bring a plate of food. Encourage people to help themselves to food and to take their dishes and wash them and put them in the dishwasher afterwards. You don't want to be faced with a nightmare once they all go home. Most people don't mind taking care of their own plate. You are the host, but that doesn't mean that you have to be the slave. A good host should mainly be focusing on things like introducing guests to one another and so on. If you are stressed out, your guests won't enjoy it either. They will enjoy it better if you are your normal social happy self.

Of course, we recommend that you also hold a mystery party game on New Year's Eve. It is always fun to dress up and be someone else and enjoy the challenge of solving a mystery. Most of our mysteries would work perfectly well for this occasion. You might consider are Fame, Money and Murder. This has a flexible version for up to 16 guests which is good if you aren't sure exactly how many guests will turn up. There is also a meet and mingle version for 17 to 30. With this mystery, they are counting down to midnight when they will find out who inherits the money. You can always break our mystery parties up by having some dancing now and then.

See New Years Eve parties for more tips.

Have fun!

Dance!