Ashton Pointe Blog

When hosting a holiday party for your family or the friends and neighbors in your apartment in Beaufort, SC, entertaining can be stressful - especially during the holidays because you want everything to be perfect.

Here are some simple tips from Ashton Pointe Apartments on how to make entertaining more enjoyable for all involved.

Make a plan

Take some time to really plan out the event. How many are coming? What's on the menu? How should the house look? Make a to-do list and set deadlines for yourself. Doing as much as possible in advance will make the day of the party that much easier.

Make the most of the space in your apartment home

The size of the meal may expand during the holidays, but cooking and serving space doesn't. On the buffet table, tiered servers hold appetizers and desserts vertically, saving valuable space and creating an attractive display.

Decorate for all the senses

Involve all the senses in your decorating scheme. Come up with a holiday music playlist or CD. Be sure to include instrumental pieces to play during dinner so it won't impede conversation.

Fill the house with holiday scents, like cinnamon, mulberry or evergreen. Scented candles are an easy and attractive way to provide fragrance and a warm glow to any room, and candlelight makes your guests look 10 years younger.

Enjoy the results

Be sure you are not so busy being a hostess that you forget to enjoy yourself. Organize the kitchen so that most of the clean-up can be done later. Have storage containers handy for leftovers, designate an area in the kitchen for dirty dishes, forget the rest of the clean up until after your guests leave.

The host sets the tone of the party. Don’t worry about making your get together perfect, what makes your dinner party perfect is keeping the focus on family and friends.

Original article Creston News Advisor

Halloween has passed and the weather is starting to cool. Fall is here. Ashton Pointe, apartments in Beaufort, SC has some great ideas for art projects to do with the kids this fall. Decorate your apartment homes and entry doors with some of these great ideas.

Leaf rubbing - What you will need:

Real leaves
Thick white paper
Crayons
Oil paints

Have your children position and reposition leaves under the paper while rubbing over the paper with force enough to make the leaf details appear on the paper. As they change colors and leaf types, a blanket of fall leaves emerges. The resulting artwork serves as an independent piece of art or as the background for a marker drawing, piece of writing or a collage.

Fall Wreath - What you will need:

Bag to collect things from nature
Paper plate
Scissor
Markers
Ribbons
Glue

Take your children on a nature walk, where they can collect various items — twigs, leaves, acorns and berries. There are gorgeous places to walk in and around Beaufort. Have them cut out the center of a paper plate and use fall-colored crayons to color the remaining circle. They can then glue the nature items they have collected onto their paper plates, creating a wreath. Decorate the wreath further by attaching a decorative ribbon or sea shells to the paper plate as well.

Lady bug pumpkin - What you will need:

1 small pumpkin
Old newspaper
Red spray paint
2 large googely eyes
2 black pipe cleaners
25 mini black pom-poms
2 mini red pom-poms
Glue
Black magic marker

Place your pumpkin on top of the newspaper. Help your child spray paint the whole pumpkin red. Let it dry. Glue on the eyes and pom-poms. Draw a mouth and wrap the black pipe cleaners around the stem (attach two of the red pom-poms with glue to the end of the black pipe cleaners). All done. Easy and adorable!

We can’t wait to see your creations around Ashton Pointe.

The Habersham Harvest Festival is less than two weeks away, so mark your calendars for Saturday, October 22, from 12- 6 p.m. Get out of your apartment in Beaufort and join the festival.

This is the Third Annual Habersham Harvest festival which boasts a one day regionally expanded farmer’s market. This festival is a southern celebration of food, fun, art and music. Entertainment includes live music by the main stage band Lowcountry Boil, dancing, hayrides, face painting, obstacle courses, a pumpkin patch, outdoor games and more. Vendors and merchants from all over South Carolina transform the festival village with fall décor and merchandise. A few surprise guests are sure to add to the excitement of autumn in the Lowcountry!

Plan to be whisked away and delighted by the sights, sounds and activities of a celebration that has quickly earned the reputation as the annual Fall street party for Beaufort County and beyond.

You are lucky to be looking for an apartment in Beaufort, SC. Southern Living readers call this city one of the “Best Small Towns in the South”. Beaufort is often described as a smaller version of its historic big city sisters, Savannah and Charleston. We are proud to be a bit off the beaten path, but don’t let that fool you. Ashton Pointe Apartment Homes are luxurious.

Ashton Pointe offers comfort, beauty and inspired living unmatched in the Beaufort area. Situated in a gorgeous setting, Ashton Pointe offers spacious one bedroom apartments and two bedroom apartments with abundant light, modern apartment amenities, an invigorating zero-entry pool with grilling area and an excellent location. Above all, there is plenty to do and see in Beaufort.

Enjoy refreshingly new, spacious apartment floor plans featuring 9-foot ceilings, expansive windows, elegant crown molding and open kitchens with maple cabinets.

With beautiful apartments in Beaufort, SC, this fun, relaxing and completely southern town can be your home. Contact us.

The Beaufort area has plenty to do. You can eat, shop, watch live music or just relax on the water. In Beaufort you get all this with a down home, community feel.

All summer, residents of homes and apartments in Beaufort, SC who are fans of live music have been able to enjoy the StreetMusic series in Port Royal. This year's StreetMusic series was a celebration of American Roots music.

It is that time of year, and the final concert of the season will be on September 24th. The free concert takes place on Paris Avenue in Port Royal at 6 pm. The concert features Woody Pines, a ragtime, viper jazz and country blues group.  Here is a sample of his music. 



Good news though, through the month of October, ARTworks will feature a low-cost live concert every Friday night.

Home owners and renters of apartments in Beaufort, SC can enjoy the 17th Annual Beaufort Shrimp Festival on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1.

The South Carolina Shrimpers Association brings you this fun filled event. Deas Guyz will play live music while you enjoy crafts, shrimp and fun in the Waterfront Park in Downtown Historic Beaufort. There will be plenty of fun, food and kids activity, including a Children’s Shrimp Peeling Competition.

Saturday at 8am the 5k Popcorn Shrimp Run begins. There is also a craft market and children’s area. There will also be fresh South Carolina wild caught shrimp sold off working shrimp boats, 15 local restaurants serving wild caught local shrimp. But don’t worry there will be choices for those who only want turf rather than surf.

Some of the best eats are in the restaurant competition and the live entertainment on the Pavilion Stage. What a perfect way to bring in the fall in Beaufort.

Have we got a golf tournament for you this weekend! Take a short jaunt to Hilton Head Island from your apartment in Beaufort for the Hilton Head Island Celebrity Golf Tournament.

This tournament has been going on since 1979 and benefits over 20 area children’s charities to help provide a better way of life for our community’s children.

The tournament matches amateur golfers with a celebrity for a three day tournament. The celebrities are combines a mix of sports heroes with some of the best and most creative entertainers of all time.

This Labor Day weekend tournament is focused on family. Bring the entire family and take part in the tournament weekend. There are activities for spouses, children and guests.

Friday, Round 1 is at the Robert Trent Jones Course, Saturday, Round 2  is at the Pete Dye Course and  round 3 is on Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links.

*The Ashton Pointe Welcome Center will be closed Monday, September 5th for Labor Day.

Ashton Pointe Apartments is teaming up with the “Breast Friends” team to support the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure.

On October 15, 2011, “Breast Friends” and Ashton Pointe will be running/walking in the race to help raise money and awareness.

If you are interested in joining or making a donation, please visit our site at http://www.komenlowcountry.org/ and be sure to click on the “Register Online” link and join the existing team, “Breast Friends” or simply click here.

Click here to Download Flyer.

Did you know it is national grilling month? Well, it may be more challenging to celebrate by grilling out if you live in an apartment. But, electric grills are great for apartment living. If you live in an apartment in Beaufort, SC and you love to grill, an electric grill may be a great option for you. Not to mention the great seafood that is available for grilling in South Carolina!

Many people find, after moving to an apartment, that open flames grills are not convenient.  If giving up grilling is not an option and you love that great summer time feeling of grilling on your deck or patio consider an electric grill.

There are also some tremendous advantages to an electric grill. No lugging charcoal and you won’t run out of propane in the middle of cooking. Also, an electric grill is designed for fat run off, so the Lowcountry food you grill on an electric grill is healthier than traditionally grilled foods. Spark up the grill and celebrate National Grilling Month in Beaufort!

Southern Living readers consistently rate Beaufort as one of the “Best Small Towns in the South” in the magazine’s annual survey, and the area also makes a regular appearance on lists of the “best places to retire.” Proud to be a bit off the beaten path, Beaufort is often described as a smaller version of its historic big city sisters, Savannah and Charleston.

Beaufort’s year-round temperature averages about 65 degrees. Coastal residents and visitors alike adore the area’s temperate climate, because it allows outdoor recreation twelve months of the year. With beautiful apartments in  Beaufort, SC, this fun, relaxing and completely southern town can be your home.

And, Beaufort is turning 300! We've had 300 years to perfect the best of everything the Lowcountry has to offer; history, southern cuisine, outdoor adventure, beaches, art, romance and more. Call Ashton Pointe today to find out how to make this your home.