When my mom first brought up the idea of hosting Christmas Eve my reaction was not a positive one. Our house isn’t that exciting for the kids who would be coming (although we do have a big screen TV, and as they are all 10 and over I think that is all they need anymore), and I wasn’t sure I wanted to put in the work to make it happen. But then I realized what this Christmas Eve party really is. It’s a chance to read blogs and looks for inspiration and develop a (slightly) themed event using someone else’s money. Hooray! (If you didn’t know, I adore brainstorming for and planning things, which is why I loved planning my wedding so much).
I haven’t done much searching yet, but I’ve come across a few ideas that I love.
What about making these Christmas themed candy apples…
And bunching them up as centerpieces/favors like this?
Or we could gather up sticks, place them in a tall vase, hole punch pieces of paper and loop a piece of string through and create a “wishing tree”. We’d have guests write down wishes for the next year. Sort of like New Years Resolutions except a bit more magical. Then we’d hold onto them for a year and break them out again in 2010 to see if any of our wishes came true!
Rush catalog boutique via Weddingbee
And of course Martha Stewart has me thinking I could craft a magical winter wonderland out of gingerbread houses. Love the use of frosted mini wheats for the roof!
Unfortunately those who know me (or who remember my Thanksgiving Turkey Pops) know I have no crafting skills whatsoever. I probably shouldn’t be attempting a gingerbread village if I’m going into it with the expectation that mine will look like anything other than 6-year old craft project.
What other Christmas party ideas have you seen? We’re thinking about a mocktail type drink bar, any great recipes you’ve run across lately?
We’re also thinking about doing an “appetizer dinner” instead of a formal sit-down meal. I remember looking into potato bars and popcorn bars when I was wedding planning, maybe some of you have seen successful examples of dinners made up of simple self-serve stations. The challenge is going to be coming up with some stations that feature food that will be filling, easy to delegate out to guests (it’s family so everyone is assigned an item to bring), and works with all of the varying diets people are on. Any ideas for me?
December 14th, 2009 on 10:10 am
You could get the kids to make the Gingerbread house. a good way to occupy them and then they get to eat it as a dessert
Well you could make quiche and pizza, easy to cut in small portion size and you can make it out of anything you want. It can be vegetables, meat, dairy or dairy free.
You could make some stuffed vegetables (baby zucchinies, small tomatoes, portobello caps), a mix of 1 egg some bread crumbs, the flesh of the vegetable and somes seasoning and you are good to go.
You can also make any kind of apetizer stuffed into filo pastry. I like the easy herbed goat cheese puff pastry snacks.
I think it’s always nice to have a salad. You could make a big bowl with a mix of lettuce and then little bowls with adds-on: cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, goat cheese crumbles, dried cherries, bacon, grilled chiken, boiled eggs whatever you are in the mood for…
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December 14th, 2009 on 10:21 am
Make-your-own pasta bars are always super fun for large non formal dinner parties. Boil up some various shapes of pasta, and make a variety of different sauces… a standard tomato based sauce, an alfredo sauce, a pesto sauce, etc etc. Then everyone can mix and match! I know you don’t keep martini glasses around since you don’t drink, but I bet you can find some plastic disposable ones… pasta and potato bars are always better when consumed out of a martini glass because it’s easy to hold and makes it a little more fun!
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December 14th, 2009 on 10:21 am
I don’t know what your food theme is but you could do a brushetta (sp.?) station and people can build their own, with the tomatoes, onion, basil, and then roast a whole garlic.
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December 14th, 2009 on 10:45 am
I went to a business lunch once where they did a baked potato bar. It was fairly successful… Except it felt like something was definitely missing. They added a green salad for the side dish, but did not have any chili or protein toppers other than fake bacon and fake cheese sauce, which is a “bad” favorite of mine, but not especially filling. Another problem/weird thing was taht they served it with a side of bread. I’m sorry, I don’t need my carbs with a side of carbs.
So with that experience in mind, I think a baked potato bar with nice steamed broccoli, chili, real bacon bits, and real cheese (and the side of green salad was great too) would be a crowd pleaser! And if anyone’s not into potato, they can always just have chili, or just do the salad with lots of toppings. Not to mention cheap!
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December 14th, 2009 on 10:53 am
OK I am just going to go all out in the comments. I pretty much specialize in creating menus and hosting events… as in… a dinner at my house would probably be equivalent to you helping a friend plan a wedding
RE: favor idea… Chocolate covered pretzel rods are super easy to make and they don’t have to cost a fortune either. You can use crushed up candy canes for the crunchy topping and it looks so pretty AND tastes delicious. See my how to here: http://rhodeygirltests.com/2009/10/25/chocolate-covered-pretzel-rods/
RE: drink… Buy a bottle of POM pomegranate juice and some cans of seltzer as well as a pomegranate or two (POM’s website has a good how to on how to get the arils out of the fruit). Use 1 part POM juice to 2 parts seltzer and top with a squeeze of fresh lime and a few pomegranate arils to beautify. Alternately you could freeze some pomegranate arils and lime slices in ice cubes and use those instead. It is a beautiful presentation and doesn’t take much time to do.
Let me know if you have any other questions or need any other ideas! I’d be happy to help!
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December 14th, 2009 on 11:51 am
Two mocktail options:
1. Cranberry juice, blood orange juice & lime syrup
2. Orange soda, Sprite, Rose syrup, Lime juice
Favor Option:
Photo Booth, of course! Something simple with Christmas props could be easy. Depending on your timeframe and interest, you could print pictures out on a printer at home and give to everyone to take home. Or you could send in January as a “We miss you!” token, if you really want to edit them
I like Rhodey’s idea of the pretzel rods & chocolate/peppermint sticks. This could work with the kids doing it during the party, if they’re old enough to wash hands and to play with melty chocolate!
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December 14th, 2009 on 12:05 pm
Maybe you could do a soup buffet. Have a few families sign up to bring some kind of soup. We had a cake buffet at my wedding reception, and I loved it!
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Katie Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
oops! I meant to say, we had a SOUP buffet at our wedding, not a cake buffet. lol.
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December 14th, 2009 on 12:30 pm
I was at a Christmas party on Saturday where they served warm brie and crackers, then mini hamburgers, mini chicken pot pie (chicken pot pie stuff with a biscuit on top), mini hot dogs, and little containers of mac and cheese. Oh and there were little mini latkes too. So yummy!
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Genavee Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
That sounds like a perfect mix of homey, fun and delicious. I may have to steal that sometime ; )
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phruphru Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 11:30 am
That sounds fantastic!! I love it and may steal it for a future dinner party. You could make it as healthy or as vegetarian-friendly as you wanted it (I have a lot of veg friends).
Jenna, in the vein of the mashed potato bar, you could do a chili bar or a taco bar.
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December 14th, 2009 on 2:37 pm
We do appetizer-dinners on Christmas Eve every year, and here’s our standard menu:
Sausage Balls (sausage, cheddar cheese, baking mix)
Chex Mix (homemade–we can’t stand the stuff that comes in a bag!)
Shrimp cocktail
Veggie Tray
Sister Schubert’s Rolls with Ham and Mustard (served warm)
Cheese Tray
Pigs in a Blanket
Hot dip and chips/crackers/bread
Cookies of all sorts
Candied Pecans
Chocolate-covered Pretzels
Someone will always bring something non-standard. Anything goes, really, as long as you can eat it with your hands!
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December 14th, 2009 on 3:54 pm
One of my friends had a Mac and Cheese bar at her wedding! They had toppings like salsa, chili, sour cream, extra cheese, and bacon bits. It was delish – and way cute, since we ate it out of martini glasses! That might tie it in well with your mocktail theme
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December 14th, 2009 on 5:38 pm
2 words: Cake Balls.
So cute and super easy to make a million of ‘em in not so much time.
My favorite holiday combo is finely chopped andes mints mixed w/the cake/frosting inside, chocolate mint chips with the chocolate candy coating outside, crushed candy canes on top!
You can find the recipe on allrecipes or just by googling it.
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December 14th, 2009 on 8:52 pm
You are a great party planner! My friend Jenifer posted about mini-caramel apples on her blog and I thought of them when I read you wanted to do candied apples. Check it out here: http://gordongossip.blogspot.com/2008/10/mini-caramel-apples.html
Jenifer’s blog is loaded with fun party planning ideas!
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December 14th, 2009 on 8:54 pm
Also…I was at a party last year where the hostess (whom you know:) served up a mashed potato bar and the potatoes were served in lovely dessert glasses. It was nice to have some “real food” mixed in with all the sweets!
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December 15th, 2009 on 12:31 am
This weekend we hosted our annual holiday dessert party. 37 people in our 1000 sqft condo – and of course everyone was in the kitchen and family room. Things that worked well – decorations up high – don’t take up floor space. Garland around windows, tree on top of fire place, etc. Less is more with decorations – and use lights! I got a red glitter/feather garland for $2 from Michaels and put red lights behind it and wove a strand of gold beads through it – simple, tasteful, christmassy!
Food – I always love taco buffets. But it is christmas eve – you could do a soup and grilled cheese buffet. People bring different types of soup and cheese sandwiches which you can quickly grill and cut into quarters. I also like baked potato buffets. One we were recently at had lots of veggies (brocolli), chilly, and then the usual toppings. You could bake a lot of sugar cookies in advance and have a decorating table. For our party, we always rent things from party rental companies. It isn’t that pricey. $3-$5 for a giant red tablecloth (to go over the buffet), $19 for a 100-cup coffee maker (which we put the hot cider and spices in), and you can also rent things to keep food warm. I’m hoping to post dessert party pics soon! Enjoy hosting – such a treat!
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December 15th, 2009 on 5:59 am
Sort of going off what Erin said above, what about having a gingerbread house decorating contest? You could get the kits from someplace like Michael’s or JoAnn’s, and have stations with the various trimmings. This could either be just for the kiddos, or you could have teams of kids and adults – maybe grouped by family.
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December 15th, 2009 on 10:24 am
We did something like this two years ago with cheese and crackers, a cream cheese dip, chipotle sweet potatoes, a pasta dish, turkey (already carved), caprese salad, and a couple of other sides. I think the baked potato bar would be fun, as would pasta.
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December 15th, 2009 on 11:01 am
I made this for a baby shower a few months ago and it was a hit – we put fresh raspberries in the champagne glasses and it was just so pretty. Enjoy!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mock-Champagne-2/Detail.aspx?src=etaf
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