Whether you are planning a Christmas party for a small, intimate group of friends and family, a classroom party for preschool or elementary aged children, a work related event, or a blowout bash for hundreds…take the time to savor the joys of the season. Consider what is truly important before allowing yourself to feel stressed over having one more thing to add to your never-ending to-do list. Then enjoy the love and warmth of those dearest to you…plan away…and ENJOY! Try one (or a few) of the following ideas to make this Christmas one to remember forever.

TREE TRIMMING PARTY

This one's a particularly great idea for couples or singles who have just moved into their new home or who are celebrating their first Christmas together. When you send out the invitations, ask your guests to each contribute an ornament for the tree. Buy either a fresh or an artificial tree, but I recommend fresh, as it smells great and is better for the environment. Have plenty of decorations available so that your friends and family can help you decorate. Have hot and steamy tea and coffee on hand. Maybe even some delicious cups of hot chocolate. If you're up for making your own drinks, and getting creative...for a change, maybe try our White Hot Chocolate Recipe or Peppermint Hot Chocolate. Or perhaps some Hot Mojito Tea or Ginger Hot Apple Cider. More creative holiday drink recipes are online for you to have fun experimenting with. And try out some of our favorite holiday dessert recipes to help you have lots of delicious home-baked goodies too .

Downey's Irish Whiskey Cake

Forget the fruitcake! Heat this walnut cake just enough to melt the sugar in the liquor glaze and serve it up with some Irish Coffee. A popular Christmas cake and year-round gourmet gift!

CHRISTMAS NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Invite a group of friends to caravan together to see the best and brightest holiday light displays. Plan your route in advance so that you will be sure to see the best your town has to offer. Lots of horn honking is sure to be part of the festivities. To make the caravan even more fun, rent a couple of stretch limousines or a trolley, so all your guests can travel as a group, or if you're all active and live in a warm enough climate as I do in California, dress warmly but go out on bikes or roller blades and burn a few of those extra holiday calories ahead of time. End the party with some holiday cheer at your home…some Christmas Carols playing in the background, plenty of wassail, hot and steamy coffee & cocoa, and lots of home-baked goodies.

THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE PARTY

Parties where guests have easy interaction with each other are always fun. No ice breaker conversation necessary. Plus, after they are finished building their gingerbread house, your guests will have a beautiful and edible gift to take home. As part of your invitation, ask guests to each bring something edible to the party to use to decorate the houses. Pool your collective resources once everyone arrives, and you've got your shindig in gear! You can purchase gingerbread house making kits or spend the time baking the gingerbread house pieces yourself. Use marzipan to hold the pieces together. When marzipan dries, it forms better glue than other frostings. It can also be used to attach all of the decorations to the gingerbread house. Gingerbread Recipes, Basic Gingerbread House Design Pattern, Candy Decoration Ideas, Tools & Kits etc. are all in our Make a Gingerbread House: Christmas Crafts section of this site.

"COOKIE EXCHANGE" PARTY

Christmas Cookies Are for Giving

Christmas Cookie Cutters

Rose's Christmas Cookies

A wonderful way to make light work of holiday baking, and to enjoy the company of close friends. Send out an invitation requesting that each guest bring a specified number of a favorite holiday cookie recipe. (To helo you with ideas, we have lots of our favorite Christmas cookie recipes online for you to play around with, as well as Christmas Cookie Cookbooks with suggestions of cookie cuters and other tools to help make your holiday baking fun and easy.) Generally, you will have each guest bring enough cookies to share three with each other guest. For example, if you are expecting 12 guests, ask each to bring 36 cookies. The cookies will then be divided amongst all the guests, and each guest will go home with 12 different varieties of cookies. A lovely platter to set out for holiday entertaining! You may also want to have guests bring their recipe to share with the group. To put guests in cookie baking mode, send a creative invite. Attach a computer or hand generated tag to a metal or plastic holiday shaped cookie cutter with a piece of satin or curling ribbon. "Please "cutout" December 14th on your calendar…You're invited to a Cookie Exchange!" In addition to exchanging cookies, you could serve a light meal or dessert, and you could also add a book or ornament exchange to the party. On a diet? How about a Low-Carb Goodie Swap Party instead? Just see how creative you can get, and you may surprise yourself and your friends. Low-carb DOES NOT have to be low in taste, nor do you have to go all extreme if you are consistent in trying to cut down on carbs where you can.

Christmas Wreath 60" CANADIAN PINE WREATH

Holiday Drink Coasters Original PhotoArt from A Couple of Artists

Fresh Christmas Trees: 36" Canadian Pine Trees

THE SOUND OF (CHRISTMAS) MUSIC

Rediscover the simple joy of Christmas Caroling! Invite a group of friends to go caroling with your family. Prepare a sheet of paper with the lyrics to some favorites, and have copies for everyone, so that your caroling effort is organized. Pick several neighbors' homes in advance (or a nursing home or hospital ward), and bring goodies to leave behind along with the harmony of your voices. Bake mini loaves of banana nut, pumpkin or cranberry bread, and tie them with raffia and a holly leaf or two. Home-baked cookies, candies, brownies, or ice-cream toppings are also terrific "gifts to bear." Remember that it just isn't possible to sing "Silent Night" off key! A sure way to put everyone in the holiday spirit!

PROGRESSIVE DINNER

Organize a Progressive Dinner…and spread the joy of having a party around. Several couples or families can host this event. A progressive meal is one in which guests travel from home to home, eating one course at each stop. The joint hosts/hostesses get together to plan the affair and that can be half the fun! Design the invitation to look like a tri-fold restaurant menu or a treasure map, and even include pictures of each host family (easy with access to a color copier). Let guests know which course they will enjoy at each stop, and include a map if necessary. A great idea for the holidays would be to rent either a few stretch limousines, or a trolley. Check the options in your city, so that everyone can travel together. At the time of year when budgets are stretched tightest, this is an ideal way to entertain at a fraction of the cost of a full-fledged party. Each host will also be able to take advantage of Christmas decorations already on display inside and outside their home. Don't hesitate to use disposable dishes and glasses and plastic cutlery! The progressive dinner is easiest if five host couples share the responsibility, but can be combined to reduce the number of stops. Ideally, the dinner would work in the following manner:

1st home – appetizers and cocktails
2nd home – soup and salad
3rd home – the main course, side dishes and vegetables
4th home – dessert, tea and coffee
5 th home – fruit, cheese and liqueurs (easiest preparation)

The last home would also be the ideal stop to sing Christmas Carols, enjoy a simple gift exchange, and play a game or two. Check out our Christmas Games & Activities for some holly jolly ideas.

FIRE & ICE PARTY

This theme will work only if you are fortunate enough to live in snowy climes! Organize a snowman building contest (complete with prizes for "most creative", "most life-like", "most resembles its creator", etc.), have a snowball fight, go sledding, or skate or play hockey on a well-frozen pond. After everyone's cheeks are rosy and their mittens are soggy…head inside and enjoy a roaring fire along with some steamy hot chocolate complete with a peppermint stir stick and lots of whipped cream. If you want to serve a meal, serve only "comfort" food… hearty beef stew, cornbread biscuits, and pecan or pumpkin pie.

WINTER WONDERLAND PARTY

For those who will be dreaming of a white Christmas, but haven't a snowball's chance of getting one…create your own "Winter Wonderland" party. Create the illusion of snow and ice---a chilly feeling with a warm message! Place huge bouquets of helium filled balloons around the area you wish to transform. This is one of the most economical ways to decorate, and to make an area feel more intimate. You can either tie white or iridescent curling ribbon to the balloons. The iridescent ribbon will provide an icy look. In order to save money, inflate lots of white and silver balloons without using helium. Tie long pieces of curling ribbon to the end of each one. Using scotch tape, masking tape, or straight pins, hang balloons down from the ceiling so they hang at different lengths. (Big puffy snow clouds.) Curl the loose end of the ribbon with scissors. For a special Holiday touch, before blowing up the balloons, add snowflake confetti with a small funnel. When your party is drawing to a close, pass large safety pins out to all the guests, and encourage them to pop all the balloons. This makes an enormous, but gloriously fun and noisy mess, as everyone is caught in a huge snowstorm! Your cherished friends and family will never forget it, as they enjoy the white Christmas they've dreamed of! Blow up additional balloons, and scatter them around the perimeter of the floor. Drape, swag and twirl lots of white gossamer over doorways and windows. If you "puddle" some on the floor, it will look like billowing snow. We have the gossamer in a number of different widths, and it will provide you with an economical way to decorate a large area. Add lots of white snowflakes. Hang several on clear fishing line at varying heights. Check our "small decorating items" in our Christmas store for a variety of snowflakes. Some are even 3-dimensional. Stick with silver and white in your decorating scheme. Add some sparkly silver confetti, some metallic silver shred, and a few Hershey's kisses to your tables...everyone will be delighted by your effort.

CHURCH SERVICE

Attend a church service with family and friends. Many churches prepare wonderful musical programs and special messages geared to families…a peaceful, soul-nourishing moment amid all the holiday bustle!

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE

Hosting a Holiday Open House is a terrific idea. It is truly one of the least stressful ways to celebrate. Your guests will only be expecting to mingle and eat--and the scheduled time of the party will determine their food expectations. Check out our Complete Guide to Planning a Holiday Open House if this seems like the option for you.

CHRISTMAS TEA

A Christmas Tea is a lovely event for mothers and daughters or a group of dear friends. Serve finger sandwiches, petit fours, peppermint meringues, and flavored teas in dainty teacups. Extend an invitation to your own friends and to your daughter's friends. The afternoon will be successful whether your daughter is 6 or 36. This party is especially enjoyable for young girls if the attire is fancy dress.