Quick and Easy Holiday Party Decor & Food
Christmas time is here and there seems to be endless parties, celebrations, and gatherings for the holidays. I decided to pull out some old photos to share from a Christmas event I co-hosted back in 2013 simply to share some quick and easy things you can do to make a party or dinner more festive. Most of these things were assembled, meaning they didn't require much work!
I rounded up some of the easiest ideas that I had at the time from my Christmas Pinterest page. You can find them and other ideas using this link.
I started by taking clear plastic (disposable) cups and drew snowman faces on them using a permanent marker. You only need a black and orange permanent marker for this. Then you fill them with either butter or white cheddar popcorn and voila! You're done. This is a great grab-and-go kind of party snack and is especially appealing to kids. You can also try this easy white chocolate peppermint popcorn mix, but consider yourself warned that it is addictive! I made it once and naturally had to sample it (quality control) and literally ate half of the batch. ={
Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter:
Vegetable and cheese platters can easily be assembled to look like Christmas trees and I did just that. This doesn't take a rocket scientist to assemble so no instructions necessary! But, you can check out the original Pin here. If you prefer to assemble a cheese Christmas tree platter you can check out this link here. You can also assemble a fruit Christmas tree platter like this one!
We had plenty of food and sweets at this party but I decided to make some Santa Hat Brownie Bites because they're so cute! I purchased pre-made brownie bites from my local grocery store's bakery area. I purchased white Betty Crocker Easy Flow decorative icing to hold the strawberry "hats" in place. You will also need toothpicks to secure the strawberries onto the brownie. The top tip of the toothpick actually helps secure the white puff on Santa's hat! It's perfect. Make sure to wash your strawberries and cut off the top of them before using. You can check out the original Pin here.
This is as easy as 1-2-3. We used plastic flutes and thus had difficulty getting the green sprinkles to stick to the rim of the glass. We ended up dipping them in honey and then into the sprinkles and it worked perfectly! You may not need to use honey with real champagne flutes, but keep that trick in the back of your mind just in case! We used frozen cranberries to add to the flutes simply for the festive colors. It was beautiful, in my opinion! You can view the original Pin here.
Truth be told I made this for a separate Christmas party that same year, but it's too pretty not to share with the rest of these ideas! This took a little time, I'll be honest. It's simple but hands on so expect to get your hands covered in cream cheese. I got the design idea from this original post which has a cheese ball recipe, however you can tell from my photo that I had ground red pepper and paprika on mine because I used a dip mix my friend purchased at the Nutcracker Market. Either way, the finished product is pretty!
Adult Hot Chocolate Parting Gifts:
When hosting a party it is fun and nice to send your guests home with a small token/parting gift if the event setting is appropriate for it. In this circumstance it was so I assembled "Adult Hot Chocolate Mix" that I saw on this original post here. Not only are they pretty, but receiving a little Bailey's to enjoy the next morning is always a treat. Am I right? ;) I wrote the hot chocolate mix's instructions on the gift tags, filled the jars halfway with hot chocolate powder, and the remaining half with marshmallows. Tie a pretty ribbon around the top with a small bottle of Bailey's and you have a smiling guest!
The "cookies" you see to the left above are actually Pizzelles which are an Italian cookie. My Mammaw used to make them around Christmas and New Years (as well as sprinkled in throughout the year) so I eventually bought myself a Pizzelle iron to make them as well. They're delicious and preparing the batter is a breeze. However, standing and waiting for each 2 to 4 cookies to make (depending on the size of your Pizzelle iron) can really take up some time. They sure are pretty though!
You can find regular Pizzelle recipes here and gluten free Pizzelle recipes here. I usually just go by the one that came with my Pizzelle iron.
I hope some of these ideas are helpful or inspiring to you. Make sure to follow me on Pinterest so you'll keep up with the fun things I add to my board to try as well as subscribe to my blog below so you don't miss out on any fun posts!
XOXO
