| Make or Buy a Food Dish and Bring | By Joyce Poyton |
| I find that most people get really stressed out over what to bring to a party. Or, if they aren't asked to bring something they feel awkward for not contributing. I like to tell people to bring or buy a simple appetizer. The party practically "makes itself". People are circulating to see if others are trying their dish or they'll have an instant conversation starter if someone wants to know where they purchased or how they made their dish. |
| Stocking party | By Janice Cournoyer |
| We exchange small Christmas stockings filled with all kinds of things from coffee to tea |
| Steal If U Want 2 Gift Exchange | By Christine Yvonne Groce |
| Every guest brings a wrapped gift with a set value. Pick a # to see who goes first, etc. When it's time for the 2nd person, he can either steal the 1st person's gift of pick an unwrapped gift and so on down the line. A gift can only be stolen 3 times and then it is safe, it can't be stolen anymore. |
| Ornament Tradition | By Louise A Brouillette |
| Every year I give a party for the faculty of my school on the last day before Christmas break. I've been doing this for 28 years, and each year as the guests leave, I have them pick an ornament from a basket by the door. We travel extensively, and on each trip, we search for unique baubles. This year in Peru we found the perfect ornaments, and they were a big hit with the guests! |
| Deck the Walls | By Susan Garner |
| I like to have a party for my nephews and grandchildren while their parents use the time to do their holiday shopping. The party is all about decorating. I provide paper, paint, glitter, and all manner of embellishments - buttons, feathers, sea shells, anything I collect over the year. I also pick up picture frames at garage sales over the summer. The children paint and glue to their hearts content. Then we have an informal dinner together consisting of their favourite foods, like tacos or pizza, since both of those choices give me a chance to add some veggies into the mix without protest. When their artwork is dry, we frame them, and then hang one from each child on the 'gallery wall' and wrap the rest to be given as gifts to whomever they wish. Then we decorate prebaked cookies or gingerbread men for them to take home. I look forward to this break from all the holiday rush every year. Nothing brings me more joy than spending time with children I love and seeing Christmas through their eyes. I love to see the pleasure they take in making things to give to others. |
| Poems | By Teri |
| Last year, each family member (even the kids) wrote a Christmas poem (no matter the length) and read it aloud to the family on Christmas night. They were all beautiful, & we included them in a scrapbook w/some pics from the night! |
| The Center of Attention | By Carolyn Gregg |
| My idea has all 3 recipe, decorating and party planning - Chocolate fondue and strawberries with mini lights surrounding. |
| Chocolate Fountain | By Carolyn Gregg |
| Sliced fruit, strawberries, and various nuts especially pecans and chestnuts for chocolate fountain displayed with mini battery operated 4 aa lights clear elegant. You can spice up nuts with 2 eggwhites whipped up stiff and cinnamon ssugar,nutmeg sugar, cajun salt or whatever bake 12 min. on cookie sheet at 250 degrees on parchmant paper. |
| White Christmas | By Jennifer Larson |
| I got this idea when trying to spruce up a white elephant party. I called it "White Christmas" and decorated all in white. Fake snow, snowflake cut outs hanging from the ceiling, white sheets draped over chairs, white tablecloths and everything. In the invitations, I added something a little different too: all the gifts should be white. It made it more fun to shop for, people were more excited to see what creative thing had been found. We ended up with even simple things too, like sugar and flour! The person with the most creative use of the white theme for their gift got a prize. And of course all the gifts were wrapped in white, and a few people even came dressed all in white. I served a cake with white frosting, and coated the pie with whipped cream to look white. I mae coconut macaroons, and teacakes dusted with powdered sugar, and my centerpiece had white carnations (also cheap!). Very fun! |
| Charades | By Janice Cournoyer |
| We use drawing charades, and there is 2 groups. the drawings are of something christmas related and the other team has to guess. |
| Cookie Exchange Party | By Cynthia Booton |
| I combine a cookie exchange with a social gathering for my female friends. I hold it early in December to encourage Christmas baking and we have a great meal together, sample each others cookies and exchange them and get into the holiday mood. |
| Gift for the Guests | By Lisa Thompson |
During the Christmas season it is always nice to have a home made welcome gift for the guests. Here is a few great ideas to share with you:
A bottle of your homemade wine, Embroidered handkerchiefs, a framed picture of the family, a hand made Christmas ornament to put on their tree, a pointseta with a added touch of ribbon and a attractive pot to put it in, a nice container of homemade cookies or a homemade candle. These are many ideas of what I like to do every Christmas season that gives that personal touch and tells friends and family what Christmas is about and that is giving. |
| Giving Spirit of Christmas | By Alexandra Stephens |
| Each year, we choose a charitable organization and collect a cover fee at the door from each guest. The money is donated to the charity. |
| Naughty Santa | By Amy Bond |
| This is fun. Everyone brings 2 or 3 gifts, they can be anything, from a pack of tissues to a used good book, candles, etc. We usually set the limit of nothing over $20.00 Then everyone draws a number. The person with number 1 picks a present out of all of them, opens it and then it goes to person with #2. This person can either "steal" what the first person opened or choose an unopened present. It keeps going until everyone has a present. You want a higher number because you have more people to "steal" from, but the last person gets their pick of anything opened or unopened. We do this for several rounds until all the presents are gone. Its really funny to watch your grandmother stealing someone's present!! Thank you for the contest! |
| Christmas Bingo | By Charlotte Foster |
| Pass out a list with approximately 20 christmas words, ie. santa, reindeer, cookies, sleigh,etc. Then give guests blank xeroxed copies of a bingo card and they use the words they wish to fill in the blanks. Then play varieties of bingo, stright, 4 corners etc. loads of fun. |
| Annual Decoration Exchange | By Melissa Polojac |
All the ladies in the family get together for a ladies night out. The party is held the second Saturday of Nov. everyone is sent a invitation in Oct. asking them to leave their kids and husbands behind and bring a wrapped $10 Christmas decoration. The invitation is different every year (all rimes) giving them some different decoration ideas. We have a nice sit down dinner normally Italian with a spread of breads and dipping sauces. As Guests arrive a # is picked and attached to each package. We chat for a while over dinner and desserts. Then everyone picks a # form a bowl. The guest then opens the package with the same # (as long as it is not their own). It's a lot of fun to see some of the things that people bring.
Here's a little from this years invitation
It maybe for the door or maybe the floor.
Could it ring or maybe it will sing.
You decide just wrap it to hide. |
| Hot Drinks for the Grownups | By Claudia Craig |
| Begin the party with Hot Chocolate with some Irish Whiskey or Jack Daniels in it and if you like mint maybe a little cream de menth in the hot chocolate. In cold climates it really warms you up fast. I drank it in Alaska to keep warm or get warm when coming indoors from the -70 degree temp. outside. It worked. |
| Reverse Giving Party | By Audrey |
Have your guests come to the party and bring a gift for themselves. Then have an auction on each gift and give the proceeds to the charity of your choice: OR after the auction put everyones name in a hat, the host draws the name out and that person wins all the proceeds from the auction.
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| Solstice Party | By Dave |
When I was in University I liked in a house with 5 other guys we rented. One of our most successful parties was "The Solstace Party".
We invited our friends to come and bring a candle to drive the darkness away. We turned off all the lights in the house, and lit the pathway to the front door with motive candles.
As more people arrived, and they added their candle to the others in the house the house became illuminated. It created a great vibe in the house and everyone was warm cheerful!
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