The Christmas parties

The Christmas parties in my hometown have always been simple get-togethers that have only been attended by immediate family members and a few close friends. Today this is a ritual with only minute changes here and there. Whenever I close my eyes whatever be the time of the year, I can picture the church decorated and lit up on Christmas Eve, with the congregation singing Christmas carols loud and clear. Voices rising in unison and creating magic, this is what Christmas means to me – praise!
The Christmas party at my granny’s place usually begins at around 9 pm, after church. The evening begins with the exchange of gifts and the consumption of wine, roast, marzipan, rice, curries and rum cake with icing and the works. As is gets late into the night, we go to this large field below granny’s house; there we place ourselves on these plain wooden benches, and wrap ourselves in shawls (cloaks) to escape the cold breeze that blows at this part of the year. Then we light a bon fire, read His word and sing carols and just as the clock strikes 12, we hug and greet each other and burst crackers. A simple Christmas, but one that binds us together to this day! Now that I have told you about my Christmas party let me proceed with Christmas party ideas that you can include in your celebrations.
Holiday Spirit Christmas Party Ideas
Decorations - Use simple Christmas decorations like Christmas colored tablecloths, plates and napkins. You could dress someone up like Santa. I am sure the children would surely appreciate it.
Invitations - Print out Christmas trees, Santa’s or stars and glue them on cardstock paper to make Christmas party invitations. Once this is done, write a small note inviting your guests. You could also be more creative and add glitter and sequins too.
Food - Go ahead and tickle everyone’s taste buds. To do this, you could include star shaped cheese and crackers, cookie cutter sandwiches, veggies and dip and not to forget the Christmas cookies, peppermint ice cream and decorated cupcakes for dessert.
Games - A nice Christmas party game is musical chairs, which is a game enjoyed by grown ups and children alike. Hide the stars is also a good option. In this game, the ornaments are hidden before the party. The children are then divided into teams and sent searching for the ornaments.
Snowflake Christmas Party Ideas
Decorations - Use Styrofoam to make the snowman and snowflakes.
Invitations - Plain cardstock paper and glitters will help make beautiful snowflake Christmas party invitations.
Food - Some snowflake and snowman cookies decorated with white frosting and something colorful would be appealing to the eyes. The kids would certainly like some additions like drinks, pizza and sundae bars.
Games - One of the Christmas party games that can be played is Gloves. For this game all you need is inexpensive gloves. Provide these to the children so that they can design it with rings, beads and glitters. Another game in which the children will have a good time is snowflakes. In this game all you will have to do is to provide the children with materials to make their own snowflakes.
Christmas celebrations with Frosty
Decoration -
Outside
Make a snowman outdoors as part of the decoration. Use a snowman decorator at the entrance as well as snowman mat for the guests and family members who enter from outside. You can use this opportunity to display your child’s creative talent, so go ahead, have them draw snowman and display them on the door or the window.
Inside
Dress up your table and the room with all kinds of snowmen paraphernalia.
Invitations - Print out snowman pictures and glue them to cardstock paper. Use some nice words to inform your guests about the theme, time and venue.
Food - Serve eggnog for grown ups. For the kids, serve them some beverages, like hot chocolate. For snacks you could include sandwiches, cookies and cakes.
Games - The children can have fun in the outdoors as well as the indoors too. Give them some paper, glitter, glue and markers and ask them to make their own snowmen. Once they are done, take a picture of each child next to their project. You could also take pictures of your guests standing next to the snowman.
Christmas Candy land
Decorations - Begin at the door and proceed inside. Add candy cane decor to the ceiling and the wall. For this you can either purchase candy cane cutouts from the market or you can make them at home too.
Invitations - One idea of a candy invitation is to print out the regular invitations and include a candy cane in the envelope or create the invitation with a candy cane theme. You could also deliver a personalized holiday candy bar wrapper to inform them about the "taste" of what is going to happen at the party.
Food - You could include many different things in the menu, such as cookies, cupcakes, ice creams, chocolate and soufflé.
Games - Let the kids make candy necklaces, they have fun and this way you have some colorful strings of candy to display. Give the little kids crayons and paper while you can let the bigger kids stir the batter, add glitter and icing or cutout shapes.