1st Annual Christmas Cookie Decorating Party
Hello hello everyone and welcome back to the blog.
Well, it's Dec. 4th and the festive season has officially begun! Lights are up, trees are decorated and the yearly ice rink that gets set up downtown is officially ready for use. There's a chill in the air and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is here.
I knew back in October that I was going to try to make this a wonderful Christmas season filled with gatherings, shows, and cozy nights by the fireplace watching all the Christmas classics. So I got to work on planning my first party of the season: a Christmas Cookie Decorating Party!
I have to give my best friend, K, props for the idea. Initially, I wanted to host a Christmas flower arranging event, until she pitched the cookie decorating idea and I immediately felt that it would be a much more festive activity.
The Invitations
I got to work on the invitations which were sent through E-vite, though next year I will definitely send an invitation in the mail.
I used Canva to design the invitation and imported my design into e-vite! It was super simple and easy. I added some cookie graphics and gold glitter et voila! A perfect holiday invite.
The Table
Initially, I had planned for a more traditional tablescape. Plaid tablecloth, Christmas plates, etc. But a few nights before the party, I decided to strip the table I had created, and try something different. And boy am I glad I did!
I used a collection of the candleholders I already owned to create an elegant ambiance and purchased candles from Anthropologie.
I honestly do not know why dripless candles have become a thing. I think the dripping of wax from a taper candle creates the most romantic vibe and I will always be team drip candle.
The tablecloth is from Zara Home, from last year's Christmas collection. It features holly berries and leaves with beautiful gold accents. So you could say the table was holly themed.
For my centerpiece, I used a real fir garland that I bought at Costco and decorated it with faux holly berries I bought last year at Michaels, specialty glittery, mini Christmas trees I purchased from a local shop last year and lots and lots of RIBBON. Ribbon is having a moment this year and I'm not mad at it.
As I was working on the table, a brilliant subscriber suggested that I incorporate fruit into it instead of regular baubles. And that was such a great idea!! I can't believe I didn't think of it myself since our wedding decor heavily involved fruit!
I picked up persimmons, red pears and oranges from the grocery store and used them to add a fresh touch to the table which was exactly what it needed.
Finally, the bows! I picked up the most beautiful velvet ribbons from Tinsel Trading Company in Berkeley. It's my absolute favorite shop to get ribbon from and the variety is so beautiful and unique.
They have vintage designs, satin ribbons & velvet ribbons in a variety of colors and textures. The ribbons added the touch of feminine whimsy I was looking for. I chose a deep green, an olive green and a deep crimson for the table and it was absolutely beautiful.
For the place settings, I worked with a local vendor who graciously gave me access to her holiday plate collection and utilized a variety of holly themed plates and red and gold chargers.
The Menu
The party was scheduled so that we had brunch first, and then got to decorating the cookies afterwards. I knew I wanted to do the cooking myself, so I wanted to keep the menu easy, festive and delicious.
I opted for:
Pesto toast on olive bread
Fresh berries
Peppermint bark
Chocolate covered marshmallows
The Cookie Decorating
I spent the evening before the party baking the gingerbread cookies that we decorated. To be honest, I looked for a pre-done gingerbread dough and couldn't find it anywhere so I resigned myself to adding it to my to do list. Which was a good call, because homemade is always better than store bought and gingerbread cookies are deceivingly easy to make.
I used this recipe and it was so simple and the cookies held their shape BEAUTIFULLY. I used a gingerbread man cookie cutter and a christmas tree shape and they both came out so well.
I initially thought I would do both gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies, but this worked out perfectly for the event!
I had been gathering icing and sprinkles for the weeks leading up to the party and ended up buying two of each color: two red, two green and two white.
Back in my day, you had to scoop the icing into a paper bag to pipe onto cookies! But the genius icing engineers over at Betty Crocker decided to change the design to a piping bag! Which made decorating so easy.
One of my guests had the great idea of turning it into a competition! So we ended up choosing a winner and gifting them with a box of chocolates.
My outfit!
I bought my dress online from Lait Collection and got soooo many compliments on it! It fit like a glove and is so flattering. Truly the perfect festive dress to kick off the season.
This party was such a wonderful event! We laughed, we decorated and we danced and had so much fun. I hope this encourages you to do some hosting and gathering this holiday season.
xo,
F.
