Merry Christmas!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!
This lovely SUGARPLUM GINGERBREAD HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS PARTY was submitted by the talented Suzanne Olvey of Fanciful Events! Everything is just precious! Such an adorable party with so many darling ideas…
Suzanne said this about planning the party- “I wanted to do a Sugar Plum/Gingerbread party and have it be a sweet little holiday party for my daughter and her friends. We were supposed to decorate cookies and color their great big gingerbread take home boxes but as you know, kids sometimes have a mind of their own and plans change so I wanted to share some pictures of the fun little party we had! :)
I had Brittany from Edible Details make me the beautiful fondant toppers, the gingerbread house cake topper, and fairy topper and they were just adorable and so super sweet! Emily from Magnolia Creative created the beautiful printables, melamine plates and invitation to go with this sweet little theme. I decided to do a simple theme and just wanted to keep it fun and festive! It turned out to be a really great little holiday party!”
I just couldn’t resist sharing another ELF ON THE SHELF HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS PARTY! This lovely party was submitted by Audrey Novak of Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats. Oh my goodness, there are so many adorable ideas here! Scroll through the photos slowly so you don’t miss anything & be sure and read all the party details from Audrey at the bottom of the post!
Audrey said this about planning the party- ”So…I have a little confession. I’m ELF OBSESSED. Seriously. It’s one of those things that started innocently enough, as a family tradition YEARS in the making, but has now taken on a life of its own. I can’t control it, or at least I choose NOT to. But I do find comfort in the thousands of Elf-tastic pins on Pinterest and the incessant Elf-related Facebook posts of my friends…it’s nice to know I’m not alone!
We’ve had some vintage Christmas Elves in our family for years. We call them our Disco Elves because they (there are 3 of them) are wearing shiny, metallic outfits and look like they’re ready to party ALL the time. My Grandma used to tell us they were watching us and would tell Santa if we were being naughty…not sure if word ever got back to him about any of the “nice” stuff.
Last year we added an Elf on the Shelf to our collection, the kiddos named him Mack, and our little Elf family was complete. The kids love waking up in the morning and rushing out to see what shenanigans the elves have gotten into…it’s become one of their favorite things, and mine too.
I’ve been mulling over the idea of hosting an ELF PARTY since LAST Christmas. SO many of our friends have Elves now too, I knew the kids would really be into it.
So that’s the WHY…and here is ALL the rest! I hope you enjoy!
I worked with the talented ladies of Anders Ruff Custom Designs for the printables. They totally “GOT” my vision and their creations were absolutely perfect! You can see their own photo shoot featuring this printable line HERE.
Since our guest list was very short for this party, I planned on hand delivering all the invites. I printed the invitations large, 8×10, rolled them up and tied with a ribbon. We all know that the Number 1 Rule when it comes to Christmas Elves is you CANNOT touch them…or they lose their magic! To solve that problem, each guest also received an Elf-sized stocking. This way they could come along without being touched!
When our guests arrived they were directed to the “Elf Check-in” area. Each Elf had a name tag waiting for him or her…we didn’t want anyone going home with the wrong Elf! After the kiddos deposited their Elves and went downstairs, the Elves jumped out of their stockings, put on their name tags and had their own little Mixer.
At our ELF ADOPTION center, we had several Elves just waiting to find their own family! Some of our guests added another Elf to their family, and one family got their very FIRST Elf at our party. I also had some Elf attire available for our guests to take home. Included were pretty skirt-sets and bows for the lady elves. We also had some tiny Elf scarves that were a BIG hit with our guests!
I knew the desserts for this party were going to be a LOT of fun. With so many teeny-tiny guests, I planned on making some mini-versions of some of our favorite treats! I made Elf Cake Pops and Swirl Cake Pops. I love using the striped paper straws as “sticks” for my Cake Pops…it really adds something special! I also made some MINI Cake Pops. These are REAL Cake Pops ya’ll. I rolled them super small, used a cut-off toothpick as the stick, and then dipped them just like the full-size pops. Easy. Cute. Good. So then, I wanted a bit of a challenge – lol! I thought it would be fun to try to make mini versions of the Elf Cake Pops too. I used a toothpick to add-on the details, but they were pretty basic so it wasn’t too bad. Totally worth the extra effort…they were SO cute! Local Cookie artist Emily of Emi’s Treats made some AMAZING cookies for our party. She created a “Peeking Elf” design that I just loved…it was beyond perfect! She also made stockings, mittens and candy canes. Emily’s cookies are equal parts delicious and adorable, I just love her work! Even cuter…she made MINI cookies for our Elf guests too! They were SO sweet! When we were all downstairs, each of the Elves helped themselves to a cookie…they were a BIG hit with our littlest guests. We also had some ridiculously cute miniatures on the dessert table! Little Things by Anna created the TINY layered cake and TEENSY cupcakes. Seriously, these things are SO adorable and incredibly detailed…I can’t lie…I squealed OUT-LOUD when I opened the box they were shipped in.
My sister volunteered to read The Elf on the Shelf to the kiddos while I was upstairs making sure our Elf guests were “comfortable”. We had a few activity stations set-up for the kiddos. They were free to go from one to the other at their own pace. First was the Jingle Bell Bracelet table. A tray of pipe cleaners, a container full of jingle bells…easy…and they loved it. Even better, after they finished their bracelets they got to go jump in the trampoline to hear how they sounded. We also had a mini tree decorating station. You know the drill…a package of foam Christmas trees, with about a million little sticker pieces to peel and place. A little cheesy maybe, but I tell ya what…my kids NEVER get sick of these things! Like ever…so I go with it! There was also a table full of Elf-sizes treats. The kids got to pick out an assortment of goodies to “take-home” for their Elves. That was the idea. In reality, most of them chowed-down on their Elves goodies…I’m sure it was from a quality control standpoint. Each of the guests had the chance, one-by-one, to put on an apron and join me in my kitchen to make a few EXTRA special Elf treats. I had three melters going, one with chocolate, white chocolate and green candy melts. They got to dip a mini sugar cookie, mini Oreo and a Cheerio (to make an Elf donut). I also had an assortment of sprinkles out so they could decorate their creations however they chose!
Word must have got out at the North Pole because we had a LOT of Elves show-up for this party. They were hiding ALL over the house! The kiddos went on an ELF HUNT to find all of our Elfish visitors. I used the printable Advent Calendar Tags from Anders Ruff (1 through 5) to label our “scenes”. That way the kids knew they had 5 different Elves (or in some cases, groups of Elves) to find. They did a great job hunting!
When it was time for our guests to head for home, I used a pair of decorated kitchen tongs to carefully put each Elf in a basket for the ride home (the stockings are a tight squeeze and we didn’t want to risk any accidental touching!) The kids, Elves and grown-ups all had a GREAT time at our Elf Party! The Christmas season is so magical, and being able to create these memories, to me, really is priceless. If you’re into the whole ELF-thing, be sure to follow me on Facebook! I post a lot of our Elves daily shenanigans there…frequently…too much…I know I have a problem.”
What a darling idea! Host an ELF ON THE SHELF NORTH POLE BREAKFAST PARTY! This adorable idea was submitted by Kylie Jenkins of Made by a Princess Parties in Style.
Kylie said this about planning the party- “Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? We have two now…Icicle who watches over my son Glenn and Snowy who keeps an eye on my daughter Megan. This year we hosted a North Pole Breakfast the day after Thanksgiving to kick this Christmas season off right!
Our elves came with lots of fun stuff this year…their own North Pole, gingerbread houses (which I am sure they will hide in eventually), goodies, wish lists, Emergency Elf Dust, candy cane placecard holders, books, countdown to Christmas…boy, those elves were sure busy. Did I ever mention I’m actually a vampire and never sleep?!
I found mini lunch boxes at Dollar Tree and filled them with special elf food to share: Elf Pillows, Snowballs, and Reindeer Poop. Each packet has an original poem (won’t find them anywhere else!) on the back of the candy topper.
I anticipate a little elf handling with my 19 month old so I came up with the perfect magical solution…Emergency Elf Dust! This is another original poem you won’t find anywhere else. The tiny little vials actually held saffron. I knew I kept those cute little things for a reason!
The little North Pole in the background was made out of a solar light, styrofoam circle, & “snow” blanket from the Dollar Tree. I glued gold spray painted flat dowels to the pole and attached the sign with gold ribbon. I saw this on Apartment Therapy and knew I had to do one myself. I also bought a bunch of Santa hats last month at the Dollar Tree…super inexpensive and easy window valance!
I attempted cookie cutter pancakes but need a little more practice. Oh well, at least they tasted good! The Magical Scout Elf printables are available in my store.”
What a fun HOLIDAY MINT WINTER CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Natalie Mudd of Wonderfully Made Events! Such a cute and clever holiday theme! When I think of anything ‘mint’ I definitely think of Christmas!
Natalie said this about planning the party- “This Winter ‘Mint’ Party was SO much fun to style and create. I LOVE the colors mint and red together so I decided to stick with the mint theme and create a bunch of mint treats for the dessert table.
For the decorations I used old vintage window panes, pine cones, old painted frames, pieces of wood, a vintage sleigh, a wreath, ornaments, flag pennants made out of scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby & twine, washi tape by Martha Stewart used on drinking jars, and presents wrapped in paper from World Market.
The desserts included Chocolate fudge MINT Cupcakes, Homemade MINT Fudge, Vanilla MINT chocolate covered pretzels, Iced Mint Mocha fraps, Chocolate dipped MINTOreo’s, MINT Chip Ice cream, Pretzel MINT Chocolate rounds, Mint Fudge Chip Cake Pops and Mint Vanilla crème Mousse.”
Vendors and Credits:
Wooden Signs- Joanie Ennessy
Desserts- Wonderfully Made Events
Photography- Christina Bos
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Striped Paper Straws Cupcake Liners Mini Martini Glasses Glass Milk Bottles Washi Tape
This next feature makes me so excited for Christmas! How darling is this ELF ON THE SHELF HOLIDAY PARTY submitted by Donna Martin of Swish Designs!
Donna said this about planning the party- “I’m SO very excited to introduce my new line of printables which were photographed by the SUPER talented Katie of KT Moffitt Photography. The concept is definitely not new! We have loved Joey (our elf) since he first came to visit our house a few years ago. The wonder and excitement in my kids’ eyes is just part of the magic of the holiday season. Wondering where he will hide next….what kind of mischief will he find…will he tell Santa if the kids have been good or bad? Sometimes our elf, Joey, brings sweets, presents, and other little goodies. With my new printables, it’s EASY to praise your kids for being on the “nice” list! Sometimes our little ones need a little “re-direction” after rough day the day before. And sometimes it’s just the Elf that’s the naughty one!
Our elf journey begins with a special breakfast on the first day. This year he’ll arrive with a little welcome note along with his traditional gifts of new Christmas jammies for both kids. The welcome notes are customized with the name of your elf. It comes in both a boy version and girl version.
If you’re interested in the full printable collection, it’s available in my Etsy shop for just $16.50. PLUS, Kara’s readers can save an additional 15% by using KARAROCKS when they check out through Etsy!”
Vendors and Credits:
Photography- Katie Moffit of KT Moffitt Photography
Party Styling and Printables- Swish Designs
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Lollipop Sticks Cupcake Liners Ribbon