Need a fun winter themed party idea? Look no further than this darling HOT CHOCOLATE THEMED HOLIDAY WINTER PARTY submitted by Erin Williams of Strawberry Mommycakes!
Erin said this about planning the party- “I created these “Some Like it Hot” printables and knew I had to throw a Hot Chocolate Party! I got rave reviews about the food and the printables. I designed the printables with a certain look I had in mind. I wanted the colors to feel warm and inviting, but I wanted the graphics to be modern and fun. I wanted the food and decorations to reflect that same feeling. I created all the paper decorations myself and my sister-in-law and I made all the food. We served Crock Pot Hot Chocolate (which was AMAZING!) with various toppings, Cinnamon Sugar Marshmallow Pops, Ginger Cake (served in adorable hand-made boxes), pumpkin pie tarts and doughnuts. I made food that wasn’t too sweet that had a holiday feel to compliment the hot chocolate. The large fans were made to look like snowflakes and I printed my coordinating patterns on my small fans to match the printables. I also mixed in some silver touches with the cake stand, tray an d Christmas tree to give it a modern holiday feel.”
Vendors and Credits:
Party Printables: Some Like it Hot
Hot Chocolate Cups, Straws: Garnish
Scoops: Sucre Shop
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Mini Wooden Scoops Striped Paper Straws Lollipop Sticks Ribbon
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.”
This lovely SANTA’S REINDEER DINNER HOLIDAY CHRISTMAS PARTY was submitted by Jennifer Rogers of Cio Prints Design Studio! I am in love with this printable collection, and actually have the exact same plates from Target! Love the design. Jennifer did a fabulous job….such a beautiful party with a lot of ideas…
Jennifer said this about planning the party- “This was a small dinner party for some of our closest friends and family. We wanted to do something special before the holiday season really kicked off and everyone was too busy with prior RSVP’s. After a trip to Santa’s workshop where they have actual reindeer we totally fell in love and had to do a party showcasing these beautiful creatures. We wanted a modern and elegant feel to the party, nothing to over the top. After finding some great reindeer plates and accessories at my favorite store (Target) the inspiration began flowing.
Since there would be both adults and a number of children in attendance, we wanted to have things that both age groups would enjoy. There was a bar option with festive beverages, hot chocolate, apple cider, and cranberry juice for the kiddos. We played a few reindeer games which included a trivia question game that doubled as a small party favor, Christmas carols and a secret Santa exchange. We read “The Night Before Christmas” with cups of milk and lots of hot cookies fresh from the oven. I know it sounds a bit dopey, but it’s a big tradition in my family and sort of funny seeing how into the story some of the adults were.”
Vendors and Credits:
Reindeer plates, napkins, reindeer, and table runner- Target
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
Here is what Maureen had to say about planning the party- ”The magic of the “magical” Christmas Elf is a tradition that my family has enjoyed for years. After all, how can Santa possibly watch over all little boys and girls? Our sweet little Japanese knee hugger elves are so precious and this year our holiday party was themed around their magic.
Adria and I always listen to Christmas music when we are designing – no matter what time of year. Can you tell that Christmas is our favorite holiday to design and style for? Our fabulous friend and client, Audrey, of Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats brought us the i dea of focusing on the Magical Elf tradition and we loved it. This year we wanted to design and style a Magic Elf Christmas Party and incorporate lots of printables that people can enjoy and add to their traditions with their own Magic elves every year.
STYLING & DECOR
The party boasts the traditional red and green colors with added pops of aqua and light blue. The printables include classic patterns such as candy cane stripe with mixes of trendy chevron, ditzy dot and snow flake patterns.
We setup the party at the corner base of Adria’s stairwell which gave us a lot of flexibility with hanging decorations as well as the wall space. Also, stairwells always remind me of Christmas morning as we waited to be called down to see what Santa had brought us! Especially once we hung the garland and custom elf feet shaped stockings (from Aimee Broussard) to the railing.
When thinking of what elements and textures to tie into the styling, we immediately knew we had to use yarn to keep with the “feel” of those cute little elves and keep the decor playful and whimsical. We utilized the yarn thoughout the decor on the tree (yarn pom ornaments) as well as the Christmas gift packaging and Sugarbelle cookie displays (using the popular and so functional Blumeboxes!).
We thought of a craft that would help make our printable Christmas Posters (the set of 3 printable posters are available in the shop) really pop off the walls. We cut custom frames out of foam core board and wrapped them with yarn. This was a super simple (just a little time consuming) craft and one that was economical and made a big impact. We cut felt holly leaves and placed those as an embellishment on one of the frames with yarn pom “berries.”
Because elves are sometimes mischievous, we got a little crazy with the fun yarn pom string and dangled it around the tree and hung from the frames and doors. Little knee hugger elves were found all over the party to tie the theme back into the decor. They can be seen stuck in the gorgeous custom stockings (from Aimee Broussard Events), in the tree, on the frames, hanging from the yarn garland and tucked in the drawers.
When thinking of little elf treats, we decided to reuse an old pop bottle crate as a display for little treats. We spray painted it a bright blue to add a pop of color on the display. We filled it with green rock candy, red licorice, little containers of naughty and nice treats, lollipops, meringue elf hats (which we made!) and little printable notes to Santa. We placed some plastic (kid-friendly!) drink bottles from Smash Cake Studio filled with milk on top of the display with a printable wrapper and straw.
Keeping with the elf tradition, we wanted to show “naughty” and “nice” treats. We packaged red and white Sixlets in clear containers (from Nashville Wraps) and put our printable “Nice” label. We packaged black gumballs in the other clear containers and added the printable “Naughty” labels on those. These were placed around the table and on the cola bottle crate.
We also reused old card catalog drawers as displays for “naughty” and “nice” treats and labeled them with the appropriate printable party logos. The “naughty” treats included black rock candy, black licorice wheels, black gumballs and homemade “coal” (flatted marshmallows dipped in black chocolate and sprinkles). The “nice” treats included red and green ribbon candy, lollipops, gumballs and candy canes.
On top of those drawers, we put a drawer on its side and lined it with patterned paper. We then made green Meringue Christmas Tree treats and placed them on baking cups (from Smash Cake Studio) that we trimmed and put upside down to add height. We also wrapped an old $1 store mailbox with red yarn and used it as “Santa’s Magic Mailbox” display where the kids could put notes to Santa which were printables from the collection.
The Christmas tree was decorated with various sized yarn pom ornaments. We had the kids help us make these in the colors from the printables. We also strung the white yarn pom string around the tree as garland.
Last year we featured our printable North Pole mitten advent calendar idea and this year we introduced a new idea for an Advent Calendar – printable Advent Calendar Hangtags that fold closed and can be used for ornaments (write activities for your family to do each day of advent! Arden enjoyed opening the one that said “eat pancakes for dinner”!) Get creative and come up with 25 fun activites to do with family. Another use for the Advent Calendar Hangtags could be to wrap small gifts and place them hidden around the house or tree – each day of advent they can open the appropriate gift. This year I am doing 25 new books to help add to our library!
We also wrap ped several gifts for under the tree with yarn. We added our printable tags from the magical elf collection. The collection includes “insepcted by elf #” tags as well as cute santa tags and elf tags. We think the elf tags would be so much fun to use every year.
Another craft was the yarn and patterned paper Christmas Trees. Those were so fun to make and we layered yarn and scraps of our patterned paper to make adorable tree decorations.
Cookies for Santa were left on a plate and a diy cake stand (wood plaque + candle stick base) with a little printable note. How amazing are the Elf cookies by Sugarbelle!?
Adria’s holiday card was hung on the tree, too. We designed our signature holiday photo hangtag Christmas card to match the elf theme. We trimmed and punched a hole and added The Twinery twine to the tag and hung as part of the decor on the tree.
FASHION
The kids came to the party wearing a dress and a tie from B. Bell e Couture. Arden was wearing a precious snowflake hair accessory from Drop of Honey Bowtique. Later, the kids got cozy in custom pajamas by Great Stitch that featured embroidery based on designs from our Magical Elf printables. They loved them! I especially love finding unique and special pajamas for my kids to wear on Christmas eve and these were perfect!
THE DESSERTS
We enlisted help from a few fabulous bakers. Got What It Cakes made festive snow cone mini cupcakes (that we displayed in printable party cones out of the dresser drawer). Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats made whimsical cake pops that were stuck on paper straws, which were perfectly displayed next to a magical elf in the other dresser drawer.
The amazingly talented Sugarbellemade gorgeous elf and christmas gift sugar cookies. We displayed those gift sugar cookie pops out of fun Blumeboxes that we wrapped with pom yarn garland. We also displayed reindeer chocolate pops from Nicoles Treats o ut of the Blumeboxes. They looked so precious and festive and were an unexpected way to show the treats.
Favor boxes were shown with green candies and a white chocolate reindeer pop from Nicoles Treats and tagged up with a cute printable.
The desserts we made included the Elf Hat Meringues and the Christmas Tree Meringues. Those were so simple to make and the kids loved them! They added to the fun decor as well.
THE PRINTABLES
The printable Magic Elf Christmas party invitation, banner, posters, tags and Coordinating Printable Collection are available in the shop here. We also offer our signature Hangtag Style Christmas Photo Card to match!”
Recreate this party:
Production and Styling: Anders Ruff
Magic Elf Printables: Anders Ruff
Professional Photography: Becca Bond Photography
Snow Cone Cupcakes: Got What It Cakes
Cake Pops: Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats
Custom Elf & Gift Sugar Cookies: Sugarbelle’s
Chocolate Reindeer Pops & Santas: Nicole’s Treats
Custom Embroidered Christmas Pajamas & Bottoms: Great Stitch
Custom Dress & Tie: B. Belle Couture
Custom Stockings: Aimee Broussard Events
Snowflake Headband: Drop of Honey Bowtique
Floral Boxes to display Gift Shaped Cookies: Blumebox
Label Material: Online Labels
Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: Baker’s Twine Cupcake Liners Chevron Paper BagsStriped Paper Straws Clear Favor Boxes Gumballs Whirly Pops Clear Cellophane Bags Decorative Paper Shred Candy Sticks Polka Dot Nut / Candy Cups Ribbon
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