Holiday Hot Cocoa Party

Baby, it's cold outside!  Host a holiday hot cocoa party this Christmas using some simple ideas to make your party planning a breeze!

Let's talk dessert.  I am big on dessert tables!  I think they are one of the highlights of any party, and who doesn't love a delicious sweet treat?!  As a party planner, I have the benefit of being connected to some awesome sweets makers, but the reality is that not everyone does and it is sometimes very convenient to shop your local grocery store and find awesome treats - especially during the holiday season.

For this table, I found some great buys at my local Aldi grocery store and picked up a few bags of candy from the dollar store.  You can use pieces from around your home to display your sweets and arrange them in a way that is most pleasing to you.  If you're not sure about how everything looks, just rearrange your table until you find what works!  I personally like to work in a top-down method where taller pieces are placed in the back, mid-height items towards the middle and flatter pieces towards the front!

Since this was a hot cocoa party, I also added toppings for guests to create their own custom cocoa.  Guests were able to choose caramel sauce, hot fudge, cinnamon, peppermint  to flavor their cocoa and could top it with whipped cream, mini marshmallows and mini chocolate morsels.

 Banners and garlands don't always have to be made from printables or from the typical paper decor.  I always like to try something new and different and change things.   I dressed up the front of the dessert table with small muslin treat bags from Oriental Trading that were filled with small pieces of candy.

While most of our toppings and sweets were set out on our dessert table, I filled a thermo carafe with hot water and set out packets of hot cocoa on the side.  Guests were able to 'create' the cocoa to their liking once they adding their toppings from the dessert table.

I fell in love with these red mugs from Target earlier in the season, but each time I went inside a store, there was always only one.  I got lucky one day and found a whole set!  SCORE!  When you find pieces that you really love and can be used time and again AND they are affordable, pick them up!

Set out some fun props for your guests to wear for a photo booth.  Setting up our 'booth' was easy!  I just placed seating in front of a window with the curtains closed, set up our camera and let the girls say cheese!!!!

My Christmas decor has grown quite a bit over the years. It seems every year, I fall in love with some new theme and this year it was PLAID.  It's everywhere this season and I am smitten!  I found some ribbon  in my holiday stash that I used to wrap around a small tree then, I added a few bulbs and ornaments.  Oriental Trading sent me a bunch of very sturdy holiday tags that I originally was going to use to add to a few gift bags and boxes.  However, I ended up using them as gift tags instead.  As a thought, you can also ask guest to write a holiday wish and create a wishing tree or write a random act of kindness on the back and ask your guests to perform that RAK before Christmas!

Make sure you send your guests off with a small treat, these Christmas Tree favor boxes from Oriental Trading were too cute to pass up.  I filled them with Hershey Kisses but they're a good size for a small gifts, as well.

How are you celebrating the holidays?  What fun party ideas do you have to share?   I'd love to hear from you - leave a comment below and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!



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Where to buy:

Merry & Bright Christmas mugs, napkins, plates, favor boxes, gift bags, gift tags, chalkboard Christmas tree, muslin favor bags  - Oriental Trading

Red & White striped and Chalkboard Mason Jars - Just Add Glitter by Marla

Marshmallow & Peppermint swizzle sticks, Christmas Tree Cookies, chocolate truffles, gingerbread cookies - Aldi

Red ceramic mugs, mini evergreen tree, red and black checkerboard basket, buffalo check straws galvanized milk tin - Target



This post is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product(S) listed above. I was provided items free of charge by Oriental Trading and I provided my honest opinion. No other type of compensation was received for this review.

{Party Styled} Merry & Bright Christmas Candyland

I was so excited to be featured in the most recent issue of Everyday Party Magazine last month.  I shared a link, but wanted to show you all the details here as the holiday grows closer.  

I came up with this Merry & Bright Candyland themed Christmas party idea while doing a little after Christmas shopping last year.   These bright, jewel toned colors were so different and cheerful and I was just drawn to them.  It didn't hurt that I got all of my colorful decor for less than $20 (hint: shopping after Christmas sales not only preps you for the following year's theme, but will also save you big bucks!)

You will notice, that for this party, I didn't use printables, I just loved how all the colors looked and didn't feel adding printables was necessary.  So, I found a lot of use for gift wrap and yarn pom poms as my decorative elements.  To create this a wintry scene I used a simple white pair of canvas curtains I had on hand to create a clean backdrop.  I also added a length of 'snow' fabric over the table.  I ordered a white Christmas tree for $20 on Walmart.com and it arrived just in time for this shoot.  The over sized bulb garland was another amazing after Christmas find that added a great splash of color against the white backdrop!

The colors of the bulbs and garland, along with an adorable Christmas Elf who I lovingly nicknamed, Mabel, gave me the idea to create my idea of a Christmas 'candyland' of sorts.  I called on my good baker friend, Fresh Dizicheh of Fresh Bakes to make candy inspired cookies and delicious macarons.  She's awesome and came through as always.

Have you been wondering why I don't share my cupcake creativity that often?  Well.....I gotta fess up......ya'll my oven is broke!   You know I am a girl who loooves to bake delicious cupcakes and decorate them....but, until we get that oven replaced, I'll have to settle for someone else's tiny tasty cakes!  So, instead of going without, I purchased cupcakes from my local grocer's bakery, added these edible candy cupcakes as toppers and presented them on a glass platter that I decorated with coordinating beading and a glittered snow flake!

I also filled glass jars with candy and treats to coordinate with my color scheme.  Delicious salt water taffy (my fave), Whirly Pops and sugar swizzle sticks from local candy shop, Candi's Candy in Old Town, Alexandria also had a featured spot on this table.  The taffy was packaged in these favor bags that I made by adding glittered paper and ribbon as toppers to clear cellophane bags.  Wrapping chocolate bars in wrapping paper to look like little packages is kinda fun too....you know it is!!!

Some other decorative elements that pulled this table together was a  fun wooden gingerbread house display case I found. I painted it to match the decor and placed a few pieces of taffy on it.  Wrapped Styrofoam forms were to look like gift boxes and made for some pretty adorable props.  I'm sure if you have been following me wee blog you're fully aware of my obsession with yarn pom pom garlands. I created one for the table that are available in my Etsy shop.

(Did I mention I have MAD love for Mabel The Christmas Elf?)