Christmas Eve Treats for Santa

Thank you to Oriental Trading Company for sponsoring this post. Product and/or compensation was provided to me to share my ideas and tips, however, all opinions are fully my own. 

Lately, my son has been questioning the existence of Santa Claus -  like, a lot.  He's at an age where most of the kids are finding out the real deal.  Yet (to my delight), he still believes in Old St. Nick and refuses to feed into any of the stories his little buddies on the playground are telling him about Mom and Dad being the gifting culprits.  My daughter on the other hand....she 'believes'....but she's still trying to disprove.  She's placed a cute sign in her room on a dry erase board that says, Santa, if you came please sign here.

Well, since we still have a few believers in our house, I thought that a fun way to make the most of the magic of Christmas would be to set up a special treats station for Santa.  What better way to get in good with Santa  than offering up a nice and warm and welcome to our home as he's making his rounds on Christmas Eve?

I chose some products from Oriental Trading Company to help create a festive treat station with delicious plate of cookies, cupcakes and  Christmas favor boxes filled with 'reindeer nibble' (mini pretzels, popcorn, melted white chocolate, sprinkles, and Christmas M&M's)

  

This is such an easy idea to recreate.  I didn't go all out with treats, we just chose some of Santa's favorite cookies and snacks from the store bakery section.  The station was set up in the man cave...on account it's the perfect setting for Santa to slip down the fireplace and out of our wood burning stove.  I placed the cupcakes and cookies onto layered paper plates from Oriental Trading Company.  A delicious cup of hot cocoa would await a chilly Santa Claus and warm him right on up.  On his way out, Santa can grab a treat box filled with reindeer nibble for his herd to keep them going through the night. 

I really wanted to make this space bright and fun.  So, I chose festive pieces like this whimsical table top rocket sleigh featuring Santa and all his North Pole pals. I really got a kick out of the expressions on their faces.

I also loved these felt cone trees.  I placed them on either side of the stove and I think they give just the right pop of color and accent that space well. 

The wooden painted Nordic Noel Ornaments were perfect addition to our white 4 foot tree, while the Nordic Noel tree skirt tied it all together and to finish it all off a pompom star tree topper - of course!

Although my kids are just about at the age where they realize that Santa coming down the chimney to bring them gifts, my not be real, I still love that they believe just enough in the wonder and spirit of Christmas....and so long as they believe, I'll keep finding fun ways to make their holiday magical!......and I know that 'Santa' will enjoy nibbling on his sweet treats while drinking his 'special' hot cocoa on Christmas Eve ;)

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Thanks again to Oriental Trading for always providing the most adorable and festive elements for my all my holiday ideas! 

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How are you getting ready for the final days of Christmas.  I would love to hear!

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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.