Merry Christmas- Turquoise & Metallic Gold Party

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas. May your weekend be full of the true Christmas Spirit.

This TURQUOISE AND METALLIC GOLD CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Suzanna Vasilevski of Mon Tresor is just lovely. I absolutely LOVE the mix of colors & hues. Look at all the shine & sparkle!

Here is what Suzanna said about the party- "I decided to opt for a colour palette this christmas that was a little non traditional. I am all about glitter and sparkle during the month of December, so it seemed fitting to introduce shades of glittery gold combined with turquoise and chocolate. For the backdrop I used symbols of christmas- a twig wreath that I added gold glitter too and a handmade ruffleed linen stocking.

On the dessert table I used three cakes in different shades of colour- gold, turquoise and sparkling snowflake white. My other weakness is warm cinnamon donuts and these were stacked elegantly on a milk glass stand that I adorned with a gold tassle fringe. Other sweets included chocolate cream cookies, honeycomb, turquoise m&m's, persian cotton candy, rock candy and christmas cookies.
Touches of christmas props such as the feather and the sparkle christmas trees, baubles and tote boxes adorned with candy canes and ribbon were also included on the table."

Vendors:

Printables & styling: Mon Tresor- www.montresor.com.au
Cakes and cookies- Couture cupcakes and cookies- www.couturecupcakes.com.au
Cake stands- sweet style- www.sweetstyle.com.au
Rock candy- Little Big Company- www.tlbc.com.au
Persian fairy floss-Lily Chic Events- www.lilychicevents.com.au
Christmas props- www.domayne.com.au

Santa's Kitchen- Christmas Baking Party

Curling up by the fire in an cozy rustic cabin sounds divine right now. I fell in love with this SANTA'S KITCHEN- CHRISTMAS BAKING PARTY submitted by Karen Ayars. I wish I had a cabin to host a fun Christmas party in! Karen did a fabulous job. I love how she used cupcake tins & pans as party trays & stands.

From Karen- "I hosted this party in our family cabin, something very rustic, simple and small. I used things we had in our own kitchen to decorate the table. The main focus was the kids making some Christmas goodies for Santa."

Vendors:


Party Styling: Karen Ayars
Photography: Jeff Tureaud
Printables: 9 to 5 Mom
Gingerbread and Stocking Cookies: Baked Perfection
Coal Cake Pops: Cera's Sweet Shop
Santa Claus Hat Cupcake Toppers: Krazy Kool Cake Designs

Gingerbread House Decorating Party

Have you decorated some Gingerbread Houses this Holiday season? How cute is this GINGERBREAD HOUSE DECORATING PARTY submitted by Nicole Wills of Tradewind Tiaras, Inc. A Christmas party doesn't get much better than this. Who doesn't love getting together with family & friends to decorate gingerbread houses? So fun, and YUMMY.

My favorite part of the party- The clever "MIXIE STICKS" {like pixie sticks- paper straws filled with flavor add-ins for your cocoa}! 

Here is what Nicole said about the party- "My family has made thousands of gingerbread houses over the past 36 years. Yes, thousands. We have this thing down to a science, and it just wouldn't feel like Christmas without the amazing scent of gingerbread filling the house and a city of sweet little houses covering every available surface. This past weekend we hosted the first of four gingerbread house decorating parties we'll be throwing this year.

Now, at these parties, we have a truly obscene amount of candy. And as much of the icing gets squirted directly into little mouths as makes it on the houses. No real need for a dessert table, and we mostly focus on serving savory foods as an antidote to the sugar overload. But I came up with a really fun idea this year--no dessert table, true, but the backdrops to the food and beverage tables WERE a dessert display!

I've always had a soft spot for folk art paintings, and decided that I wanted my table backdrops to be reminiscent of a winter country scene in that style of art. I created layered, somewhat 3-dimensional hills out of Styrofoam sheets, and created all of my buildings and trees out of sugar cookies on sticks. All the buildings, trees, sleighs, snowmen, and Santas you see are cookies pops! I hung red curtains (from our living room--I love recycling elements in new ways) on either side of the backdrop both to cover raw edges and make it look like we were gazing on a wintery country scene outside a window (much more festive and seasonal than the view of our 70 degree Phoenix backyard).

The beverage station was a ton of fun. I made homemade hot cocoa and mulled cider, and had Styrofoam hot beverage cups (with lids! Lots of kids!) with custom homemade cup cozies that matched the party decor (a take-home favor). The beverage table also held my favorite part of the party. I came up with the idea of what I call "Mixie Sticks." They look like that old candy favorite, Pixie Stix, but they're actually flavor add-ins to mix in your cocoa. I made cinnamon, mint, and espresso mix-ins for the cocoa. Kids and adults alike had so much fun customizing their cocoa flavors, and one little girl reported that the cinnamon was excellent in the mulled cider, too!

As each family left the party, they made a stop at the photo booth near the door. Nobody could leave without me getting a photo of the magnificent gingerbread creations and their artists!"

Vendors:

Party Styling- Tradewind Tiaras

Snowflake Shirt- Modern Frills

Paper Printables- Frog Prince Paperie

FREE Holiday Printables from Thank You Cards Shop

Today I'm sharing some FREE Holiday Printables thanks to Amy Lowry from Thank You Cards Shop! Aren't these just adorable?! LOVE the chevron and the mini tree's! Amy is so sweet- Cards, gift tags, bookmarks, recipe cards, thank you cards & more- All for free!

Amy has the most darling stationary. She has such a talent and eye for detail. Love her stuff!

Thanks so much for sharing your downloads with us, Thank You Cards Shop!

Download the printables via the links below each picture...

To download the Blue Chevron Christmas Thank You Cards: Click here

To download the Bell Christmas Thank You Cards: Click here

To download the Christmas Gift Tags: Click here

To download page one of the holiday recipe cards: Click here

To download the Bookmarks: Click here

Mele Kalikimaka Christmas Birthday Party!

"Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a bright, Hawaiian Christmas Day. That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway. Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright. The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night. Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way, to say Merry Christmas to you!" OK, admit it. You're all singing the song in your head! Don't you wish we could all be in Hawaii this week?! I lived in Hawaii around 7 years ago...and oh how I miss it!

This MELE KALIKIMAKA CHRISTMAS BIRTHDAY PARTY submitted by Lynlee Beckett of Lynlee’s Petite Cakes has a special place in my heart. Isn't it just adorable? All the brown sugar for sand...the fondant surf boards, the melting snow men, the santa clause making a "sand" angel...the tiki hut gingerbread house...WOW. Oh, it's all just too cute.

Here is what Lynlee said about the party- "My husband's birthday is in the month of December and since he's a surfer boy, I thought I would add a bit of a tropical Christmas theme to the festivities!

I focused on tropical, Hawaiian-inspired decor by pairing traditional Christmas colors of red and green and some yellows/golds for a pop, along with neutrals to reflect the sand and natural elements. I utilized burlap fabric as a table covering, along with a strip in the center of the background that not only added some texture, but also hid a cabinet in our dining area!

Following along with the melding of island life with the holidays, I took the traditional gingerbread house and converted it into a surf shack! To save time, I purchased an already baked house and added fondant decorations, such as a palm tree with a string of lights. When I was browsing through the "dollar" aisles at Target, I found some accessories to decorate your own snowman, so placed it on some white cotton candy to show it melting in the hot, tropical sun!

The adorable "Mele Kalikimaka" Santa tags came from Starynight...they were free graphic downloads for digital scrapbooking! The little ornament holders came from Michaels, which I found at 50% off in the dollar section.

The fondant cupcake toppers included Santa making "sand" angels and Rudolph wearing a lei, among other tropical and holiday designs. They topped chocolate "lava" cupcakes and were displayed in wooden bowls with brown sugar to resemble sand.

Some other treats offered were pineapple cakes topped with fondant gingerbread men and women, decked out in their bathing suits and laying out and catching some rays on their fondant towels. We also had rice marshmallow treats serving as a stage for the hula dancing penguins, along with fondant surfboards and flowers!

As favors, we gave away Egg Nog in a Bag from Cost Plus World Market that, as the bag reads, you can simply "shake, freeze and squeeze"! Also from the Target dollar bins were some liqueur-infused chocolate boxes.

I had so much fun with this theme that was so fitting for both my husband and the holidays! We, of course, listened to Bing Crosby's classic "Mele Kalikimaka" song since it's Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you!"

Buddy the ELF Christmas Party!

My next party feature goes to this awesome BUDDY THE ELF THEMED CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Dina Hafez of Deliciously Darling Events. Don't you just love this?! SO great. Dina is so creative! All of the punch lines, the themed food, the clever elements...so perfect.

Here is what Dina said about her party- "ELF has to be my favorite holiday movie of all times and thought it would be the perfect inspiration for our annual holiday Brunch. I mixed the traditional red and green holiday color pallet with a little baby blue to create this cheerful get together. I was so excited to work with the fabulous Anders Ruff Designs on the printables. The “Buddy the Elf” silhouette was my favorite part! I love working with creative and talented people - elements from Edible Details, The Purple Pug, Vintage Confections, Yummy Delicious Cookies by Whimsical Originals, The Whimsical Spoon and Shop Sweet Lulu's totally made this Brunch!

The main Brunch table consisted of traditional brunchy foods: savory mini quiches and roll ups, bagels and cream cheese, and lots of cakes and donuts! Being in the south, no table is complete without some Chick-fil-a Chicken Mini’s (which were the hit of the brunch). I wanted the brunch table to display Buddy’s journey from the North Pole to New York. Buddy passes through the Candy Cane Forest (the peppermint brownie cake pops) and through the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops (pastries with fondant gumdrops) then through the Lincoln Tunnel (the chocolate covered oreo tunnel).

The dessert table had beautiful Buddy the elf fondant cupcake toppers, delicious full size and mini cupcakes, amazing Buddy the Elf sugar cookies, and assorted cookies & French Macarons. I just love the E-L-F lollipops! So perfect and absolutely delicious!

The beverage station had Reindeer Root Beer, Orange Juice, Champagne and Milk - perfect to wash down all those sweets! Naturally, we served the “World’s Best Cup of Coffee”. I had to resist the urge to constantly congratulate guests on drinking the World’s Best Cup of Coffee a la Buddy the Elf. Finally, a little hot cocoa station is a must for holiday parties."

Vendors:

Event Design: Deliciously Darling Events (www.facebook.com/deliciousydarlingevents)
Photography: Luna Photography
Printables: Anders Ruff Designs (www.andersruff.com)
Fondant toppers (elf & gumdrops): Edible Details (www.edibledetails.com)
Elf Sugar Cookies: Whimsical Originals (www.whimsicaloriginalsdb.etsy.com)
Cupcakes: Jilly’s Cupcakery (http://www.jillyscupcakery.com/)
ELF Lollipops: Vintage Confections (http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageConfections)
French Macarons: The Whimsical Spoon (http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWhimsicalSpoon)
Cake Bunting Banner: The Purple Pug (www.thepurplepug.com)
Milk bottles, candy capsule, favor bags, polkadot suitcases & swirl straws: Shop Sweet Lulu (www.shopsweetlulu.com)