It’s beginning to feel a lot like the holidays, and there’s no better way to get in the festive spirit than by entertaining friends with a holiday party. Gingerbread decorating and other Christmas activities are currently making waves online for being an adorable way to celebrate with friends yet stay warm on a night in. If you’re planning to have a holiday party soon, we’ve got you covered. Here are some tips on how to host a cozy holiday party that is equal parts sweet and fun.
Make Festive Invitations
Start off by inviting guests to your holiday activity soiree. Create a fun invitation online using Canva or another simple program and send it off to your friends and family. We personally like adding a dress code so it’s more entertaining — our favourite one is to have everyone wear pajamas.
Related: 8 Tips for Planning the Perfect Champagne Birthday
Deck the Halls
Decorate your space with some holiday decor to help set the mood. If you plan on doing a holiday theme like gingerbread, winter wonderland, a vintage theme, a cozy theme or a coquette and demure theme, a few decorations will do the trick. Stick to simple pieces like a table runner, candles to decorate the hallway or living room, ribbons to add to lights or chairs and ornaments that match the colour scheme. Plus, if you have a Christmas tree up — even better! Play your favourite holiday playlist and the mood is set. You can also find inspiration to nail your chosen theme from Pinterest.
Hananona 2-Pieces Artificial Norfolk Pine Garlands, Amazon, $26 (currently 13% off).
Related: We Found the Viral Home Depot Christmas Tree in Canada
Have Yourself a Merry Little Drink
It’s not a party without some food and drinks. Holiday-themed cocktails (or mocktails), snacks, appetizers, desserts or a charcuterie board will leave guests’ stomachs full and content. We recommend choosing disposable cocktail glasses that don’t easily break so you don’t have to worry about messes or washing too many dishes. Candy canes are also an adorable and festive way to garnish drinks or use as a stir stick. Plates are also a good purchase that you can reuse for other holiday parties in the future.
KesaPlan 50 Pack Plastic Martini Glasses, Amazon, $36.
Have Some Holly Jolly Fun
Have some holly jolly fun by setting up activities that can be done in teams or as individuals. It’s important to plan your activities ahead of time so that you can curate what you need and how long to allocate for each activity (if you plan on doing a few).
Have a gingerbread house contest to kick up the competitive spirit, where the best house wins a special prize. Or perhaps have a holiday movie marathon, where everyone cozies around the TV watching the best Christmas movies. Another adorable activity is to bake cookies and take turns doing it so that by the end of the night, there are different cookies to swap. It also makes for a lovely goodie bag to take home. You can also do a wreath-making activity by creating your own DIY wreaths or paint long tapered candles using water-based acrylic paint or special candle paint.
DIY Candle Painting Kit, Amazon, $97.
