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Whimsical & Sweet: A Christmas Cookie-Decorating Party

Gingerbread, sprinkles everywhere and kids (or grown-ups who act like kids) decorating cookies at the kitchen table. Easy grazing food, a hot cocoa bar and a green punch that makes everyone laugh.

Host tip: Bake and cool the cookies the day before, and cover the table in parchment or kraft paper so the sprinkles clean up in one roll.

Shop the look on Amazon ↗

The menu

Bite
Pigs in a blanketRecipe from Spend With Pennies ↗
Slow-cooker party meatballsRecipe from Spend With Pennies ↗
Fruit, cheese and crackers, arranged in a Christmas tree shapeYour own
Activity
Gingerbread cookies to decorateRecipe from Once Upon a Chef ↗
Sugar cookies to decorateRecipe from Sally's Baking Addiction ↗

Drinks and ice

  • Grinch punch (lime sherbet and soda, no alcohol): recipe
  • Hot cocoa bar: recipe, with marshmallows, crushed candy canes, whipped cream and sprinkles. Peppermint schnapps or Baileys on the side for adults

Sherbet scoops and candy-cane cubes

Scoop the lime sherbet into balls and freeze them on a sheet pan ahead of time so they float like snowballs. For water and juice, freeze crushed candy cane pieces or red and green sprinkles in star or tree-shaped molds.

Make ahead

  1. 1 week before: Bake the gingerbread and sugar cookies; freeze undecorated.
  2. 2 days before: Make the icing in piping bags and refrigerate. Freeze sherbet scoops and the shaped cubes.
  3. 1 day before: Set up decorating stations: a tray per person with icing, sprinkles and candy. Set up the cocoa bar.
  4. Morning of: Meatballs in the slow cooker. Assemble the pigs in a blanket.
  5. When guests arrive: Pigs in a blanket in the oven, cocoa on the stove, punch in the bowl.

The music

The 25 songs
  1. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autry
  2. Frosty the Snowman, Jimmy Durante
  3. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, Thurl Ravenscroft
  4. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late), Alvin and the Chipmunks
  5. Jingle Bells, Frank Sinatra
  6. Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Michael Bublé
  7. Underneath the Tree, Kelly Clarkson
  8. Christmas Tree Farm, Taylor Swift
  9. Santa Tell Me, Ariana Grande
  10. Mistletoe, Justin Bieber
  11. Snowman, Sia
  12. Text Me Merry Christmas, Straight No Chaser & Kristen Bell
  13. Do You Want to Build a Snowman?, Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn & Katie Lopez
  14. Let It Go, Idina Menzel
  15. We Need a Little Christmas, Johnny Mathis
  16. Little Saint Nick, The Beach Boys
  17. Up on the House Top, Gene Autry
  18. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Gayla Peevey
  19. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Elmo & Patsy
  20. Santa's Coming for Us, Sia
  21. Where Are You Christmas?, Faith Hill
  22. Believe, Josh Groban
  23. Must Be Santa, Bob Dylan
  24. Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson
  25. It's Christmas Time Again, Backstreet Boys

Little touches

  • A gift for the host

    What guests can bring.

    A tin of sprinkles, a cookie cutter set, or a fun mug

  • To take home

    A little something at the door.

    A cookie box so everyone takes their creations home

  • Something to do

    Cookie decorating, with a silly award for the best (and the worst) cookie

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