I am so excited for all the parties I have on the calendar for this month, of which I get to plan three! So, in the midst of brainstorming my themes for each one, I’m looking back on past Christmas parties for inspiration.
A couple years ago, I threw a 12 Days of Christmas party for my sorority sisters. The Seahawks 12th man is a pretty big deal here in Seattle, and since our party also included watching the Seahawks game, I thought the 12 Days of Christmas theme would be perfect. And, I used the Seahawks colors (blue and green) to really bring it all together.
As I’m sure any of my party planner friends can attest to, half the fun of throwing a party is preparing for it, and this party was so much fun to plan! I spent a few weeks brainstorming ideas for each of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts.
Since this party was before my blogging days, I didn’t take pictures of all the gifts, but I do have a few. I’ve also included a full list below.
Some of these might be considered a stretch 😉 but I wanted to make sure the gift was useful, so I preferred that it be a stretch to tie it back to the theme rather than a cheesy gift.
Partridge in a Pear Tree: A pear tree ornament (pictured above) and pear soap
Two Turtle Doves: Tortoise Shell Headband
Three French Hens: French macaron cookbook and a pack of 6 macarons (pictured above)
Four Calling Birds: Michael Bublé Christmas CD (pictured above) and Taylor Swift Chirstmas CD to call out Christmas carols
Five Gold Rings: Set of 5 gold bracelets (pictured above)
Six Geese-a-laying: 6 mini bottles of Grey Goose Vodka
Seven Swans-a-swimming: a gold-dipped feather pin
Eight Maids-a-milking:Â Milk bath bubble bath (pictured above)
Nine Ladies Dancing:Â set of nail polishes for nights out dancing
Ten Lords-a-leaping: tall warm socks (pictured above) to leap through the snow
Eleven Pipers Piping: coffee mug for piping hot coffee (pictured above)
Twelve Drummers Drumming: (this was the biggest stretch!): 12th Man CupcakesÂ
Once I had all the gifts figured out, I went in search of my decor. I opted to keep it minimal since I would be throwing the party at someone else’s house and didn’t want to overpower her Christmas decor. So, I focused my party decorations on the main table and the kitchen.
I got blue and green ornaments, blue and green wrapping paper, and some greenery. As I built out the centerpiece, I incorporated the gifts, each with their own 12 Days of Christmas tag.
I also bought some glitter paper to use as my base on the table, and brought in a bouquet of white flowers and my glassybaby to finish everything off. I was really pleased with how it all came together!
We did a potluck for food, and everyone brought their favorite gameday snack. I brought my blue and clear mason jars with green striped straws for our drinks and I found these fun napkins (in the party colors, of course!) from Swoozies.
The party started with kickoff of the Seahawks game, so we enjoyed snacks and watched the game. Then, during halftime, we did the gift exchange! To determine who would get what gift, we did a Seahawks trivia game. The person with the lowest score picked a gift first, and we worked our way up from there. We started with the lowest score, because once a gift was opened, it could be stolen up to two times.
It was such a fun party, and is definitely one I look forward to planning and throwing every year!
Happy holiday season to you, and party on!
JW
💚Great post!