Merry and Bright KD

This weekend I hosted one of my most favorite events of the holiday season – a Christmas party for my Kappa Delta sisters! I look forward to this party all year and enjoy coming up with a fun theme and activities to make each year unique.

This year’s party was themed Merry and Bright, so the decor was a variety of Christmas trees in bright fun colors, and a lot of other bright decor. Just like in years past, I bring all my party supplies to a sister’s house and and decorate. This year, my sister Gina hosted in her new home and it was the perfect party space.

To set the stage for the party, I used Paperless Post to send virtual invitations. I found perfect invites with a bright and bold “fa la la” border.

I had several of the trees, and added to my collection from Kailochic and Shop Sweet Lulu. The Merry and Bright and ornament banners are also from Kailochic. I found the Christmas lights garland and evergreen garland at Michaels. I tucked in some glassybaby votives and Kappa Delta touches. Everything was built on top of a green and white striped table runner. And, Gina’s gorgeous shelves filled with glassybaby votives made the perfect background.

Of course, our party had to have a Snapchat filter and I had so much fun designing one to compliment the party.

I found my sweater here. I love it!

Our activity was a gift exchange game. We usually do the typical draw numbers and pick a gift, but this year I changed it up and found a dice game on line and ordered some foam dice in Christmas colors. It was a really fun alternative, the game lasted longer, and it allowed people to visit with each other during the game, too.

I wrapped all the gifts in coordinated paper that I actually had on hand from years past -it had been purchased at Paper Source, Container Store, and Target. The gifts were all themed after Christmas songs, and one of my favorite pieces of party prep is finding the perfect gifts to go with the theme.

A few examples…

“I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus” – line from the song is “I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus” and the gift was a set of Fresh Sugar lip glosses.

“Celebrate Me Home” – line from the song is “go on and play my music” and the gift was an echo dot.

“White Christmas” – line from the song is “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” and the gift was a dreamy bath set.

“Silver Bells” – line from the song is “dressed in holiday style” and the gift was a pair of festive headbands.

And so many more! Everyone went home with a fun item!

See all those fun Christmas light necklaces everyone is wearing?! Dollar Tree for the win!

The food was a potluck of appetizers, and everyone brought a great variety of delicious food. I provided the dessert, and of course, opted for a charTREATerie board filled with holiday treats.

The bar area was filled with several options – Comet’s Cosmos, Santa’s Sangria, and Blitzen’s Hot Chocolate.

I created the little cards for the food and bar area using Templett online. So simple and so many options!!

Here are the cocktail recipes…

Comet’s Cosmos – 1 serving

1.5 oz. cranberry vodka
1.5 oz. orange juice
0.5 oz. lime juice
1.0 oz. orange liqueur
Ice
Sugared cranberries

In a cocktail shaker, add ice and all liquid ingredients. Shake. Strain into a glass, add a skewer of sugared cranberries. Cheers!

Santa’s Sangria – 24 servings

2 bottles cabernet (the wine does not have to be expensive, since you’ll be adding so much to it)
1/2 cup orange liqueur
1/2 cup brandy
Blackberries
Oranges
Limes
2 cinnamon sticks
2 liter ginger ale

In a large pitcher, add everything but the ginger ale. Let it steep for at least two hours to overnight. Just before serving add ginger ale. Serve alongside sliced oranges, limes, and ice to allow people to create their own cocktail. Cheers!

Blitzen’s Hot Chocolate – 24 servings

I set this up as a hot chocolate bar next to the stove. I had hot chocolate (my favorite here), milk, peppermint schnapps, baileys, and kahlua, as well as peppermint sticks and whipped cream for people to to create their own drink. So delicious!

It was a great night of sisterhood and celebrating the season! Already looking forward to next year!