Cookie Decorating Party

This is a tradition, I am trying to uphold every year, that started with my best friend (Kelly) when we were about this age. She had a Christmas cookie decorating party every year, up until we graduated high school, and it always helped me feel more in the spirit of the holidays, and that is a tradition that I want to pass on to my daughter and her friends. Since her birthday is the beginning of February, and I don't want to get burned out on party planning, I keep it really simple and low stress. I plan it for after lunch so I don't have to worry about feeding anyone, and serve only snacks like grapes and goldfish and pretzels and hot chocolate, and of course cookies!

Of course a cookie party has to start with matching Santa Aprons! These are the girls take home treat (along with their decorated cookies). Of course I want them all to be matchy for cuteness and pictures, so I am a little bit more over the top then I need to be.

I used pre made cookie batter (from the school fundraiser) which was really easy, but I thought it did not taste as good as when I make it from scratch. Cadence does not like sugar cookies, so she really did not care about going for the most elaborate or beautiful cookie, instead she went for the biggest, dubbing this one the Santa Cookie.

That set all the girls off on making giant creations. Here cousin Molly is pretending to take a bite from her Santa Cookie.

We play easy print of games like Santa Bingo, here they are doing blind folded snowmen drawings. I blindfolded all the girls and didn't tell them what they were drawing, just described it (like draw one big circle, on top of that draw a smaller circle) this set the girls off on endless rounds of giggling.

This game was a candy cane pass, where the girls had to pass a candy cane in every finger off to the next person in the obstacle - more giggling ensued.

We also made this cute cute craft of snowmen. I am totally in love with this craft. The bodies are upside down terracotta pots (2" ones) and the heads are 2" styrofoam balls. Before the party I painted them with a fake snow texture. I let the girls paint the bodies first thing, so they would dry, then I hot glued on the heads and stuck pipe cleaners in the top (before gluing). Then I let the girls decorate them however they wanted too. I had ribbon for scarves and buttons, beads
and sequins for eyes and mouths, and then I had a wide variety of miniature pine cones and berries for add-ons in the hands.

I was really impressed with how creative the girls got with their snowmen, one girl gave hers a Mohawk, another girl fashioned some little earmuffs. Cadence painted on a big sloppy red mouth on hers and then put a fake peppermint candy in her hands right up to her mouth, explaining that her snowwoman has candy all over her face. Very cute! Definitely an idea I want to hold on to, and oh yea the turquoise one is mine, I had just as much fun as they did!