Our Letters to Santa Party and Appetizer Potluck was yesterday and oh my goodness, it was a huge success and a fabulous day for our kids and their friends (and the moms and dads too)! Awhile ago I saw someone post a Santa party and immediately texted Aubrey that we should have one. The planning and shopping quickly began and we worked on this party for many many weeks. A lot of time and effort went into the Letters to Santa Party, but it was a lot of fun and definitely worth it to see all the kids in the spirit of Christmas and doing fun holiday activities together. We received amazing compliments about the party and everyone had a blast! We had a dessert table, photo booth, Pin the Nose on Rudolph game, and stations that included: writing a letter to Santa, making an ornament, decorating cookies and making marshmallow snowmen, and making reindeer food! We also made several appetizers and had each family bring one for everyone to enjoy!
Our dessert table was incredibly beautiful, festive, and full of delicious sweets, while every appetizer was super tasty. I made a wonderful Pomegranate Champagne that quickly disappeared, and one of the moms said that it will replace her mimosas on Christmas Day. We will be sharing this drink, as well as dessert and appetizer recipes, so stay tuned for yummy new ideas! I found the polka dot and chevron food label printables at Cupcake Express, and they fit perfectly with our theme!
The kids were thrilled to write their letters to Santa and send them off to the North Pole! Everyone had great gifts they were asking for this year and it was precious to watch their excitement! My kids are asking for an X-Box and an ipad! Wow, they must have been really good this year! For the longest time, my 4 year old daughter was going to ask Santa for a dog. My 7 year old son told her not to do that because mommy didn’t want one. Well, she figured she could rely on the man in the red suit to help her out. I think I finally convinced her not to ask Santa for a dog and she seems pretty focused on wanting an ipad instead. Thank goodness! We just babysat two puppies for five days, and I think she was satisfied with her puppy time! I found my Santa letter templates at: i heart organizing, I heart Nap Time, and Christmas Letter Tips.
We set up a photo booth with red and silver glitter chains and lights as the backdrop. We also filled a table with different props the kids could wear for the photos, including Santa hats, reindeer headbands, and a snow hat and scarf. They loved dressing up and posing for pictures! Everyone looked adorable and flashed big smiles!
There was a table set up with different wood ornaments that the kids could color and decorate with glitter glue. Some kids completely bypassed the markers and squeezed on a ton of glitter glue (including my daughter), basically covering the entire ornament! They were very sparkly! My friend told me this morning that her son had used so much glitter glue that it was still wet today. It is great that every child will have a new ornament to hang on their tree!
The kids loved making food for the reindeer! There were many special ingredients they added to their bags to make sure the reindeer will find their houses on Christmas Eve! I found the adorable Reindeer Food Tags at Amanda’s Parties To Go and I created the reindeer subway art.
The kids also enjoyed decorating cookies and making marshmallow snowmen. There was plenty of frosting, chocolate chips, sprinkles, fruit by the foot (for snowmen scarves), and milk jugs to go around. Everyone ate their treats right after decorating them and they loved every bite full of sugar!
When the kids finished all of the stations, everyone went in the backyard to run around and play, and we finished off the party with a game of Pin the Nose on Rudolph! Every kid wrote their name on a red nose, had a Santa hat covering their eyes, they were spun around, and had to do their best to get Rudolph’s nose in the right place! It was fun to watch the kids play! We found a printable for the game, complete with lots of noses from Blog My Heart and Home. It was fantastic. She offers two sizes, we went with the largest.
As the party came to an end and the kids gathered all of their goodies, we sent each kid home with a favor bag that had: a hot chocolate packet, candy cane, reese’s peanut butter tree, Christmas pencil, marshmallow made to look like a cup of hot chocolate, and two activity sheets! I found these worksheets at Activity Village and Print Activities.
The Letters to Santa Party and Appetizer Potluck was absolutely wonderful and the perfect way to spend an afternoon celebrating the holidays! Everyone was impressed with our creativity, the decorations, food and sweets, and how everything turned out! I think it will be a day the kids remember for a very long time! Thank you to all of the kids and families that joined us for a special day, for bringing outstanding appetizers, and for helping the kids with the activities!
Christmas is full of traditions, spending time with family, and creating beautiful memories! One tradition that I will always cherish is the time I spent making Christmas cookies with my mom. We would make the same delicious cookies each year and occasionally add a new cookie. Wreath Cookies were always one of my favorite treats and until I made them this year, I forgot how yummy they tasted.
