Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Party 2012 ? thejarjouras

Typically, I spend months planning a party. So three weeks ago when I decided to throw a little Christmas party at our house, I quickly got into party mode?there was no time to waste. I wanted a?small, intimate, and fun party for the kids as well as the adults. I had a lot of ideas; but neither of our shipments have arrived in Shanghai yet, so I had to start over?with Christmas decor, craft supplies and party supplies. My work was definitely cut out for me! After some thought, I decided to go with candy cane stripes for the decor and the theme was cookie decorating and letters to Santa for the kids. The adults were easy: hors de oeuvres, spirits and conversation!

We started by eating pizza for dinner, then the kids wrote their letters to Santa. Each letter had an addressed envelope to Santa at the North Pole and pre-paid postage! It was fun reading what the kids want Santa to bring them? Stavros decided while writing his letter to ask for a yellow bike from Santa. What, a yellow bike?! That?s the first time ?Santa? has heard of this, I?m sure? Yikes, not what Santa planned on dropping off for Stavros. After writing the letters, a courier happened to stop by the house to get the letters to Santa over-night (perfect timing)! I set up a craft station for the kids, where they painted, colored, glued and constructed holiday-themed crafts. I wanted the kids to take the lead, so they saw the supplies and did whatever came to mind! I don?t know why, but painting is best when multiple children contribute. I think the crafts were the favorite part of the evening for all the kids. There were big smiles all around.

Once everyone finished?with their crafts, the kids used their photo props I made to take silly photos. The kids had three options: a Santa hat and beard, Rudolph antlers and red nose, or an elf hat and ears! Fun! Next, we began decorating the cookies. The kids all got an apron, chef hat and oven mitt for the activity. I set out all the decorating supplies on the table, and just let the kids take the lead. Stavros, Tammer and I made the cookies earlier that morning, so the cookies were delicious and difficult to resist while decorating. Each kid got a bag to take his/her decorated cookies home to enjoy or save for Santa. Next, we headed to the dining room for some Christmas cake! Whenever there is cake, Stavros insists on candles. So, we all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and three of the boys blew out the candles together. It was very sweet and very original, all thanks to my three-year-old?s tenacity!

For party favors, the kids got a reindeer water bottle, reindeer candy canes, a reindeer zippered pouch from Starbucks, hand-made Santa lollipops, snowman soup packets, a holiday cookie from H??gen Dazs, a reindeer tree ornament and a snowman or reindeer candy bar. It was a successful party with great company. I loved the intimacy and I look forward to doing it again next year when Stavros will have an even better understanding of Christmas.

IMG_8738

IMG_8741IMG_8725 IMG_8809 IMG_8808 IMG_8806 IMG_8804 IMG_8801 IMG_8796 IMG_8794 IMG_8793 IMG_8791 IMG_8790 IMG_8789 IMG_8787 IMG_8785 IMG_8784 IMG_8779 IMG_8777 IMG_8772 IMG_8771 IMG_8767 IMG_8766 IMG_8757 IMG_8753 IMG_8752 IMG_8751 IMG_8749 IMG_8732 IMG_8731 IMG_8730 IMG_8729 IMG_8727

IMG_8825 IMG_8824 IMG_8821 IMG_8819

IMG_8681 IMG_8694 IMG_8692 IMG_8688 IMG_8685

Like this:

Be the first to like this.

Source: http://thejarjouras.com/2012/12/23/christmas-party-2012/

B H c mitt romney mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg maurice jones drew

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.