By Emily Churchill

Created on June 14, 2016

December brings colder weather and holidays shared with our loved ones. Our Holiday Party Ideas will help you create lasting memories for your family during this special season. We offer ideas for different holidays and traditions that are celebrated during this time of year. You're sure to find some fun and easy ideas, whether you're looking for the tried and true, or something new!

Holiday Party Planning & Invitations

In addition to basic holiday party supplies, like plates, cups, napkins and decorations, you may want to consider purchasing, borrowing or renting the following items for your Holiday party:

• Supplies for making sugar cookies or gingerbread men like our shaped cookie cutters.
• A Christmas tree and ornaments or a menorah and blue & white holiday balloons.
• Christmas movies such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Santa Claus Movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, A Christmas Story and Miracle on 34th Street. Other holiday or wintery movies like Balto, A Rugrats Chanukah, Snow Day, Cool Runnings and Happy Feet.
• Christmas and holiday music
• A pinata

Creative invitations build excitement and set the mood before the party even starts! If you have time to make your own, consider these suggestions for your Christmas or Hanukah party.

Christmas Party Invitation Ideas:

• Attach a holiday personalized invitation to a candy cane with a matching length of curling ribbon and mail in a padded envelope.
• Fold a piece of green construction paper in half, and cut out the shape of a basic Christmas tree. Decorate the front with stickers in the shapes of ornaments and candy canes. Draw thin lines of glue from one side of the tree to the other and sprinkle with glitter to resemble garland. Write the party details inside.
• Purchase solid colored ornaments and write the party details in a circle around the outside. Package these in a box with bubble wrap and mail to your guests.

• Attach a personalized Hanukkah card-style invitation to a bag of gelt and hand-deliver them to your guests.
• Create your own a card-style invitation out of white card stock. Paste a die-cut menorah on the front, or draw one on with blue marker. Draw flames coming off each of the candle sticks, color them in with glue, and sprinkle them with gold glitter. Write "You're Invited" on the front and all the party details inside.

Holiday Party Decorating & Food Ideas

A festive holiday atmosphere can really increase the fun and excitement at your Holiday Party. That means decorations are key. Here are a few suggestions to get your creative juices flowing:

Christmas Party Decoration Ideas:

• Place a small tree in the party area or by the food table and decorate it with your own cookie cutters and ornaments hung on the branches.

• Give each child a jingle bell necklace or bracelet as they arrive and color the end of each guest's nose with red washable marker to resemble Rudolph. You may want to use a clown nose to mimic Rudolph's nose instead.

• Drape garland from the ceiling or use traditional crepe paper streamers in red, green and white.

• Wrap empty boxes with colorful wrapping paper and set them on shelves around the party area. Set them on the food table to hold bowls of goodies.

• Decorate in blue, white and silver. Drape crepe paper streamers from the ceiling and anchor groups of latex or mylar balloons around the party area.

• Set up a menorah in an area where it can be seen, but will protect the candles from being blown out. You can also use an electric menorah.

• Scatter gelt on all the tables in the party area.

• Cut out menorahs from large sheets of construction paper and use them as placemats.

Here are some of our favorite holiday treats for your guests to enjoy!

Christmas Party Food Ideas:

• Create "Rudolph Reindeer" sandwiches. Start with any type of sandwich and cut it diagonally to create two triangles. Add two raisins for the eyes and five or six raisins for the mouth. Slide broken pretzel bits between the slices of bread for the horns, and half a cherry for the nose!

• Serve rice cereal treats cut in the shape of Santa or a Christmas tree and sprinkle the tops with red and green sugar.

• Mix red and green M&Ms with caramel corn or rice chex.

• For an easy dessert, serve cupcakes with peppermint ice cream.

• Make latkes (potato pancakes) and serve them with sour cream, applesauce, or jam.

• Make sugar cookies in the shape of dreidels and menorahs. Make this an activity by allowing the children to frost the cookies in blue and white frosting.

• Make marshmallow dreidels. Stick a toothpick through a marshmallow and attach a chocolate kiss to the top with some icing, so it comes to a point.

• Make edible menorahs by cutting a banana lengthwise. Insert 8 pretzel sticks along the length of the banana. Press mini-marshmallows or raisins onto the other end of the pretzel sticks to represent flames.

Holiday Party Favor Ideas

Send your guests home with a smile with festive party favors!

Christmas Party Favors:

• Personalized holiday party supplies
• Ornaments
• Board games or card games
• Pajamas or stuffed animals
• Candy canes or sugar cookies
• Christmas stickers

• Hanukkah personalized supplies
• Dreidels
• Hanukkah Gelt, chocolate or bubble gum
• A Hanukkah story book
• A stuffed animal
• Pajamas
• A box of colorful Hanukkah candles