Tips from NINE Years of Hosting Cookie Parties

One of my favorite days of the year is my annual cookie exchange!! This will be my NINTH year hosting and it is SO fun to spend time with friends and neighbors. I love meeting new friends each year too! Over the years I’ve discovered ways to make hosting the cookie exchange easier and less stressful. I am sharing all of my tips with you today so you can host a cookie exchange of your own!

Use Social Media for Your Cookie Exchange Party

Make an invitation

I use editing programs like Picmonkey or Canva. You can make an invitation from scratch or they have free templates that make creating a cookie exchange invitation a breeze! Then send your invitation out through email or on your social channels.

Have Guests RSVP

You can have people RSVP through a service like eventbrite. If you only have room for a certain number of people, you can create that number and when people register you will see how many people have RSVP’d and you can set a limit on the number of guests. Also – if you don’t want to put personal information out on social media like your address, you can send people to the eventbrite link and they will get the address when they register. Eventbrite also will send your guests a reminder before the event to remind them about your cookie exchange party. It’s free.

Set up A Facebook or Instagram Group for Your Party

You can also set up a facebook or instagram group with the people invited to the party. You can remind people about the party through messages in the group. And after the party you can have everyone share photos from the event in the group.

Make a Hashtag for Your Cookie Party

You can also make a hashtag for your party — like #jenscookieexchange and if everyone follows the hashtag they will see all of the posts that people put up from the party.

Allow Your Guests to Bring a Friend

Some of your guests might be shy or you might not know them very well. You can allow them to bring a guest to make them feel more comfortable. This is a good idea if you are inviting a large number of people you don’t now well. Like a neighborhood group, or in my case I invite my blog readers. I think telling them they can bring a guest makes them feel more comfortable about coming to an event where they might not not people.

Party Food for a Holiday Cookie Exchange

Create a buffet of simple food for your guests. If you are having a party in the morning you can have some breakfast foods like muffins and donuts and a hot cocoa bar. If you are having a lunch-time or dinner-time cookie exchange you can have easy finger foods and appetizers plus punch. Keep it simple. Most guests will not be coming to eat, but to socialize and exchange cookies.

One year I ordered cakes and then put little gingerbread houses on top for the exchange!

Here are some recipe ideas for cookie exchange parties:

Fried Pierogies 

Cordon Bleu Bites 

Three Ingredient Veggie Dip 

Easy Mexican Pinwheels 

Tables for a Holiday Cookie Exchange

You will need several tables or counter spaces for different uses. You will need a space for your guests to display their cookies and you might need a couple of tables, depending on how many guests you invite. You will need another table for your food and drinks.

Boxes for Guests to Gather Cookies

You can ask your guests to bring an empty container to bring their cookies home in. Or you can provide a container. I usually get paper gift boxes and give one to each guest.

Party Decorations for a Holiday Cookie Exchange

You can decorate your cookie exchange with banners and holiday items. There are many free printable holiday banners that you can download, print and cut out. So easy. Here are a few of my favorites:

Living Locurto Cookie Exchange Printables

Here are some free Cookie Exchange Printables for invitations, banners and more!

Cookie Exchange Printables at How to Nest for Less

Cookie Exchange Printables at I Heart Naptime 

Party Games for a Holiday Cookie Exchange

You certainly don’t need to plan games or entertainment, but you can. One year I had an handmade ornament exchange which was fun! Another year I had a white elephant gift exchange. If you do plan these you can also play the game where everyone gets a number, then the first number opens a gift. Anyone with numbers after the first can either open a new gift or steal a gift. Gifts can be stolen three times. This is a really fun game and a way for your guests to get to know each other. These games work well if you are having a small number of guests and if your exchange is a couple hours long.

Cookie Signs for a Holiday Cookie Exchange

It is helpful to have foldable little signs for your guests to write the type of cookie they made. Then everyone can see the names of the cookies as they go along to gather their cookies.

Name Tags for Guests

To let guests get to know each other better I usually have name tags. I also had a little tree that I had guests write their names on one year.

Ask Guests to Bring Copies of Their Cookie Recipe

I usually ask my guests to bring a copy of their recipe. If you know the number of guests you expect you can ask your guests to bring — say 20 copies — of their recipes so that everyone goes home with a copy of each recipe. This is nice in case anyone wants to recreate that recipe later. You can also have a little station where people can make little recipe books. I’ve done this before. You can get tiny albums with clear pouches where guests can slip each recipe inside.

Here are a Few of Our Favorite Cookie Exchange Recipes

Chewy Almond Cookies 

Pecan Caramel Turtles 

Peppermint Sugar Cookie Bark

Double Chocolate Frosted Cookies 

Grandma’s Famous Sugar Cookies 

Holiday Blossom Cookies 

Chocolate Peppermint Kiss Cookies 

Mini Shortbread Cookies 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks 

Graham Cracker Toffee

Candy Cane Peppermint Kiss Cookies 

Homemade Sea Salt Caramels

Peppermint Brownie Cake Pops

Grinch Truffles

Orange Milano Dipped Cookies

Favors for a Holiday Cookie Exchange Party

Party favors are always fun. One year I gave everyone a little candle. Other ideas might be a cookie cutter or a little bottle of vanilla.

Most of all — enjoy your cookie exchange party and try not to get bogged down in the details. Have fun!! It’s a perfect opportunity to get to reconnect with friends and make new friends!!

Have you ever hosted a cookie exchange party? 
Share YOUR ideas with us!!

xoxo

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Create a Gorgeous Holiday Table

Who else is excited for the holidays?? I can’t wait. Our tree looks so festive all lit up! I love hosting during the holidays and there’s nothing that makes me happier than a gorgeous table!

25 DIY Holiday Craft Ideas

I am joining some of my creative friends and we are all sharing easy DIY holiday crafts. Be sure to scroll down and see all of the amazing easy ideas! I can’t wait to see all of the tutorials!

Easy Ways to Create a Gorgeous Holiday Table

Creating a beautiful holiday table doesn’t have to be hard! I ordered a check runner and matching napkins, then I added pretty raffia chargers and copper utensils. This is a tablescape that I can use through the holidays and after too!

5-Minute Place Card Wreaths

To make things even easier, I am sharing these 5-minute Place Card Wreaths. They are SO easy to assemble.

How to Make Place Card Wreaths

Click Here to Download the Printable Tags

I got the leaf garland and metal hoops from Walmart in their craft section. Then I just wound the leaf garland over the metal hoops to make sure they were the same size. Cut the garland and wrap the ends together to create a wreath shape.

I tied the leaf wreath onto the metal ring with ribbon. You can either tie the ribbon in a knot or a bow – whatever you prefer!

Free Printable Wreath Place Card Tags

I created a free printable banner that you can print off, cut out and add the names of your guests. Just download it to your computer and print it off. Then hot glue the banner to the center of the wreath and you are done!

25 DIY Holiday Craft Ideas

 Welcome to the first week of the Seasonal Simplicity Christmas Series! Today a group of my blogging friends and I are sharing our Christmas DIY craft projects to help inspire you for the upcoming holiday season.  Click on the links below each image to be taken directly to my friends' posts!  
Classic Christmas Light String Garland DIY at The Happy Housie DIY Hydrangea Christmas Wreath at Two Twenty One Chunky Knit Vase DIY at Craftberry Bush Holiday Place Card Wreaths with Printable Tags at Tatertots and Jello Easy Christmas Star Garland Gift Topper at The Handmade Home
  
DIY Winter Wonderland Snow Globe Forest at a Pretty Life DIY Cotton Ball Wreath at Hallstrom Home DIY Faux Etched Christmas Mirror at Confessions of a Serial DIYer DIY Christmas Book Craft Project at Happy Happy Nester DIY Christmas Place Setting Name Tag at She Gave it a Go
  
Elegant DIY Dollar Tree Christmas Village at The DIY Mommy DIY Safety Pin Christmas Angels at Zevy Joy DIY Wooden Advent Calendar at Jenna Kate at Home DIY Holiday Gift Wrap at My Sweet Savannah How to Make a Modern Christmas Wreath at Cherished Bliss
  
DIY Giant Pine Wreath at Love Create Celebrate Paint by Numbers Printable Christmas at Rambling Renovators DIY Winter Wreath at The Turquoise Home Christmas Art Work at Life is a Party Dollar Tree Rustic Glam Christmas Wreath at All Things With Purpose
  
DIY Vintage Whitewashed Nutcracker at Rooms FOR Rent DIY Drum Tree Collar at Sincerely, Marie Designs Line Art Christmas Tree DIY Acrylic Sign at Lemon Thistle Snowball Cookies in a Jar at Clean & Scentsible DIY Pink Ombre Ornament Wreath at We're the Joneses

Pin Holiday Place Card Wreaths to Make Later

Have a Creative Day!

xoxo

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Hosting friends or family for Thanksgiving or the holidays this year? No need to panic or be stressed, getting your home ready for holiday guests is easy. Here are 5 ways to prepare your home for holiday guests! 

We hosted my mom for Christmas last year. It was so fun for the kids to spend time with her and celebrate the holidays. As I was preparing my home for her arrival, I thought about what would make her most comfortable and put together these 5 easy things we did before she came to visit.

Clean Each Room

Get the kids involved! Everyone in the family can be in charge of a room. This includes vacuuming each room, de-cluttering extra papers and magazines, dusting and wiping down counters and floors. Make sure to get the guest bath ready too. Deep clean the bathroom. Wipe everything down. Put extra toilet paper in an easily accessible place, like under the sink or even out in a basket.

Fresh Towels and Extra Blankets

Fresh fluffy towels and washcloths will make your guests feel pampered. New towels are an easy way to upgrade your guest room. And having a couple soft and fluffy blankets in your guest room guarantees that your guest will be warm enough to sleep comfortably.

Clean Your Rugs and Carpets

We have lots of kids and pets running around. Cleaning our carpets made a world of difference in how clean our home was. Hoover sent me their new Hoover® SmartWash+ Carpet Cleaning Machine. I had an older carpet cleaning machine but was excited to try this one! The new SmartWash machine has so many new amazing features that blew me away. Hoover has made deep cleaning your carpets as easy as vacuuming!! You simply push forward to clean and pull back to dry; and there’s no more measuring the solution. The SmartWash machine automatically mixes the correct amount of solution to water ratio which makes cleaning carpets so easy! By automatically mixing the solution I wasn’t left with unused solution, which I had to waste with my older carpet cleaning machine.

I also noticed that the SmartWash is SO much more powerful than my older-model carpet cleaner. The SmartWash has FlexForce PowerBrushes which really got into the carpet fibers and pulled SO much dirt out. Another feature which is a game-changer is the new  HeatForce technology which dried our carpets in just a fraction of the time that they would dry with our old machine.

We cleaned the basement carpets first. I had no idea our carpets were so dirty. I also love that Hoover SmartWash has 2-in-1 antimicrobial pet tool. This tool really gets deep down into a stain and cleans it.

We were so impressed. We ended up cleaning ALL of the carpet in the house. We even cleaned our area rugs too. And you can see in the picture how dirty the water is that was extracted out of the carpet. WOW!

Now our carpets and rugs are So clean and ready for guests!

Make a Welcome Basket

When my mom visited we made a little basket with some of her favorite things. Your guests will love coming into their room and see a welcome basket filled with thoughtful items. Some items I recommend are a couple of magazines, granola bars, fruit, little candies, fuzzy socks, gum. If your guests are from out of town you can even include some brochures or a pamphlet of local things to do. I also made a little printable tag you can add to your basket to let your guests feel EXTRA welcomed. Just right-click on the link, download the printable and print it out!

Here are the Holiday Gift Basket Tags

Fragrant Candle

Now that your home is all clean and guest-ready, add a fragrant candle to their bedside. Candles are so relaxing and you can choose a scent you know they like. Lavender is very soothing. Or a citrus scent is so fresh!

Now Your Home is Ready for Guests!

And be sure to hop over to my @tatertotsandjello Instagram page to win an amazing Hoover® SmartWash+ Carpet Cleaning Machine for YOUR home!

You can find out more about Hoover® SmartWash+ Carpet Cleaning Machine:

Hoover®SmartWash+ 

Hoover®Facebook 

Hoover®Instagram

Have a Beautiful Day! 

xoxo

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Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip – the perfect easy dip to make for holiday parties! 

One of my favorite things about the holidays are all of the yummy party food! It’s so fun to bring your favorite appetizer or dip to holiday parties and sample all of the creative food recipes everyone loves! We love cheesy buffalo chicken dip. I wanted to make a version in my Instant Pot that is even easier to make and pair it with our favorite gluten-free Crunchmaster® crackers. It’s a match made in heaven!

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

I am trying to cut down on my gluten intake. I just feel better when I do. Over the past year or so I’ve sampled all kinds of gluten-free chips and crackers. I was so excited when I discovered Crunchmaster Crackers. I crave the crunchy texture of the grains and seeds in all of their crackers. They are light, crunch and SO satisfying! I also love that they are made with whole grains and seeds and are Non-GMO — perfect for guilt-free snacking on-the-go AND for holiday entertaining!

My two favorite Crunchmaster Crackers flavors are the Sea Salt and Multi-Seed Crackers. I can’t decide which is my favorite. The Crunchmaster Multi-Seed Crackers have all kinds of yummy crunch seeds and nuts – like sesame, quinoa, flax and amaranth. It gives them a really hearty feeling which contrasts so well with the thin, crisp crunch. I think the light, nutty texture and taste of the crackers was perfect the PERFECT compliment with the gooey, cheesy, spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip. Everyone loved it!

The best part of the dip is that I used frozen chicken breasts and cooked everything in the Instant Pot in about 20 minutes. So this is the perfect holiday dip to make. It would be awesome to keep the ingredients on hand in case of unexpected visitors this holiday season! Also be sure to stock your pantry with lots of Crunchmaster crackers. They are the perfect accompaniment to any dips or cheese platters and perfect to serve this holiday season!

Here’s the recipe for Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip —

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Be sure to try Crunchmaster Crackers this holiday season. They are my favorite on-the-go snack as well. I keep a package in my car for my kids and I when we are busy running errands or carpooling during the week!

Learn more about Crunchmaster Crackers on their website, which can be found here: https://crunchmaster.com/. I buy my Crunchmaster Crackers at Target. They are readily available in grocery and mass stores nationwide including Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Albertsons, Target and recently new distribution at Walmart.

You can follow along with Crunchmaster Crackers —

Crunchmaster Crackers on Facebook

Crunchmaster Crackers website

Have a YUMMY day! 

xoxo

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of TH Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Holiday Family Game Night Party Ideas 

Family Game Night Ideas. Use a bar cart to organize everything you need for your next family game night!

Holiday Family Game Night Party Ideas 

We love playing games. And it’s even more fun playing games at Christmas with everyone home for the holidays! So when the BHG Live Better team gave me the holiday challenge of creating a holiday entertaining project I knew it would be so fun to create a game night station. My kids are getting older and it’s harder and harder to find things to do with them that they are excited about. One of the things that they still love are games. And there are SO many games that you can play with your kids, depending on their ages and interests. We love trying new games together! Our favorite is a family game called Shanghai which consists of 8 rounds of cards, each round getting progressively harder. Sometimes it can take a couple of hours to finish the game, but we have such a fun time playing it together!!

I love the new Better Homes and Gardens Rustic Country Bar Cart. I thought it would look so great in our kitchen nook. It’s such a versatile piece. I love that it can be used for different parties and also wheeled throughout the main floor. So if I want to use it in the kitchen it works, but I can also wheel it into the dining room and use it as a sideboard or to hold extra plates or cups if I am entertaining.

The iron and wood look fits right into my Modern Farmhouse-ish look in our new home. I love the clean lines and the kind of industrial feel of the piece. I think the handles are really cool. I love how they are raised up. It makes it easy to wheel the cart in either direction easily. It’s also a great place to hold extra towels that are handy in case of spills caused by sudden YAHTZEE wins!!

Holiday Family Game Night Party Ideas 

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wood shelves. It would have been easy to use cheap boards covered with printed wood material, but these shelves are solid, real wood and are heavy and substantial. There was also a couple wine glass racks that came with the cart but I didn’t put them on since I won’t be using it for that purpose.

The middle shelf of the cart is suspended by metal bars and I think that’s a really upscale element.

I also created a little easy table centerpiece with the Better Homes and Gardens Heritage Tray, ornaments and a Better Homes and Gardens candle. I also added a cozy chenille throw in case anyone gets cold while we are playing games. I love the plaid for winter!

Holiday Family Game Night Party Ideas 

I am so excited to use our new cart the next time all of my kids are home. There’s so much room for games, snacks and drinks.

I hung a fun new holiday print from my friends at the Sincerely Us shop.

I love looking at our new game night nook!

Thanks Better Homes and Gardens for the Holiday Entertaining Challenge. 

What’s YOUR favorite family game to play together? 

Let us know in the comments – I am always looking for new game suggestions!! 

Have a Beautiful Day! 

xoxo

This post is sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens products at Walmart. All ideas are mine. You can follow BHG Live Better on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

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Over at my blog I’m doing a 31 day series of how to plan a fabulous party, so today I thought I’d give you a quick guide to throwing your own fabulous holiday party.

The first important thing you need to do when planning a party is to choose a theme. I think every party, no matter how small or large, should have a theme. A theme gives your guests something to get excited about and it gives them a reason to dress up. Here are a few theme ideas for the upcoming holidays:

* Vintage Thanksgiving Dinner Party
* Childhood Nostalgia Thanksgiving
* Ugly Sweater Christmas Party
* A Cocktail Christmas
* Winter White Christmas

source

The best advice I can give you, when deciding on a theme, is to choose a theme that you love! You will also be a guest at your party so make sure it’s a theme you know you’ll enjoy planning and decorating for! Be creative and have fun with it!

Read on for more Holiday party ideas!

Another very important part of planning a fabulous party is choosing a good venue. When I say “venue” most of you probably think that means renting out a large space, but that’s not always the case. To be perfectly honest the most fabulous parties I’ve ever thrown have been held right in my backyard and living room! You don’t always have to rent out a large space to throw a great party, you just have to be able to think outside the box. I won’t ever allow a lack of funds to keep me from throwing a fabulous party and there are plenty of times when I’ve cleared all of the furniture out of our small living room, to make if feel larger, and make more room for our guests. I’ve also rearranged furniture and borrowed furniture to transform my own home for a party! For my Mad Men party, I moved most of our living room furniture out to the backyard to create an “office” feeling. It totally worked and the party was a huge success. So when you’re deciding on a venue for your party make sure you look at the potential it has to be turned into whatever you want it to be!

Once you’ve decided on a venue it’s time to send out the invitations! I always recommend that you mail the party invitations. Everyone loves to get mail and when guests receive an invitation in the mail and can stick it on their fridge they will anticipate the party much more than getting a Facebook event invite. Your guests’ anticipation and excitement for the party is key to throwing a successful party, which is why it’s so important to mail the invitations. And don’t forget to make sure your invitations fit your theme! Here’s an invitation I had made for our annual Christmas wine tasting party:

The next, very important thing to plan is the menu. Good food is important at a fabulous party, and having lots of it, will keep your guests happy. When the food and drinks run out your guests will leave, so make sure there is plenty for everyone. Because food is so important at a party it can also cause a lot of stress for the hostess/host but if you plan ahead (at least 3 weeks in advance) it will help you avoid unwanted stress and anxiety! You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have good food at your party, Costco and Trader Joe’s have tons of delicious appetizer options. You might want to also consider making drinks or cocktails that go along with your party theme. Pinterest has tons of great “theme drink” ideas, here are a few ideas for the upcoming holidays:

source

* Eggnog martini
* Pumpkin pie martini
* Pomegranate martini
* Non-alcoholic holiday drinks

Decorations are also very important when throwing a theme party. Purchase decorations weeks in advance and store them all together, so that you can check it off your list and be done with it! A great way to save money on decorations is to use items from around your house, borrow items from friends, make them, or purchase inexpensive decorations off craigslist. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have great decorations, you just have to think outside the box a little!

The day before the party is a very important day. It’s the day when you will start to see all of your hard work come together and when you will make all of the final preparations for the party. Start the day by cleaning. If the party is at your house spend a few hours cleaning your home to get it ready for your guests. Don’t forget to clean out the refrigerator so that you will have room for storing all the food for the party.

Once you have cleaned your home you will be relieved to have it out of the way and you can start focusing on more of the fun party details.

Next prep the food and get everything done, except for anything that will be fresh and easy to set out the day of the party. Do not leave any cooking for the day of the party, this will only add stress, and that is what you want to avoid. Everything needs to be prepped and ready to be served the day before!

The day of the party you will set up all the decorations, set up the food tables, set up the bar, etc. Try to do all of this early on in the day so that you will have time to get ready and relax before the party! Take your time getting ready that day and be proud of yourself and everything you’ve accomplished! Make yourself a drink and be ready for your guests when they arrive. If you are comfortable, and enjoying yourself, your guests will too!

The last thing that is very important to remember, when you throw a fabulous party, the the phrase, “What’s done is done.” From the moment the party starts, you are also a guest at your party. Anything that did not get accomplished doesn’t matter at this point. If you suddenly remember that you forgot to do something say to yourself, “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.” Honestly you are the only one that will ever notice that you forgot to do/make something. Trust me your guests will enjoy themselves and they will marvel at all the work you put into this party, the last thing they are going to be thinking is, “man I really wish that she would have…(fill in the blank).”

If you follow these easy guidelines you will be throwing the most fabulous parties this holiday season! To get even more details and tips for how to plan a fabulous party, you can check out the whole series here.

So now tell me… what party are you going to throw this season? I would love to hear your fabulous ideas!

 WOW – awesome advice and ideas Anna. Thank you!!

(PS – I wish my fridge looked like that LOL)

Be sure to follow along with Anna this month and find out more about how to throw the perfect party. She has amazing ideas! Plus, here are a  few of my recent organizing and recipe favorites:

How to Store Shoes

6 Habits That Keep Your House Clean

Don’t throw those pumpkin seeds out – make Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Be sure to follow along with Ask Anna for the best organization and cleaning tips!!

Have a Beautiful Day!!

xox

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