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Who doesn’t love a good party? Every year at Christmas, we host a gathering of friends and family in our home. It’s a festive time of food and laughter. And since it’s a holiday party, everyone makes time to come. While we may get busy during the year, we set aside the holidays as a time to gather together. If you want to throw a Christmas celebration, here are three fun ideas for your party.

A Christmas Cookie Swap

We host a cookie swap annually, and it’s always a hit! For our party, I prepare a spread of savory finger foods for guests, but the stars of the party are the cookies! Each family brings a batch of their favorite cookies. We set them out, and some are sampled during the party, but the fun comes at the end of the night. That’s when each family grabs a plate or to-go box (I get boxes from a local bakery) and creates a mixed sampling all of the cookies. Guests take the goodies home to enjoy for the Christmas season, or as long as you can wait. Ours are devoured pretty quickly! In years past, I’ve asked guests to vote on their favorite cookies and had prizes for winners, but we found everyone enjoys a more laid-back approach without the competition. You can also ask guests to bring copies of their recipe to share. And don’t forget the milk!

An Ornament Exchange

Another fun “swap” is an ornament exchange. There are many ways to do this type of party. Each guest brings an ornament. I’ve been to one swap where there was a waiting Christmas tree so guests would hang their ornaments when they arrived. At another, guests were asked to bring their ornaments wrapped as a gift. Either way, guests draw numbers to pick an ornament to take home. If you’re feeling feisty, you can play a “Dirty Santa” game that allows guests to “steal” ornaments after they’ve been chosen. This always adds to the drama of the swap as people fight over the most popular ornaments! One ornament swap I went to included a clear glass ball ornament with money inside. It was stolen time and time again until it reached the “three steals, you’re out” rule. The last lucky person to choose it went home with the cash.

A Christmas Craft Party

This party would likely be more popular with the ladies or kids, but men could get into the spirit as well. Hosting a craft party is a ton of fun, and everyone goes home with something beautiful. Again, there are several ways to do this. For example, you can buy supplies and lead everyone in creating the same Christmas craft. Get ideas and directions from Pinterest. Another idea is to have each person bring their own supplies, and you all simply craft your individual projects together. At my friend Emilee’s party, the guests made a wooden canvas from wood scraps and painted “J” and “Y,” making a felt wreath in the middle for the O. Everyone’s projects turned out so cute and they were easy to make all together.

No matter what type of party you throw, welcome guests into your home this Christmas. It’s not about having a picture-perfect house or throwing a magazine-worthy affair, it’s about spending time with those you love. What types of Christmas parties have you been to that you enjoyed? We would love to read your favorites!

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