Hello and Happy New Year! After a nice two week break, it’s back to work for me. I’m not a morning person, so this is always a tough week back. Can I just say that it’s not normal for a human being to wake up before it’s actually light out?
I’ve thrown a cookie decorating party for my daughter and her girlfriends for the past few years now. Long story short, I couldn’t throw it before Christmas this year, so I thought I got away without having to host it. Then I heard, “Mom, my friends are asking when we’re going to have our cookie party.” And so it began.
Now that she’s a teenager, she requested that I “not overdue it with the decorations.” After I put the shattered pieces of my crafty heart back together, I treaded lightly with decorating. How dare she stunt my creativity! I’m a peacock, Captain! You gotta let me fly! {Name that movie?}
I found a piece of buffalo check fleece at Wal-Mart for a few dollars, so that combined with a clearance poinsettia became my color inspiration.
The good thing about throwing a cookie party after Christmas? Lots of clearance sprinkles–which I have a pantry full of by now–and decorations. The bad thing? NO shaped cookies. Like, within a 50-mile radius. Round cookies for everyone! Perhaps I should have called it an emoji party.
How do I make it easy, you ask? Pre-made cookies, first of all. Then I make up a huge batch of frosting (powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla), add some food coloring, and pour it into these containers. This year, I also supplemented with some clearance pre-made frosting. Because I could.
I put allll the decorations in the middle of the table and just let the girls have at it.
I also like to have a hot cocoa bar for the girls. And by hot cocoa bar, I mean a bunch of hot cocoa in a crock pot. Notice I offset all the sugar with crackers and cheese. I’m all about the well balanced meals around here.
After 137 of the 164 cookies were decorated, I put each girls’ cookies in a personal tin for them. I find them at Gorton’s Food Service. I also cut the rest of the buffalo check fabric into strips and just tied a little bow for decoration. Ya know, ’cause I couldn’t “overdue it with the decorations.”
And for entertainment? Well, they’re teenagers. I blasted some music so they could sing and dance, and then we had a photo shoot. Props, of course.
13, 13-year old girls and 6,000 pictures later, and I considered my job done.
The idea of the party may seem intimidating, but after cutting some corners it’s completely feasible. And as long as you can sleep for three days straight afterwards, you’ll be fine. 🙂 Plus, watching my little one and her friends bonding over something sweet (literally) is pretty darn cool.
Latest posts by Chris (see all)
- Cookie Decorating Party - December 9, 2019
- Christmas Tree Shopping - December 3, 2019
- More Favorite Things 2019 - November 26, 2019
