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| Four generations of creative women! |
This past weekend, I hosted my female in-laws for our
annual Christmas Craft Party. I thought
it would be fun to share with you my preparations, menu, and craft ideas in
case you would like to start a tradition like this as well.
The beauty behind this craft party idea is that it really
doesn’t matter how crafty or creative you are.
With Pinterest, there are craft ideas for any level of ability, time, or
money. What is really fun is seeing all
the different crafts being made. At my
party, each person brought their own crafting supplies but I did have a couple of extra glue guns, scissors, glitter, ribbon, etc. available if needed.
Here is how I organized our get together:
1. Invite: Using Messenger on my computer I sent out a note to my sisters-in-law, nieces, and great nieces with the invitation to come craft at my house and a couple of dates
that would work about 6 weeks before the party.
We were able to decide on Sunday, November 6th.
2. Pick a Craft: Several of us posted on Messenger pictures of
what we planned on making from Pinterest.
This gets everyone’s creative juices flowing and time to get to the
craft store to purchase supplies.
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| Two pans of delicious lasagna |
3. Set Your Menu: I enjoy cooking for company so at this time I
began to think about our lunch menu. At
last year’s craft party, I made a creamy chicken soup. This year after some consideration to serving
a brunch themed menu, I decided on lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. I have a simple lasagna recipe that I have
shared before, but I wanted a new recipe, something more substantial. So I tried out the new recipe from The Pioneer Woman on my husband first. When
he loved it, I knew I had a good lasagna recipe to use.
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| Desserts provided by our thoughtful guests |
4. Ask For Help: All the ladies wanted to help out with our lunch
menu, so some brought desserts, one appetizer, two brought salads, so the
workload on me was really reduced! I’m
so lucky to have thoughtful relatives!
5. Clean & Organize: Beginning the week before the party, I give
myself a cleaning job each day so I’m not spending a whole day cleaning the
whole house. Just remember when you are
planning out your cleaning chores to do them in the proper order. Cleaning the floors (mopping or vacuuming) is
always done last.
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| The dining room table covered in brown craft paper makes for an easy cleanup. |
6. Set Up: The day before the party, my husband and I set
up our great room/dining room to accommodate our guests. As you can see from the pictures I posted,
our dining room table was covered in heavy, brown craft paper so that paint,
glue, glitter, etc. does not ruin the wood table. It makes clean up so easy, just roll up the
craft paper and throw it away after we are finished. We needed two tables to accommodate all our
crafters. Leftover brown craft paper can
be used to wrap Christmas gifts.
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| Second table had a plastic top, so no need to cover with craft paper. |
7. Prep Ahead: I always make as much of my menu ahead as I
can. I like to be “present” when my
guests arrive. Like many families, these
ladies all live very active lives, so it is a real treat to spend time with
them. I don’t want to hide in the
kitchen, if I can help it. So the night
before the party, I made my lasagna so all I had to do the day of the party is
heat up the pans of lasagna and warm up the garlic bread.
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| Lots of friendly help and advice available. |
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| So much creativity in this family! |
An Idea for Next Year: Although it was too late to do at this year’s party, I
had a thought for next year. This would
be the perfect timing for all of us to work on our Christmas cards. Like so many families are doing now, instead
of traditional Christmas cards, many are sending out photographic cards, which
I just LOVE! In January, I throw out the
regular Christmas cards we receive but I have kept every single photographic
Christmas card I have ever received. I
love going back and looking at them, seeing how the kids have grown and
families have enlarged over the years.
How fun it would be to look over each other’s photos and help each other
select the perfect picture/pictures for the annual Christmas card. It is so easy to upload and personalize.
I hope I have given you some simple ideas to host your
own fun and easy Christmas Craft Party for friends or family.