Ugly sweater party-invite your friends for a hilarious night. An ugly Christmas sweater party” is always a hit. Buying or making the tackiest sweaters and showing up for a good time is always a guarantee for a good time.
Ginger bread building-have a little party with a few close friends to build ginger bread houses and of course, listening to all the best Christmas music.
Cookie exchange-invite friends to enjoy tasting and sharing their favorite christmas cookies. Let them know how many people are coming, have them bag a couple of cookies for each person, with their recipe attached. A great way to add to each other’s recipe books!
White elephant-to make gift giving a little less pressure, bring your best funny white elephant gift and enjoy a night with friends exchanging & of course, stealing gifts. May the worst gift win!
Ornament exchange-invite friends over with a new ornament to exchange something special to add to their Christmas collection. You’ll always remember who gave you that beautiful piece of art hanging from your tree.
All these ideas are fun for adult friends, family, couples and/or bringing the kids to do to participate as well.
Christmas movie nights-a marathon or maybe every Friday night before Christmas? Have everyone in the family pick their favorite Christmas movie that they’d like to watch as a family and go through the list!
Decorate ornaments/wreath-decorating ornaments is always fun and I saw this year it’s pretty big to make your own wreaths as well. They have a lot of kits at the hobby stores, Target, Walmart, etc. I actually made my family Home made ornaments last year for a Christmas gift to tell them I was pregnant!
Homemade gifts– have your kids come up with a creative gift to make for someone special in their life (Teachers, babysitter, etc.).
Handmade Christmas cards-what’s cuter than hand made Christmas cards? Bust out then glitter, glue, and stencils. The kids will love doing this.
Christmas show-every year my brother, cousin, and I would put on a Christmas show for our parents! We LOVED it and so did they. And then at our BIG Christmas party with extended family, all of us cousins would carol together for our families. I can still see my grandma smiling, dancing, clapping, and singing along with us. The photos and videos are to be cherished forever. And actually, now that we are all grown up, my cousins kids carol now.
Elf on the shelf-this little mischievous elf makes for a lot of fun all of December and makes every morning exciting to jump out of bed, just like Christmas morning.
Christmas books-Have your kids pick their favorite Christmas stories to read before bedtime. If you don’t have the books, I’m sure you can find good Christmas stories online. OR make one up!
Count down to Christmas-I always loved the Christmas count down. Whether it’s the chocolate house, the pictures, a chalk board… I loved watching the count down get closer to the magical day.
Christmas gratitude chain-the Christmas gratitude chain is so special. One of my favorites. All you need is cut strips of red & green construction paper and tape/glue. Every night, have your children grab a strip, write down something they’re grateful for and link the poets together like a chain alternating colors. The can each have their own chain or put them all together. On Christmas Day, share all the gratitude your family wrote down.
Santa’s scavenger hunt-Every night, read a text message, email, or note from Santa with a little scavenger hunt. “Find 5 red objects in the house”, “Find an angel”, “Find 2 Santa’s on something” etc.
Hope you all have enjoyed kicking off your holiday season and some of these ideas come in handy for enjoying the month of December with your families!
May you find joy in all of your journey,
Leanne, Spoiled Milk Club
