Entertaining Ideas
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Christmas party ideas???
DH and I have been throwing some sort of holiday parties before we got married so this would be our 4th year doing it this year. It's usually been appetizers, drinks, and desserts--but I am trying to figure out a way to make the party more interactive. We usually try to send out invites to about 40 ppl with assumption that half of them would make it. Have you seen anything fun done at Christmas parties except people just mingling over food and drinks??? (That's fun too!) Thanks!!
Re: Christmas party ideas???
We're doing an ugly sweater party. We are asking our guests to bring their favorite childhood toy as a present for Toys for Tots (to be wrapped). We will do an "exchange" witht he gifts and then donate all of the gifts after tha party. And of course, the guests will vote on the Ugliest Christmas Sweater and we will give out a prize.
We have done it before and it is so much fun and people gab and giggle.
We play games like Scene It or Scattories and have teams of 4 or 5.
Ever since we hosted holiday parties a few years ago, we always incorporated some kind of activity. In the past we did:
1) White Elephant gift exchange - everyone brings an item from their home they no longer want/need. They wrap it up and place it on our gift table. Everyone draws numbers and go to the gift table in order to select a wrapped gift. It's a lot of fun to see what people bring and the reactions of the people as they open the gifts. To add a twist, we also did it where you could swap a gift. If you open up the gift you selected but want a gift that was opened previously, you have the option to swap that gift.
2) Ugly Sweater contest - everyone wears a holiday sweater... the uglier the better!
I have to say that I truly and deeply disagree with gag gifts and ugly sweaters. There are always SO many people in need in this world, why why why would you waste money on something you'll throw away in the blink of an eye? In this economy, this Christmas for so many people won't be about just not being able to afford gifts, it'll be about not being able to afford food. Please use your money for a charitable donation.
Cranium is huge in our circle. I didn't have it out at our last Christmas party and folks asked for it. Apples to Apples and Phase 10 are popular too.
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We get our ugly sweaters at Goodwill which is a way to help others, and we do not throw them away we use them, exchange within our family and embellish them year after year.
Ditto. Often times we either..
1) use what we already have, like an old sweatshirt or sweater and I'll have puffy paints, glitters, etc available for people to decorate theirs as an activity at our holiday party
2) some get theirs from family members who wear them and they're just hidden in a closet, basement, attic, etc (We like sharing and hearing stories of family members who purchased them!)
3) buy them at Goodwill, Salvation Army, resale shop or some other local thrift store. In this economy, no one is willing to buy a brand new sweater just for the occasion.
As for gag gifts... are you referring to the white elephant gift exchange? For that we don't buy anything new. Items exchanged are already those items we have in our possession that we do not use, want, need, etc. We make it perfectly clear that our guests are not to purchase anything for the gift exchange. Because our circle of friends are mainly foodies, we typically have a food related theme - so friends will bring old cookbooks, kitchen/housewares, textiles, etc that they no longer want/use/need and are gently used. Some friends like to put their humor in their gifts and will package up a 6 pack of empty beer bottles and a can opener.
In fact, our White Elephant swaps are just like the ones I've hosted throughout the year such as these:
Cookbook Swap 2007
Kitchenware & Cookbook Swap 2008
I think many have the same sentiments about gifts and holiday spending given the state of the economy (me included). Not all people who incorporate gag gifts (or what they personally consider gag gifts) and ugly sweaters at their parties are bought brand new or go to great lengths to spend frivolously. I certainly don't and if others choose to, that's their choice and I'm in no position to judge.
Examples of how we organized and informed our guests of the White Elephant Holiday Swap Parties we've hosted:
Holiday Party 2008 ... and pictures of our actual event and White Elephant Swap/Ugly Holiday Sweater
Holiday Party 2007... and pictures of our actual event and White Elephant Swap
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I agree about the gag gifts and ugly sweater exchange, it's a waste of money.
A couple of Christmases ago we got the whole family together to chip in $50 each and we went to our church to see if there was a family in need and we went out and bought a tree, decorations, an entire Christmas dinner and gifts for the kids. We got together Christmas Eve morning to wrap gifts and pack everything up and brought it over to the family. We had the tree delivered directly to them. It was great because there were 20 of us and we raised $1000 to pay for everything.
Obviously you have to do all the work 2-3 weeks before but it's a great feeling.
That's amazing and so thoughtful! What a great way to get together and help those in need during the holidays!
My culinary group does something similar but we volunteer every second Saturday of each month at a local soup kitchen. It's been such a rewarding experience for the past 2+ years we've been doing it so I know how good it feels to help others not only during the holidays but all year round!
I think that the ugly sweater party sounds like fun!
(It never occurred to me to spend lot of money on one, I would just use what I have and maybe borrow some old holiday pins from my mom and add some other ribbons and accessories.) You can make it interactive by maybe having a Polaroid camera on hand. That way folks talk to each other and go home with a momento of the party.
Another idea is to have a hot chocolate bar with a bunch of toppings: marshmallows, whip cream, peppermint sticks, etc. I know it's not as interactive as a game, but it'll get people talking.
Good luck!
We do an ornament exchange at our holiday party.
I also like the idea of the hot chocolate bar.
This year we are doing a regift. Where everyone brings something from home that they think is nice, but okay enough to regift! we all have a ton of those laying around I think!
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