2025 Christmas Party

It was well past time for me to host a Christmas party. I had a small one two years ago, but I combined it with celebrating my birthday. I wanted this one to be big, and I think I outdid myself! Let's get into it.

The overarching theme for the party was "bows." I already had bows on my tree from last year, but this year I only applied red bows. You can see my decorations from last year here! I bought the red ribbon from Home Goods, and think it turned out perfectly!

Then I went shopping for actual party supplies. I looked for mostly red or bow-themed items, but I couldn't resist any vintage-looking Christmas decor! Home Goods and TJ Maxx were my best friends during this process.

To achieve the Bow theme, I got plenty of bow decor from Hobby Lobby and Michaels. They had just what I needed! Michaels had this giant bow garland that I put above the fireplace. Hobby Lobby had plenty of ribbon for me to create bows all over the house. I made small ones to go on each cabinet, and larger ones to go on the stairs.

The stairs are 1000% getting decorated like this in the future.

I tried to create a focal point with large ribbon and cedar garland. It came out beautiful!

Hobby Lobby also had this tiny bow garland, which I put over the light fixtures. I think they would also look lovely draped over a bar cart!

And a moment for my ceramic tree collection 🥹.

The Food

I think that covers all the decor! Now on to the food. For the table, I kept the finger foods in the center for easy reach. I wanted the cake to be the centerpiece, since everyone has been asking me to make it! This sweet potato pound cake has been highly requested for two years in a row.

For dinner, I served a simple garlic and herb chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and brown butter broccolini! I got the potatoes and broccolini recipes from the Wishbone Kitchen cookbook. Everything was a hit! The food was prepared close enough to the party start time, so everything was still nice and hot. I also bought a little truffle oil to drizzle on top of the food for a little drama. It was delicious!

We played two games and exchanged gifts via White Elephant. I created the Ornament Game, where you have to find ornaments on the tree in only two minutes! It's always fun competition. The other game involved guessing how many bows were in the house 😂. I gave out gift cards to the winners of each game. We also played White Elephant, and everyone put so much effort into their gifts! Unfortunately, I did not take a single picture of the game, but it was so fun with minimal stealing.

As for favors, I wrote a personal Christmas card for every guest, and included a custom matchbook! Of course I want this Christmas party to be remembered, and I think they will be a nice trinket to add to a collection.