Christmas Cookie Exchange Party

We had our Christmas cookie exchange party yesterday!  We only had three guests come, but we had a great time tasting cookies, eating hors d'ouvres, and playing Apples to Apples and Cranium.  My favorite part was seeing all the little pieces come together, which is what I'm here to share with you!  I'm kicking myself a little for not taking more/better pictures, but here's what I've got!

For our appetizers, we served pear and brie slices wrapped in proscuitto (recipe idea from Better Homes & Gardens).  We got the serving plate at Target for $1.

We also had tortellini and meatball skewers with marinara sauce on the side to dip it in (recipe idea also compliments of Better Homes & Gardens).

To drink, we made festive Poinsettias (champagne and cranberry juice).  We labeled all the foods with these cool little chalkboard placecards ($9.99 for a set of four at World Market--still trying to figure out how I could make one myself).

And I tied little bows out of red and white polka dotted ribbon onto the stems of our wine glasses.  This was a last minute idea and I think it was a very cute touch if I do say so myself!

We also had roasted almonds, chips and salsa, and a hot chocolate bar with crushed Andes Mints, graham cracker crumbles, marshmallows  and whipped cream (which was in the fridge at the point  this photo was taken).

And of course there were the cookies!  We made caramel filled chocolate cookies drizzled with a chewy caramel sauce and sprinkled with sea salt.

We had everyone label their cookies on these little cardstock place cards when they came in.  It said the name of the cookie and who they were made by.

My friend, Allison, made Ande's Mint chocolate cookies.

Another friend made Butter Rum Wafers, and a third friend who came made Molasses Cookies, which I forgot to take a picture of (rats!).

And you can't have cookies without milk, of course!

We ordered these red and white paper straws off Amazon.com, and we tied red ribbon around a canning jar to display them in.  I also tied a red ribbon around a carafe for the milk.

We sent everyone home with one of these red and white snowflake tins filled with assorted cookies.  I got the tins at Dollar General for $2 each.

We even decked out Monica in this red and white candy cane slide on dog bandanna.

We spent the evening chowing down on good food, chatting, and playing board games with good friends.  We had such a good time, and we're already planning our next get together!

I hope your holiday season is going well and that you're crafting up a storm!  Thanks for reading.

--CC