Party Theme Winter Wonderland!
Warm Up with these Winter Birthday Ideas
Looking for a great party theme...winter-style?
Winter parties have lots of theme possibilites, and you can even use summery themes with a few modifications.
An indoor Hawaiian luau, a beach party, and a fiesta are loads of fun when you're nice and toasty inside, wearing a sundress, holding a pina colada and watching it snow.
Depending on the month of your celebration, you could incorporate themes from the various winter holidays into your party planning:
- winter solstice
- Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa
- Valentine's Day
- the superbowl (ok, it's not a real holiday), and
- St. Patrick's Day
It's also fun to design a birthday party around the guest of honor's favorite hobby or activity. In the colder months, this might include:
- ice skating (especially outside on a frozen lake)
- skiing
- bowling
- scrapbooking (especially after the holidays)
- knitting (you'd probably have to leave the men out of this one, unless you combined it with watching the superbowl)
Carry Your Party Theme, Winter Wonderland,
into Your Invitations
We've collected some of our favorite winter party invitations here. Not only are they pretty, the text is completely customizable. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to find invitations with wording that sounds like "me," so the option to customize is a necessity!
And Now for the Food and Drink!
We confess that when it comes right down to it, in our minds at least, a winter theme party is all about being inside, cozy and warm —good food, good friends, and good times with lots of overstuffed pillows and warm quilts thrown in for good measure.
One of our favorite activities for a winter party theme is...you guessed it, eating! Have we mentioned that we're foodies?
Soups, stews, and chilis (foods that you can keep warm in a crock pot all day or evening) work the best. They're hot, hearty and probably the easiest things to serve too. Have a couple of varieties so your guests can choose. Crusty breads for dipping are a necessary accompaniment!
For getting that warm and tingly feeling (minds out of the gutter, ladies), we rely on our favorite hot alcoholic drinks. If you want to serve a cold mixed drink as well, white russians are a great choice in the winter.
For guests who don't drink, offer hot apple cider (it makes your house smell amazing), or hot chocolate. Yes, you can make hot chocolate for a crowd —keep it warming in a crock pot, stir it often and keep the heat on low. If you want the option of spiking it, keep a bottle of one (or heck, all) of these nearby:
- Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
- Bailey's
- brandy
- vanilla vodka
- Amaretto
- Kahlua
Have bowls of mini marshmallows, white and dark chocolate shavings, sprinkles, and whipped cream on hand for finishing touches.
If you want to get fancy and have your guests oohing and ahhing over your extreme hostessing skillz, make chocolate dipped spoons for stirring hot chocolate and coffee. They look very impressive and are simple to make.
Your Party Decorations Should Say Winter Too
Decorating for a winter party is all about creating a warm and fuzzy feeling. Oversized tablecloths on the buffet, dining table and all of the side tables in different patterns and textures, are a good place to start. Don't forget to stick to your color scheme of course. Bring a lot of texture and color into your party space —think sweater patterns! Add a variety of mismatched napkins too.
Use rustic containers for trays, vases and ice buckets. In this case, chipped is fine! Fill your vases with greens, twigs and pinecones. If you have extra time spray paint some of the twigs white.
For contrast, place your ice in a fireplace ash bucket, add twigs and cool an elegant bottle of champagne in it.
Candles create instant atmosphere and are an important source of lighting for winter parties. Big, fat candles work wonders for ambience; candleholders aren't necessary. Arrange them in groups all around your rooms. Wrap a few in twine or raffia for some texture. It's best to use unscented candles for burning; you don't want anything to compete with the wonderful smells coming from your kitchen!
Our Winter Birthday Party Cake Idea
A big round snowball! The easiest way to make a snowball cake (and it really is easy) is to buy a spherical cake pan mold (one for a soccer ball or basketball would work just fine). Once you've baked the cake and frosted it, pat white sprinkles all over (or shredded coconut, depending on your preference), covering the icing as completely as possible (best to use white icing if you can).
On your serving plate or cakestand, surround the cake with real greens. Attach a mitten to the handle of your cake knife and you're all set. If you're feeling adventurous, try making three snowball cakes of different sizes, stack them and ... instant snowman.
Decorate your snowman with nonpareils for the eyes (attach them backwards), a carrot nose, raisin teeth, a doll's felt hat and knitted scarf, and add buttons on its belly and sticks for arms with little mittens on the ends of each for hands. Arrange some greens around the bottom and your masterpiece is complete.
These Winter Party Favors Smell as Good as They Look
When the time comes for your guests to leave, send them home with a couple of hand rolled beeswax candles, tied together with ribbon or raffia.
They look so pretty, smell even better, and are incredibly easy to make (seriously, my six-year-old makes them as teacher's gifts). Check out this tutorial and you'll see just how simple it is.
Another idea we like, and this one's even easier, is to give your guests a rustic bag of pinecones that turn colors when they're burned. They're fun to watch in the fireplace.
You might also like these pages:
Hot Alcoholic Drinks
Irish Coffee Recipes
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