Christmas Party Guide: Freebies & Fun

The party guide helps plan a themed Christmas event with ideas, tips in the food departments, creative crafts, and clever conversation chats, menus, recipes, cookies, cakes and food labels. Free printable games, puzzles, place name cards and coloring pages.

Christmas Party Store

Christmas Event Music

Christmas is a time of beauty, remembrance, celebration, good food and of course festive songs. It is these songs of the season that truly bring alive Yuletide celebrations, filling the air with the magic of Christmas.

If planning a traditional Christmas festivity, the host should devise a program of tasteful yet joyful songs that remind all in attendance of the �reason for the season.�

Silent Night by Adolphe Adam
What Child Is This? By William Chatterton Dix
Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (author unknown)
O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam
If planning a lighter, more gleeful Christmas party, one geared toward the young and young at heart, a different playlist is in order; one filled with danceable songs that still reflect the Christmas spirit.

Last Christmas by Wham
All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey
Santa Baby by Madonna
Do They Know It�s Christmas? by Band Aid
Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley
White Christmas by Bing Crosby
Please Come Home for Christmas by Bon Jovi
Of course, music is only one component of a winning Christmas festivity, which must include a full stock of Yuletide party supplies. These include ornament balls of red and gold that can adorn scarlet-hued table coverings of paper, plastic or cloth. Faux snowflakes can hang from the ceiling; take home party tokens can include faux or real poinsettias, Christmas cookies with sprinkles, and vibrant sprigs of mistletoe. A box can serve a dual purpose by first being able to hold supplies, but also be decorated on the outside for decor use. Don't be hesitant about asking parents to help out at a celebration for children. With a little imagination and white poster board, crayons, coloring pencils, tape, staples and printed photo images that can be cut, kids can create their own paper hats.

Homemade Christmas Party Supplies

Creating homemade Christmas party supplies are not only fun, but are very simple to make with all members of the family. Throwing a Christmas party should begin with the making of handmade Christmas invitations. Ideas to consider when making homemade Christmas invitations include using a family portrait on the invites. Cut out silhouettes of Christmas images such as tress, stockings, snowmen, Santa Claus, snowflakes and are all great ideas for Christmas invitations (the only limit on what can be done is the individual imagination). Research Christmas handmade invitations for inspiration.

Homemade party supplies should include a Christmas banner in welcoming party guests. One way to make a Christmas banner is by taking card stock (similar to what invitation are printed on) and decorating it with glitter and markers. For example, write each letter in the banner Merry Christmas 2011 on separate cards. Tie the cards together with string or yarn by punching holes in the corners of the paper or taping the cards to the yarn or string. Use traditional Christmas colors such as white, red, green and the handmade Christmas banner will be a hit. Research various types of banners to generate ideas and inspiring design concepts for a unique Christmas banner.

Cakes for Christmas

On the twenty fifth of December each year is a holiday celebrated by many and offers the chance to have theme party with a Christmas cake. Plan ahead by deciding on what kind of cake will work best with the theme and then gather the needed party supplies to make it happen. Start with making a white cake, to do so preheat the oven and following the directions on the back of the cake mix. The whole process will take around 40 minutes, plus cooling time which could be around an hour. Frost the cake once it has sufficiently cooled off, using white frosting as the base of the process. Include the following icing colors in the list of need party supplies; green, red and blue. Optional look for an eatable cake topper such as; a star, a cross, Santa Claus and/or his reindeer. Take the different color icings running around the edge of the cake in similar fashion as lights hanging from a house. Another option would be to use black frosting to represent the light cords, with using the other colors in a tear drop shape to resemble the lights, each being a different color.

Christmas Parties

Christmas traditions are full of fact and fantasy. In America, we tend to think Christmas tradition is the same all over the world, when in fact it is celebrated everywhere, and is different the world over.

Preparation for Christmas in Africa begins with a group of people who are designated to prepare the annual Christmas pageant. Then, Christmas day begins with groups of carolers walking through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries, singing Christmas carols.

The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering, this is the gift in honor of Jesus. Then at about eight or nine o'clock, everyone makes their way to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. Not one person will attend the service without giving a gift.

Christmas in Australia is often very hot. Where American�s are in the middle of winter, Australians are baking in summer heat. It is not unusual to have Christmas Day in nearly 100 degree weather.

A traditional Australian meal includes a turkey dinner, with ham, and pork, with a flaming Christmas plum pudding for dessert. The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which began in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, and tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their favorite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles singing under a clean cut night sky. The sky with its Southern Cross stars is like a mirror. Santa often arrives on a surfboard or a motor boat. Australians surround themselves with Christmas Bush, a native plant which has little red flowered leaves.

Though Christmas traditions vary the world over, there are common threads of charity. Peace on Earth and Good Will to All! Have a great holiday!

Seasonal Parties

4th of July Parties
Flag Day Parties
Independence Day Parties

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Christmas History, Facts and Educational Resources

Add an educational twist to any birthday party, holiday celebration, or theme party. Share the history of the Christmas theme to the guests. Play some free printable educational party games. Shhh don't tell the kids that they are learning!

Christmas History & Facts

The history of Christmas actually dates back to over 4,000 years ago, and it can be traced by to the Mesopotamians, long before the birth of Christ. Many Christmas traditions came about while the Mesopotamians were celebrating their New Year. A twelve-day festival, called Zagmuk, began to help Marduk, their chief god, do battle with many monstrous beasts.

Many Europeans believed that during the Winter Solstice, the evil spirits would prevent the sun from returning and warming the earth. They had celebrations and rituals to welcome the sun back.

In Scandinavian countries, the sun would disappear for many days during the winter. Scouts were sent to the top of the mountains to search for the sun after thirty-five days. A Yuletide festival ensued when the scouts returned with the good news that they had seen the light of the sun returning. A feast would take place around a burning Yule log, and large bonfires would also take place to celebrate this joyous occasion. Some people would tie apples to the branches of trees reminding them of the coming spring and summer months. This is reminiscent of our Christmas tree decorating ritual of today.

When the Romans celebrated with a festival called Saturnalia, named after their god Saturn, there were masquerades and great meals, visiting and gift-giving, which represented the exchange of good luck treats. Their halls were decked with garlands, and trees were lit with candles.

Since Christians at this time wanted to keep the birth of Christ sacred to them, they celebrated his birth in a solemn way, as a religious holiday, as opposed to the celebration of a pagan god. And although some say that Christmas was designed to compete against the pagan ritual of celebrating December 25th, eventually the Church took part in the merriment, gift-giving, and the lights to celebrate Christmas as we know it today. Now there are parades, carolers going house to house, and elaborate holiday feasts to celebrate this religious holiday. Gather up some leftover brown packing boxes, wrap them in a matching theme color design and place them throughout the event space for instant decorations. Everyone does not drink alcohol, be inclusive when planning a get-together and have a choice of drinks that include non-alcoholic opinions. Gather up some leftover brown packing boxes, wrap them in a matching theme color design and place them throughout the event space for instant decorations. The history of Christmas has different interpretations by each person, so use your own judgement. Share these facts with friends at a celebration.

Educational Christmas Resources

The Party Supplies Hut has more free elementary educational teacher resources for Christmas to use in the classroom for active learning to create lesson plans with trivia questions, games and fun activities.

History of Christmas
More Christmas holiday educational teachers classroom resources: