Deck the Halls Party

It has been a bit of a tradition in our family to throw a Deck the Halls party each year; no invites are sent, no guests arrive, just we ourselves having a grand ole time of thing. I rather like it, and the children think it is quite special to have parties thrown just for them. It is a nice family thing that gets everybody involved and feeling the Christmas spirit.

We turn up the Christmas music, some don festive clothing just for the occasion, and we enjoy the first eggnog of the season (with whipped cream!). But most specially of all~ we eat only junk. Snacks, finger food and goodies that are rare treats for us. The biggest perk for me, of course, is that I get a night off of cooking (AND DISHES!) after a day bustling with getting the tree, hauling boxes of decorations and moving furniture around.

This year the "junk" included~

Cracker stonewalls, summer sausage roses and daisy cheese. I'll give you one guess who made that platter....

(SOMEBODY couldn't wait....)

Roasted Peanuts

Peppermint marshmellows

Jalapeno poppers

Clementine wedges (See? It isn't ALL junk...)

Little Smokies

and ginger cookies warm from the oven. (Okay, so I made SOME dishes.)


I love how doing the smallest little things just shoot your children over the moon. Like putting Christmas lights on the food table, eating food with skewers instead of forks and having marshmellows for supper.


I usually put the lights on (while childer are shoving their faces...) and then let them have at it with the ornaments.


Sometimes, if it turns out too lopsided, after the children go to bed I do a little tree intervention.




But really, enough lights and sparkle can cover a multitude of sins.

"What? You mean I can't touch the glass ornaments?"

And then, after the children are all snuggled down deep in their beds, a good game of face-paced Rummikub with the one you love in the glow of Christmas-tree light is just the ticket.