Hellooo Jack Frost

With winter finally hitting the Houston area and Christmas break near, how can anyone not think of Hot Cocoa and Tea!! In Celebration of COLD weather I thought of having a “Keep Warm Party” for my close female friends. These ideas would work great on your children’s first day off for Christmas break, or for your own “Keep Warm Party”. Just add them to your Hot Cocoa and Tea Bar or your children’s sweets station:

Keep Warm Décor:

Adult:

1.) Pearl Snowballs-

What you will need:
-Styrofoam Balls (different sizes)
-Clear Glue & paint brush
-Plastic Pearls
-Ribbon or string

Take Styrofoam balls in different sizes and brush clear glue onto them. Next sprinkle plastic pearls on the Styrofoam balls until completely covered. That’s it!

You can do variations of this idea by using glitter instead of plastic pearls. For a non-sticky version try using push pins with pearl accents instead of glue and plastic pearls. You can then place your finished balls on a serving platter around your favorite scented candles as a centerpiece*. You can also hang these balls at different lengths above your food or drink station by placing the ribbon or string through the Styrofoam balls before decorating them.

2.) Campfire Pots-

What you will need:
-Clay pots
-Small filler size stones
-Tea lights

Place some of the small stones down in the pots then add a tea light to the center. Add more stones until the metal sides of the tea lights are hidden.

*make sure there is a barrier between the candles and the plastic pearls, as not to have a melted mess.

Children:

1.) To make the Snow Balls kid friendly have them help you make them using glitter. You can even have them help you make snow men with the various sizes. Attach the snow man to a small painted cardboard square, to have him become a centerpiece.

2.) To make the “Campfire Pots” more kid friendly switch out the small tea lights for flameless tea lights. Have them help you collect small twigs from the yard to add to the pot to make them more realistic.

Keep Warm Eats & Drinks:

Adult:

1.) Snowman shooters-

The recipe for these cute little shooters I found on Babble.com… To make them a little more adult add Baileys Irish Cream to the shooter.

Adults & Children:

1.) White Chocolate & Hot fudge drizzle Trail mix-

photo Credit: midwestliving.com

Combine your own assortment of nuts, pretzels, and M&M’s. Next combine your mix to your melted white chocolate and drizzle the hot fudge on top. Serve warm or section of mixture into individual containers for children to have while watching their favorite Christmas movie.

2.) Marshmallow Dippers-

photo credit: goodhousekeeping.com

What you will need:
-Marshmallows
-Hot Fudge
-Stiff Straws and Straight Candy Canes

Stick the Straws into the flat tops of the Marshmallows then dip the opposite sides into melted hot fudge and let them dry. For a peppermint twist replace the straws with the candy cane sticks. Serve these Dippers alongside your cups of Hot Cocoa.

Hope these collected ideas will allow you to enjoy the cold weather in a warm way =)

-Crystal

photo credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk