MAKE IT CUTE

Invite

Go old school with your invitations. Grab a stack of light blue cardstock and cut it out in the basic silhouetted shape of snowflakes. Write your party deets on one side using silver metallic marker, and cover the other side with glitter glue swirls. Let the glue dry completely before delivering.

Decorate

We love this idea from the Heather of Sprinkles Bakes, which was just posted on the Etsy blog. It’s wicked easy. All you need is a Styrofoam cone, a pretty cup or plate to put it on, snowflake-shaped sugar cookies, icing and toothpicks. Get the how-to right here.

Try using frosting to write out each of your buds’ names or nicknames, or to draw something that represents them. You can spend a few minutes guessing which cookie is for which cutie—and then gobble ‘em up, of course!

Play

Before your guests come over, get a li’l creative. It’s time to prep a game of Guess Who?—holiday style!

Hit the Internet and do a Google image search for iconic holiday characters, like the Grinch, Santa, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Buddy the Elf, Jack Frost and more. Print out pics—one character for each of your guests—and then glue them onto the index card.

Once you’re ready to play, tape a card to each guest’s forehead, not letting them see which character they have. Then, socialize as normal, but instruct your guests to treat and react to each other as if they were the characters on their cards. Yes or no questions are the only ones allowed!

Eat

Get totally frosty with a banquet of snow-covered treats. Coconut cupcakes, strawberry milkshakes and nuts and berries dipped in white chocolate and rolled in glittery sprinkles are adorable dessert options.

Warm up

Make your soiree sizzle with a steamy cup of white chocolate cocoa. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 cup of white chocolate chips with 1 cup of heavy cream or half-and-half, stirring constantly until completely melted. Pour in 4 cups of whole milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and stir occasionally until heated through. Serve with mini marshmallows.

Surprise

Before the party starts, prop up a bulletin board on an out-of-the-way table. Cut out paper snowflakes and glue a photo of each of your guests to a snowflake. Punch a hole through the snowflake, loop a ribbon through and hang from a pushpin on the bulletin board. As your guests arrive, ask them to go over to the table, take down the one with the photo of the person they’ve been shopping for, and write a cute memory on and sign the back of it. Have them hang it back up, photo facing forward and their message hidden.

Toward the end of the party, have each guest take down the snowflake with their picture on it. On the count of three, flip them over and find out who’s been surprising you all week with goodies. Open up your final presents and have a blast!