cookie decorating party

It doesn't really feel like the holiday season unless I make and decorate some cutout cookies... and this year I decided to make a little get-together of it by inviting some friends for a Saturday afternoon cookie decorating party. Here's how you can throw together an easy and low-key gathering.

I kept things simple with email invitations - I found this really cute one from Pingg and told guests that cookies and frosting would be provided; they were invited to bring their favorite cookie decorations/sprinkles to share and of course a container to bring home their treats in.

Then I made a couple batches of my favorite family recipe and cut out the cookies and baked them ahead of time. They freeze well, so you can do this several days ahead and just pull them out of the freezer the morning of to thaw.

I covered the table with a disposable tablecloth so we didn't have to worry about any icing mess and then set out the cookies, some sprinkles, some plates for everyone to decorate atop, and some knives for spreading the icing (which I just mixed up at the last minute: powdered sugar + a little milk is tasty and is a good base for sprinkles), along with printouts of the recipe in case anyone wanted to take one home.

And that's about all you need - since you'll need space on the table to put the cookies as they get decorated.

And here are some of the finished products:

Cookie exchange parties are popular, but I thought this was a fun twist - it was a great time to chat with some ladies and do a little holiday activity at the same time.