A Classic Christmas - Ward Christmas Party

Seriously such a FUN night!  It was so much fun to put this Ward Christmas Party together - and I think everyone had a good time (at least I hope they did).

Our theme for the night was A CLASSIC CHRISTMAS.  I wanted it to be just those things you remember from when you were a kid:

Santa

Snowmen

Sugar Cookies

Yummy Treats

Just simple and fun - and I think we were successful.  We did also want to bring in the true meaning of Christmas so we did that by using the Symbols of Christmas.  We had several different stations and a Symbol of Christmas associated with each station.  We even had a handout for each family as they arrived that listed the symbols and their meaning and then on the back we had the symbols again but this time where the station associated with that symbol was (since we were all over the Church building).  

The ornaments on the handout and from the invitations we made for the party (a girl in my ward made them and they were fabulous).

We decided to decorate in RED and WHITE.  It looked so fun and festive!

When people first walked in, they were greeted and given the Symbols handout mentioned above.  That is also where the first station was - a PHOTO BOOTH.  The symbol was a WREATH (wasn't sure how else to use this symbol - but had wreaths to use in the photo booth).  We had props for people to use and this cute little "booth" (thanks to my friend JennyLynn for letting me borrow the frame).

This little display was also in the lobby when people first walked in.

The first station once inside the cultural hall / gym was the TREE NECKLACE station - the symbol obviously was a TREE.  Here people could cut out a Christmas tree and put on a string.  Then at each station, they would get a STICKER or a STAMP that represented the SYMBOL at that station.  We had the trees printed on green paper with a hole punched, they just had to cut them out.

At each station, there was a pole that had a picture of the SYMBOL and the meaning of that symbol.  My super awesome husband made the poles!

At one end of the cultural hall / gym, we had SANTA'S SWEET SHOPPE.  People signed up to bring HOMEMADE treats (and most actually did).  The center of Santa's Sweet Shoppe was a super cute white Christmas tree decorated with red and white candy ornaments (that I now own and will use a lot).  I also made a fun banner that said SANTA'S SWEET SHOPPE - which I will also use again.

 Here are some of the treats.  I think the table looked great - we used some of the near 100 presents we wrapped to give height to the table and everything was served on a red or white dish (looked great).

 We did have licorce and peppermints in fun jars too.

This next station was probably my FAVORITE!!!!  This is the station that we needed the red butcher paper all around the room for (which really transformed the room and made it so much more festive)!!!  This station was the SNOWMAN station - the symbol was RED (since the walls were all red now).  Here, each family could make a snowman to hang on the red walls.  We had 6 feet of white butcher paper, 2 feet of black butcher paper, and a little bit of orange paper all rolled together.  Each family could take one of the rolls and use the scissors, tape, glue sticks, and crayons we had to create a FAMILY SNOWMAN.  I must say, this was so much fun!

This is the snowman my kids made - without my help!

I loved seeing all the fun snowmen that people made - so creative!

This station was for CAROLING - it had 2 symbols - BOW and CANDLE.  We sang a couple of fun songs at the beginning to get SANTA to come.  Then at the end of the night we sang SILENT NIGHT.

Love all the lanterns - they were all my friend Janeen's.

You can't have a party in Utah in the Winter without a HOT CHOCOLATE BAR.  We had to put the hot chocolate in ugly igloo coolers so one of the ladies on my committe (Teresa) made these fun covers for them.  It was a really really cold night so we went through a LOT of hot chocolate and toppings.

I had to put this cute picture of Cameron and Brecken up - they were so good to let me "work" at the party.

Another station was SUGAR COOKIES - the symbol as a STAR, so we had star sugar cookies for the kids to frost and decorate.  YUM!

Here is my friend Kelly helping just because she is nice - she wasn't even on my committee.

Despite the seriously BITTER FREEZING COLD temperature, the kids (8 and up) LOVED the HAY RIDES - which was another station, that we thought we were going to have to cancel, but didn't because some kids don't mind freezing to death - including mine. 

I LOVED the SNOWMEN, but something else that I LOVED LOVED LOVED was the OVER THE TOP, AMAZING fireplace that a guy on my committe (Jeff H.) made.  I had asked him to get/make a light weight and moveable "fireplace" and this is what he came up with!  When he brought it to the Church, we couldn't believe it.  Then he told us there was a TV in it and he was going to hook his computer up to it so we could have a FIRE.  Seriously over and beyond what I asked for.

We got such fun pictures with this as the background!

Brecken was so excited to see Santa!

Kesley would only sit BY Santa with her daddy!

The twins making sugar cookies!

Snowmen EVERYWHERE!

More fun making a snowman.

Brecken and Kesley having fun in the PHOTO BOOTH - wish I had gotten the whole family in there.

My sweet Gavin!

I just can't get over how ADORABLE the snowmen all turned out - made the room look so so fun!

Another station was WRITING LETTERS TO SANTA AND MISSIONARIES - the symbol for this one was GIFT (since the letters were gifts).  My friend Stephanie did a great job with this station.  She had a picture of every missionary and one serviceman, in our ward, up so everyone could write them letters.  It was a HUGE success!

At the end of the night, after we sang Silent Night, the Bishop read "I Believe in Santa Claus" - such a fabulous (and really short) book.  It is a must at Christmas.

Sorry for so many pictures (trust me, I have TONS more), but it was such a fun night I had to share!  I just hope everyone had a GREAT time!