Now that the kitchen remodel is complete, I’m so excited to host all the things. Like, SO excited!
I mean, the final chandelier was being installed literally 3 hours before I started hosting Thanksgiving this year (actually, my sister had already arrived the day before, so I suppose I was technically hosting amidst this renovation) so I’ve pretty much been ready to go since the very first opportunity. Haha.
I had a fun little Christmas party with a few girlfriends last week, and I am so excited to share it with y’all.
I’m very, very thankful that this renovation finished just before the holiday season so I can enjoy this kitchen for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! I decided to kick off the season by hosting a Wreath Decorating Party in my beautiful new space.
As much as I love food and drink, I’m a bit bored of those being the main event of the party. I mean, it seems like almost every holiday pop-up bar in Austin, which are some of the most popular holiday activities in Austin, is the same thing: cute decorations, themed cocktails, and holiday menus. You sit around, eat, drink, laugh, and talk. It’s fun, but I wanted a different type of activity.
White Elephant parties are always a blast, too, but I’ve done enough of those in years past to just crave something different! So once you take out food, drinks, and gifts, what’s left?
Decorations!
A wreath decorating party was the perfect event for something that had a bit of an activity to it rather than just sitting around and eating and drinking. (I mean, we did plenty of that, too. Haha.)
I hosted this last week, and the entire night was so much fun. It really wasn’t anything all that special – just 5 moms all joining together on a regular Wednesday night before the rush of December hits us. But we all just had the best time and everyone agreed that this needs to be an annual thing! (And we had a few ideas to make it better for next year – I’ll share those at the bottom of the post!) We sipped cocktails, we talked, we laughed, and we just enjoyed the togetherness.
I’m going to share the 5 (very, very simple) steps to host your own wreath decorating party.
I’m not a pro at hosting or party planning and DEFINITELY not great at crafting (I mean, I’m pretty much the least DIY person you’ll ever know), but I was able to pull this off…so I’m confident anyone can. Haha. It’s really very easy and takes only a few minutes of prep time!
How To Host A Wreath Decorating Party
1. Pick your date and send out invitations
I kept it small because I wanted us to all be able to fit around the kitchen island, so I invited 4 of my close girlfriends. I texted out a few possible dates, and there was one evening that worked for everyone – success!
I quickly made this little invitation on Canva and sent it out to everyone:
And then I got to work prepping for the party!
2. Order All Your Supplies
You could obviously shop around your city for wreath decorating supplies – any arts and crafts store would have a ton of options! I have two very young kids and so whenever I can avoid running in and out of stores, I will! I ordered everything on Amazon except for the actual wreaths.
10 Ideas For Wreath Decorating Supplies
Bells | These were very inexpensive and looked so pretty with that delicate snowflake cutout! I like that they were all glittery and beautiful without leaving a bunch of glitter residue everywhere. Like, the glitter really stayed on there and didn’t end up on my hands. Buy them on Amazon here.
Berry Stems | Classic and oh-so-pretty, berry stems were easy to apply (these had wire ends to them that we could just wrap around the wreath) and added an instant pop of red to the wreath. Buy them on Amazon here.
Pom Poms | If you’re looking for cheap wreath decorating supplies, go for pom poms! They’re one of the lowest cost items for the quantity, and one of my guests discovered that you can kind of glue them together to make cute little additions to the wreath. These are especially cute if you plan to hang the wreath in a kid’s room and you want it to look really playful. Get them on Amazon here.
Wired Ribbon | I think that making sure it has wire in it is nice because it means guests can shape and mold it after applying it to the wreath! This makes it a lot more functional. I mean, any ribbon would honestly work! I got this 4-pack of different holiday colors (red, green, gold, and silver.)
Pine Cones | This is probably the #1 wreath decorating supply you need to have at your party! There are so many pretty ones, from plain to flocked to gold, so just go with your gut here. I got this pack because it had a variety of sizes in it. If you’re an especially crafty person you could get some plain ones and then spray paint them different colors!
Gold Berries | Gold and red were the two most popular color decorations at my party, so I’d say to stock up on stuff in those two shades. Warning: I got this one and it was VERY glittery. Haha. Like, left glitter everywhere! So avoid this one if you want to avoid a big mess.
Feathers | These are a bit more “out there” but they’re a fun addition to any wreath! They can be sooo expensive at craft stores (like, a few dollars per feather!!) but I found a fairly inexpensive pack here.
Dried Fruit | Not only does it look pretty, but it makes the wreath smell nice. Dried orange slices are a nice addition to homemade wreaths.
Cinnamon Sticks | Ditto to what I just said about dried fruit. They look beautiful, but they smell even better! (Kind of like that smell of when you walk into Trader Joes in the fall and they have those cinnamon branches by the front door….you know what I’m talking about? Divine!!)
Fasteners | Glue guns, wire and wire cutters, or anything you want to help you fasten all of this stuff to the actual wreaths.
To be honest, I just did one very quick Amazon order and I was done with the whole thing in a few minutes! I could have easily spent several hours going around town and shopping in craft stores, but that’s not really my thing. If you looooove shopping and it sounds fun to you, then enjoy the journey and have fun shopping! I just enjoyed clicking a few buttons and checking it off my to-do list. 😉
3. Buy The Wreaths
Ok, this is where you could get as fancy or keep it as simple as you want.
I didn’t order the wreaths online because I originally wanted to get live wreaths. But then at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to do fake wreaths (so they’re not dropping so many needles and driving everyone crazy!) and I just ducked into Hobby Lobby and picked up 5 wreaths.
However, a bunch of live wreaths really would be so beautiful!
Another option is to ask each guest to bring their own wreath. This way everyone can go as simple or fancy as they please. There are SO many options in regards to size (tiny wreaths and then BIG statement wreaths), quality (gorgeous $60 live wreaths from farmers stands and then dinky $8 fake wreaths on Amazon), and embellishments (I think the wreaths with fairy lights and battery packs are so much fun, but not everyone likes lights on their wreaths.)
So if you ask guests to bring their own, everyone can just get whatever they want.
4. Gather Food And Drinks
Again, make this simple! I was doing this as an after-dinner party (we all have young kids and had to tackle bedtime before gathering) so I knew no one would be starving, so I just had a few snacky things like peppermint m&ms, gingersnaps from Tate’s, and skinny pop) and made a signature cocktail (a Christmas cosmo!), shaken and poured in some fun martini glasses with a lime-and-sugar rim. I also had some white wine and sparkling water on hand.
However, another easy option is just to ask everyone to bring one item. Either way, just make sure you have a few snacks and sips on hand.
5. Ready, set...decorate!
We put all the supplies in the middle of the island and we gathered around it. The hot glue gun was plugged in on one side, and everything was kind of passed around throughout the evening.
For the record, I’m not a very crafty person. But that didn’t stop me from having SO MUCH FUN decorating my wreath!
And because we’ll all jump on any chance to wear our cute holiday PJs (and because we’re all moms and are perpetually exhausted) we decided to wear our jammies.
Which is what I also did for last year’s holiday party! I mean…ask any group of moms to gather after 8 pm on a weeknight and they will be SO GLAD to be able to wear comfies in place of formal party clothes. Haha.
An Idea To Make Your Wreath Decorating Party Even Easier
Ok, this was already a cinch to pull off and host, and truly took almost no time to plan! But my friend Courtney had this wonderful idea which we’ll probably implement next year:
Every guest is in charge of a certain “theme” of decorations. So one person can bring fasteners (a few glue guns, some wire, maybe ribbons), someone else can bring things in the color red (berries, holly, ribbon), someone can bring glittery items, etc.
Totally not necessary…because I was able to do a quick Amazon order and find almost everything I needed. But this would be a fun way to have a wider variety of decorations to choose from.
And that’s it! I hope this inspires you to host your own wreath decorating party with a few good friends this year.
Xo. Thanks for stoping by!
