Gingerbread House decorating party!

Last Saturday, our oldest turned 13.  And, since our newly minted teen would rather hang out with his dad and buddies at Six Flags instead of at a party that his mom planned (gasp!), I decided to plan a Gingerbread House Decorating Party for the middlest!  She definitely benefited from her brother's birthday decision!  :)

The idea of this party started last Monday (a mere 5 days before I wanted to host said party!) when I read Cassie from Hi Sugarplum's blog post on simple gifts to make and give. I saw this pic and knew I had to make these adorable scarves for someone!

But, who could I make them for...hey, wait a minute!  I can host a Gingerbread House Decorating Party and give these adorable scarves as party favors!  I eagerly waited on Holden to get home from school so that she could work on her invite list and then sent out a quick evite.  The rest, as they say, is history!

This was the wreath that I made for the front door.  I found the tinsel at Target and the mini gingerbread glass ornaments and turquoise ribbon at Hobby Lobby.  (Everything I purchased at Hobby Lobby was 1/2 off - score!).  

 I found this cute color-your-own disposable tablecloth at Target.  The centerpiece consisted of the tree from Holden's room with a few new gingerbread ornaments, a gingerbread snow globe and a cute stuffed gingerbread girl - all from Hob Lob!  

 I had intended to hang this garland on the wall but at the last minute I hung it from the light fixture (whose light really gave the camera a hard time!).  The garland was found in the holiday section at Hobby Lobby and I added gingerbread ornaments that I found in the craft section. 

 Saw on Pinterest (where else?!) to put the candy in cupcake pans - GENIUS!  I picked these small pans up at the Dollar Tree (I also picked up a few extra bags of candy while I was there too!).

Before the girls arrived (ok, Shelly and I might have still been working on this as they arrived!), we hot glued three sides of the house together.  We didn't want them getting frustrated so we just gave them a little helping start!

For a snack we had cupcakes, cookies, and their favorite - hot chocolate with whipped cream!

Cheers!

Not sure if the girls consumed more of the sweets or decorated their houses with them!  

I'm confident that I sent them home on a huge sugar high! 

 Such a fun afternoon spent with fun friends.  I'm so glad everyone was able to join us on such short notice!

Here's how I used the initial inspiration - fun plaid scarves for the girls to take home.  I attached a candy cane with candy cane ribbon from Jo-Ann's and added this fun tag:

 Carly, Holden and Hope showing off their creations!

Super fun day!  We'll definitely host another party like this in the future!  This might even become a new holiday tradition!

Thanks for stopping by!  And, a HUGE thank you to Shelly for helping me and also for taking these wonderful pictures!  Seriously couldn't have done it without you!

Gig 'em and God bless!

Holly

Much appreciation goes out to Karissa from A Fresh Start, the ladies from the The Mommy Monday Blog Hop, and Sinea from Ducks 'n a Row for featuring my post about our Gingerbread House decorating party! What an honor!  Thank you so much, ladies!