I love to throw parties, but not the stuffy, perfect kind- the really fun kind! Being in my home (even if it’s a ton of work), with the people I love really and truly fills my bucket like nothing else (this time it was my bible study girls and their husbands. We’ve been meeting for over 15 years, and we’ve walked through A LOT together. I could go on and on.).
When I decide to host a party, the first thing I do is call my friend, Katie Clark. She has a knack for entertaining, and she always has the best ideas, like renting a rock wall for our neighborhood kid’s Christmas party. It’s practically impossible to find entertainment for boys and girls of varying ages, but a rock wall was a massive hit! You can see more about this party here.
But for this party, here were my constraints and the solutions we came up with:
There were 18 people, and for me, that’s too many people to cook for. She came up with the great idea to do a Tex-Mex Christmas!
We decided on fajitas from a Mexican food restaurant (El Tiempo Cantina) with queso and guacamole as the appetizer and Margaritas in these darling cups with the cutest cocktail napkins (from my friend at EA Designs – Houston).
Cups and Napkins by EA Designs – Houston
My dining room table isn’t big enough for 18, but I wanted everyone together…
…so we moved the party outside where we had space!
It was going to be dark and difficult to see each other, so…
…we strung Christmas lights over the table, and…
…I filled the table with every votive candle I could find in my house.
But if you ask me, these new snowball votive candles I purchased recently really added a beautiful winter glow.
I don’t have enough matching silverware, plates or chargers for 18, so…
Gold Chargers, Silver chargers, Gold silverware
…I mixed my silver and gold toned chargers and silverware! As for plates, I used my white, everyday plates and some Christmas plates my friend, Katie, purchased from the Dollar Store as a White Elephant gift one year. It added a lighthearted, fun feel!
I knew doing flowers would be too much for me to tackle, so…
…I used the garland I had hanging around my front door for the center of the table and put white roses from my yard in tiny vases nestled in the garland.
I didn’t have any Mexican decorations or enough plastic table, so I sent a text to my friends asking if they did, and boom!
Decorations and tables taken of! I actually had so many decorations, I was able to put some of the blankets on the back of the chairs for people to use for warmth!
I don’t throw a party without some kind of entrainment plan -hahahaha! I’m telling you, I’m all about fun. I usually do Table Topics for the entertainment, but I wanted something different this time.
So my friend, Melissa, offered to do the piñata, and I took her up on it! It was filled with chocolate and lottery tickets!
Then we had a White Elephant gift exchange! They said I took the cake with my gift…
…a Christmas themed Beta fish bowl! It was a hit! Except for the friend who opened it originally who has five kiddos and a knack for keeping fish alive for a very long time -hahaha! But not to worry, it quickly was stolen by someone else! Oh, and I take no credit on this amazing White Elephant present idea. All the credit goes to my friend, Kathryn Roark!
Just in case you’re looking for a fun way to host a whole slew of people, I hope you found a few ideas in this post to help make it easy!
