2016 Cookie Exchange

One of the things that comes to mind when I think about the holidays is all of the delicious fresh baked sweets that everyone makes. I remember growing up, my mom would always go to a neighborhood cookie exchange. My brother, dad and I would look forward to the party day- knowing she’d be coming home with some delicious treats!

For the past four years, I’ve hosted my own cookie exchange. It’s always held the first Sunday of December- making it the perfect way to kick off the holiday season. Nothing beats celebrating with fresh baked cookies, festive drinks and good friends. I always look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with and the creative ways they display their treats. Overall, it’s just a fun time with some of my favorite people.

Since this is my fourth year hosting, I’ve been able to figure out what works to throw together a quick party with very little stress. This year was the easiest party thus far and I’m going to share a few secrets with you!

For the decor,  I do a one stop shop at Target for just simple plates, cups and a table cloth. The rest of the decor for the party will be my holiday decor.

When guests arrive, I usually have a few appetizers in the kitchen. This year, the kids were home all day and I took them to a bounce house place that morning. I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to cook things up, so I went the Trader Joe’s appetizer route. I had a cranberry goat cheese with crackers, spinach dip, quiche and some brie pastry bites. All took just 2o minutes to take out and bake. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a picture of the kitchen.

Next up are the printables. I found all of the printables for the party from the The Dating Divas. There were voting cards, awards tags, gift tags and more. I also love how the printable pack gives you everything you need for a party along with instructions and ideas of what to do.

Guests voted on the cookies and at the end of the party, B&BW candles were given for prizes. Below you can see the packaged cookies. Guests are asked to make 4 dozen cookies. 3 dozen are packaged in groups of 6 to trade and 1 dozen is brought on a plate for guests to sample.

Here is the display of cookies. I number the cookies for voting purposed and always have some extra plates for guests to put their cookies on.

The cookies I made this year were Santa’s Whiskers. Recipe coming soon.

The gifts for the guests were small cookie cutters. I found them at Target for less than $1. The fit the theme perfectly and hopefully the guests will use them. If you want to save searching time, grab these from Amazon.

I saved the best for last…the sweet friends and family that made this party a success. The holidays wouldn’t be anything without the ones you love.