Hosting a Stress-Free Cookie Decorating Party

Ever want to host a holiday party but then you remember: You'll have to clean the house, buy food, prepare the food, serve the food, hope your guests like the food, clean up any potential messes made and in doing so, pretend like you're not even a little sad your favorite *insert item here* got broken or stained? Don't get me wrong, I love to host people in my home and am happily prepared for all of the above scenarios. But sometimes stress-free is nice! Enter the cookie decorating party.

I really believe a lot of whether hosting is stressful or not is up to you and even who you choose to bring into your home. Recently, I had a cookie decorating party with a few of my friends, and it was so fun. The best part is, making a mess is half the point here! So prepare to snack on some sprinkles and sneak a little frosting; you're certainly invited.

Here are my stress-free cookie decorating party (phew, that's a mouthful!) suggestions:

Like I mentioned, embrace the mess! But I've got a few tips to avoid getting royal icing all over everything. You can put piping bags on a dish when they're not in-use, in case they leak out the top (they likely will). I also had some luck with putting a few colors of icing in plastic condiment bottles, which are surprisingly easy to work with. The only con to some of the plastic bottles is you won't be able to get as fine of detail work from it, depending on the size of the cap. Go simple with decor, and don't over think it! The cookies will add enough visual interest to your table.

Ask all of your guests to bring a certain amount of cookies (for this event with just a few friends, I asked them to bring 12). That way, you're not having to bake a billion cookies, and you'll get more variety in flavors, style and cute cookie cutters! A good way to determine how many cookies to have each pal to bring is to decide what number of decorated cookies you'd like everyone to leave with. Then, ask everyone to bring that number. You can trade around cookies so each person has enough of a fun variety to decorate! It's always a good idea to have another batch on-hand, but this will save you a lot of baking and kitchen time.

In my opinion, wax paper is the best for fielding potential icing explosions. It's easy to use, nonstick and when you're finished, you can just toss it for easy cleanup. I put some paper placemats under the wax paper for this event, but I also think it could be cute to layer wax paper on brown craft paper.

Have some salty snacks and beverages available to help cope with the sugar rush. Cheese is always a good idea, in my opinion. ☺️And... that's about it! 

I hadn't really decorated cookies since I was a kid, and it's SO much more fun when you're an adult with better fine motor skills, ha! It's also super inspiring if your friends are as artistic as mine.

Most of the cookies in these photos were decorated by Kelsey Baldwin, who you can read more about here. (She's amazing!)

P.S. I wouldn't say I'm an expert on royal icing cookies, but I used this recipe for my sugar cookies and this one for my icing. I had to add quite a bit of water to the icing recipe to get it to be the right texture. 

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Galentine's Day LaCroix Mocktail

Who's got big Galentine's Day plans? Thanks to Leslie Knope, this holiday has been a "thing" since 2010. All about women celebrating women, the tradition occurs on February 13th — Valentine's Day Eve. Or, really, whenever you want to party with your gal pals... and I say celebrate 'em early and often!

So, here's a toast to my girlfriends:

I love you more than LaCroix

And more than most boys

You make my life sweet

Let's have some treats 🍕🍔🥂

What are we toasting with? Thought you'd never ask! It's time for ...drumroll, please... LACROIX MOCKTAILS! (Or you can put alcohol in it if you want, but I'm accommodating all my #whole30 friends and my pregnant friends and my non-drinking friends and.. well, everybody.)

I have to give recipe credit to my husband on this one. We each made a mocktail with orange LaCroix, and his was much better than mine. In fact, he spit mine out on the first taste. I guess I got a little too adventurous...

Anyway, here it is:

Ingredients:

- Orange juice (make sure it doesn't have any added sugar or ingredients if you're following whole 30)

- Cranberry juice, unsweetened

- Orange LaCroix

- Sea salt

- Cara Cara pink navel oranges — read how to dehydrate them here.

Directions:

1. In a pitcher or mixing glass, pour 4 ounces of orange juice

2. Add 2 ounces cranberry juice

3. The secret ingredient — just a dash of sea salt

4. Pour an entire 12 oz. can of orange LaCroix into the glass

5. Garnish with a dehydrated pink navel orange. It looks pretty, and it ups the flavor game.

6. Serve 'em up! This recipe serves two 8 oz. glasses

And there ya have it! A fun, easy (and guilt free!) drink for your Galentine's party. If you're up for a serious girls night, you could even make a craft from those leftover orange slices. So pretty!

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7 Supplies for Last-Minute Hosting

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — that sacred week between Christmas and New Year’s — where old friends are in town and nobody remembers what day it is. Naturally, if you live in the town your friends are visiting, the likelihood is high that you’ll be opening your home to unexpected guests.

So, if you’re like me and prone to inviting people over last-minute, here are seven things to have on hand this weekend.

Sparkling water or a warm beverage
I like to keep items stocked that won’t go bad, so you can use them when company comes without having to make a special trip to the store. A can of LaCroix or a mug of hot tea is a welcoming gesture for any friend who walks through the door.

A good candle or diffuser
You know how the smell of an Anthropologie wipes away every care or concern you’ve ever had? That’s my goal with the candles I buy for my home. A nice, clean scent can really make all the difference in atmosphere! And if your plans are last-minute, that candle can make it seem like you just vacuumed five minutes ago even if you haven’t vacuumed for a week.

Timely reading materials
Whether it’s a current magazine or a unique coffee table book, it’s always fun to see what other people have in their homes. And bonus, if the conversation stalls, you’ll have something to fall back on.

Supplies for a quick, simple cheese board
OK, so I realize cheese isn’t exactly an easy pantry item, but if you don’t have cheese in the house between Christmas and New Year’s, might I ask: What type of person are you? Oh, a healthy one? Oh.. well, OK then.

A clean kitchen/living room
I’m not sure how this one is so far down the list… who wrote this blog post? But, really, clean common spaces are a necessity unless you’re hosting your family or closest pals. When you’re having guests over who you haven’t seen in ages, just throw all your junk in the bedroom or office and shut. the. door. Otherwise they’ll talk about how messy you are when they leave, oops!

Music to set the tone
A good playlist can instantly set the mood for any gathering. Want to have a nice, long conversation with old friends? Choose something with a lower tempo. Or, want to joke around and party like it’s 1999? Play the Spice Girls.

A coat rack
This feels like a bonus one because most friends I visit don’t have coat racks, or even a coat closet. But if you don’t want your friends to judge you for a messy bedroom, a coat rack is a necessity. Or I suppose it’s a possibility that you have a clean bedroom; in which case, you can put the coats in there. I’ll allow it.

These tips are particularly relevant throughout the holiday season, but I think they would work year-round, as well! Are you having friends over last-minute? Invite me!

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5 Ways to Bless Your Friends for Mother’s Day

If there’s anything I’ve learned from seeing many of my friends have kiddos, it’s that being a mom is obviously rewarding, but it can be really challenging, too. As a non-mom myself, I’ve only learned about motherhood secondhand from some good friends. But whether a child is entering the “terrible two’s” or not, I’ve heard a full day of "mom-ing" can be really exhausting.

And I believe it! Honoring your mom for Mother's Day is an obvious to many of us, as it should be. But I want use this day to recognize some of my friends who are either preparing to be mothers or are already living the life, finding Cheerios in every nook and cranny and trying to avoid stepping on Legos. Here are a few ways I'm thinking you can bless a mom, peer to peer. Let me know if you think of any others!




1. Set Up a Play Date
"But I don't have a kid," you're saying. Even better. You don't have to have a kiddo of your own to have a fun picnic at the park with a friend who has a little one. You know in schools where they brag about the student/teacher ratio in a classroom? Typically, the idea is the fewer students per teacher, the better. You're just improving the student/teacher ratio on this play date! Your friend can rest a little easier knowing there are two sets of eyes on her child, and you can enjoy an afternoon together.



2. Offer to Babysit
The cost of hiring a babysitter can add up pretty quickly. If you have a close friend who needs an "off duty mom" night, consider how you can offer to help. You'll get to spend a few hours with a cute baby, and you'll enjoy it even more knowing you're giving your friend a much-deserved break.



3. Buy Some Flowers
Normally I'd say buy her a plant, but a mom's already got enough on her plate, so you don't want to add to that by giving her something else she has to take care of. Flowers can be a great, thoughtful gift that'll be sure to brighten her day.



4. Send a Note
Snail mail is the best of the best, but a hand-delivered note is second best, in my book. It was one of my resolutions at the beginning of the year to send more letters because I truly believe it's one of the most thoughtful ways to communicate with another person. Telling a mom how hard you see her working will mean a lot to her — I guarantee it.



5.  Let Kids be Kids and Moms be Moms
I think the best way you can bless your friends, or any mom you know, for Mother's Day is to be a safe place to let them talk about how they're doing. Whether your friend is new to motherhood or not, nobody has it all figured out right from the start, and nobody should be expected to. Give grace freely and openly to your friends who are moms, and to yourself if or when you become a mom.



And if your mom-friend is a really good one, maybe she'll let you borrow her mom jeans. xo!

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An Easy, Breezy Cheese Board

I'm here to talk about my passion for cheese. Cheese boards, more specifically.

Give me a party that's got a cheese board, and I'm there faster than you can say "gouda". Extravagant cheese boards usually pop up like magic unicorns at holiday gatherings and parties. Consider this: Should unicorns and large plates of cheese be reserved for special occasions, or should they be promoted to "any-ole-random-day" status? Marie Antoinette said let them eat cake, and I say let us eat cheese!

So here's the thing about cheese boards — they can be over the top, in terms of options and price. Or they can be really simple, and in the right setting, that can be just as good. If you're hosting friends on a random weeknight, you don't have to go all out. In fact, you can probably whip one up with common items you could already have in your pantry or fridge.

You'll obviously need cheese because that's what makes this a cheese board and not simply a snack board. Usually it's best to have one soft, spreadable cheese and a hard cheese. Personally, I snack on parmesan in the evenings and use goat cheese in a handful of my go-to recipes, so I had these on hand. (Maybe I'm a little bit of a cheese hoarder, but hey, don't judge). After you have cheese, get creative with what else you have on hand.

I think jelly is the best-kept secret to "fancify" your cheese board, especially if you've got goat cheese on the plate. Trust me on this.

This was the plate I made with some common snack/lunch items, but you could add nearly anything munchy you enjoy nibbling on. Hard salami, pears, kalamata olives, etc. would be good additions. Then, add a friend or two, and you've got a great weeknight!

Oh, and make sure to tell lots of cheesy jokes. (I'm sorry. I had to.)

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