Now that finals are over and the holidays quickly approach, many students find themselves home for the holidays, hoping to celebrate with friends and family. This week, I’ve channeled my inner Martha Stewart and put together a guide to throwing an elegant holiday party, complete with food and drink, fun activities and a playlist to get your guests in the spirit.
Food
To curate the perfect holiday menu, I would suggest putting together a charcuterie board. Charcuterie boards are a classic crowd-pleaser, great for parties due to their casual nature — everyone can dive in whenever they want. My go-to place for charcuterie ingredients is Trader Joe’s. As a college student, they have some more affordable picks that are great for putting together a beautiful board. Throw all of the following together on your favorite cheese board and dig in!
Unexpected Cheddar Cheese
Fig and Olive Crisps
Spicy Uncured Charcuterie Selection – comes with coppa, sopressa salame, and capocolla
Truffle Marcona Almonds
Double Cream Brie Wheel
Dark and Milk Chocolate Covered Almonds
Granny Smith Apple Fruit Spread
Rosemary Sprigs — to add color and freshness to the board
Drinks
For drinks, the viral snow globe cocktail/mocktail provides a festive look that is sure to please partygoers. The cocktail requires a bit of prep but it’s well worth it. The final product is a cocktail resembling a snow globe, complete with a rosemary spring Christmas tree in the center.
Instructions:
Add water to the bottom of a glass, and once slightly frozen, insert a rosemary sprig. This will be your “Christmas tree.”
Add frozen cranberries to the glass and freeze for about 45 minutes.
Remove from the freezer. Add a sparkling water of your choice, white rum and a dash of cranberry juice. For mocktails, you can exclude the white rum.
Add a few more frozen cranberries on top and serve!
Activities
To keep your guests entertained, White Elephant is a great pick to inspire holiday spirit and maybe a few lighthearted arguments. For this game, each person brings a gift to put in the pile. The first person picks a gift from the pile and unwraps it, and the next person can choose to either steal the first person’s gift or unwrap a new gift.
This chaotic holiday party game is a bit more exciting than Secret Santa and can bring a fun energy to your holiday party.
Tip: Before the party, set a gift price limit. That way, everyone ends up with something of similar value and there are no hard feelings.
Another great activity option is decorating gingerbread houses. You can find inexpensive gingerbread house kits at WinCo. I would suggest getting a few extra candy options and frostings for an easy time decorating. This is a great option for more crafty partygoers and can be a relaxing way to enjoy the holidays with friends and family.
Music
What’s a holiday party without music? Here’s a playlist sure to inspire all of the cozy and festive feels surrounding the holidays.
O Tannenbaum – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Last Christmas – Wham!
I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas – Kacey Musgraves
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt
Frosty the Snowman – Fiona Apple
Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley
Sleigh Ride – The Ronettes
Winter Wonderland – Tony Bennett
Mele Kalikimaka – Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters
Happy holidays from the Daily Emerald!
