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Party Ideas by Party Consultant Michelle Hylton Updated: 09/07/2008
For many years I have been hosting Holiday Open Houses. It all started because our family moved frequently and not just to another neighborhood, but usually to another state. An easy way to meet my neighbors or open our new home to neighbors whom we met during the months before the holidays, was to invite them to our "Open House".
Since I have children, I didn't want to leave them out or their new friends that they have made, so all were invited. You need plan early, and send invitations the week before or of Thanksgiving. Why? If you wait until after Thanksgiving weekend there's a chance many of your neighbors and friends made commitments while celebrating the long 4-day weekend. I found this the best time to get on their calendars early!
Now the number of guest you invite needs to also depend on how big your home is. We were always fortunate enough to have a finished lower level which gives you so much more room. We usually invited about 20 families, which led to 75-100 people, but not all at the same time. I would have the "Open House" starting at 4pm and wrapping up around 10pm, with always a few good friends staying later. I always had the party on a Saturday night, which caught many families coming home from shopping or an afternoon holiday movie. Some guest would come early stay a few hours and then head to another engagement. Others would come and stay the whole time.
I planned the adult food (buffet style) and activities for the first level and the lower level would become the kids winter playground with a children's snack center.
My biggest tip is to hire local babysitters and get them booked early ( before Thanksgiving). I usually hired 2-3. They were in charge of the kids area. I usually set up a TV area for kids holiday movies and popcorn. A free room area with some toys out (don't leave all your children's toys out or your sitters will be too busy cleaning up. For younger kids, preprint holiday coloring pages and set up a coloring station. For older kids, I would set up a game table and put out games like checkers, backgammon, or Jenga. The final area or room was the craft room. Here I would prepare in advance two to three crafts for the kids to make and take home.
The craft room was set up in stations. As the child came in they were sent to station one - " Decorate A Gift Bag". This bag could not only be used for a gift later, but was a place to put all their handmade crafts when done. We had a corner that we would put the bags for them to take home later. There were usually two or three other crafts, all pre packaged for an individual to make. Glue was monitored by the babysitter. We usually used peanut cups to put the glue in and then the kids used q-tips to glue their crafts.
The best part of this, was parents got the chance to mingle upstairs while the kids were enjoying themselves downstairs. If you don't have a lot of room, then you may want to consider having an Adult only party or inviting a small number of families.
Each year I try to incorporate a theme for both the parents to give me some variety. Some themes I have used were Wine Tasting, Spanish, Victorian, Music, Silver & Gold, and Snowflakes. I try to incorporate the theme into at least one of the children's crafts. For example with the wine theme, they made a pair of wine charms for their parents or colored a cork wine coaster.
I have to say the Wine Tasting theme was the biggest hit for the Adult parties. I set up 5 tasting stations throughout the first floor. Each station had a bottle of wine wrapped in a decorative cover and a number on it. Extra bottles were hidden in case I needed to replenish. At each station there small sampling cups, and a complimentary cheese, cracker and fruit tray. The guest were given a card/pencil which had each stationed numbered on it. They were asked to guest the wine. To make it easier and for all guest to feel that they could participate, the cards listed multiple choice answers under each station for the wine. The guest just had to circle which one they thought it was. I also gave them the opportunity to write in what the cheese was served with the wine, no multiple choice here.
Guest mingled from room to room, giving them the opportunity to meet others by giving them something to talk about the wine!
A 9 pm I made an announcement to gather around with their guesses. The guest with the most correct answers, both wine and cheese would win a lovely New Years Eve basket filled with gourmet foods, New Year's party supplies for 4 and of course wine and a non-alcoholic sparkling drink. Station by station I announced the wine and it's complimentary cheese.
Guest tallied their correct answers. I asked if anyone got all 10 right and then counted down to find out who had correctly guessed the most. In case of a tie, I planned a winner's pool in which they drew a piece of paper out of Santa hat, with only one of them saying "winner."
I received the greatest compliments with this theme, everyone really enjoyed it and wanted me to do it again next year. Unfortunately, I moved out of state before the next holiday, but they threw us a great going away party with lots of wine!
From my party store and affiliates, I have gathered many products together here for you to use at your Holiday Open House. Please feel free to contact me with any questions with your Open House plans.
Best Wishes, Michelle Hylton Party & Gift Consultant
For my Open House parties, I sometimes print up my own invitations on my computer using preprinted holiday paper or cards. I try to create my own card greetings like this one....
Wine Tips How much wine to buy? A .750 ml bottle of wine holds about 4.5 servings ( full glasses). Take the number of wine-drinking guests multiply by the number of servings of wine then divide by 4.5.
20 guests x 2 servings of wine / 4.5 = 8.8... round up to 9 bottles.
Now for wine tasting, most people won't have a full glass. You can expect them to have a 1/4 of a glass or less. So, for wine tasting, you may get as much as 18 servings per .750 ml bottle of wine. So to calculate per tasting station it would be:
20 guests x 1 serving / 18 = 1.1 or 2 bottles per station.
You can use small taste testing plastic cups to ensure the calculation.
Make sure you store your wine away from light and heat sources. Keep them in a cool, dark location.
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Holiday Open House
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