North Pole Baking Party

And next up, this amazing NORTH POLE BAKING CHRISTMAS PARTY submitted by Anders Ruff Custom Designs! This party is beyond adorable. FULL of details, details, details. Love the whimsical, magical feel to it all. I want to jump right through my computer screen and join them! 

Here is what Maureen said about their party- "When I think back to my childhood memories of ChristmasI immediately think of the warmth and comfort I would feel when seeing images of The North Pole.  From Santa and his reindeer to the stockings, mittens and candy canes, these were a symbol of the “feeling” of Christmas.  There is a certain nostalgia that those North Pole “symbols” bring and that I want to carry the tradition of in my own family.

This year, we designed a North Pole inspired collection that is perfect for adding style to any Christmas party or gift, but also has elements perfectly tailored for a Cookie Exchange or baking party.

For our dessert table for this North Pole Cookie Exchange party, we wanted to highlight all of the fabulous cookie vendors that have contributed their desserts throughout the year to our parties and holiday photoshoots.  With simple red cake stands on a stark white table cloth, we wanted to make a bold statement while focusing on the beautiful works of art - the cookies!  Some of the cookies were embellished with printable party flags to incorporate our graphics." ....{continued below}

{continued}..."A framed printable poster of a graphic of santa was hung on the backdrop (Cute little santa poster is included in our new North Pole collection!)

DIY - To add some whimsical style to the windows around the backdrop of the dessert table, we made circle garland out of our patterned papers.  We printed 2 sided cardstock from our patterned papers from the printable collection. We then punched the paper with various sized circle and scallop craft punches and sewed the circles together, leaving a little space in between.  We hung this garland over the dessert table window and around the hood of the stove.

The front of the dessert table was adorned with precious coordinating felt stockings from RikRak.  We embellished some of those with printable party logos from our collection.

For the cookie exchange party, the children sat at the bar and started out by mixing and baking some cookies.  We setup dishes with ingredients to make it easy.  The kids loved cutting out the cookies, and especially enjoyed eating them.  We displayed vintage glass milk bottles with paper straws and party flags, since you always need milk with your cookies.

We also setup a Hot Chocolate Bar where we displayed different ingredients in little ramekins on our red cake stands.  We displayed a printable hot cocoa bar menu and labeled the ingredients with party flags.  Marshmallows, cookie and cream crumble, old fashioned peppermint sticks, red hots, whipped cream and more!  Two Sugar Babies made some adorable fondant gingerbread men that we used to decorate the display as well.  The children loved mixing their own hot cocoa with the various ingredients.  They were all garnished so differently and that was a very easy activity for the younger children to participate in.

Our new Printable Advent Calendar mittens were hung from the fireplace mantle and filled with small candies.  Gifts were packaged and we introduced several new printable gift tag collections that we displayed on the gifts.  Santa stamp gift tags, hangtags and circle tags all coordinate perfectly with the complete collection.

The party ended with the kids unwrapping all of the gifts that they got each other! This is a tradition we will continue for years to come.

The “North Pole” Collection Printable gift tags, decor collection, hot cocoa bar set, advent calendar and invitation are available in the shop on sale!"

Vendor Credits:

- Complete Event Styling by Anders Ruff (www.andersruff.com)

- Printable decor, hot cocoa bar, gift tags, advent calendar mittens from Anders Ruff (www.andersruff.etsy.com)

- Photography by Becca Bond Photography (www.beccabondphotography.com)

- Luxury Mountain Home Rentals in Asheville, NC - Luxury Mountain Rentals available from Yonder (www.yondernc.com)

Clothing and Decor Sources:

- Custom Aprons and Christmas Pajamas - Made by Morgan (www.madebymorganwiebke.etsy.com)

- Custom “Letter to Santa” and “North Pole” Pillows by MonMell Designs (http://www.etsy.com/shop/monmelldesigns)

- Felt Stockings by Rik Rak (www.rikrak.etsy.com)

- Handmade Ornaments, Runner and Wreath by Nikki in Stitches (DIY Tutorial Book available at her website) (www.nikkiinstitches.com)

- Red Wooden Cake Stands by A Fabulous Fete (and some DIY) (www.aFabulousFete.etsy.com)

- Paper Baking Cups, Paper Fans, Tissue Poms, Nut Cups, Paper Straws, Favor Boxes, Glass Milk bottles from My Little Love (www.mylittlelove.bigcartel.com)

Dessert Sources:

- Mexican Hot Chocolate sandwich cookies by Red Bird Bakery (www.redbirdbaking.etsy.com)

- Fondant Cupcake and Cookie Toppers by Two Sugar Babies (www.twosugarbabies.com)

- Santa Stamp and Santa Cookie Pops by Sweet Sugar Belle (www.sweetsugarbelle.com)

- Glittery Candy Cane, North Pole and Hanging Mitten Cookies by Allyson Jane (www.allysonjane.com)

- Square Pattern, Red/white Santa Stamp, Candy Cane, Mini Gingerberad Men and Reindeer Sugar Cookies by The Cookie Jar (www.batches.etsy.com)

- Gingerbread Man Cookie pops by Oh! So Yummy Cookies and Confections (www.ohsoyummycookies.com)

- Chocolate Covered Pretzels by Pretzels Pleaze (www.pretzelspleaze.com)

Crafty Materials/Printing:

Labels by Onlinelabels.com

Adhesive by Gluedots (www.gluedots.com)

Poster Printing by Sign Guy (www.702signguy.com)