Cookie Party invitations... don't worry, I won't mail them until after Thanksgiving

I'm thinking about invitations! As I am still waiting on the final head count for Thanksgiving, I am planning for the Christmas festivities. I usually send out invitations for Christmas Season events right after Thanksgiving so people can save the date. Since Thanksgiving is this week.... I guess my invitations should be bought or made SOON, huh?

My daughter loves it when we have parties. And this year she's having her own. She's inviting some girls from her class at school and her ballet class to a cookie decorating party at our house. I warned her that the holidays get busy, and some of the girls won't come because their parents are busy that day. But she has observed my events in the past and seen that even with one or two guests, we can still have a lot of fun!

Our agenda is simple: A handful of 7, 8, and 9 year old girls arrive on a Saturday morning to a variety of already-baked sugar cookies in different Christmas shapes. The girls will use different frostings, frosting bags, and sprinkles to decorate the cookies at our kitchen table, counter, and bar. Girls generally love crafts and making things, so this should make for a fun morning!  (I can't imagine doing something like this with a kitchen full of BOYS...) We'll have a little lunch (something simple) at the end of the party-- that is, if they have any space left in their bellies after nibbling!

On the invitations (which we worked on today), we are asking each guest to bring a container so that she can bring home a dozen of the cookies she decorates. My daughter thinks that all of her friends will be excited about  getting to bring home cookies (I agree). I love that my daughter is excited about welcoming her friends into her home and having fun getting to know each other better while preparing for Christmas. I really do think that learning and practicing hospitality as children gives kids confidence in their ability to practice hospitality as adults. Making it fun and not stressing about it is important for parents. The more we do it, the less we stress!

Here's the sample invitation that I made  for my daughter to modify as she wanted to. We did the printing on the computer, used a gingerbread man paper punch, and some Christmas-y paper glued onto the brown invitation. My daughter loves getting out the craft supplies and being creative (where does she get that from?). And she is in luck-- my boxes of art and craft supplies just got unpacked today!