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Christmas Cookie Swap Party {Ideas}

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Last week I hosted our annual Christmas Party and cookie swap with with a fun group of local bloggers I get together with once a month. To balance out all the sweets from our cookie swap, I thought it would be fun to have a few Christmas-themed appetizers for us to snack on before the cookie overload. :)

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Here’s what all I made for our group. This bar opens up to the living room. You can see how this room was decorated for the party in our Holiday Home Tour post. :)

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

First up is Mini Caprese Bites! Cut grape tomatoes in half and layer with basil and mozzarella pearls on a toothpick. Then drizzle with DeLallo Balsamic Glaze and sprinkle with freshly cracked pepper and kosher salt. (Idea from here.)

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Next I made a fun Fruit & Cheese Christmas Tree!  Arrange cubes of pepper jack, cheddar, mozzarella, and colby jack cheese with red and green grapes to form a tree. Then tuck fresh thyme sprigs between the layers. A slice of celery is the finishing touch for a perfect tree trunk.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

How cute are these Chocolate Covered Strawberry Penguins??! Dip first in chocolate, let harden, then lay the front in white chocolate, and let harden. Use edible markers to draw on face.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

I also made Crock Pot Spicy Barbecue Kielbasa. It was a HUGE hit! (I left out the bourbon.)

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

What would a Christmas party be without Raspberry Mint Christmas Christmas Spa Water??! :) Layer ice with raspberry and mint, fill with water and let infuse for at least 30 minutes.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

The ice easily lasted the entire 3-hour party without melting. So good!

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

In addition to the cookies we swapped, everyone brought one dozen cookies on a plate to sample during the party.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

I made my Gooey Salted Caramel Vanilla Butter Cookies.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Stephanie from Plain Chicken brought these fun Peanut Butter Turtle Cookies.

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Lynda from Southern Kissed brought these fabulous Peppermint Sugar Cookies!

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

And my friend Wanda brought Charlie Brown Cookies. Have you heard of Charlie Brown Cookies? I don’t know what was in them, but they were delicious!

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

Everyone brought their cookies to swap in such cute packaging!

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

I also set up the Hot Chocolate Bar for us again this year!

Throw the ultimate Christmas party with cute Christmas themed food and the most awesome hot chocolate bar you have ever seen! Plus tips and recipes for hosting the best cookie swap party on the block.

This year there was a new addition to the hot chocolate bar… Marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and covered with crushed peppermint! The perfect stirring stick for hot chocolate. :)

Be sure to check out our Hot Chocolate Bar post for all the pictures of the hot chocolate bar — and last year’s cookie swap photos! :)

Thanks so much for looking!! Are you hosting or attending any holiday parties this year? What’s your favorite thing to bring to parties?

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19 Responses
  1. Kathryn

    Made the fruit and cheese Christmas tree but added broccoli and Rosemary and a yellow bell pepper start on top! Finished it off with some Hershey kisses ornaments and made the trunk with some dots pretzels. Great idea. All loved it!

  2. Summer

    Found this festive post on pinterest.What a delightful cookie swap! I love crafting and baking, so this party is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!

    Summer

  3. Meghan @ Freezer Friendly Moms

    What a great set up! You certainly covered every detail! I LOVE the spa water! I’m not even going to wait for a holiday, just for our next girls’ night. Cookie swaps are a great reason to freeze that cookie dough or even exchange frozen dough!! Hope you check out our post on Cookie Dough Freezing Tips! Happy New Year!

  4. Crystal

    The cookie swap was so fun as always! Loved the spa water and I was still eating your amazing cookies days later! Merry Christmas! xo

  5. Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy

    You are always so inspirational! Everything was so cute and perfect….loved the layered mint/raspberry water :) We’ll go to a NYE party this year, but that’s it! I love bringing appetizers and desserts :) Something easy for people to eat, but I try to do something a little different then what they might usually eat!

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Meet Kevin & Amanda

Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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