Cookie Bake, Decorate & Take Party Recap

The last few days are somewhat of a blur to me now. It's crazy how demanding schedules get around the holidays. But today was just spectacular. It was relaxed and casual all while being chaotic and noisy. We hosted 10 kids and 8 adults (including ourselves) + 1 dog. I think the kids were more interested in Gibson than anything to do with the cookies. But the end goal was achieved, everyone walked out of here with a ton of treats to take home- in carriers and in their bellies! So how'd we go about tackling this feat? I'll tell you!

The great thing was that this was casual, so when my schedule changed from what I was expecting, I knew we could still pull the party together. The only things I did ahead of schedule were:

*All the grocery shopping
*Prep the salad
*Figure out the layout
*Made 4 batches of sugar cookie dough (as I knew that would get us one step closer to what the kids would want to do- decorate them!)
*Cleaning

That's about it until the day of the party. Then, I had to:

*Arrange the beverage station
*Make the mac & cheese bites (they were gone before I could even get a picture!)
*Arrange the deli cheese and meat tray
*Clean up any last minute messes
*Set up the tables and chairs for decorating station
*Set out all the baking supplies

Still, not bad. However, I did not get to take nearly as many photos of the set up as I had hoped. I was lucky to get these quick shots of the kitchen.



We ate lunch right away, and then all those items were put away. That's the nice part about having a quick and simple lunch- barely any clean up! And thank goodness because the kids were ready to go right away!

And with this photographic evidence, you are about to see just how NOT Martha Stewart I am. This is a real life party. These are the during pics, and you can see- there is mass chaos going on in this kitchen! But it was perfect. :) And you can see why there weren't many chances for me to get pictures. I was busy rolling out and baking all these sugar cookies! There was pretty much a constant flow of cookies once we got going as I had about 20 in the oven at all times for about 10 minutes, then they needed about 10 minutes to cool. By that time, the kids would be ready for more. My sister was great on icing duty as well.


But, eventually, I had to get in on the action! So I took a quick break from the prep work.


My sister bought me a Santa ornament that read "First Annual Cookie Party." Uh oh. :) I better get ready for the Second Annual Cookie Party now! And I thought for a moment...eh maybe this could just be a one time thing, but really? Could you say no to this face?

It was definitely a joint effort from everyone there which is what made it so great. There was no way I could have handled it alone- I owe a LOT to my sisters, mom and brother's girlfriend. The kids had a blast, and it was so fun to see the different designs they each did. We absolutely will do it next year...and the next and next! I think the only thing I'll change next year is to bake the sugar cookies the day before. We'll be able to get the kids going right away, plus have time to make more of a variety. This year we did 3 different types of cookies.

We cleaned up right away, and now I'm crashed on the couch with a very sleepy puppy. He basically ran circles around the house with the kids for about 3 hours. It's time for a nap :)

Have any other logistical questions for me? Throw them out there!