5 steps to hosting an ornament exchange party

Soon we’ll be bustling through December with a calendar full of holiday engagements.

But, if you’re hoping to carve out a bit of time for your girlfriends we’ve got an easy-does-it guide to hosting an ornament exchange.

Party planner Nancy Pfeifer, from A to Zebra Celebrations says hosting an ornament exchange party is not only an opportunity to spend time with friends, but it also allows you to add a unique ornament to your collection.

No ideas for ornaments? Click here for 3 easy-to-make holiday ornaments

Nancy says your exchange does not need to be a weekend. You could make it a breakfast/coffee morning or lunch while the kids are in school.

As far as the invitation, the trend now is DIY printing. You easily order from an online store such as Fresh Chick Design Studio by purchasing the PDF or JPG file completely customized. Then, you can go green by emailing to your friends or have it printed at your local photo lab or office supply store. It’s considerably less expensive than the pricey card stores.

As for a menu, Nancy says it depends upon the time of day. With people having tighter budgets, a potluck is a nice way to get everyone involved.

You could do cocoa and cookies, donuts and muffins, coffee and tea. If it’s in the afternoon you could do appetizers, like a veggie and fruit tray.

Another trend that also serves as décor for your event are cookies and cupcakes. Those seen on Sonoran Living Live were from Sugar Dreams .

And for the decorations, Nancy suggests keeping all your serving dishes the same color. White works well because it can transition between all the holidays. You can add some color by adding fresh flowers, decorative table runners, ornaments in glass jars, pine cones from your local park and spray paint them with glitter. Keep it simple and remember less is more.

A to Zebra Celebrations is offering 25 percent off your entire order through the end of November for any customer who mentions they saw Nancy on Sonoran Living.