Cookie Exchange Party!!

This weekend I hosted my first cookie exchange party!!! I think it was a success, and I hope that next year I can do it again in our new bigger place =). I invited about 14 people this year because I didn't want it to get too crowded in our 2 bedroom apartment and 7 people came. A good turn out for it being the weekend before Christmas! I invited people about 2 1/2 weeks ago to give them time to check their calendars. I asked each guest to bring 3 dozen cookies for exchanging and to send me their recipes a couple days in advance so I could make sure there would be no duplicates and so that I could print out the recipes for each person to take home.

Sunday morning, I got up way early to make my cookies and to decorate the apartment for the cookie exchange. The party was from 2-4 and I was busy all morning! I made Double Chocolate Peppermint Surprise cookies. They are really yummy but tedious to make. They each have a mini individual peppermint patties inside of them.

Here's the spread of yummies I had for everyone to munch on:

I made BBQ chicken and bacon wraps, and a cranberry relish that goes over cream cheese that you eat with crackers. Trust me when I say that the cream cheese and cranberry dish is amazing! There was none left after the party. I also had chips and dip and a vegetable and cheese tray.

I also had a hot chocolate bar. I had marshmellows and peppermint sticks to put in the hot chocolate.

I bought these stickers to put on people's drinks at Target. I got a kick out of them for sure.

Hehe...

When everybody arrived, we put the cookies on my table and then mingled and talked for a bit!

All the yummy cookies ready to be exchanged 

When we were ready to exchange cookies, everyone introduced what cookie they had brought, and then each of us took about 4 cookies from each batch to put on our plate to take home.

My loot after going around the table

After we exchanged cookies, we played a little game that I found on Pinterest. You had to guess the Christmas song by the picture. The person who won got a yummy smelling candle!

Source: flickr.com on Pinterest

Before each person left, they got a Christmas towel and all of the recipes on cute cardstock that I put together so that they could make the cookies at home!

I can't wait til next year!! Thank you girls for coming and for bringing yummy cookies! I may have to run on a treadmill for months to come but they sure are worth it!!