Party Inspiration: A Winter Wonderland Holiday Cookie Box Social

I know the holidays are sadly over, but I have one last holiday party inspiration I am super excited to show you exclusively on Pretty Tasty Things. Ariana Ewing and Meghan Ely of OFD Consulting based here in Richmond, Virginia designed this impeccably beautiful and crafty holiday cookie box social this season. It’s just insane how everything from the DIY touches to the color scheme was put together so perfectly.

According to Meghan, this cookie exchange party is an annual tradition with her friends. In her words, the party itself came from humble beginnings. I held one my first year out of college in my new city of Richmond with what I imagine to be about a $25 budget. The decor was paper chains made from construction paper and I believe the menu consisted of chips and salsa. The party is truly proof that the best part will always be the party goers themselves. Although, I’m happy to say that the menu has gotten much better over the years. We normally spend the first hour visiting and then dive into the cookie exchange itself with everyone introducing themselves and telling us about their recipe. Everyone then walks around and grabs cookies until they’re gone. I ask all guests to bring copies of their recipes, which comes in handy.

Lets take a look at all the wonderful details!

Ariana designed all the details for the social. She said she found inspiration in everything and everywhere especially gathering ideas from Pinterest, a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share things you love from the web. She took her favorite photos and created an inspiration board that would help her stay on track of exactly what her vision was. In her words, I chose a sort of winter wonderland theme with touches of peacock blue, silver, white and touches of grey to use throughout. I wanted the guests to feel as though it was a departure from the traditional with the color scheme, touches of DIY and glamour mixed in, but I did not want to stray too far away from the holiday feel.

According to Ariana, yarn is the new up and comer in the wedding and event planning décor. The trees are made from styrofoam cones with yarn wrapped around and secured with a hot glue gun. For an added whimsical touch, pom poms where added in white and silver as ornaments. Silver and turquoise ornament balls were added as accents.

I just love the pom-poms on top of the yarn tree!

A wine barrel? I need me one of those!

To create the tree skirt and table runner, they purchased the fabric from U-Fab. They selected a grey and white chevron print, which is very hot this season. The table runner was made using No Sew tape and excess fabric was used to drape around the bottom of the tree.

The fireplace. Man-oh-man. Isn’t this gorgeous? Above the fireplace they decided to take a tree branch and dust it with white and silver spray paint. It was then hung from the ceiling, dripping in sparkly ornaments. I just love the branch above the fireplace, it’s a beautiful piece of art! Bunting was strung across the fireplace easily made from gorgeous scrapbooking paper and ribbon.

In front of the fireplace, a hot chocolate bar was set up. It’s always the main beverage at their cookie social parties and this year, Meghan brought back more chocolate from Murphy’s Ice Cream in Dingle, Ireland. It was a huge hit with the guests and luckily, they have enough for next year’s party as well.

An array of appetizers and desserts were served along side all the cookies and desserts. My favorite appetizer I see are the tater tots, which according to Meghan, pays homage to the weekly happy hour started with her work friends at Maymont back in the day. Her favorite spot for the best tots are, of course, Sticky Rice!

Special thanks to Ariana and Meghan for submitting their seriously fabulous holiday cookie box social! You ladies certainly outdid yourselves. Stay tuned later this week for Meghan’s Spicy Pepper Cookies she prepared for her social!

Design: Ariana Ewing, OFD Consulting
Cookies: Meghan Ely, OFD Consulting
Photos: Travis Ely
Fabric: U-fab
Craft Supplies: Michaels, Ikea and Hobby Lobby

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