Company Christmas Party

I realize that I did not do much blogging this month. So, in one last attempt to put up something Christmas-y, here are some pictures from Michael's company Christmas party. I am very good friends with his boss James, and his wife, Krista. So, I always go over early and help set up, decorate and put out food. This year, we were smart and decided to decorate the house a day before the party. That gave us a lot of free time to relax on the day of. It was perfect!
Below is a picture of her formal dining room. I hung extra large Christmas balls from the light fixture, and just draped red and green ribbon down the center. We put a large Poinsettia in the center of the table with red candles on the outside. Krista already had the gold chargers in place, so it all fit together perfectly!The kitchen nook is where we set up the dessert table. Using different sized serving platters, it made for a nice setting. We just draped a red table cloth over phone books for added height, and tucked white twinkly lights underneath it. You cant tell from the photos, but the lights gave the table a very pretty glow. I hung more of the large balls from the light fixture, and rather than just draping cut pieces of ribbon, I curled these... I love how fun and festive that looks!Below are the strawberry Santa's that I made for the party. They were such a hit last year, that Krista made a special request for them again this year. They are so cute and very easy. Here is the recipe:
Take a package of strawberries, and trim the stems off, then cut them in half. You will need 1 can of pineapple chunks, mini choc. chips, toothpicks, 1 8oz pk cream cheese(room temp), 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff and a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
Take 1 chunk of pineapple, press 2 chocolate chips into the flat side.(they will actually just stay in like magic) This will be Santa's eyes. Then, take the large half of a strawberry, place the pineapple chunk on that piece, then top with the last piece of strawberry. Keep all 3 pieces together by sliding a toothpick in from top to bottom. When all the strawberry Santa's are assembled, mix the cream cheese with the marshmallow fluff and pipe around the hat, face and top. Here is the beautiful buffet set up.We also served this delicious Sangria punch. It is super easy. Just mix 1 bottle of Cabernet with 2 cups of orange juice and 2 cups of cranberry juice, top with frozen slices of orange and voila! To add a special touch I found some adorable Christmas clip art with different animals on them. I printed them out on card stock, and we tied each one to each wine glass. These were great for helping everyone remember which glass was theirs.And of course, I can't leave out Krista's beautiful Christmas tree set up in her formal living room. We all gathered around the tree later in the evening for the white elephant gift exchange. It was a fabulous party!