Happy Tuesday! This is the first time since having a baby I’ve managed to hop on the blog two days in a row! Now that my son is sleeping through the night and taking long naps during the day, I feel like I can hop back into more blogging!
Last weekend, I had my girlfriends over for a cookie-decorating lunch party. We try our best to make time during the busy holiday season to do something fun each year. I decided to host a cookie-decorating lunch party, and it was so fun putting everything together! I wanted to share the photos to inspire you to have your girlfriends over for a fun holiday-themed get-together. Life is busy for everyone, but it’s important to make time for friendships. This party theme was super simple to put together! I had most of the supplies, but I picked up a few things to make it extra special.
I decided to make everything gluten-free and vegetarian to fit my friend’s dietary needs. I put together a giant salad with spring mix, baby kale, avocado, dried blueberries, cranberries, glazed almonds, raspberries, blueberries, cucumber, tomatoes, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette. I put the Publix brand of gluten-free and vegan chicken strips in the oven to make them super crispy to go on top of the salad. They tasted just like chicken strips!
I found these adorable matching gingerbread aprons at Homegoods while I looked at their baking sheets. I thought it would be so cute to hang them on each chair. You can also find matching themed aprons on Amazon! 
My friend Kelsey brought over ingredients to assemble a delicious cranberry-orange mocktail. It had cranberry juice, honey, oranges, anise, cinnamon, gingerale, cranberries, and rosemary. They were so beautiful and tasted amazing!
I love using the candles and mini holders from my wedding anytime I host a dinner.
Each station had a container filled with gluten-free sugar cookies in the shapes of Santa, reindeer, ornaments, trees, snowflakes, candy canes, snowmen, gingerbread men, mittens, and stockings!
I filled mini muffin liners with an assortment of sprinkles and then filled up two bottles with royal icing.
Each cookie container came with a plastic wrap and ribbon, so when the cookies were dry, you could put them back in the container, wrap them up, and add a gift tag.
I put all the supplies on a baking sheet as decorating space. I supplied a plate to put the finished cookies on while they dried. 
It was cold and rainy outside, so the Christmas music playing and the candles lit had us all in the Christmas spirit.
I baked the cookies and set up the decorating station the night before to make it easier!
Decorating the cookies was so fun! My stomach hurts from laughing when someone messed up on a cookie. There were so many that did not make the photos! My Santas are a little scary looking, but it was tough. Professional cookie decorators do not get enough credit. I plan to do cookies again this year because it’s one of my favorite things to do with my mom.
We had a much-needed coffee break to help us power through the rest of our cookies. I have so many Christmas coffee mugs, and the collection keeps getting bigger each year. My solution is to store them with the holiday decor after Christmas. World Market and Anthropologie make some of my favorites. Target has stepped it up, too! 
If you’re making Christmas cookies this year, I would love for you to tag me on your Instagram posts! I love seeing Christmas cookies!! 
My favorite places to buy sprinkles are TjMaxx, Target, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Walmart. Some of the cookie cutouts are from when I was five! My mom gave me a bunch that she had saved.
TjMaxx has all the cute pans and sprinkle holders, and Hobby Lobby has the best table decor. 
Cheers!
Of course, little bug hung out with us, too!
I hope this inspired you to text your friends and set up a cookie-decorating lunch date!
Questions for you!
- Do you have any holiday traditions you do with your friends?
- Which cookie shape is your favorite to decorate?
- What are some bucket list holiday things you have planned for this year?
Such a cute idea, I want to do this too 😍
Yes! it was so fun ♥️
This is a fun idea!
Thank you 😃
I love this post! What a fun idea for a holiday get-together, and the cookies turned out so pretty! I also love those beautiful mocktails, they are stunning and look delicious! The coffee bar with the festive mugs is awesome! I haven’t tried the Silk oat creamer before (will add it to my list to try!), but have been using Nutpods for about a month or so now and enjoy those. Have you tried that creamer before?
Make Life Marvelous
Thank you so much, Ashley!!
I bought the nutpods collection on Amazon but wasn’t a big fan because I felt you had to add soooo much of the creamer to get the flavor. I started mixing the nutpods with regular half and half and liked it a little better!
Tho Chobani ones are my favorite!
Hi! Can you share your frosting recipe? 🙂
Here you go!
This is my kind of party – what fun! Totally just calendared a cookie party with my daughters and can’t wait! How special that you have those old cookie cutters. I’ve never been a big baker but I like to decorate (and eat!) cookies. A stocking or wreath would probably be my favorites.
Are you and your mom making peanut brittle this year?
Thanks, Susie!
If you’re not into baking, you can purchase ready-to-roll dough at the store! This will make your party much easier. Decorating is the best part 😊
We are!!! ♥️
Oh my gosh this is so cute! I love the little trays all set up with the fixings. I need to do something like this asap.
It was so much fun!! & can be customized for any holiday!
Hi! I saw that someone already asked but I don’t see a link. Can you please share your icing recipe? I love the bottles! I need to try this over the bags!