Holiday Dessert Party 2014

We hosted our 5th Annual Holiday Dessert Party this year. Year after year it is always a treat to gather with friends and family around a little friendly dessert competition! As the years go by the competition gets a little steeper. It is truly one of my most favorite events of the year.

As I shared before we literally were still bricking the fireplace before guests arrived. We were able to get just enough on both sides to throw up a few extra bricks and the mantel before the party started. We were given this beautiful mantel from a friend who was replacing hers. The timing was quite perfect as she offered it to us the day before the party! Talk about throwing stuff together last minute! It can be stressful but I was impressed of the crazy amount of things we accomplished for this party.

With an hour left before guests arrived, I quickly got dressed and came out to our semi-finished fireplace and my mom and Brent sweeping up the room. As you can imagine, I was quite thrilled to come out and see the beginnings of a complete fireplace. I then ran around like a crazy woman grabbing things from different rooms and art off of the wall in my office to put together this mantel display. It was the quickest and most stressful styling of my life, finishing just minutes before our guests arrived! I am pretty pleased with what I was able to come up with (even if there are now empty wall spaces in my office!).

For the party, we ask guests to bring a dessert to enter into the competition if they wish (not mandatory for attending) and I provide other non-sweet food.

We set up our dining room table with a place to vote and plenty of room for desserts to be put on display.

And just so you get an idea of what this room looked like hours before the party. Here is the before:

And the after:

In our living room I set up a movie and toys for the kids. Having this downstairs space proves to create a separate space for the kids to play while still being accessible to the party (and their parents!).

As guests arrived my heart about melted when these two sweet girls in their pretty Christmas outfits hung out on the hearth of the fireplace. All I have ever hoped for an dreamed of. Cozy hanging out by the fire (minus the fire part).