Thank you Tum-E Yummies for sponsoring this post.
The holiday season is in full swing, and we have a lot going on around here! It’s easy to get lost in the hustle of it all, but one of my favorite things to do this time of year is plan out fun activities to help the kids get in the spirit. They obviously can’t do a lot of the big stuff like decorating or cooking yet, but that doesn’t mean they have to miss out on the fun! Thanks to a little creativity and some great ideas on Judah’s part, I came up with the coolest way to kick off the season – a party in a box that is all about the holidays. It is perfect for any day of the week, and would also be great for parties, classrooms, or as a cute gift!
Each party in a box kit includes an unfinished ornament for the tree, a Design Your Own Gingerbread cookie set, A Tum-E Yummies drink, links for a holiday chain, a few markers, and some glitter glue. In short, an all in one holiday extravaganza! Isn’t it cute?
Now, let’s talk about how to make/put everything together. The biggest component to the box is the Design-A-Gingerbread kit. I absolutely love this activity, and I wish I had thought of it sooner! Gingerbread cookie decorating has always been a big part of our holiday traditions, and we usually make a big batch and have one big buffet-style decorating free-for-all. This time I wanted to make it more personal, and since both of my kids have holiday parties coming up at school, I used this as a test run for an idea I had for classroom treats. They turned out to be fabulous, and the kids really loved having their own all-in-one decorating kits! It is also a great way to keep fighting to a minimum, because each child has their own cookie and decorations to work with.
Want to make some of your own? Here is what you will need:
- Plain gingerbread cookies (homemade, store bought, however you like them)
- Clear plastic cookie/treat bags
- Mini zip top bags (usually found near beads and jewelry crafts in stores)
- Icing writer tubes in your choice of color (found in the baking section near the sprinkles)
- Holiday themed sprinkles, raisins, dried raspberries, etc. for decorating
- Printed bag tag (You can grab these below)
You can make your own gingerbread cookies or use store bought ones, but if you are making your own, be sure to wait until they are fully cooled before bagging them. If they are still warm, they will fog up the plastic and moisture will be inside your bags.
Once your cookies are ready, take a treat bag and put one or two cookies in it, followed by an icing writer. Next, fill up your mini zip top bag with sprinkles, raisins, gumdrops, or whatever you might be decorating with. If you don’t have the mini bags, you can put decorations in your main bag with the cookies. *Tip: Don’t want to go overboard with the sweets here? Use dried fruits like raspberries, banana pieces, and more in place of sprinkles and candy! Once you have everything in your bags, print out the below bag tags and fold them in half:
I whipped these up myself, and please note that they are for personal use only. To print, click on the image to go to the high res file. You can scale it to fit any bag, but I printed mine at 30% since my bags are pretty small.
Once printed, fold over the top of your bag, staple, and then you are finished!
Since cookies always need some kind of refreshments, I made sure to include a Tum-E Yummies drink in each box. Tum-E Yummies is a fun fruit flavored water drink that comes in five different flavors: Very Berry Blue, Greentastic Apple, Fruitabulous Punch, Orange-arific, and Sour-sational Raspberry. My kids love them, and I love that all flavors have 100% daily value of vitamin C, B6, and B12, with only 50 calories and 13 grams of sugar. Plus, the red and green are perfect for my festive party boxes!
Aside from the cookie and drink, I picked up a set of unfinished wooden snowflake ornaments for $1 each, and paired them with glitter glue for decorating. If you can’t find a similar ornament, you can always print out a snowflake (or any festive design) onto card stock, cut it out, and string some twine through it. Judah colored this one in with blue glitter, and he loved being able to hang it on the tree!
Lastly, the paper chain was super easy to do. For these, all you have to do is search online for digital scrapbook papers. Print a few out, then cut them into equal strips. Tape each strip in a loop, and you are done! Print out as many as you like, and hang them anywhere.
There are so many adorable things that can be done with these boxes – you could dress up your Tum-E Yummies in accessories like antlers, scarves, and red noses, or substitute cupcakes for gingerbread cookies, or even include fun coloring sheets. I can’t wait to try out more fun party boxes!
