CFC #125 - Trickin' out the Beverage Dispenser + Other Christmas Party Crafts

It's time for our first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge of 2014! Instead of a resolution, choose a word that describes what you hope for the new year, and use that word on your project. If you're stuck for a word, you might want to check out Ali Edward's One Little Word project. Each year Ali picks a word that she can "focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon" as she goes about her daily life. In the comments section of this year's post, there are 800 people talking about what word they've picked for 2014. Lots of inspiration!

This is a two week challenge, and the talented winner will receive a prize from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!

For this challenge, I don't have a particular word, but an idea represented by the words.

We hosted Christmas for my side of the family this year, and I got to try out my new 3 tier beverage station. Hello color! I loved the way it looked on the appetizer table. I got the idea to label each drink from an awesome wedding that features typography. It doesn't tell people what kind of drink it is (they were all types of fruit punch), but I thought it was fun, cute and something different.

So why am I posting it for this challenge?

This year I'd like to focus on using my dies, stamps, paper, ribbon etc. where ever and when ever I can. Cards, of course, but I'd really like to get the most of what I have and use my supplies for other things too. Putting words on beverage servers is an example of this. 

Other examples from the Christmas party are:

Holders for hot chocolate bar toppings. Having hot chocolate in a crock pot is an easy beverage/dessert at the party. To make it a little more fancy, I put out toppings like marshmallows, chocolate chips, cinnamon sticks, wafers, etc. Double-sided 6x6 Christmas papers folded into a cone and stapled together hold the toppings. So easy.

  

Punched snowflakes to hide. I usually have 100-200 and hide them for the kids to find when they start getting restless before presents. We end up finding them for weeks afterwards. But it's a great reminder of the party, and the kids have fun trying to see how many they can get. This year I gave Logan the bowl of punched snowflakes and had him do the hiding. 
 

Baked potato bar labels. New this year, we tried mashed potatoes in a crock pot with toppings (ham, bacon, chives, cheese, french onions, sour cream). Not only did people enjoy making their own creations, but it's a huge time-saver to make mashed potatoes the day before! The craft supplies were used to make labels for the toppings. I had the bowls in an old gun case I got from a garage sale for $2 (score!)

Felt numbers on the Santa hats. A couple years ago I glued felt die-cut numbers on Santa hats for all of the cousins. We're up to number 21 now. Before opening presents we make them all get on the steps for a photo with their hats on ... it's quite a sight to see all 21 of them together! While cute, they also serve a practical purpose. We let the youngest kids open presents first, and the bigger our family got, the harder it was to figure out who was born next. Now we know! Their names are inside each hat, and after the party we put the hats all in a bag for my mom to store until next year.

Wow. This post really took a different direction than what I had planned! Sorry if it was longer than you expected : ) But I would love to do more things like this with my craft supplies throughout the year, not just on cards or for parties.

Can't wait to see your creations in the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge gallery!

Thanks so much for looking! 

-Kelly