We're in full-blown holiday mode at The Party Planning Committee, and we've been dreaming of beautiful and elaborate Christmas spreads! 

One of our favourite parts of holiday parties are dessert buffets. This year, we'd love to create a "twelve days of Christmas" table! 

First: the lyrics, so we're all on the same page...Wikipedia tells us that there are several variations that have been sung over the years, but the one that we're most familiar with is:

12 drummers drumming
11 pipers piping
10 lords-a-leaping
9 ladies dancing
8 maids-a-milking
7 swans-a-swimming
6 geese-a-laying
5 golden rings
4 colly birds
3 french hens
2 turtle doves
and a partridge in a pear tree!

(Funny note: we thought it was 4 "calling" birds, but apparently a colly bird is actually a name for the common blackbird!)

Here's what we envision: treats laid out in a pyramid (Christmas tree) shape on a long buffet or dining table according to number and theme. 

Depending on how many guests there are, you may need to 'cluster' the goodies so that you have more than 78 (12+11+10+9+...) treats. (Another side bar: plan on 4-5 appetizers and 1-2 small dessert bites per person per hour for a cocktail party.)

Now for the good part! Some of these may seem like a bit of a stretch from the lyrics, but you can make it easy for your guests to understand by putting signs beside each line of treats, or create a fun guessing game for those who don't remember all of the lyrics!

So as to minimize prep time, we've tried to mix home made and store bought goodies. It's always a good idea to think about this when planning a menu - how much time do you have to spend in the kitchen vs. with your guests, and how much of your menu can you prepare in advance?

Recipes/how-to for many of the pictures shown can be found by visiting our Pinterest page at www.pinterest.com/theppcottawa.

12 drummers drumming:

Gorgeous sugar cookies, stacked and decorated with edible silver balls and baker's twine:

OR, "drum" stick cookies!

11 pipers piping:

Flute-like chocolate cookie sticks (buy these at Costco!)

10 lords-a-leaping:

This was a tough one! In the end, we chose these gorgeous Finnish pinwheels because they remind us of movement and busy legs jumping around!

9 ladies dancing:

Lady fingers!

8 maids-a-milking;

Strawberry- or mint chocolate-flavoured milk in glass jars, with stripey straws!

7 swans-a-swimming:

Cream puff swans. Make a simple version using a round pastry base, and cutting wings and a neck from castoff rounds.

6 geese-a-laying:

We assume that the geese are laying eggs and we couldn't just choose one idea! Stick Cadbury mini eggs onto cookies as they're almost done baking, make mini bacon and egg candies (yellow m&m and pretzels on a white chocolate round), or scoops of mango sorbet in egg shells (use halved Kinder eggs to cheat!).

5 golden rings:

Orange yogurt mini bundt cakes (or buy crullers!)

4 colly birds:

We love these blackbird cupcake toppers! They would be super easy to DIY (especially if you have a Cricut!)

3 french hens:

These hen cookies are too cute to pass up!

2 turtle doves:

Use turtle chocolates and add fondant 'wings'!

and a partridge in a pear tree!

We've been dying to try these mini pear pies!

What variations can you come up with?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra

One of our favourite things to do here at The Party Planning Committee is to come up with themes for parties we'd love to throw - and inspiration strikes at the most random of times! Ashley's son was playing with an old typewriter at his great grandparents' house, and we thought...a Mad Men-inspired party would be quite the shindig! 

For those of you who aren't familiar with the series, Mad Men is an award-winning show set in the 1960s, and focuses on the lives of advertising executives, and their wives (and mistresses!). 

As always, we love to build parties from the ground up, from attire to decor to food, and beyond. 

Stationery


We love these print-at-home vintage typography invitations from LetterandthePress on Etsy. 

Or, if you're feeling especially handy with the computer, you could whip up something similar in Word!

These classy invitations set the mood for the party, and ensure that guests will know that they should show up dressed to the nines!

Attire

First off - the hostess' dress. We know and love that Banana Republic has a collection based on the series, but, we love a challenge - and these vintage dress patterns fit the bill! How much fun would it be to pick up one of these patterns and sew your own costume? So much fun! 

Would you choose "the Joan"......................................................or "the Betty"?

For the men, suits are a given and skinny ties (or bow ties) are a must! Check out this fun tutorial for DIYing a skinny tie over at A Beautiful Mess!

We also love pocket squares and retro glasses and fedoras and shirts with lipsticked collars...and...and...

Decor

Next up (and probably our favourite part of any party) is the decor! There are endless creative decor possibilities with this theme!

Because the typewriter sparked the idea for this party, we would put one at the door for guests to leave a message for the hosts, surrounded by flowers in clear glass jars. 

We would also pick up an old desk or vintage sewing table (Kijiji is our go-to website for scoring thrifty finds) and paint it a fun colour, sanding it at the edges for that chippy look!


Next, we would print 60s ads onto cardstock and post around the main party areas:

And finally, because no theme party is complete without a photo booth, we would use a simple backdrop and fill the prop bucket with fake cigarettes, martini glasses, winged eyeglasses, skinny ties, baking sheets, and aprons!

Food & Drink

We love the idea of making chocolate-dipped pretzel cigarettes and tie cookies!

We would also serve as much food as possible in martini glasses, and of course, every 1960s party requires a cheese ball! This bacon spinach cheese ball is a modern take on an old classic.

As for drinks, gin martinis with tons of olives would be essential, as would scotch and other gorgeous drinks in decanters.

What are your ideas for our Mad Men party?

Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra