Entertaining at Christmas should be joyous, celebrating the friendships you’ve made through the year and filling yourself full of all kinds of treats. How you define ‘treats’, is up to you!
Recently I celebrated by hosting a Christmas brunch with some of our book club “in the ‘hood” neighbors, and I wanted to share with you what to do, and NOT to do when you’re hosting Christmas brunch.
Hosting Christmas Brunch? What NOT to do
- Do not embody Ebenezer Scrooge. There are many frugal ways to throw a party, and sending home a small party favor to each guest will help them to remember the lovely brunch you hosted. My gift was a mini Poinsettia flower (above). Isn’t it adorable? Have some fun with a game or photo props like we used!
- If you’re having a “White Elephant” gift or ornament exchange, Do not give a dull, boring, ho-hum gift. Think outside the box, or pop into a boutique for something slightly more unique. This provides a little more excitement when your gift is the hot one “stolen” several times!
- Do not worry about over-stimulation. These are adults, for goodness’ sake! Play music. Diffuse essential oils such as pine or cinnamon. May the twinkling lights on your Christmas tree shine bright!
- Do not stress that everything has to be “just so”. My messy kitchen at quarter-past-invitation-time means you’ll have something hot in your belly very soon. And nothing says “I love you, friends!” like a full belly. I baked cookies the day before, one homemade and the other using this shortcut saver from Pillsbury.
- Speaking of full bellies, Do not send anyone into fits of stomach issues because you failed to offer something for everyone. Have a friend that’s on a dietary restriction, or someone that avoids caffeine? Have a bowl of (gluten-free!) easy-peel Mandarin oranges that need zero prep, and be sure to fill a carafe with fresh brewed decaf coffee.
One way you can keep your friends coming back for seconds is to set up a coffee bar for your Christmas brunch.
Folgers is introducing their new line of Perfect Measures coffee tabs (learn more in my previous post), and they sent me a variety of flavors to share with my brunch guests!
Setting Up a Coffee Bar
Because I wanted to offer my friends a few different varieties of Folgers Perfect Measures to try, in addition to my own coffeemaker I borrowed a second one, and I had two thermal carafes. This allowed me to brew four pots of coffee, and we tried Classic Roast, 100% Columbian, Breakfast Blend and Decaf.
For the coffee bar, I cleared off our kitchen desk and set the coffeemakers and carafes against the wall.
Off to the side, I placed my Christmas mugs on a small two-tier shelf, and had a sugar/sweetener caddy and variety of flavored creamers and half & half. And for flair, a tealight candle. {I like flair.}
With Folgers Perfect Measures I didn’t need to worry about not getting the perfect cup of coffee, because the coffee tabs are pre-measured. One tab = 1 scoop. If you prefer a stronger coffee, add a couple extra tabs.
Ornament Exchange
Following our treats and coffee, we had a fun ornament exchange. The ornaments were all gorgeous!
Sandy showed off the beautiful peacock ornament, which was promptly “stolen”.
But … I think I won.
Learn more about Folgers Perfect Measures including where to find it near you, and save with this printable coupon. I’ve seen Perfect Measures at several stores around Indy, this was taken at Kroger .
And … have a Merry Christmas!
Thank you to Folgers Perfect Measures for sponsoring this post and providing the much needed coffee to go with our Christmas brunch! As always, my words and opinions are 100% my own. See my disclosure policy.
Before you go, please find more holiday goodness:
I love sharing ways to spend less, so families can do more! My passions are cooking, late night TV and being amused by my witty husband and three kids.
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