Looking for a new twist to your holiday party this year? Why not
invite Mother Earth to your party and turn your White Christmas green!
You'll not only have a fresh theme, but you'll be helping to save the
planet. Surprisingly, we create more garbage during the holidays-25%
more-than any other time of the year. Here are some party tips to help
you cut down on the greenhouse effect, simply by going green!
Environmentally-Friendly Invitations
Instead of buying more holiday cards, send a cheery e-vite using one
of the free online services. They offer a variety of colorful
backgrounds to go with your green theme. Personalize your message with a
poem, such as: "Santa is red, and the snowscape is white, but we're
going green at our party this night," then add party details.
If you want to send out paper invitations, use the ones you received
last year. Tear off the fronts of the cards and write your party details
on the back.
Ask guests to wear something already in their closets, instead of
buying something new. Challenge them to add a sparkly belt, festive
scarf, wild tie, or other fun accessory to give it a new look.
Green is your color scheme
Begin by making green your color scheme, with accents of red and
white for a Christmas party, or blue for a Hanukkah celebration. Cover
the party ceiling with red, white, and green helium-filled balloons, and
tie paper snowflakes to the dangling ribbons.
Instead of buying holiday decorations, spruce up the party with green
from your yard. Set out boughs of pine or fir, create a centerpiece
using holly and berries, and sprinkle mistletoe throughout the room. Add
pinecones, apples, cranberries, and other items from nature. If you
don't have access to traditional holiday greenery, use your imagination.
Set out cacti decorated with red berries, palm leaves laced with tiny
ornaments, or ice sculptures tinted with green food coloring.
Dim the lights to save on electricity and add a cozy ambiance to your
party. Light beeswax candles, set them in small cans painted green, and
set them around the room. Turn down the temperature so guests will be
comfortable in their festive sweaters.
Bring in the playful elves
Entertain your guests with a variety of holiday-related games and activities.
- Have them work together to make gingerbread houses.
- Make holiday crafts the guest can use to decorate their own homes,
such as "Recrafting Old Holiday Cards" (turn cards into placemats for
the holiday dinner), "Ornament-making" (use pinecones and craft
materials to create green ornaments), and "Do-It-Yourself Gift Wrap"
(provide plain recycled paper or brown bags, along with art supplies.)
- Gather in the kitchen and have a cookie-baking marathon, with each guest taking home a variety of fresh cookies.
- Have a Holiday Trivia competition, with teams answering questions
such as: "What is 'Merry Christmas' in Spanish?" "What are the names of
Santa's eight reindeer?" and "What is figgy pudding?"
- Inflate balloons, gather them in bouquets, tie little gifts to the
dangling ribbons and deliver them to local care facilities, hospitals,
or nursing homes.
Eat your Greens
Feed your guests local, seasonal foods, such as apple tarts, pumpkin
bread, and hot cranberry cider. Serve the snacks on your washable
dishes and napkins rather than paper products, or rent from a party
service and let them to the cleaning. Set out large containers labeled
"cans," "glass," "paper," and so on, so guests can easily toss their
recyclables. You might consider avoiding meat at your party, as meat
production causes a large amount of greenhouse gases. Instead, offer
vegetarian dishes, pastas, or quiche for your main course.
Go Home Green
Send the guests home with green-conscious gifts, such as cookies,
mistletoe, apples, beeswax candles, and so on. Give everyone a green
helium balloon with a packet of seeds stuffed inside. Wrap the gifts in
the Sunday funnies, reusable gift bags, last year's calendar pages, or
festive scarves.
Penny Warner has more than 25 years of experience as an author
and party planner. She has published more than 50 books, including 16
specific to parties. Additionally, Warner writes a weekly newspaper
column on family life, penned a column for Sesame Street Parents
magazine and has appeared on several regional and national TV morning
programs. Her latest book, HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY, debuted in
February 2010 from NAL/Penguin.
Balloon Time is the leading brand of consumer helium balloon kits
in North America. Balloon Time kits feature a helium-filled tank, latex
or foil balloons and ribbon, and are available at national retail
chains, party goods and grocery stores nationwide.