10 Low-Cost Tips for a Teen Christmas Party

Try these 10 low-cost tips for a teen Christmas party to launch the holiday season with adolescent amusement.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Build a Budget

Any successful venture begins with a budget, and a teen holiday party is no exception. Wise parents will sit down with teens to draw up spending guidelines for an event ahead of time. Some mothers and fathers use such an opportunity to teach teenagers firsthand about smart spending by taking teens shopping for Christmas party foods and supplies.

Working together, parents and teens can plan a low-cost Christmas party that sticks to the budget.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Host at Home

Teen holiday parties can be costly, but expenses can be minimized by hosting these gatherings at home. Most families decorate their dwellings for the Christmas season anyway, so a holiday party can be timely, fun and low-cost.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Invite Online

Why spend plenty of postage and printed party invitations for a teen Christmas party? Social networking sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) offer event templates, so that users may post invitations for free online. More teens probably read their Facebook and MySpace alerts than regular mail anyway.

As a plus, young people are also more likely to respond to online invitations, giving teen Christmas party hosts a more realistic number of expected attendees. This helps to keep party costs down.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Simple Stylings

The décor for a teen Christmas party need not be elaborate. In fact, a festive holiday home may need no added decorating at all. However, teens may choose to add free downloads of Christmas images. Teens and younger siblings might create and hang up snowflake cut-outs.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Stick to Snacks

Teenagers seem to have their own unique eating patterns. Most teens prefer snacking to sit-down eating. A low-cost Christmas party might include several simple snacks, rather than a complex and costly full meal. Store-brand chips, popcorn, frozen pizzas and sodas can make festive fare ideas for a low-cost teen Christmas party.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Find Finger Foods

By offering finger foods (such as snacks, bagel dogs, chicken nuggets, cupcakes and other single-portion items), a teen Christmas party host can eliminate the need to provide silverware. This cuts costs for purchasing disposable dinnerware or washing the family's own eating utensils.

Although fancy holiday paper plates may be purchased, a low-cost Christmas party for teenagers might include plain red and green paper plates, stacked alternately for a festive flair.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Invite Ingredients

Many holiday hosts invite guests (even teens) to provide part of the Christmas party's refreshments. For example, a Christmas cookie decorating party host might ask guests to bring colored sprinkles, cookie frostings or other items. This low-cost strategy invites teen attendees to choose ingredients, while keeping party hosting expenses down.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Suggest a Swap

Party favors are expensive, particularly for larger gatherings. A low-cost teen Christmas party might feature a white elephant exchange or a gift swap, with each attendee bringing one wrapped item. This makes a fun party game, while saving money for everyone.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Trim the Tree

Plenty of parents of teenagers save both time and money by inviting their teens and friends to help decorate family Christmas trees. Hosting a tree-trimming party is an age-old tradition. The host need only provide simple refreshments (such as cider or hot chocolate and Christmas cookies), holiday music and a tree to trim.

Hosting a Low-Cost Christmas Party for Teens: Make It Musical

Why spend big money on a deejay for a teen Christmas party? Teen Christmas party hosts can invite young people to create their own playlists, using their own personal music devices (such as iPods or MP3 players). Most teenagers can hook these gadgets to speakers to provide suitable music for the teen Christmas party.

Make it musical. Make it fun. And make it low-cost to make everyone merry, even the stingiest of Santas.