Holiday Projects for a Ladies' Night

Are you a woman looking for a way to bring holiday cheer to a few of your closest friends? During the holiday season, everyone seems to busy running here and there, shopping for presents and planning for Christmas. Wouldn't it be nice to just spend a day with your closest gal pals bonding, having fun and celebrating the holiday season without all the fuss? Gather your girl friends together for a day of fun. Here are a few ideas for a fun-filled day for just you and the girls.

Host a Christmas Present Wrapping Party. Invite all your girlfriends over. Have everyone bring the gifts they have bought so far and their wrapping supplies, wrapping paper, ribbons, tape, bows, etc. Everyone can share their supplies, trade wrapping paper and help each other wrap their presents. These parties are a lot of fun. Host the party in the evening and into the night. Serve hot cocoa, coffee, and homemade Christmas cookies.

Invite a group of your friends over to for an afternoon of creating Christmas cards and gift tags. If time allows you and your friends can have extra fun combining this day of card making along with a Christmas present wrapping party. You and your friends can have a wonderful time creating Christmas cards and gift tags . To create your Christmas cards and gift tags you will need to a large assortment of decorative card stock, rubber stamps, decorative ribbon, markers, color pencils, glitter, scissors, hole punch, designed paper punches, glue sticks, tissue paper, white paper lunch bags etc. Here are a few websites that can help get your imagination and creativity going:
crafts.kaboose.com/scrapbooking/holiday-cards-and-gift-tags.html
www.cardmaking.circleofcrafters.com/
www.allcrafts.net/cards.htm

Do you and your friends enjoying baking? If the answer is yes, invite your best gal pals over for a casual afternoon of baking and gift giving. Choose two or three different cookie recipes. Invite the girls over early in the day. There will be lots of baking to do throughout the afternoon. Have everyone vote on which cookies they would like to make. Everyone can pitch in and help mix the batter and bake the cookies. While the cookies are baking everyone will have plenty of time to chat and enjoy bonding with their best friends. Everyone can have decorating the cookies. After all the cookies are finished baking everyone can enjoy tasting their creations. While everyone is enjoying the cookies, ask them to share three clues about the gifts they brought with them. Everyone can try to guess what the clues mean. Do not say your answer out loud. Write the answers on a sheet of paper. After wards, everyone can open their gifts to see who guessed correctly.

Create beautiful glass Christmas ornaments. All the supplies necessary to complete this project can be purchased at a craft store and in some department stores. Supplies need: Clear Glass Christmas Balls, Glass etching stencils (your choice of design), etching solution, masking tape, popsicle sticks, paint brushes, aprons and protective gloves. First make sure all the ornaments are clean. Position your stencil and secure it to the glass ornament using a few pieces masking tape. Rub the stencil with the popsicle stick to transfer the image onto the glass. After you have rubbed the entire stencil onto the glass, carefully peel off the top layer of the stencil. Make sure the stencil has completely transfered to the glass. Apply a border of masking tape around the stencil. You will want to overlap a small amount of the outer edge of the stencil transfer with the tape to help prevent the etching cream from running onto the other parts of the glass. Be sure to wear gloves and a protective apron for the rest of the project. Using a paintbrush apply a thick layer of the etching cream to the stenciled area of the glass. Allow the cream to set on the glass for about one minute. Rinse the ornament off with warm water to remove the cream and clean off any remaining stencil or masking tape. To make your ornament shimmer, add silver of gold tinsel to the inside of the ball. Place the hanger onto the ornament and its ready to be hung on the Christmas tree. Using the same instruction and supplies you and your friends can also create beautiful glass drink coasters as Christmas presents. If you have trouble finding the glass squares, you can purchase inexpensive small glass picture frames from department stores to use.

Dinner and a movie: This is a simple way to bring you and your friends together for an afternoon of girl time. Invite all your girl friends over to your house. Ask everyone to pitch and bring a dish or casserole of some type for dinner. If everyone brings a dish this will mean more time for your and your friends to enjoy the afternoon. Everyone can wit around chatting and have lots of fun bonding over dinner. After dinner everyone can enjoy a warm cup of cocoa while watching your all time favorite Christmas movies. Some of my favorite movies to watch during the holidays are Miracle On 34th Street, A Christmas Carol, Polar Express, Its A Wonderful Life, Bad Santa and Scrogged.

Spending time with your friends during the holiday season is a great way to get everyone into the holiday spirit. The ideas listed above are just a few suggestions of how you and your friends can spend the day just being yourselves.